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Great War in the Villages Project Rifleman  John  W  Akers,  3rd  Battalion  Kings  Rifle  Corp   Rifleman  Akers  has  provided  a  very  detailed  account  of  his  time  in  the  trenches  during  the  early  part  of  1915.  He  tells  of  his  role  in  the  action  at  St  Eloi  on  14th  February  when  the  3rd  Battalion  was  involved  in  retaking  the  trenches  lost  the  previous  day  by  the  Irish  Brigade  (Second  Battle  of  Ypres).    His  account  also  tells  of  the  horrors  of  an  assignment  to  set  up  a  machine  gun  post  in  a  waterlogged  trench.  Eventually  he  was  invalided  back  to  the  UK  because  of  “fever”.    The  Medal  Record  Index  shows  his  army  number  was  9081  and  that  he  entered  the  French  “theatre  of  war”  on  20  December  1914.  He  is  mentioned  in  the  1911  census  has  been  a  rifleman  age  twentyone  serving  with  his  regiment  in  India.  The  index  card  mentions  “Section  B  “  which  perhaps  indicates  he  had  become  a  reservist  at  the  start  of  the  war  although  it  may  also  indicate  that  he  became  a  reservist  after  the  end  of  the  war.    The  Third  Battalion  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  was  stationed  at  Meerut,  India  and  returned  to  the  UK  in  October  1914.  They  went  to  France  in  December  1914,  which  aligns  with  the  date  on  Akers  medal  index  card.  Whether  he  was  a  reservist  who  was  called  back  or  whether  he  had  been  serving  with  the  Battalion  in  India  is  not  known.    The  Third  Battalion  in  November  1915  was  withdrawn  from  France  and  sent  to  Salonika  where  it  was  engaged  in  actions  against  the  Bulgarian  army.  They  stayed  in  that  theatre  of  war  until  he  end  of  the  war.  Whether  he  went  with  the  Battalion  is  not  known  but  has  he  is  shown  on  the  index  card  has  having  served  also  with  the  2nd  and  17th  battalions  who  both  saw  action  in  France  it  seems  likely  that  after  he  had  recovered  at  Halloughton  he  spent  the  remainder  of  the  war  in  those  two  battalions  and  in  France.  However  that  is  speculation.    He  was  born  in  Darlington  in  about  1889  and  was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Akers.  Joseph  was  an  iron  foundry  labourer  in  Darlington.    It  has  not  been  possible  to  find  anything  about  his  life  after  the  war  ended.  There  is  no  evidence  he  married  but  there  is  an  entry  for  the  death  in  1935  of  a  John  William  Akers  who  lived  in  Lanchester,  Durham.        Prepared  by  tony_whiteley@hotmail.com    

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Great War in the Villages Project

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Great War in the Villages Project

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Great War in the Villages Project

 

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Great War in the Villages Project