Stephen John Harding

Jack was a coal miner at Broad Oak colliery. Though not recorded on the nominal roll, he is remembered as an Auxilier by family and researcher Donald Brown. The son of Stephen and Ellen he was related to Henry Bailey. He married Caroline Coggins in 1928.

His daughter Janet recalled; "I was talking to my 84 year old brother yesterday. We were reminiscing things from our childhood. Dad was an explosive expert from the mine in Pensford. To my surprise my brother told me that when Dad was dying in 1968 he told him that he, along with our Uncle Henry, belonged to Churchill's secret army and had signed the official secrets act so had never told anyone else. Until now my brother had kept Dad's secret.

I remember Dad having detonators and fuse wire in a locked cupboard in our little cottage and watching him clamp fuse wire into the detonator. My brother also remembers a locked chest in an outhouse that we were forbidden to go into where there were two hand grenades, gelignite and a rifle plus ammunition".