Graham Harold Slack
Graham was in the boot and shoe trade before enlisting.
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
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Graham Harold was the only son of John Harold and Tressie Slack (née Hurst).
His father John Harold was the son of Herbert Slack (b. 1865), a miner, and his wife Mary (b. 1866). In 1911 John was living at 29 Gladstone Street, Mansfield, with his parents and siblings George Ernest (21) a coal miner hewer, Harriet (16) and Mabel (14) both runners-on (hosiery factory), Gladys (12), William Herbert (10), Barbara (8), Louie (5) and Thomas Allen (3).
John Harold and Tressie Hurst were married at Mansfield parish church on 25 May 1912. John (20) was a labourer, and still living with his parents at 29 Gladstone Street. Tressie (19) was the daughter of Alfred Wilkinson Hurst, also a miner, and his wife Jane, and living at 8 Bancroft Lane, Mansfield.
John and Tressy had three children who were born in Mansfield: Marjery/Marjory b. 1912 (OND), Graham Harold b. 27 September 1913 and Tressy birth registered 1915 (JFM).
Their father served with the Sherwood Foresters in the Great War and was killed in action on 16 October 1916.
John's widow married Percy Briggs in 1920 (OND). Percy (b. 1895) was the son of Charles and Elizabeth Ann Briggs, who had eight children, seven of whom survived childhood. His family came from Normanton Spring, Woodhouse, Sheffield, where in 1911 his mother Elizabeth (married, head of household) was living at 9 Chapel Street with five of her seven children: Percy (16), a colliery pony driver (underground), Oswald (13), a pit top worker/bankman, Constance (10), Thomas William (7) and John (3).
Percy and Tressie had a daughter, Joyce, in 1921 (AMJ) and Percy, a coal miner hewer at Langwith Colliery (Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Company), his wife, her three children and their daughter Joyce (u/1m) were recorded at 31 Gladstone Street, Mansfield on the 1921 Census.
Tressie Briggs died aged 29 in 1923 (reg. JFM) and her three children by her first marriage went to live with their paternal grandparents, Herbert and Mary Slack, at 29 Gladstone Street.
Percy Briggs has not yet been traced after 1921 but it is likely that his daughter went to live with his mother, Mary Elizabeth Briggs, in Sheffield. Joyce Briggs (b. 26 May 1921), a cutting case maker, was living with her grandmother on Carlin Street, Sheffield, in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled. Also in the household were three of her grandmother's children; Florence, Thomas William and John.
John and Tressie's daughter Marjory, a shoe machinist, was still living with her paternal grandparents, Herbert, a retired colliery hewer, and Mary Slack, at 29 Gladstone Street in 1939. Also in the household were one of Herbert and Mary's children, Louie ('incapacitated'), and John Slack (b. 1870), a retired gas works labourer.
Graham Harold has not yet been traced on the 1939 Register but the probate record gave his address as 29 Gladstone Street.
His sister Tressie had married Gilbert Hoskins in 1937 (reg. Hitchen Herts) and in 1939 they were living in Letchworth, Hertfordshire; the records of two other members of the household remain closed. Gilbert died in 1969 and his widow Tressie in 1984 (buried Wilbury Hill Cemetery, Letchworth Garden City).
Their sister Marjory died in July 1999 (reg. Mansfield).
Graham Slack served with 1/5 Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment).
The Battalion sailed from Liverpool in late October 1941 onboard SS Orcades, a P&O liner which had been converted to a troopship. They landed in Singapore on 29 January 1941 and the attack by the Japanese began less than a fortnight later on 8 February. Singapore fell to the Japanese on 15 February and the surviving members of the Battalion were taken prisoners of war.
Graham was held at Camp No. 3 on Formosa. He had been ill since 8 April 1943 and died of maleria at the Camp at 2pm on 14 October 1943. He was buried in Sai Wan War Cemetery (Hong Kong) grave ref. V.L.7. The history of the Cemetery indicates that his remains were transferred from Formosa after the war.
CWGC history of Sai Wan Cemetery (extract): ‘Most of those buried in this cemetery were killed at this time [prior to and after Christmas Day 1941 when the Hong Kong Garrison was forced to surrender], or died later as internees or prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation. The remains of those who died as prisoners in Formosa (now Taiwan), the Philippines and mainland China were also brought to Sai Wan for burial after the war.’ (www.cwgc.org)
Graham's father, John Harold Slack, served in the 12th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (18474 Corporal) in the First World War and died of wounds at 34 Casualty Clearing Station on 16 October 1916. He is buried in Grove Town Cemetery, Meaulte, France. (See record on this Roll of Honour.)
Graham's cousin, Bernard Slack, the son of George Ernest (older brother of John Harold), served in the Royal Navy (P/SX28984 Ordinary Seaman) and was killed in HMS Esk in September 1940. Bernard's maternal uncle, 29581 William Rigg, 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters, was killed in France on 16 September 1917. (See records on this Roll of Honour.)
CWGC Additional information: Son of John Harold and Tressie Slack, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
Graham's sister Margery, 29 Gladstone Street, Mansfield, was named as his next of kin on the Japanese POW record and she was his legatee.
Probate. Slack. Graham Harold of 29 Gladstone-street Mansfield Nottinghamshire died 14 October 1943 on war service Administration Lincoln 20 November to Margery Slack spinster. Effects £140 5s. 6d.
Additional research/record updated RF (June 2026).
Photo of Graham Harold Slack
Buried in Sai Wan War Cemetery, Hong Kong. (www.cwgc.org)