Walsall war hero remembered 100 years on
The story of a Black Country war hero is finally being told 100 years after he received one of the UK’s most prestigious medals.
Ernest James Picken, born and bred in Bloxwich, Walsall, was a coal miner turned soldier who fought across France and Belgium during the First World War.
He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field after staving off a German counter-attack while in the trenches near Loos in France despite being shot.
His story had remained untold, mainly because his family had no idea about his heroic past until they began their research.
Born in 1891, Mr Picken lived on Elmore Row, near Elmore Green, for most of his early life. At the age of 19, the 1911 census listed him as a coal miner/underground horse cart driver.
He joined the Fifth South Staffordshire Regiment in 1914 and remained a solider in the First World War until the first quarter of 1919.
His campaign in the Great War saw him fight across both Belgium and France. But it is the latter where he received his Military Medal for bravery.
On June 8, 1917, he ‘showed great courage and initiative’ as he fought off a German counter-attack, only to be wounded himself in his process.
He was recommended for immediate reward and was handed the Military Medal not long afterwards.
The citation for his medal reads: “During a raid in the hostile trenches he showed great courage and initiative and set a splendid example to his men.
“He set up observation on the enemy trenches from which a local counter-attack was attempted.
“He directed Lewis gun and rifle fire on the enemy. Only about 12 Germans were able to get over the parapet and were shot down by the fire commanded by this non-commissioned officer.”
The citation also notes that Mr Picken was wounded and forced to return to England.
It was here the only photograph the family have of him was taken, as he posed in his hospital blues with the material version of his recently-awarded medal.
As well as his Military Medal, Mr Picken was also awarded the 1914/15 Star, the Victory Medal 1914-1919 and the Silver War Badge.
His family do not think the other three medals were awarded for anything specific, other than his participation in the war.
While back in the UK following his injuries in France, he attended a central infantry course in September 1917 and was rated very good or above average in every category.
His bayonet fighting instruction was also highly praised.
While in the army, he was a keen boxer and notes found by his surviving family showed he won a competition at some stage during his service.
After the war, Mr Picken, who had six grandchildren and lived to meet the first five, returned back to Bloxwich and to his wife Rhoda Elizabeth, whom he had married shortly before the war, and his daughter Bessie, who was born in January 1913.
Not much is known of his life after the war, however, he did move from Elmore Row to an area known as the flats, a collection of cottages just off Field Road. To help make ends meat, he boxed occasionally at Pat Collins fairground just around the corner.
He died in 1955. He had suffered from ill health throughout his life following the war after being gassed in the trenches.
His life story and tale of bravery came to light after his granddaughter, 65-year-old Pat Parsonage, from Bloxwich, began researching his life after being made the guardian of his medals following the death of her mother and his daughter Bessie, aged 97.
Mrs Parsonage, who lives on Lower Farm, said: “I just wanted to honour him and pay tribute to him. I want to get his story online at some point so it can be something for the family and the future generations to look back at it. It would be nice for him to be remembered.”
