P71/28/21/20

Letter number 20 with numerous mentions of local men and events including:

10 Jul 1917

From: 1917 To: 1917

- Arthur Goldsmith had been seriously wounded in the leg, shoulder and arm and sent to a hospital in Macclesfield [Cheshire]; - Sergeant Jim Cox had been home on leave having been wounded in the leg with no power over the foot below the ankle and was in hospital at Kensington [Middlesex]; - Fred Dawson was thought to have been captured by the Turks but this proved to be untrue; he had recently seen Sid Munday, Frank Butt and W.Drage and mentioned seeing fields of wheat spoiling and expressed the opinion that the Turks would soon be driven from Gaza; - Roger [surname not given, possibly the author’s son?] was having an easy time in France and feared that female “Froggies” might take over his job; - Bert Bird was well and in Belgium; - C.Allen, attached to Veterinary Corps was well; - Arthur Church, Walter Warwick, Alec Lacey and Victor Harding were all well; - James Ruffhead had been pleased to return to Egypt from Salonika; - Victor Ruffhead was probably at the fall of Baghdad and Archie Cox, also in Mesopotamia, was in hospital; - Bert Seamarks, a signaller, had been promoted to Corporal and had been in heavy fighting on 3 May and was proud of his Battalion winning two VCs (the first at Thiepval in Sep 1916 the second at Miraumont in Mar 1917) and was then at a School of Telegraphy; - Lance Corporal Walter Curtis was well as was Fred Prentice who was undertaking administrative duties in Western Australia; -Don Cox, Sid Glidle and Walter Church were all well as was Morris Bowyer who was with French mission attached to the Cavalry Corps and had seen much fighting and the desolation of the German retreat from the Bapaume area; - John Parrott, though in the same Battalion as Oliver Harpin had only just heard of his death and had met with Sergeant George Smith, a great favourite with the men; - George Bartram was recovering and Arthur Bartram well, Walter Harpin, in hospital in London was recovering from a fractured thigh; - Fred Harpin and Fred Middleton were in France, Reggie Ruffhead and Walter Bowyer still in England; - Alfred Warwick had joined the Royal Garrison Artillery and Wilfred Jeffs the Staffordshire Regiment; - Charles Harpin was expecting a discharge and George Jefferies was attached to a ship and at Gibraltar

item

Goldsmith, Arthur,
Cox, Jim,
Dawson, Fred,
Munday, Sid,
Butt, Frank,
Drage, W.,
Read, Roger,
Bird, Bert,
Allen, C.,
Church, Arthur,
Warwick, Walter,
Lacey, Alec,
Harding, Victor,
Ruffhead, James,
Ruffhead, Victor,
Cox, Archie,
Seamarks, Bert,
Curtis, Walter,
Prentice, Fred,
Cox, Don,
Glidle, Sid,
Church, Walter,
Bowyer, Morris,
Parrott, John,
Harpin, Oliver,
Smith, George,
Bartram, George,
Bartram, Arthur,
Harpin, Walter,
Harpin, Fred,
Middleton, Fred,
Ruffhead, Reginald,
Bowyer, Walter,
Warwick, Alfred,
Jeffs, Wilfred,
Harpin, Charles,
Jefferies, George

general correspondence, STEVINGTON, First World War, World War One, Macclesfield, sergeant, Kensington, Turks, Gaza, France, Belgium, Army Veterinary Corps, Egypt, Salonika, Baghdad, Mesopotamia, corporal, Thiepval, Miraumont, lance corporal, Australia, Bapaume, Royal Garrison Artillery, Staffordshire Regiment, Gibraltar