We visited The Salford Armed Forces And Veterans, Breakfast Club in Winton today to speak to organiser, Glenn Croston, who told us of plans to remember, Harry George Crandon and William Mariner, two local men who won the coveted Victoria Cross. Their names which are on a Roll of Honour at the Breakfast Club and will be added to new benches to be sited at the Swinton Cenotaph on November 2nd this year, the names of other medal winners will be added shortly. Today we spoke to Linda Martinez who is a relative of George Henry Crandon who won his Victoria Cross in South Africa, for putting a wounded comrade onto his own horse, and taking him to safety whilst dodging hails of bullets on a 1,000 yard dash, he died in 1953 and is commemorated by a sheltered housing complex in Pendlebury which bears his name, and is buried in Swinton cemetery. Also attending was Margaret Clarke who is married into the Mariner family who brought along a treasure trove of photos, letters, postcards, many of them from William Mariner to his mother who lived at, Fletcher Street, Lower Broughton, Salford. Mariner was a fascinating character who I have written about before, who it must be said was a bit of a character, but the type of man you would want next to you in the trenches, a born fighter who didn't seem to know the meaning of fear. He had served in the British Army since 1889 and was stationed in India, from 1901 -1907, being discharged in 1912 for several misdemeanours, he re-enlisted in August 1914 and was sent to France, serving in The Kings Royal Rifle Corps, on the night of 22nd May 1915, his unit was pinned down by German troops, he scrambled through barbed wire and hurled bombs into their placements, he actually waited until more Germans advanced and threw more bombs at them, wiping them out. For this he was rightly awarded the Victoria Cross and returned to Salford in triumph, he went on his own to Buckingham Palace to receive his medal from The King, sadly his mother and sister had to pay their own train fare to see him be decorated, ironically they went to Windsor first, then onto Buckingham Palace and were too late to see him receive it. The Army wanted Mariner to be a "poster boy" for the army and help in recruiting new soldiers, however he had other thoughts and went out enjoying his fame, often running into scrapes with the police and authorities until he returned in October 1915, and true to form he was killed in action attacking German lines, August 1916 aged 34. It is right and fitting that these, two brave men should be remembered and full credit to Glenn Croston and his team of volunteers at The Salford Armed Forces And Veterans, Breakfast Club for ensuring that their names shall live for ever more.
