John William Ridley

Jack Ridley was born in 1893 at Inkerman near Tow Law. When his mother died in 1897, he was sent to live with an uncle on a farm in Allendale. After he left school, he returned to Tow Law and began work underground. He volunteered for the Army in October 1915 and joined the DLI, serving with both the 8th and 22nd Battalions DLI during the Great War. In 1918, during the Battle of the Lys, he rescued a badly wounded man under heavy fire and was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery. After the war, he returned home and continued to work as a miner. In 1952, with the mines closing, he moved to Rochdale to find work. Jack Ridley died in 1960.