Tuesday 18 September 2012
Unusual Rank in Churchyard
Corporal (Wheeler) Philip Hankinson served in A Battery, 286th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery and died of pneumonia in 1919. He is buried in St Michael's churchyard in Grimsargh, Lancashire. He was obviously well-loved by his comrades as can be seen in the inscription pictured in photo 3 [click on the photograph to enlarge it]. It also reveals that he won the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field. Wheeler was a very old trade in the Royal Artillery. It is likely that Hankinson had been a wheelwright before enlisting.
Interesting details. I suppose such a profession in the US Army field artillery would have been a "Mechanic". This was an actual rank in WWI too. For us Yanks, I think that rank goes back to post-US Civil War, ca. 1870.
ReplyDeleteChris
Interesting monument.
ReplyDeleteBeneath Thy Feet