219624 Pte. John Prince British Army 15th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers from:Salford (d.1st Jul 1916) I have only recently discovered that my Great Grandfather, John Pte. Prince died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and this despite being in my fifties myself. It was only during research into family history that I discovered John,my grandmother died when I was a teenager and it was just one of those things that never came up in conversation.
John joined the 1st Salford Pals not as a young man as folklore has us believe but as somebody in his mid thirties and father to four children. He was to die alongside many of his friends and fellow Salfordians on 1st July 1916 the Battalion's first action of the war. John has no known grave but is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial. I was fortunate enough to visit the memeorial earlier this year to pay my own respects to John and all the other soldiers named there.You are my hero John.
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