Mexborough and Swinton Times, June 28, 1929
A Swinton Veteran.
Last Thursday at a garden party in the grounds of the “Beeches”, Swinton, Mrs W.P.Turner presented Staff Sergeant Maurice Daniels, in charge of the Swinton Brigade of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, with a silver medal inscribed “For long service and special work.” Staff sergeant Daniels had fully merited the honour. He became acquainted with ambulance work in 1895 when he joined the St. John Ambulance Association and several times tried to form a division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in Swinton.
At that time, ambulance men would not hear of such a thing so that when a division was formed at Rotherham in 1906, Mr. Daniels became a member of that division. Two years later, his ambition was realised in Swinton, for through his efforts a division was formed in the town. He was at once raised to the rank of corporal and the following year to sergeant.
Since 1918, he has been in charge of the Swinton Division and four years ago, that status was officially recognised by the Brigade in raising him to the rank of staff-sergeant. The division when formed had sixteen members and at present has twenty-five. Twice it was the intention of the members to disband, but Mr. Daniels’ efforts pulled the division through such troublesome times. Never has the division had a single failure in the annual examinations, and Mr. Daniels, except during the war has rarely missed sitting himself—always with success.
Mr. Daniels is employed with the L.M.S. Railway Company as a signalman and also as an ambulance man. He holds the Company’s gold medal for long service as an ambulance worker and in 1914 was presented with a silver medal in recognition of his work when a passenger fell from a train. The Swinton Division should be proud of their leader.