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JOHN FREDERICK YEATMAN (1892-1897 :
37), Sergeant in the Royal Field Artillery, was the eldest son of Mr F S Yeatman
of Merridale Lane, Wolverhampton. He
was the first of a line of five brothers who for 18 years kept the family flag
flying at the school. Not aspiring
to high scholarship, though by no means lacking either in ability or in the will
to use it, they made their mark chiefly on the fields.
No name occurs more often in the records of cricket, football and
athletic sports, nor is any held in more honoured esteem.
On leaving school Jack (to use a friend’s privilege), entered the
service of Lloyds Bank and was Cashier at the Willenhall branch when the
outbreak of war gave him the longed-for relief from a routine that chafed him
and opened up the possibility of active participation in a magnificent
adventure. August 1914 saw him
enlisted in the North Midland Division of the Royal Field Artillery, and from
that time onward he was in heart and soul a soldier.
Through many leagues of France he went, knowing the bitterness of retreat
as well as the joy of success. From
time to time he had respites in England, as when he lay suffering from sever
gassing in 1917; but ever came the inevitable return.
It was on April 9th 1918 that he was reported missing.
As Quartermaster he had gone back to a village for supplies and it was
learned later that this village had been shelled and captured.
In what manner his life was lost has never been precisely ascertained,
but sufficient is known to preclude any hope that he escaped.
Yeatman had a large number of friends, particularly among the followers
of amateur Association Football. It
was he who founded the Old Wulfrunians’ Football Club, and, as its first
Secretary, piloted it to triumph. The
position that the Club now holds in the Midlands is largely due to his
exertions.
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