Dick Steele Bell

Thomas Grange Cragg was born in Liverpool in 1892 and was probably brought up by his uncle and aunt at Bridge End farm in Longsleddale. When he was 19 he was working as a farm labourer in Nether Levens. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was transferred to the 10th Battalion Hampshire Regiment. The Hampshires were part of a multinational force fighting the Bulgarians in Northern Greece. Tom was one of 35 men from the regiment killed in the attack at Roche Noire near Salonika during the first two days of September 1918. He was 26 and was buried in Karasouli Military Cemetery. Tom’s mother, Alice Cragg, was a dressmaker and milliner from Longsleddale who travelled widely for work. She gave birth to Tom at her brother in law’s Liverpool house and was unmarried. Tom’s father is unknown. Tom is probably commemorated in Skelsmergh because his uncle and aunt, Leonard and Grace Cragg had moved from Longsleddale to Stocks Farm in Scalthwaiterigg before the war.

A British patriotic postcard || ‘G E Shepheard’, the name of the artist who created this portrait of a boy dressed as a wounded British soldier wearing ‘hospital blues’, can be seen on the right, above the word ‘Oilette’. Written beneath the heading below, ‘“Little Boy Blue”’, are the following verses: ‘Little Boy Blue / Your little bit’s done. / You’ve hurried & worried / And fought with the Hun. // Little Boy Blue / We honour you so. / We give you a welcome / Wherever you go.’. The printed information on the reverse states, ‘Copyright London / LITTLE BOY BLUE / Raphael Tuck & Sons “Oilette” Postcard No. 8471 / ART PUBLISHERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING & QUEEN’ and ‘Printed in the United Kingdom’. The postcard is franked ‘LEWISHAM S.E. London / 8 30 ?M 6 DEC 16’. A name, address and message have been written in black ink: ‘Master Campbell / 202 Algernon Road / Lewisham / S.E. / Local’, ‘With love & best wishes for your birthday from Auntie Kate.’. || || A British patriotic postcard || Postcard