Remembrance Sunday

Today I thought about my mother's father who died  from the effects of gas inhalation at the battle of Ypres. This is the only photograph my mother had of her father, the man I am named after. As his death was in January 1926 he is not counted as a casualty of the war, but my mother still grew up as an orphan. I also thought about my mother's cousin Thomas, another soldier who was gassed at Ypres. 

Thomas was a Lance Sergeant in the South Lancashire Regiment. He arrived in France in February 1915 and died of his injuries in April 1916. During this period he kept a diary. This is an edited extract from May 13th 1915 as they moved up to the front lines from the Yser Canal:  

"We got the order to put packs on, and stand to. ….. We left the Canal bank and went so far along the road, and then we opened out in artillery formation. It was a grand sight to see the Kings Own, the 2nd Mons & us going along in that formation. It was raining to. We got to the Essex trenches, the Essex had gone to reinforce the Dragoon Guards, who had suffered heavily. There was some awful cases of wounded passed us. After a while we left the Essex trenches, and went in some old trenches nearer the front line. There was no decent dug outs so we had to set to & make a shelter for ourselves. In the afternoon while four men of my section were talking to me, a shrapnel shell burst just behind me, and wounded the four men. I wondered what was up when I saw the four men fall, and me not touched. …….. Captain Gibson got killed. I have only two men left in my section."