Keep the Home Fires Burning - detailing wartime life in the towns and villages mentioned.

NBT 1915 Apr. 27th Sat.

An interesting letter has been received by Miss Ruffhead from her nephew, Private Fred Ruffhead. He is serving at the Front with the York and Lancs Regiment, and writes;

“We landed in France yesterday (Wednesday) morning at 2 a.m. It seemed strange to land in a foreign country at the dead of night. It was very cold and pouring with rain. We had to sleep 16 in a tent with about three oil sheets between us. In the morning we rode by train in horse boxes to our present destination, a farm house. It says on the truck: 40 hommes, 8 Chevaux, and we had to stand up for nearly eight hours as we were so crowded. The Germans have been to the village we occupied and have destroyed the Church and set fire to it. Some of the houses have big holes in the roof from the German shells. In the Churchyard the Canadians have erected a cross to the memory of some of the Yorks. who fell while driving the Huns out of the village The sights we have seen are enough to make you wish to get amongst the Germans and kill them all. We are only about six miles from the British firing line and we can hear the boom of the cannon. We are expecting to go into the trenches very shortly. The Germans have been to the farm where we are and taken some of the horses and cattle.”

NBT 1915 June 1st Tue.

Mrs. Kate Garrett, whose husband is ‘an old Lidlington boy,’ has received a letter from her husband. He is serving in the transport service, and writes;

“I am glad Arthur has joined as someone has got to. I see by the papers there are a lot of single men still hanging back. I only wish I could do a lot more than what I am doing to help crush the vermin; I would not give them a drink of water if I was not forced to, and they ask us for a fag after serving our poor chaps the same as they do. I would love to kill the swine, but we have to treat them with civility.”

NBT 1915 June 8th Tue.

From Private Clark, writing to his sister;

“I am writing this letter in a dug-out. I am only dressed in a pair of trousers and a vest. I don’t wear a shirt now as it is so hot. We are having glorious weather. I am not going to complain of the heat because I know what it is to be cold. I hope this blessed war will soon be over so I can come back and enjoy a bit of dinner in England. Everything is coming out fine here now. At night I can hear the nightingale quite plainly. We went out the other day in a wood and found quite a lot of birds’ nests, but didn’t touch the eggs. Had a quiet day on Whit-Monday, except for a bit of shelling near us which killed a few of the Irish Rifles. Today we had to wear our respirators for ten minutes to get used to breathing with them on. We all looked like a lot of highwaymen let loose.”

NBT 1915 Aug. 17th Tue.

A few days ago a number of trains passed through the station loaded with German prisoners, one of whom threw out an envelope addressed to His Majesty. Written in German, it contained a note worded;

“Gott strafe England and destroy Italy, from a Bavarian to His Majesty.”

NBT 1915 Aug. 17th Tue.

From the front, Gunner W.J. Rowe sends a letter to his mother, Mrs. J. Rowe, of the ‘Royal Oak’;

“I was very pleased to get hold of a piece of cake again. When I wrote for the cigarettes we could not get any for love or money. I should not think there was half a dozen in the Battery, but on the Sunday we all got three packets each, 10 in a packet, but they won’t last anybody a week, especially on this job. But we can buy some here now, so it is not so bad. Well, we get plenty of food some days, and some days we are short, but it’s all in a life-time. We are in the firing line now, but don’t you worry about me, for the best always goes first, so I stand one of the best chances. To see people walking about here you would never think there was a war on. Men are working in the fields where shells are dropping, and they would hardly lift their heads to see a regiment go by. I suppose they are getting used to it by now. It will soon be 12 months since war was declared, and it might be another 12 months before it is finished. Of course we have to make our place to sleep, but more often than not we sleep out in the open, and I can tell you a feather bed would go well now.”

NBT 1916 Mar. 7th Tue.

A letter has been received by Mr. Ruffhead, the Treasurer of the Belgian Fund, from M. Mecheels, who was a guest in the village for 11 months. He says he has now passed the doctor, and will join the Belgian Army next week. The whole family are now living in London.

NBT 1916 Nov. 7th Tue.

A letter has been received from Mons. Mecheels, who, with his family, was for a long while a guest of the village. He writes;

“In coming back today to the front, I received your letter of the 15th October. I have been on seven days’ leave, and had a jolly good time with my wife and children. Perhaps you got my letter which I have sent you from London. I always am pleased to hear from you; that makes me remember the good time I had in your little village. The war is still getting on, and God alone knows when it will be over, but I must keep smiling and hope it best. I had a lucky escape. In my absence my car has been bombarded. The spare driver, who was on it, was badly wounded, and the car half destroyed. You see, I am rather lucky. I am talking much English with some of your boys, who are holding here a position of the front, and I am glad I can speak English. Just behind us is a cemetery where 3,600 English soldiers are resting their last sleep, and here can we hear the noise of the guns at the Somme. You must not be surprised to hear soon something of the Belgian front. We all are longing to drive the Germans out of Belgium.”

NBT 1917 July 17th Tue.

Private Cyril Rickett, the younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Rickett, formerly of Lidlington, but now of Wellingborough, was killed in action on July 2nd. Aged 20, he had been in France for nearly two years, and was expecting to shortly go on leave. On April 23rd he had gained the Military Medal, and in a letter to his parents said that this was during an attack on the Huns at dawn, their objective being to take a village held by the enemy in strength. At 9p.m. the enemy made a counter attack and drove them back to their previous position, but they went forward again and retook the village. During this second advance a machine gun was playing havoc, and Private Rickett stopped it with a full belt of ammunition. Excepting one, all the men with the gun were knocked out.

NBT 1918 June 4th Tue.

Born and educated in Lidlington, Lance Corporal P. Reckett writes to his mother;

“I won my Military Medal at Etreillers, near St. Quentin, on 21st of March. The Germans were coming towards our positions in hundreds and I got my gun on the side of the embankment and opened fire on them. About half a company of the Beds. Regt. was nearly surrounded and I was just in time to drive the Germans back. I kept on firing until our men were right behind me. By that time the Germans had got on the opposite side of the embankment, but I finished my belt amongst them. I then picked up my gun and got it out of action. I was the only one of the section to come out, and I was the only one left out of the gun team.”

Lance Corporal Reckett has also been recommended for the D.C.M.. Near Kemmil on May 8th the Germans attacked after four hours of gas and then a heavy bombardment. In the words of Lance Corporal Reckett;

“When they came over the top the sport began. They got within fifty yards and then we held them for about 14 hours. All the others were wounded or killed or taken prisoner. Afterwards I saw two of our chaps and we got into a shell hole and there we stayed until a counter attack left us behind. Then we packed up and brought our gun out. I was the only one to bring a gun out.”