Bradley man's bid to find family of Skipton soldier (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Bradley man's bid to find family of Skipton soldier

9:04am Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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A man who as a boy swapped a First World War soldier’s “death plaque” for an Army cap badge, wants to give it back to the family.

The four-inch diameter bronze disc, marked “He died for Freedom and Honour”, belonged to Private John “Jack” Hooson, who lived in Broughton Road, Skipton, in the early years of the last century.

Pte Hooson was a soldier with the North Staffordshire Regiment and was killed in action on November 18, 1916, aged 22. His body is in Regina Trench Cemetery in Grandcourt, the Somme, France.

He was mobilised with the Skipton Territorials when war broke out in 1914 and went to France in September, 1916, and two months later was reported missing.

Now, after 64 years, Jim Hartley, 77, of Bradley, near Skipton, who recalls he got the plaque in a schoolboy swap for an Army cap badge, is appealing for anyone who knows of the Hooson family’s whereabouts.

“The plaque ended up in the back of a drawer at my dad’s home. I’ve treasured it all these years because of its significance.

“This young man gave his life for freedom and now I believe it should be back with his family.

“I remember trading it in Neville Street, Skipton, about 1944 or 1945 for a cap badge.

“As young lads we were always doing that – trading cap badges, stamps, belts and knives – and all of those things I have sold or given away. But I kept the plaque.

“The Hooson family at one time lived in Neville Street, where I did the swap.”

Mr Hartley has researched the family and discovered the Hoosons worked as weavers in the Broughton Road mill shed in Skipton and later moved to Thornton Street, Skipton, and a later relative settled in Neville Street.

Jack’s younger brother, Tom, served with the Northamptonshire Regiment and another brother, Fred, with the North Lancashire Regiment, and was wounded and lost a leg.

Anyone who has information about the Hooson family can contact Mr Hartley on (01535) 634688.

The plaque contains the figure of Britannia carrying a trident and walking with a lion.

It was issued from December, 1918, to all next-of-kin of service people who had died between August, 1914, and January, 1920.

It was distributed to 1.1 million families and was accompanied by a letter from King George V.