There is some confusion over John Rogers’ date of birth. The 1911 census and his army papers record his year of birth as 1899. However, the 1939 register records his date of birth as 2 February 1892. Hopefully, his marriage certificate will give us more details.
John was born in Hoptons Heath, a small village a few miles from Craven Arms in Shropshire. We cannot be certain of the names of his parents or siblings.
John married Martha Eakin in Atcham, outside Shrewsbury, on 19 September 1910. The following year their son, Harold G was born and their daughter, Gladys H was born in 1913. They lived at Lilleshall in Shropshire, where John was a farm labourer.
Before the outbreak of war, the family had moved to Keckwick, where John was employed as a teamster by J Fryer.
John enlisted into the Labour Corps of the Cheshire Regiment, service number 394007, on 18 May 1915. He served in the Dardanelles and Salonika. His conduct was generally ‘good’, but on 9 January 1918, he was deprived of 7 days pay for using improper language on parade.
In November 1915, John contracted rheumatic fever and was admitted to St Paul’s Hospital, Malta. He was invalided to England for 6 months and spent 3 or 4 months at Kinmel Park convalescent hospital, near Rhyl.
He was drafted back to Salonika on 28 October 1916. The following June he contracted malaria, and was again hospitalised for a few weeks. He suffered from several more attacks of the disease. John was demobbed in July 1919 and awarded a pension of 8 shillings from 25 September 1919 due to his illness, but on re-examination the following January, no further payments were authorised as he was said to no longer have any disability.
John returned home, initially living at Keckwick again, before the family moved to Post Office Row in Moore. They were living there at the time of the 1939 register. John was a farm foreman and his son, Harold, a poultry farm worker.
John died in 1950, aged 59 years.