Discover the story of Weymouth's most decorated Great War soldier

Corporal Jack Coleman served as servant, or batman, to Lieut Colonel Lewis Wood, commander of the 2nd Border regiment.

He joined the regular Army after volunteering for Kitchener's Army and it was at the Battle of Festubert on the Western Front, on May 15, 1915, that his gallantry was such it would eventually be rewarded with the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), the second highest award after the Victoria Cross.

Reports show that Jack, together with a Sergeant Major Davenport helped return the badly-wounded Lieut Colonel Wood to the British trenches 'under very destructive fire', where he died of his injuries.

On the same day, Corporal Coleman also helped bring back 50 wounded men 'under intermittent rifle and shell fire'.

His son Gerald, who lives in Weymouth with his wife Rosina, described how the battle of Festubert, which was fought over a 10-day period, saw the Borders 'sacrificed' for little gain.

“It was decided to attack the German trenches and the Borders were sacrificed because they were caught between the enemy and a rolling barrage thundering over them,” he said.

“The troops came out of the trenches and moved forward under the fire. The barrage stooped and the Borders continued to move forward and when it restarted, the fire from their own guns came down on them and killed quite a few people.

“It was a terrible mistake, but they kept going forward.”

Lieut Colonel Wood died after being shot in the back and after his death Jack was moved to a machine gun platoon.

“He should have been given the Victoria Cross but the officer in charge wouldn't sign the paperwork,” said Gerald. “We heard that afterwards from the Lieut Colonel's wife. She was a lovely woman who sent us Christmas presents when we were children as a way of thanking dad for what he had done.”

Gerald also remembers how Jack suffered terribly from post-traumatic stress disorder after the war.

“During the war he was invalided home with 'debility' which was, basically, absolute exhaustion, but he always had to go back to the Front because he was a regular soldier.

“He had a gas whistle among his war things, which he had to blow when there was a mustard gas attack. At that time there was nothing they could do against the gas, they didn't have masks, except wee into a pot, soak a rag in it and tie it over their face.

“He never talked about what he did during the war and after the war he got these terrible flashbacks. My brothers and I were children at the time and didn't understand what was happening. He used to sit and stare into the fire, he never hurt anyone but mum would say 'go to bed and leave him, he'll be OK'.”

After the The Great war, Jack worked for Halletts on Weymouth's harbourside, stamping and checking spirits and cigarettes for the Channel Islands. He also worked for the Great Western Railway and as a carpark attendant in the summer months.

Despite the effects of the First World War, Jack's bravery continued throughout his life and Gerald, who also had three bothers Roy, Graham and Michael, remembers several selfless incidents during the Second World War.

“He always enjoyed a pint and would drink in the Adelaide. When it was bombed he went along and helped dig out Mayor Goddard, who ran the place. Many years later the mayor's daughter came over and thanked dad and said she remembered the pub and that it had a parrot whose language was so bad it was eventually given to the naval base at Whale Island at Portsmouth.”

He also rescued a woman and her new-born baby from a bombed house opposite what is now the Admiral Hardy pub in Weymouth, and he also helped rescue Mr Cross, the disabled newspaper delivery man who lived over the way from the Coleman family in Shirecroft Road.

Gerald said: “After the First World War, nothing phased him. When the bombs started dropping at night, mum would take us boys into the Anderson shelter but dad would stay in bed saying he had to get his sleep because he had to go to work in the morning.

“Dad was fond of his gardening and our garden led up to the old Australian camp from the First World War. We would go exploring there and often find bits of horse harness and empty gun cartridges.

“One night there was a raid of incendiary bombs and they did for his prize gooseberries. Dad was furious, he never did go much on the Germans!

“He also dug a trench by the hedge in the front garden and one day we were out there with mum and a German plane flew over, machine gunning the street as it went, so we all dived into the trench. It saved our lives.”

It is worth noting that after 10 days of brutal, bloody fighting at the battle of Festubert, the Allied forces had gained just 1km of land at a cost of 16,000 lives.