Historian publishes book on First World War Middlewich soldiers

The group of soldiers spent nine days fighting before being captured and spending the following 51 months as prisoners of war.

100 years later, a former headmaster of Middlewich High School, Philip Andrews, has published a book all about the Middlewich soldiers and what they would have experienced as prisoners of war.

Philip was the headmaster at Middlewich High from 1979 to 2000, and is now a professional historian.

He said: “History is a huge passion and I’ve wanted to produce something like this so I am extremely proud of it, it’s not about trying to make any money, it’s just about the enjoyment I get from doing it.

“I wanted to write their story because obviously history is a huge hobby and I lived and worked in Middlewich for many years.

“Hopefully this will be the first of five books about how the First World War affected Middlewich.

“The fact that army records have all been digitised made it a lot easier to research and there are a lot of cuttings used from the Middlewich Guardian at that time.”

The 13 men were Thomas McHugh, William Stoneley, Reg Holman, Frank Morris, Pat Hazell, David Maddock, Tom Hulme, Joe Higgins, William Marshall, James Robinson, Harry Sproston, Horace Bratherton and William Latham.

The book, entitled ‘The Middlewich 13’, features various stories and pictures published in newspapers at the time, such as a story about Private Horace Bratherton’s Mother, Mrs Duncan, going over to Switzerland to visit her son at the prisoner of war camp.

Philip added: “I have been able to trace the family of a couple of them, such as Frank Morris who was the grandson of William Boosey, who owned the market garden where Morrison’s now is.

“However there a lot that I can’t trace after putting the word out so it would be great if anyone who thinks they are related could get in touch.”

To buy a copy of the book email Philip on hclovell67@yahoo.co.uk.