John Adshead's Story.
Born in 1889 at Macclesfield, son of corn merchant, William and Lucy Mabel, (nee, Adshead), Harrison, of, 42, Cumberland Street, Macclesfield. John was the third born of four sons, he also had five sisters. He was educated at Macclesfield Grammar School and was a very accomplished all-round sportsman. He was the Captain of Macclesfield Cricket Club; he played on several occasions for the County. He played football for Northern Nomads, and at golf, he won the Macclesfield Golf Club Championship Cup. He worked for the family business, Wm Harrison and Son, Corn Merchants, Chestergate. In the last quarter of 1913, he married Sybil Dodds at Macclesfield.
In the summer of 1916, John enlisted into the local Territorials and went to Oswestry for his training, he then joined the O.T.C. and progressed to Gales for further instructional training. His army record details that he was Acting Corporal, 4641, later changed to 291655 in the 3/7th Battalion Cheshire Regiment. He was commissioned to the Machine Gun Corps 16/01/1917.
John was drafted with the British Expeditionary Force to France, embarking 09/05/1917. Shortly after arriving, he suffered a slight wound; however, he was back in the trenches within three days. His unit were situated at Vieux Berquin and were defending the line between Hazebrouck and Bailleul, John was killed in action on the first day of the attack, Friday, 12 April 1918, he was aged 29 years.
The Cheshire Roll of Honour would like to thank H.A.G Carlisle for the information on John