Benjamin RUSHTON

‘Clitheroe Advertiser’ (3 August 1917)

(Kindly supplied by Shirley Penman of Clitheroe and Dorothy Falshaw of Gisburn)

HIT BY SHELL FRAGMENT

PIONEER BEN RUSHTON DIES OF WOUNDS

The many friends of Mr. Rd. Rushton, J.P., of Accrington, and Stone Lee, Grindleton, heard with great regret, on Tuesday, of the death in action of his eldest son, Pioneer Ben Rushton, of the Chemical Corps, Royal Engineers. The sorrowful news was received on Monday, in letters from his section officer, sergeant, and one of his chums. It appears that he was hit by a bursting shell on Sunday, the 22nd July, when close to his billet. A piece of shell perforated his left lung, and he died in hospital, a few miles behind the lines, at 9 a.m. the following day. He was buried in the cemetery near the hospital with military honours by a few of his comrades who could be spared, the service being conducted by the chaplain.

Pioneer Rushton joined the Army in February of last year, choosing as his regiment the corps for men who are skilled in the chemical trade. He was at Chatham for a very short time, going out to France fourteen days after enlistment. He had not been home since. All the letters received from his comrades testify to the fact that Pioneer Rushton had made himself much loved among the entire section by his unfailing good humour and cheerfulness even under the most trying circumstances.

Mr. Rushton’s youngest son, Captain F.V. Rushton, of the 5th East Lancashire Regiment T.F., is serving in France. He has been out since the commencement of the war, being invalided from Gallipoli, owing to dysentery, and is now attached to the 11th East Lancashire Regiment.

Pioneer Rushton was formerly in the service of Mr. Ashworth, chemical manufacturer, Bury. He was 39 and unmarried.

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966

1918

RUSHTON Benjamin of Stonelea Grindleton Yorkshire died 23 July 1917 in France from wounds Administration London 20 April to Richard Rushton manufacturer. Effects £202 17s 6d.

Grindleton War Memorial – Biographical Notes by Shirley Penman

BENJAMIN RUSHTON, Son of Richard and Elizabeth nee Hindle married 1876 Hyndburn area, was born in Accrington; enlisted in Accrington and resided in Accrington and Grindleton after his parent’s bought Stone Lee, Grindleton. Before enlistment Benjamin worked for James Spencer Ashworth of Dumer Chemical Works at Radcliffe, Bury.

”O” Special Company of the Royal Engineers was involved in the research and making of chemical weapons, part of the chemical war fare of WW1. His background would make him an ideal subject for enlistment into this secretive part of the Allied Forces. There do not appear to be many paper trails to follow with regard to the history of these companies probably due to the secrecy with which they were run.

Commemorated on:

Accrington (Oak Hill Park) Memorial
Grindleton Memorial