James Upton, V.C.

“LIKE A FOOTBALL MATCH.

“LOCAL V.C. AND THE FIGHT AT ROUGESBANKS.

“Corporal James Upton, 1st Sherwood Foresters, who recently gained the Victoria Cross, has written a graphic letter to his sister in Lincoln, of which city he is a native, though he lived for many years at Bulwell.

“Describing the fighting at Rougesbanks, where he gained the distinction, Corporal Upton says: “We were sitting down to breakfast, when one of our lookout-men shouted that the Germans were coming, and they started firing. They were coming not in dozens, but in hundreds. The captain shouted, “Take good aim, my lads, and fire low.” We did, and they were falling like corn. Still they came. Weight of numbers made us retire for a short distance.

“I was quite enjoying myself; it was just like playing a football match, and you were one goal up, and were fearing the other team scoring before it was time. In a gateway of a brick kiln we placed a Maxim gun. About a hundred yards down the road the Germans were coming. We formed up waiting for the order. It was like being pricked with pins and needles. At last the order came, and we met them hand to hand. It was a glorious fight. We charged them time after time, and at last we got them on the move. German corpses were picked up all the way. At last we got our own trenches back and some of theirs. We had not been in the trenches long before they were shelling us, and for five and a half hours you could not raise your hand or head an inch."

'Nottingham Evening Post', 2nd July 1915.