Joel Halliwell VC

b. 22/09/1881 Middleton, Lancashire. d. 14/06/1958 Oldham, Lancashire.

Joel Halliwell (1881-1958) was born on 22nd September 1881 at 3 Parkfield, Middleton, near Manchester. His father, James Halliwell, was from Middleton, and was a cotton cloth dyer and silk winder. He married Sarah Spencer (originally from Oldham) on 18th April 1881 at Holy Trinity Church, Middleton. Records show that James and Sarah had five children, though one died as an infant. Tragically, one of his brothers Herbert, died at the age of 17, and another, Thomas was killed in action in 1916.

Joel was educated at Parkfield Church of England School, Middleton, where he was a keen footballer. He worked at a Middleton cotton mill as a general labourer and later became a cotton cap packer. He then became a foreman at the Rain and Forest Mill, Oldham. He enlisted in the Lancashire Fusiliers on 13th November 1914 at Bury. He joined the 11th Battalion on 17th November and was fined four days pay for being absent without leave on 16th January 1915. He was then sentenced to three days detention for overstaying his pass by nearly a day on 20th August and went to France with the Battalion on 25th September. He was appointed lance corporal on 13th January 1917 and was promoted lance corporal on 16th June.

Joel Halliwell VC

On 27th May 1918, Halliwell was captured by the Germans and remained a prisoner with them for a short time before he managed to escape. On his way back to the British lines, seeing many wounded comrades lying on the ground, he mounted a stray German horse which he rode back to pick up a wounded man and brought him back to safety, in spite of heavy shellfire. He went on to repeat this process, back and forth, through heavy enemy gunfire, with no thought for his own safety, some ten times, until his horse received a severe wound and he could no longer continue.

Lance Corporal Halliwell was a modest man, maintaining that he had simply done as he was told and that any other man in his battalion would have done what he had done if they had the chance, as they never thought of anything but their duty.

He returned to Middleton where he was celebrated a hero. Thousands rallied to witness the Civic Parade laid on to welcome Joel and to see this brave man of our town for themselves. He modestly maintained that he had simply done what any comrade would have done having had the chance as it was only their duty. How he wasn’t hit himself is nothing short of a miracle but saving his comrades was foremost on his mind rather than that of his own safety.

He received the Victoria Cross for valour (London Gazette 25th July 1918), the highest award possible, and remains the only Middleton man to date to have recieved this honour. He was presented with the medal by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 11th September 1918.

He went on to marry Sarah Greaves in 1920 at Holy Trinity Church in Middleton, and had three daughters (Vera, Nora and Dora). Joel ran The New Inn pub in Long Street, Middleton between 1930-1940 but became tired of being asked by regulars to recount his exploits in the war. His miniature VC was stolen from the bar prior to 1939. He tried to re-enlist in the Second World War but was rejected due to his poor eyesight and a wound to his left leg. He became a foreman for Middleton Highways Department and finally worked for a firm of dyers. He attended four VC reunions and the coronations of George V and Elizabeth II.

He died on 14th June 1958 at Oldham and District General Hospital, aged 76, his funeral having full military honours, and is buried in Boarshaw Cemetery, Middleton, Lancashire in his parents’ grave. In 1991, a new headstone was erected over his grave. On 27th May 2014 Corporation Street was renamed LCpl Joel Halliwell V.C. Way in his honour. There is also a new housing estate called Halliwall Park in Langley, Middleton which was built in 2019. There is also a plaque on the wall of Middleton Crematorium Chapel in Boarshaw New Cemetery. In 2026, a VC commemorative stone was laid in his honour in Halliwell Park (it was originally planned to be laid in 2019).

His medal group including the VC, British War Medal (1914-20), Victory Medal (1914-19), King George VI Coronation Medal (1937) and Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953) are not publicly held. They are owned by the family and have been on loan at the The Fusiliers’s Museum in Bury, Lancashire. The Elizabeth II Coronation Medal is not with the group.

LOCATION OF MEDAL: LANCASHIRE FUSILIERS MUSEUM, BURY, LANCASHIRE. (ON LOAN FROM FAMILY).

BURIAL PLACE:

BOARSHAW NEW CEMETERY, MIDDLETON, LANCASHIRE. PLOT D, GRAVE 1068.