THE son of a war veteran who fought in the Dardanelles Campaign has found out his father headed a relief committee to help combat the devastating effects of the war.

Sergeant Joseph Morris, of Astley Street in Tyldesley, joined the 5th Manchester Regiment (which later became the Royal Artillery) in the Territorial Force in 1906 and fought in the Dardanelles in 1915 during World War One.

He served as a sergeant for 10 and a half years before he came back to Tyldesley in 1916.

In March, 1915, during World War One (1914-18), British and French forces launched an ill-fated naval attack on Turkish forces in the Dardanelles in North Western Turkey, hoping to take control of the strategically vital strait separating Europe from Asia.

The failure of the campaign at the Dardanelles, along with the campaign that followed later that year in Gallipoli, resulted in more than 250,000 casualties.

Kenneth Morris, aged 81, who is one of six siblings, said his dad never spoke about the war but entrusted him with his war medal and records when he died.

Ken said: "After the war, he saw that no one was doing anything for the orphans and widows, they were just forgotten about.

"So my dad headed a relief committee to ask businesses to give money to those affected.

"I think he raised £3 which was an awful lot in those days.

"Don't let my dad's suit fool you, I think my mother must have got that out of the pawn shop. Everyone was very poor in those days.

"The picture shows my dad at the head of the table and those around him are all businessmen whom he was asking for money from.

"I think it was taken in Tyldesley Library.

"He never spoke about the war and it is hard to find out information on it.

"Why has it been forgotten about when thousands of lives were lost?

"The only thing my father said about it was that soldiers shouldn't have had to fight in it."

After the war Mr Morris served in Cleworth pits for 30 years and also as a park ranger for Tyldesley Park.

He was father to six children, Joe, Lesley, Ronald, Anne, Elsie and Ken.

Ken added: "He was a task master, he never stopped being a sergeant.

"But he turned in to a true gentleman."