The contents on this page remain on our website for informational purposes only.
Content on this page will not be reviewed or updated.

FROM THE CONTEMPORARY LOCAL NEWSPAPERS OF NORTH BUCKS (BUCKS STANDARD, NORTH BUCKS TIMES, WOLVERTON EXPRESS)
With today’s internet a wealth of official information is available regarding those who served.
In an age before local radio and television, families often allowed letters to be published in the local press from their loved ones on active service.
However, for their descendants the letters reveal a more personal aspect, graphically describing the experience of the people and providing an insight into their personalities.

NBT 1915 June 22nd Tue.

In a letter dated May 25th, Sergeant A. Kazer, R.F.A., writes to his wife at Church End;

“We are in a very hot corner here. The Germans, finding they cannot beat us fairly are trying to poison us, but never mind we shall win at the end, and without such barbarous methods. I think this is the biggest battle of the whole war, at any rate it is the worst one I have been in, but our troops are all happy and cheerful, for we know that by keeping the Germans in check we are saving our wives and children, home and country, from a fate worse than Belgium’s. The Germans attacked our line yesterday morning at 2a.m., and the battle continued until 12 midnight, and a dreadful affair it was They started by giving us a good dose of gas followed up by some very heavy shells. The effect of the gas was awful; three of my sub-section were overcome, so I had to work my gun practically myself. I felt like giving way, but would not let the gas get the better of me. Anyhow we gave the Germans what they wanted - a jolly good hiding, and they never gained an inch. They find the Britisher a hard nut to crack, especially when he gets his back up. When we had finished firing shrapnel yesterday my gun was nearly red hot, so you can tell I fired some hundreds of shells, and every one I fired myself, so I think I killed a few of the dirty swine, and I will show no mercy to a single one of them for their treatment of my comrades. I am sorry to say our battery lost several men again yesterday, but we must expect some to go, but to every one we lost the Germans lost twenty. I am sending you a snapshot of my gun taken by one of our officers. This is the gun that I have worked with the assistance of my gunners in every battle I have been in. It is the same one that had the wheel blown off. It has been the means of killing many hundreds of Germans, and has held a position against a far superior force of the enemy. The gun has done duty in every big battle since the commencement of the war, and has been worked by me and the men under me the whole of the time. I am proud of my gun. Many a German would like to get it, and I am proud of the bit I have done, and I hope I shall be spared to do a bit more. But if I have to sacrifice my life I would rather that than be pointed at after the war as a coward and a shirker, as many a one I am afraid will be.”


NBT 1915 Sep. 21st Tue.

In a letter to Mr. F.R. Gibbs, Private F. Maynard, of the 1/5th Beds. Regiment, writes;

“We have had a warm time since we landed, being under shell fire all the way up to the trenches. Eight of our men were wounded, one of them seriously, but the Turks are very bad shots, or I don’t suppose I should be writing this letter. One of our chaps shot five of them in a heap. The Turks do not like the cold steel; they turn like blazes when we charge. The ground we are on was only taken a week or two ago; our chaps landed and drove the Turks back five miles in one charge. The Turks employ women for sniping, and as they are painted green we cannot see them well. Four were shot the other day. There are men landing here every day now. We have got the Turks on the run now, and we moved them again last night. We are with the Gurkhas; they are soon after us for cigarettes. The shells are flying now, and cutting the ground up.”

(Private Maynard was later wounded in the foot. The reference to women and girls being employed as snipers by the Turks is also mentioned in the letter of another private, who says that they paint themselves green to match the trees and shrubs; “But the Bedfords never flinched - they stuck it like jam to a blanket.)


ALSO AVAILABLE IN BOOK FORM AS ‘LETTERS FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR’ FROM WWW. LULU.COM,
PRODUCED WITH THE INVALUABLE EXPERTISE OF ALAN KAY & ZENA DAN.