Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website
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219571
Sgt.Maj. Ellis Ratcliffe DCM, CdeG.
British Army 138th Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps
from:Keighley
My Great Uncle, Ellis Ratcliffe, joined the RAMC and was promoted to Sgt Major with the 138th Field Ambulance. He served on the front line commanding the stretcher bearers and he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for directing the recovery of the wounded under continuous heavy enemy fire. This appeared in the Gazette in September 1918 and he was also awarded the Croix de Guerre but I have no details.
I am told that he insisted upon riding a white horse so that he could be clearly seen by his stretcher bearers. Surprisingly, he was never wounded and he returned at the end of the war to pursue a successful career in local education.