Last updated at 12:09, Thursday, 09 August 2012

A NEW display has been set up at the Ruskin Museum dedicated to the story of Coniston hero James Hewitson.

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Central to the display is the Victoria Cross winner’s Matchless motorcycle which was donated by the Jack Hellen garage and has been restored by a small team of volunteers.

Lance Corporal Hewitson was born at Thwaite Farm, Coniston, on October 5 in 1892.

The new display notes: “He was the second son of a farmer who also drove the Coniston coach.

“His first 22 years were spent, first as a pupil at Coniston Church of England School, then working for his father on the family farm at Waterhead, and later as a farm labourer near Kendal and, afterwards, near Preston.

“In 1914, three months after the outbreak of war, Hewitson enlisted.

“He survived four years of trench warfare and was wounded four times but on recovery was sent back to the front on each occasion.”

His Victorian Cross, the highest British award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, was won with local regiment The King’s Own at Givenchy, France, on April 26 in 1918.

The medal was presented by King George V in France on August 8 and the soldier returned home to a civic welcome.

He had led a daylight attack on a series of machine gun posts in craters with ‘dash and vigour.’

The official citation noted: “The extraordinary feats of daring performed by this gallant NCO crushed the hostile opposition at this point.”

The display notes: “In 1926 Hewitson bought a Matchless 500 motorcycle.

“It cost £47 17/6 (£47.87) and like other motorcyclists of the time, as a concession to health and safety, wore his flat cap back-to-front when driving the machine.

“Ten years after returning home, and still carrying shrapnel embedded in his back, the mental suffering he had sustained during combat caused him to be frequently hospitalised over the following 18 years.

“Described as a lifelong teetotaller, an expert hedger and a passionate traveller, Hewitson died in 1963 and was given a military funeral in Coniston church, which was full to capacity.”

l The display can be seen at the Ruskin Museum in Yewdale Road, Coniston.

First published at 16:20, Wednesday, 08 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk