Lives of the First World War

known 27th October 1916

ONE OF THE MOST GALLANT” – OFFICER’S FINE TRIBUTE TO SERGEANT HORDERN – Macclesfield’s first Military Medallist, Lance-Sergeant Joseph Hordern, Shropshire Light Infantry, has been killed in action. The painful intelligence reached his wife, who resides with her children at 8 Fountain Street, on Saturday morning, when she received a letter, dated Oct 17th, from Captain A Fox: “Everybody here in the regiment was most awfully sorry to hear that Sergt Hordern had been killed… Sergt Hordern was one of the most gallant men in the regiment… He has been in the same company as I have since August 1915, and he has always been conspicuous in volunteering for dangerous jobs. On Good FRiday night when he won the Military medal he was with me… he volunteered to go back across the open through terrific shell and machine gun fire to take a message. he delivered the message, and then, instead of staying behind with the supports as I expected him to, as it was daylight by then, he worked his way back to me and stayed with his men in the front line all day. He was killed [by a piece of shell] on the 11th inst in the evening, while digging a new trench. Death must have been instantaneous…

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