SalfordOnline.com came across this amusing story from the Eccles and Patricroft Journal from October 1915 which tells the story of an Eccles soldier who gave the Germans a taste of Salford football banter.
Over on the Western Front in France, Private J Hartley was a sapper with the Manchester Regiment, digging tunnels close to enemy trenches and eavesdropping for potential information.
He’d arrived in July 1915 attached to the 19th Division Cyclist Corps, who themselves served on the Western Front until 1918, taking part in many of the significant battles which would define the First World War.
It was a very dangerous job to be given, considering the German lines were at times only yards away from Allied forces.
Hartley clearly developed a rather black sense of humour with all the horrific death and suffering around him.
He states in a letter home that one evening he was out with the Manchester Regiment when a German shouted at them, “Are Manchester United going to win the English Cup this year?”
The troops opened fire and one German was heard to say, “The Manchesters are here again are they?”
Being somewhat of a wag, Private Hartley shouted back across the trenches that his football team consisted of: “George Ground, Charlie Cannon, Willie Barbed Wire, Jimmy Whiz-Bang, Sam Shrapnel, Ted Ammunition, Jack Rifle, Ted Bayonet, Bobby Maxim, Alf Grenade, and Harry Flashlight”.
He then tells of the merits of some of these “players”.
“Tedy Bayonet is a thrustful and very effective at close quarters, Bobby Maxim is the top scorer of the team, he shoots at lightning speed and is a great favourite with the spectators.
“Alf Grenade is a bit erratic at times but his bursts are a great advantage, whilst Jack Rifle is a clean and steady player with a deadly shot, who knows how to find his range.”
He then encouraged Eccles lads to join his “team” stating that they are paid players on ten francs a week, and if they go to the local recruiting office they will get a free ticket for the match and a free uniform which will last them the duration of the match.
He finishes the letter off by stating that the lads are “all merry and bright” and will be pleased when the match is over so that they can “come home to their happy homes in Eccles”.
Before enlisting Private Hartley worked in the now-demolished Eccles Co-operative Mill on Silk Street. He cheekily he asks if the tobacco shops in Eccles are still open as a box or two of cigarettes would be “highly appreciated by the Eccles lads who are doing their bit for King and Country”.
It has to be said that Private Hartley sounds a humourous chap and that hopefully he survived the Great War.
This was in the first year of the war and optimism was still running high amongst the troops, sadly there would be another three years of carnage before the guns would fall silent.
Main image: Wikipedia/MUFC
