11/11/2025
My WW1 Family Stories
I grew up hearing their names, stories passed down by my grandmother, fragments of lives never completed, shaped by love, duty, and unimaginable courage.
My great-grandfather, Leonard Sydney Beatson, was born in Chorlton, Lancashire, in 1893. A broker’s assistant before the war, he married my great-grandmother Jennie Higson in March 1915. Their daughter, Joyce, my grandmother, was born a year later. But Leonard was killed in action during the Capture of Roeux, part of the Battle of Arras, on 13th May 1917, he likely never met his little girl. He is remembered at the Arras War Memorial.
My great-great-uncle Jack Wilkinson, born in Urmston in 1889, was a salesman before enlisting. In April 1915 he married Jennie’s sister, Alice “Cissie” Higson, before serving as a Private in the Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, attached from the 17th Battalion, Welsh Regiment. He was killed in action, possibly during the Battle of Cambrai, and is remembered at the Vis-en-Artois War Memorial.
My great-great-uncle Henry Walter “Harry” Rake, born in London in 1883, began life as a wood engraver, then a travelling photographer. In 1909 he married Florrie Higson, the third of the four Higson sisters. He joined up in 1914 as a Gunner in C Battery of the 155th (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He died of wounds on 29th May 1918 and rests at Bagneux Cemetery.
These names are more than entries on a family tree, they were sons, husbands and fathers, with unfulfilled dreams, who gave everything for peace and freedom.
Thank you to all who have served, and all who continue to serve, man and beast alike. We will remember them.🏵️
