P71/28/21/15

Letter number 15 with numerous mentions of local men and events including:

9 Nov 1916

From: 1916 To: 1916

- Don Cox on home leave with a slight wound but not one day’s sickness in 17 months at the front, being one of four - left from a draft of 120 that had left Ampthill Camp for active service; - Sergeant A.W.Bartram had received the Military Medal and had sprained his ankle; - Sergeant Jim Cox sick in hospital; - Vic Ruffhead had been promoted to Bombadier in Mesopotamia, Archie Cox also in Mesopotamia; - Sid Glidle and Arthur Warwick in France, the latter expressing the hope that Zeppelins would leave Stevington Cross standing, the cross often being mentioned in letters home by Stevington men; - Charles Warwick in France and reported that when at Hitchin [Hertfordshire] he saw a Zeppelin shot down at Potters Bar [Hertfordshire] and suffered a raid by a second; - B.Bird with Motor Transport (Water Column) Army Service Corps in France; - Ted Cox a Lewis gunner in a quieter part of the line in France, Hermon Hulatt also in a quieter part of the line; - Walter Curtis had taken part in a successful advance, presumably on the Somme; - Reggie Ruffhead and Walter Bowyer, both Royal Garrison Artillery had both been moved from Nottinghamshire to County Donegal [Ireland], Walter Bowyer being the Colonel’s servant; - P.Keech joined up on 7 Nov 1916; - Alec Lacey, W.Warwick and A.Church were well, B.Seamarks’ foot was better and he had rejoined his Regiment as had Walter Tysoe who had been at base camp, sick; - Arthur Goldsmith, B Company, 6th York & Lancaster Regiment thought France much worse than the Peninsula [presumably Gallipoli], having been in heavy fighting from 14-30 Sep losing many friends; - Morris Bowyer took part in two attacks within a fortnight, had been servant to a French officer, attached to French artillery and was now in the cavalry; - Walter Cox in Egypt, west of the Nile, guarding against attacks by Senussi Arabs; - Walter Church reported that the French harvest was not completed by October; - Walter Harpin was well and serving with Ted[?] and Alfred Hulatt of Oakley; - George Seamarks of HMS Doris had been playing football weekly and was soon going to Malta, his brother Charles was a bit better and out of hospital; - H.Field in hospital with abscesses and a bad arm due to a vaccination; - Lieutenant J.Widdowson had died of wounds about a fortnight previously, [Commonwealth War Graves Commission information: Lieutenant J.J.Widdowson, 1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, died 23 Oct 1916, buried at Contay British Cemetery, Somme] he had been a visitor to Hart Farm and member of the cricket team; - Lieutenant A.Matson, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment had been slightly wounded on 25 Sep but had not left his duties.

item

Cox, Don,
Bartram, A.W.,
Cox, Jim,
Ruffhead, Victor,
Cox, Archie,
Glidle, Sid,
Warwick, Charles,
Bird, B.,
Cox, Ted,
Hulatt, Hermon,
Curtis, Walter,
Ruffhead, Reginald,
Bowyer, Walter,
Keech, P.,
Lacey, Alec,
Warwick, W,
Church, A.,
Seamarks, B.,
Tysoe, Walter,
Goldsmith, Arthur,
Bowyer, Morris,
Cox, Walter,
Church, Walter,
Harpin, Walter,
Hulatt, Alfred,
Seamarks, George,
Seamarks, Charles,
Field, H.,
Widdowson, J,
Matson, A.

STEVINGTON, First World War, World War One, general correspondence, AMPTHILL, sergeant, Military Medal, Mesopotamia, France, Hitchin, Potters Bar, military airships, Zeppelins, Somme Departement, Royal Garrison Artillery, Nottinghamshire, County Donegal, 6th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, Gallipoli, Egypt, Nile, OAKLEY, HMS Doris, Malta, DEATH, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, lieutenant, 1st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, Stevington Hart Farm, 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment