Remembering a Hero: Private John Green

My next-door neighbour has a relative who served and died in World War II. His name was John Green and he is my neighbour's uncle (on his mother's side of the family). He never met his uncle, as he died before he was born. His uncle was his mother's eldest brother and they lived at 158 Plodder Lane in Farnworth, Lancashire. In his early life, John worked at Harrowby Street Mill, a cotton mill, in Farnworth. My neighbour's mother said he was a doting big brother and, when he came home from leave, he always took her dancing and she was fond of him. She also said she remembered he had a girlfriend before he joining the army.

He was conscripted into the army in 1940. He was in the 7th Green Howards Battalion and served as a Private, which is the lowest rank. He fought in the North Africa campaign for ten months. Africa was the only area where the Allies could fight the Germans on the ground in 1941-43. It was vital that the Allies protected the Suez Canal as this was a major shipping route for them. Private John Green (see photo with his army friends, he is bottom middle) found the army a great adventure; travelling from England (where he always lived), he got to see new and exciting places, but he always worried about dying whilst he was out at war. He travelled by boat from Liverpool to Alexandria in Egypt. While he was there, he visited Cairo and bought a new wallet (see photos). This took him through the dangerous Mediterranean Sea, past Malta, which was being bombed by the Luftwaffe.

Private John Green was a soldier in the infantry and had been fighting in Tunisia when he was shot during battle and died from his wounds on 6 April 1943. His mother received a letter from the King and a notice was placed in a newspaper (See photo of newspaper clipping and photo of the King's letter). He was buried at the Christian Cemetery in Sfax, Tunisia (See photo of his grave). After Private John Green's death, a letter was sent home to his mother from the Under Secretary of State for War awarding her son with a service medal. My neighbour has all of his three medals he received during World War II (see photo); they were the 1939-45 Star (given to everyone who fought/served in WW2 for the British Army), the Africa Star (as he fought in Africa) and his War Medal.

My neighbour also has a telegraph that Private John Green had sent to his mother during his time in the war, saying he was coming home at 5.30pm; the telegraph does not have a date on but we believe this is the last one he sent before he died (see photo). The North African campaign ended on 13 May 1943, which meant that Private John Green almost made it to the end of the campaign, which is so unfortunate, but he will always be remembered as a hero!