Ladies group enjoy historic talk about young emigrant who 'dressed to impress'
Gail welcomed the ladies to the meeting of Chase Terrace Ladies Group and introduced the speaker Steve Booth.
Steve gave a talk on the life of a young emigrant called Oswald from Audley near Stafford, who went to Australia and ended up on the Somme. It is a true story with a family connection to Steve by marriage. He has written a book which sold well in Australia.
Around the time Oswald considered going to Australia the area relied very heavily on coal mining. In January 1895 the Diglake Colliery flooded with the loss of life of 238 men and 78 boys. There is a memorial in a nearby cemetery.
Oswald was offered a cheap one way ticket to Australia and he emigrated on the SS Orontes. He became interested in boxing and decided to join up, but sadly he died in the Somme on 22 August 1918 as a result of machine gun fire.
The ladies found to talk interesting, particularly the photographs of Oswald which showed him to be someone who liked to dress to impress.
Chase Terrace Ladies Group meet at 7.30pm every second and fourth Thursday at the Burntwood Memorial Institute and enjoy a varied calendar of events and outings throughout the year.
By Gill Sweet - Contributor
