Family owes all to miracle of trenches

WITH reference to the article “Saved by his cigarette case” (The Yorkshire Post, March 1) and the later letter from Mr Ackerley (The Yorkshire Post, March 5), my father-in-law Frank Hird’s life was also saved in a similar situation. He was carrying his pay book and three cards in his left tunic pocket in France in the Great War.

The pay book had to be handed in on demobilisation but I still have the two postcard photographs and one silk embroidered birthday card, all showing the burn marked bullet holes made by the path of a bullet aimed at his heart, but deflected upwards instead, taking his eye out, which was left hanging down his cheek.

Due to the skill of the surgeon working in horrendous conditions in the field hospital, the eye was stitched back.

Although the sight was lost, the eye moved in conjunction with his right eye throughout his long and often traumatic life until his death at the age of 75. No one other than his family ever knew of his disability.

The cards are mounted in a case made by our son David, along with his three service medals, and this accounts for the good condition of the cards after almost 100 years.

At the age of 93 myself, this still gives me much to ponder over for had the bullet not been deflected, Frank would have been killed, my late husband Eric would never have been born and we could not have enjoyed the good and loving marriage for over 59 years!

Our two children David and Barbara could not have existed nor our grandchild and one great-grandchild. I have so much to thank that unknown dedicated surgeon for. To me it is our own “miracle of the trenches”.

Frank was discharged in March 1919 and came home to his wife and two young sons. Sadly fate had not finished with Frank for his wife died in the flu epidemic following that terrible war, leaving him to bring up two young boys on his own whilst earning a living for them all. He worked standing six floors up at the open door of a wool warehouse guiding the huge, heavy bales of wool up form the horse and carts below. No health and safety rules then.

He had no safety harness and worked there until retirement at 65. A truly courageous man.

He married for a second time in 1922 but his middle son was killed in France during the 1939-45 war.

Give us break 
from fast cars

From: Allan Ramsay, Radcliffe Moor Road, Radcliffe.

ACCORDING to BBC research, the number of parents being fined for taking their child out of school for a holiday has risen dramatically.

What’s more important, education or life? A report published last year shows that the share of serious road accidents involving young children is at a 10-year high, during which time 32,849 have been killed or seriously injured.

If interrupting a child’s education results in serious problems, what does one do in hospital with brain injury?

Why aren’t councils enforcing 20mph speed limits, and why is the fine for taking a child out of school higher than the fine for speeding?

So demanding in educating children, why not more to educate drivers? Seemingly no escape for holiday lovers, but easy escape for speed lovers.

Story tailored to disappoint

From: H Marjorie Gill, Clarence Drive, Menston,

THE most depressing piece of news in the whole paper was on business page six (The Yorkshire Post, March 11) when I read that Berwin & Berwin is to open a suit factory in Vietnam, not satisfied with their factories in Hungary and China.

Leeds, the world renowned centre for suit manufacture and Savile Row renowned for bespoke tailoring, are presumably not good enough and British workers unimportant to this company.

The directors should bow their heads in shame.

Three cheers
for Charlotte

From: Barry Foster, High Stakesby, Whitby.

I HEARTILY agree with Ron Jevons (The Yorkshire Post, March 11) about the Look North TV presenters.

Charlotte Leeming is by far the best they have in the Leeds studio. Why they had to bring Amy Garcia in is a mystery. Isn’t it time they gave dear old Harry Gration the big heave ho? He seems to have been around since Adam was a lad. Please, please let’s have a change. They have one or two male presenters who seem to do the job much better.

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon.

READER Ron Jevons was quite right to wonder why Look North’s Charlotte Leeming was not seen as the obvious replacement for the departed Christa Ackroyd. I have to agree with him that she is indeed by far the best female presenter on that programme.

Yellow peril?

From: David Boocock, Ambaston Road, Hornsea.

After reading The Yorkshire Post, everything I look at is tinged with yellow. I wonder if any other readers have experienced this?