Remembrance

Parking up next to the Cheltenham memorial with 1 minute over the parking time and a traffic warden bearing down from a few paces I knew I had to get a blip!

Easy for me in a way as when ever I see anything absolutely anything about WW1 I think of my grandfather.

I was lucky to be born into a household that had my parents, my uncle who I adore and my grandparents and stayed there till I was 7. 

My grandfather Clifford joined the army just under age as did many boys who thought going to war and defending England was the right thing to do, without any concept at all of what war was actually about. I have managed to piece together some of his war history from the postcards and letters home so here is just a brief synopsis:

He was in the RMCA, Royal Army Medical Corps, as a private at the Stoke War Hospital and then went to France with the the 34 Field Ambulance sailing from Southampton landing in Rouen  then marching to Arras, being put in the reserves just behind the front line.

In 1916 26 September aged 19 he was in Thiepval in Picardy , France.  He went into proper action for the first time, stretchering soldiers off the battlefield under fire. He had 6 hours sleep in 5 days. He saw the first use of tanks but not successfully and then during the battle of  Cambrai saw anchor chains used to drag away barbed wire.

In 1917 aged 20 he was at the Third Battle of Ypres - Passchendaele -  (pronounced 'wipers' for those of us from Yorkshire) attached to the Guards Division and in October with the 51st Highlanders who were always in the rough of the fighting with 324,000 British casualties on the deck during this. I don't think anyone can ever imagine how this could possibly have been even with the most vivid imagination.

My next postcard home comes from La Basse, he was 21 and they were pushed back to Abbeville, and from there went to Drocburt-Queant  and then Mons.

In 1919 he was demobbed and transferred to army reserve. 

During the entire WW1 he had leave just twice.

Seeing the mono pictures of the stretcher bearers going out and picking up the dead and dying, I cannot feel anything but admiration for him having done the same and having heard some of the stories. I have read a few of his letters home, some just so incredibly amusing, (one comes to mind of a shell hitting their latrine while he was making the tea - you seriously don't need much imagination for that one!) no self pity and through it all you can see him being so very fond of his mum - my great grandmother Minnie Tolson.

Coming home from school I occasionally visited him in his office in Dewsbury and we used to chat. Oh I wish now I had asked more questions! I feel really really lucky to have known him and very very proud he was my grandfather.