Lieutenant Norman Bark
Norman was the only son of Arthur Septimus Bark, J.P. and Annie Louise (nee Gorst). His father was Chairman of Litherland Urban District Council in 1927/28 and 1935/36. (Bark Road, Litherland was named in his honour). Norman enlisted in the 6th Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment in August 1914, arriving in France with his battalion in February 1915. He was involved in fierce fighting at Vimy Ridge and the Somme, subsequently being invalided home.
On rejoining his regiment, he was not considered fit for the front line infantry and was posted to the Army Records Office, Litchfield. In July 1917 he joined the Royal Flying returning to France in February 1918. Norman was killed in action near Moorslede, Ypres.
Lance Corporal Thomas Arthur Breakell
Thomas was born in 1897; the son of Thomas William Breakell and Annie Breakell (nee Sumner). He was a pre-War Territorial, having enlisted in Bootle on 6th February 1913. He gave his age on enlistment as 17 when he was actually only 15. Alongside his father, he was posted to the Front on 7th March 1915. Thomas Jnr suffered slight gunshot wounds at the Battle of Festubert on 17th May 1915. After treatment and convalescence his was sent to work as a clerk at the 28th Divisional Depot. In 1915, he began to suffer from gastritis, he was transferred back to England, on the S.S. Queen Alexandra, on 19th November 1915. He was in hospital until 3rd April 1916 and was discharged from the Army on 15th September 1916.
Thomas regularly attended medical boards and his condition was assessed as impairing his capacity to work by as much as 80%. He spent six weeks as an in-patient at the First Western General Hospital in Fazakerley during August and September 1917. He married Edith Burnett in 1919 at the Linacre Methodist Mission, Linacre Road, Litherland and a daughter, Doreen, was born later that same year. Thomas Jnr had worked as a postman based at Waterloo following demobilisation.
Corporal David Cruikshanks Garvie
David was born on 1st December 1892; the son of John Garvie and Emma Palmer Garvie (nee Benson). David was a provision merchant’s clerk. David was one of 165 men of “C” Company of his battalion who took part in a daylight raid on the German trenches over open ground in the Bois Grenier sector of the Estaires/Armentieres area with the objective of capturing enemy prisoners. The battalion was part of the 172nd (South Lancashire) Brigade of the 57th Division.
The attack was dubbed “Dicky’s Dash” after Captain Alan Dickinson, who planned the raid but did not take part in it. David was one of 35 men of his Company who died. Six others died later of their wounds. No prisoners were captured. Two Distinguished Conduct Medals and seven Military Medals were awarded to men of “C” Company for the bravery displayed during the raid. Captain Dickinson was awarded the Military Cross.
Petty Officer Thomas Renshaw
Thomas was the son of James and Martha Renshaw (formerly Ryan, nee Moores). Thomas enlisted on 11th June 1915 and was drafted for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 5th October 1915, joining the Nelson battalion on 21st October 1915. He received gunshot wounds to his left leg on 3th November 1916. Once recovered, he re-joined his battalion on 2nd December 916. Thomas was with the 7th Entrenching Battalion from 22nd February until 5th March 1918, when he was given home leave.
At the end of his leave, he joined the Hawke Battalion and was sent to France on 22nd March 1918. On 27th March 1918 he went missing but at 10 a.m. the same day, he died whilst a prisoner of war, from bomb wounds to his left hip, in the Reserve Feldlaz at Fins. His brother, James, also perished.
Able Seaman Bertrand Percy Trees
Bertrand was born on 13th December 1897 in Barbados, West Indies and he was the son of Reginald Pearson and Margaret Jane Trees. Bertrand was one of thousands of volunteers involved in the Zeebrugge Raid on 23rd April 1918, when British forces attempted to sink obsolete ships in the Bruges Canal entrance to the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge in order to prevent German U-boats and other vessels from using it as a base.
The attack was led by H.M.S. “Vindictive” and two Mersey ferries: the “Daffodil” and the “Iris II”. Eight Victoria Crosses were awarded although the raid was largely unsuccessful. Bertrand was one of over 200 British dead and over 300 were wounded.
