A SPECIAL Barrow ceremony was called for when a former Furness Railway worker won a gallantry medal during the First World War.

An article in the Dalton News of May 26 in 1917 noted: “An interesting ceremony was performed on the lawn in front of the Furness Railway Company’s general offices at Barrow on Saturday morning when Cpl James Francis Burgess, night foreman in the locomotive department of the company, was presented with the Military Medal for his bravery in France while serving with the Royal Engineers.

“Col O. B. B. Smythe-Bingham, commander of the Barrow Garrison, performed the company, being accompanied by Maj Maples, Alfred Aslett (secretary and general manager of the company), Mr F. J. Pettigrew (locomotive superintendent) and other officials.

“Col Smythe-Bingham said it was a pleasant duty that had fallen upon him to present that well-merited military decoration to Cpl Burgess.

“He had served with the 81 st Field Company of the Royal Engineers and had taken his full share in the many hardships of the campaign in France from June 15 in 1915 to December 1915.

“He congratulated the recipient most sincerely upon having been recommended for the award, and also the fact that he was alive to receive the decoration.

“It often happened that many gallant deeds performed at the front were unrecognised and many decorations that were awarded were not received because, unfortunately, the men did not survive to personally obtain the honour.

“No regiment at the front had had a harder time than the Royal Engineers, who, perhaps, could not be looked upon in quite the same light as other fighting troops, bit their duties were manifold and arduous.

“In the memorable retreat from Mons (1914), the engineers were behind to destroy bridges in the face of an advancing enemy and were thus brought under the concentrated fore of the enemy artillery, machine guns and rifles.

“Again in the advance from the Marne, the engineers were not only called upon to wreck bridges but also to build others.

“In the trench warfare, their duties were also difficult.

“Most of it was performed at night and one of the chief duties was to erect wire entanglements in front of the trenches.

“It was on an occasion of that sort that Cpl Burgess performed the gallant deed for which he was awarded the Military Medal.

“The colonel then read the account of the deed.”

The official citation for the Military Medal noted: “On the 30 th December, 1915, at Richeburg, near Neuve Chapelle, the infantry were raising the trench when the Germans began concentrating very heavy artillery fire on them.

“The infantry had newly arrived and Cpl Burgess left his security and went over the top to the working party, 100 yards distant, and managed to direct them back into safety.

“He was wounded in the chest in doing so.”

The Dalton News article noted: “The colonel then pinned the decoration on the corporal’s tunic and warmly shock him by the hand.

“Mr Aslett said that they were all pleased to hear of the gallantry of one of their employees and he hoped Cpl Burgess would be spared for many years to enjoy his well-merited honour.”

Mr Pettigrew said colleagues of Cpl Burgess appreciated what he had done.

Cpl Burgess had enlisted at the start of the war in August 1914 and had previously been in India for 10 years.