British War Medal

Sam was born on the 28th August 1897 in Wigan. He lived with his father, also called Sam, his mother, Mary, and two sisters, Annie and Alice, at 80 Warrington Lane in Wigan. Sam’s uncle James, a railway labourer, was also living with them. Sam later had two more sisters, Lily and Mary.

It is not known when exactly Sam joined the Army, but it was towards the latter stages of the First World War. He was given the service number 200731 and was placed into ‘D’ Company, 2/5th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.

Little is known of his service during the war. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal, and later to Sergeant. He was captured on the 23rd March 1918 and held at Munster II prison camp in Germany. It is not known when he was released or what happened to him after the war.

His medal was acquired for the museum collections in 2018.