P71/28/21/25

Letter number 25, written from The Manse, Hitchin Street, Biggleswade, with numerous mentions of local men and events including:

30 May 1918

From: 1918 To: 1918

- the writer (Harry Read)was now settled in Biggleswade but felt sad at leaving Stevington; - Fred Middleton had been killed in France more than a month previously and Albert Cowley, not yet 19, had also been killed [Commonwealth war Graves Commission information: Private Frederick Henry Middleton, 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, died 12 Apr 1918, aged 24, grandson of Frederick Goldsmith of Silver Street, Stevington, commemorated on Ploegsteert memorial to the Missing, Belgium; Private Albert William Cowley, 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, died 14 May 1918 aged 18, son of Jesse William and Mirriam Elizabeth Cowley of Stevington Post Office, commemorated on Pozieres Memorial, France]; - four Stevington men had been captured by the Germans: Sidney Glidle, who was well, Fred Aspley, Fred and Walter Harpin; - nothing had been heard of Ted Cox and it was hoped he might have been taken prisoner [Commonwealth War Graves Commission information: Private Edwin Cox, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, died 27 Mar 1918, aged 27, son of the late Joseph and Susan Cox of Stevington, husband of Rose Seamarks (formerly Cox, née Pallant) of Court Lane, Stevington, commemorated on Arras Memorial to the Missing, France]; - Wilfred Jeffs had been wounded at Kemmel [Belgium] on 26 Apr with two bullet wounds to the right shoulder and was in hospital at Dewsbury [Yorkshire]; - William Bowyer had had a fractured leg whilst in Palestine and was in hospital in Cairo; - Walter and Harry Cox had written from Palestine, Harry having been in Jerusalem then Jericho and Walter noted the strength of the Turkish trenches abandoned in the Judaean Hills; - Walter Bowyer’s battery had been on rearguard duty in Jordan; - George Jefferies was well and William Clark and L.Glover had recently joined the navy; - Charles Hulatt of Bedford was well and had met Murden Goldsmith; Alec Lacey was well; Walter Curtis was recovering slowly at Buxton [Derbyshire] and Fred Curtis was in France; - the writer had met George Ruffhead in Bedford whilst he was on final leave before going abroad and Ted Aspley and Fred Bird were soon due to leave too; - a Mrs.Knight, formerly at Hockliffe and Leighton Buzzard and temporary head at Stagsden had been appointed headmistress at Stevington School; - Charles Cox had had a fever just after Christmas in East Africa and was then attached to Red Cross Ambulance

item

Read, Harry,
Middleton, Fred,
Cowley, Albert,
Middleton, Frederick Henry,
Goldsmith, Frederick,
Cowley, Albert William,
Cowley, Jesse William,
Cowley, Mirriam Elizabeth,
Glidle, Sid,
Aspley, Fred,
Harpin, Walter,
Cox, Ted,
Cox, Edwin,
Cox, Joseph,
Cox, Susan,
Seamarks, Rose,
Cox, Rose,
Pallant, Rose,
Jeffs, Wilfred,
Bowyer, William,
Cox, Walter,
Cox, Harry,
Bowyer, Walter,
Jefferies, George,
Clark, William,
Glover, L.,
Hulatt, Charles,
Goldsmith, Murden,
Lacey, Alec,
Curtis, Walter,
Curtis, Fred,
Ruffhead, George,
Aspley, Ted,
Bird, Frederick,
Knight,
Cox, Charles

STEVINGTON, general correspondence, First World War, World War One, Biggleswade Hitchin Street, Biggleswade The Manse, France, DEATH, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, Stevington Silver Street, Ploegsteert, war memorials, Belgium, private, 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, Pozieres, Germans, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, Stevington Court Lane, Arras, Kemmel, Dewsbury, Palestine, Cairo, Jerusalem, Buxton, HOCKLIFFE, LEIGHTON BUZZARD, STAGSDEN, East Africa, fever, headmistress, Stevington School, Red Cross