As we approach Remembrance Sunday, this story of three brothers from the village in WW1 has to be told. We thank them all for their services and remember.
I have copied the following text from a newspaper report dating from 1915.-
LCE. CPL G. Shields. D.C.M PTE F. Shields PTE B.W. Shields
There have been some remarkable instances of family patriotism at Deeping St Nicholas, but none finer than that of which Mr H. Shields, of Lonsdale Farm, can boast. He has three sons on their country’s service, and one of them. Corpl. G. Shields is the holder of the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Corpl. Shields has never yet been induced to describe, for the interest of the public, the deed which won for him so great an honour in a war in which honours are given out sparingly when so many are deserved, but we are able for the first time to give details of the very smart piece of work which brought the distinction.
He went to France early last August as a bandsman, but they have no use for bands in this grim business, and Corpl. Shields became an observer for his Colonel. One day he was returning from a trench to the Colonels headquarters, and on the way he was told that some of our men had been suffering from some very troublesome German snipers. He inquired the direction from which the shots came, and when told, he brought the field glasses, which every observer carries, into play.
Having made the enemy out in the distance, he asked for a rifle – he is a crack shot and took second prize in the Empire Competition. He fired four shots, and four German snipers lay dead. There had been a bunch of five of them, but one got away.
That fine shooting was no doubt the means of saving many British lives, for the five snipers had been taking a very heavy toll of our men.
Laying the rifle down, Corpl. Shields went on his way and thought no more about it. It was a considerable surprise to find that the D.C.M had been awarded him.
Later, he was with five others, including the Colonel, in a wood near Ypres, when a shrapnel shell burst near, and flung them all to the ground. Corpl. Shields received six wounds in the left leg, and one in the right. He was invalided home, and is now at Grimsby. It is unlikely that he will be able to return to the front.
Another of Mr H. Shields sons, Pte Fredk. Shields, of the 7th Lincolns, is in France, and a third, Pte B.W. Shields, of the 3rd Lincolns, is in training at Grimsby.
The father has been as patriotic as the boys themselves. He has reared a family of eight sons and five daughters out of a total of 15, and for 16 years has been a yardman and shepherd for Mr F. H. Cooke.
Source: Facebook
