258957 Pte. Leonard Dawson MID.British Army E Coy, 16th Btn. Manchester Regiment from:Newton Heath, Manchester. My paternal Grandad, Len Dawson became a POW at Guillemont on 8th of August 1916.
He was sent to Schneidemuhl in Poland where he was when the war ended.
He befriended another POW Robert Cochrane of the Kings Rifles who died in the camp of T.B.early December 1918 prior to their repatriation to England.
Grandad consequently married his widow (Alice-my grandma)in Lancashire in 1919.
Due to ill health (gassing) Len and Alice moved to a drier climate (Perth, Australia) in 1927 with their 4 children one of whom was my Dad, also named Len who was born in East Manchester in 1921.
They never returned to England.
I have inherited Grandad's 3 WW1 Medals plus the 2 WW2 Medals he was awarded as a staff sergeant in the Australian Army.
Prior to his death in 1955, Grandad took part in ANZAC Day commemorations and marched with the Old Contemptibles (named after the K's description of the BEF as "Britain's contemptible little army").
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