John was born in North Meols in 1897, the only son of John and Alice Jane (née Jackson) of Gorsuch Farm, Scarisbrick. The Ackers family had been farming at Gorsuch since 1841 and John spent his childhood within the agricultural community. As a young child he lived on Hurlston Green. By 1911 the family had moved to St. Helens and as a 13 year old schoolboy John was living with his parents and younger sister, Alice, at Haresfinch Farm.
It is likely that his father was still farming in St. Helens at the beginning of the war as John enlisted in nearby Warrington. He was a strapping young man and he was called up on 25th July 1916, aged 19 years old. The First World War had quickly developed into siege warfare with an increasing importance placed on artillery. It was inevitable that a rapid expansion
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There were also home-based units of the Royal Artillery which provided the defence for key ports and coastal installations and provided depots or training units. Assigned to the 11th Company (Southern Coastal Defences) John underwent training at No.1 Reinforcement Depot.
The Depot was based at Cooden Camp, a military training camp established at the start of the war in Bexhill, Sussex. The camp housed a large number of artillery troops including men from the Commonwealth countries of South Africa and Australia. By the time John arrived the Royal Garrison Artillery depot controlled the entire site and were renamed the No.1 Reinforcing Depot Royal Siege Artillery. The camp remained a training post for the next eighteen months and schooled soldiers of all ranks.
John had completed his training by 5th February 1917 and was appointed to the basic rank of acting bombardier. However, his military service was about to be cut short by illness and he was admitted to the isolation hospital in Bexhill where he succumbed to