John (Jack) Trimble
Celebrated His 16th Birthday on the battlefields of France
“When the oportunity of sending you on leave when things was quiet, you got ten days leave. That’s all. It could been 12 months. You were delighted to get home but it was very very difficult coming away because there was always a crying match. It was very difficult leaving your mother. The last time I was wounded and had to go back to the front again, I got my father to tell my mother. I got away early in the morning, and never told her ‘cause I couldn’t face up to it”
John Trimble, known as Jack, was far too young to go to war. Born in Moyola Street, Belfast, in November 1898, he was the second born child of John Trimble, a plasterer by trade, and his wife Eliza Jane Mehaffy. The couple’s eldest child Alexander died of convulsions when he was only three months old and John was born 11 months later. Together the couple had 9 children; after Alexander and Jack, they had Alexander, Samuel, Violet, Lilia, William, Sarah and Lilia Winifred. The first Lilia died of measles before her second birthday. Alexander and Samuel would also serve in the First World War.
Jack was only 15 years old when war broke out. However he lied about his age, raising it by 2 years and celebrated his sixteenth birthday in France. He married Ellen Jane (Nellie) Watson in 1922, and had three sons, John, Raymond and William (known as Austin). Jack also served in the Merchant Navy for the duration of the Second World War.
When he retired, Jack emigrated to New Zealand to join his son. The Westlake Boy's High in Auckland, invited Jack to talk to a group of school children about his experiences. Thankfully his memories were recorded so we can hear this amazing man’s voice, complete with his Belfast accent.
Jack died in Auckland in 1997, aged 98 years old, leaving his 3 sons, 8 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
Jack was identified by his niece, and member of Alexandra Presbyterian Church Bertha McIlroy.
Jack’s marriage to Ellen Jane Watson 1922, his two brothers Alexander and Samuel either side of him.
On Battle.
"You’ve heard of All Quiet on the Western Front? Well I suppose that comes from the time when there was a lull on your front. You had to be more particular in your look-out then. We used to have a wee mirror that we put on top of our bayonet and held it up so you could see a bit of what was going on to your front. All the barbed wire was in the front. You always went out at night on a working party or patrol to see how the wire was. Of course, all the Lewis guns and machine guns were trained on the wire and anybody who was caught in there had a very bad time. When it rained it was dreadful. I was up at Ypres for the 31st July attack ... we had our tanks there but everyone got bogged and the poor old horses were strewn all over the place. You always had to be on your guard - you never knew what they were up to and they never knew what you were up to – they were the same."
L-R David Moody, Mary Olive Moody, William Hugh Watson, Sarah Watson, Jack Trimble. All three of these men served.
On Comradeship.
"Amongst soldiers, however the hardship, the British Tommy in particular, was always at his best ... and the camaraderie that existed ... no family came near. Thus when you see these reunions today and they’re all gathered (saying) ‘You would have died for me and I would have died for you’ - that’s how serious it was with the comradeship. 'Because if you didn't have enough to eat, I'd share it with you and vice versa'. When you got a parcel from home, you just put it on the ground. My mother made 2 griddles of bread and sent them every week with a piece of butter and a bar of chocolate. That came every week and of course you just (shared). There were always three or four of you and you were always in a group and you were good friends. But this existed throughout and you made an understanding that if you were 'Blightied', in other words wounded, and had to go back, the parcel had to be opened. And the same if you got killed - it had to be opened. So that was one thing I always look back on - the camaraderie that existed there among the soldiers, no matter how difficult the hardship was."
The Castleton Lanterns slide - three individual images.
Jack Trimble in the centre, with his two brothers Alexander and Samuel either side.
On Looking Back.
"After (battle) you were very proud that you were one of those that went in and more thankful that you were one of those that came out. But I never regretted it. I was young. I did often think of my mother - the feelings she must have had... but you were young and irresponsible and as I say, enthusiasm knew no bounds in 1914. We were all very proud. We had a great Division and they were all just as enthusiastic as I was. Candidly, I would do it over again - you know more now than you did then, but you just wanted to be there"