Frank helps to make gags.See diary entries between the 7th & 14th May 1915.
This greetings card Frank was sent to his eldest sister Florrie on 23rd May 1915.
Sinking of the Lusitania 7th May 1915.Frank mentions this in his diary on the 8th May
[The Cunard passenger liner Lusitania,carrying many British and America passengers, was torpedoed off the south coast of Ireland 7th May 1915 by a German submarine causing great loss of life . the sinking had the effect of enraging the public in both the USA and Britain, convincing many that the war was a just one]
May 1915
1 Saturday
Neuve Eglise.
2 Sunday
Neuve Eglise, no Church Parade.
3 Monday - 5 Wednesday
Neuve Eglise.
6 Thursday
Neuve Eglise.
Went up South Staffords collecting wounded under heavy rifle fire.
7 Friday
Went to Bailleul by motor to make gags or respirators; ten of us made 1000 each day. Worked along with French young ladies at a Nunnery.
[ See note regarding the production of these gags at the end of May's diary entry ]
8 Saturday
Went again on Saturday did likewise, visited likewise, visited our Hospital full of wounded, stayed along with Canadians.
8th parcel from Ada & Ruth.
May 7th Lusitania sunk by German sub 2.30pm in 15 minutes.
9 Sunday
A little rest for a change as the Ladies would not work on Sunday.
10 Monday
Bailleul, made 1500 respirators, help to carry and make comfortable 150 wounded from Ypres.
11 Tuesday
Stayed all night in Bailleul.
12 Wednesday
200 wounded came in our Hospital from St Julien.13 Thursday
I worked cutting machine at rubber & corset factory cutting out waterproof bags on upright saw, worked by all French young women.
14 Friday
Making respirators 1500 and finished on that work, as they were beginning to make some in England.
15 Saturday
I was given a day’s rest by Capt Strange.
Sat and heard Staffs band play all afternoon.
16 Sunday
I work on incinerator all day for burning refuse.
17 Monday
Coffee stall with Brother Joyce. Served out 1,200 drinks, coffee, oxo, cocoa, all free, collecting box.
18 Tuesday
Coffee stall.
Served 1,200 hot drinks.
19 Wednesday
We carried about 60 gallons of water, supplied by me from water cart.
20 Thursday
Coffee stall.
Staffs came out of trenches. 1,300 drinks served out. I was up until 3.30 next morning. I went to Bailleul & walked 8 miles.
21 Friday
Coffee stall, served out 800 cups of lemonade to a digging party.
22 Saturday
Coffee stall.
Remaining two companies of Staffs came out of trenches.
800 drinks.
23 Sunday (Whitsun day)
Rest: Happy memories.
Italy declares war on Austria.
24 Monday (Whit Monday)
Motor coffee stall, had a party on the van, including 6 South Staffs, Sergeant Major Drum, Major Lockly & Quarter Master. Happy memories Matlock.
25 Tuesday
Coffee stall. Had tea again with Non-Commissioned Officers of the Staffs.
26 Wednesday
Coffee stall. Kitchener’s Army leaves Bailleul.
27 Thursday
Coffee stall, could not get any water to open same. I had supper with two 5th South Staffs on the van.
28 Friday
Breakfast as usual on the van. I arranged a hut for celebration of Holy Communion for Pratt.
29 Saturday
On the van. Served out 1,200 drinks.
Memo: I always lived and dined on stall, all the time I was on, living fine with Brother Capt Joyce of the Church Army.
30 Sunday
Finished my fortnight on the van.
31 Monday
Guard for 24 hrs, out on duty all night at gate. Kitchener’s army marching all night into Armentieres. Letter Ethel.
Gauze Gas Masks, See Franks Diary Entries for May
[From the national archives at Kew, we looked up the war diary of the 1/3 North Midlands Field Ambulance and it mirrored Frank's diary almost exactly.
Most of it was hand written by Col Hodder and Col Dent
The following is an excerpt from the archive:
Lt Harrison of the Unit and 10 men detailed from the sections at Neuve Eglise to make up and soak in neutralizing solution cotton waste for sewing into the gauze masks for the men in the trenches to use against asphyxiating gasses. The sewing was carried out by a party of girls in a convent in Bailleul . The construction of the masks is as follows:- a large piece of cotton waste (the size of a fist) is rolled up and soaked in a solution of hypo, carbonate of soda, glycerine & water. This is loosely sewn into a double layer of gauze 1 metre long. The part B is for covering the eyes, the ends C tie behind the head. The pad A going over the mouth]
14 may 1915
Transcript of a letter from Frank to Ethel
This was probably written over several days. Not all of the letter survives. All correspondence from the Front was subject to strict censorship carried out by a designated Officer of the soldier's unit. A letter containing what follows would not have passed the censor, because of the harrowing details in it. Personal letters such as this were commonly 'smuggled' home by hand in the care of a colleague who was returning, perhaps wounded or on leave.
Belgium
May 14 1915
My own Darling and True Sweetheart Ethel May.
I am commencing your weekly letter this Friday, and I shall write a few lines at every available moment and by doing so I must continue a few days, and then I always think it reads a little muddled but I hope my Darling does not mind as it is the best I can do under my present conditions, so I hope you never think anything. Darling I am very sorry indeed to hear your mother’s thumb does not improve, I shall be very pleased to hear of it getting a little better.
Now my Own Loving Darling I do hope you are feeling much better as you have not said anything as to whether you are in any of your recent letters but I trust you are. I was very surprised to hear in your letter, that Fairbanks’ son has got to have his leg amputated, as his wound did not seem that serious at the time it was done and it must have taken bad ways since, I suspect septic, you say his Dad is coming over to France to see him, I guess he is now at the base, I did not know they would allow anyone to come over and see a patient. I guess it will cost a good amount to come. I guess Will Aston is anxious to get home, as he has been in England now some time, I should say it is a great suspense to be in England and wait so long, and not be able to get to your loved one. I should if it was me, if he comes over and you see him, give him my kind regards. Remember me to Edith. We have had some rain out here the past two days, apart from that time, it has been grand. I hope you have received last weeks private letter alright, as I gave you a rough account of some of my whereabouts, and I should not risk an account of our work very often like that. David has had a week on the coffee stall this week, doing the same as I had to do, I should have been on instead of him all this week, had it not have been for me working on the respirators, gags, as I have been working on them since I told you in my letter. We, a party of ten motor to and fro from business night and morning, and we turn out at the present time 1500 of the gags per day, we are doing very good work, and are supplying a large part of the firing line with same, more so we are gaining good praise and satisfaction from officers and Generals of superior rank, who come and inspect our work daily, and I motor to and fro to a corset factory where they make up rubber proof bags, it is a grand place, full of machinery and machines worked by girls, I have also worked a cutting upright saw
Darling I think you like to hear of some of my experiences out here, if you do not you must tell me. I went to dinner several times this week and just as I have reached the hospital, a long convoy of wounded has come in cars of above 50 behind each other containing about 200 stretcher cases, and instead of having my dinner I have had to get on and help to get the patients out of the cars, and fix them up comfortable, this is what occurs daily at our one hospital at that place, and there are many more hospitals. I have seen some of the most awful wounded cases this week that it is possible to see. I will just give you one or two, one being a young man who had got a shell wound of the face, it had blown his one cheek completely off and you could see his side teeth, also it had blown out his one eye, broken his jaw up, when he came into the hospital, he looked horrible, his mouth was full of broken teeth bones, the roof of his mouth being open to his upper part of the head, and all parts of the latter being smothered with blood, and he is still alive, and I think they will bring him round but he will look such an awful disfigured young man, it will be a pitiful sight to see all the days of his life.We had another case of a young man about my age, he had a shell wound through the chest and back and he was in a very serious condition when he entered our hospital, although he was bearing it well, but he was very anxious to know whether there was a possible chance of recovery. It made me think, what if it was me, as he was just like me. I will tell you why he was so anxious as I sat by his side and he told me his story. He said he had a sweetheart he loved dearly, and for that reason he craved to get well again for her sake, so he said to me at the end of his story, now tell me your firm truthful mind, as to whether you really think I shall live. I said look here chum, cease to worry, take things easy, and you will soon get well. Isaid you will be back in England soon in the arms of your Darling, and write and tell me how happy you both are. I also said, look how long it might be before I see my sweetheart, so as soon Major Hodder came round to examine him, he asked him the same question, and told him the above story so Major Hodder told him if he keeps himself quiet he would soon be back in England well again. I have seen dozens with limbs blown off, awful sights, to go round with the feeding cups and sit by the sides of some of the patients and hear their pitiful stories is an experience one will not easily forget. I can witness sights now without taking much notice and if I had seen any case 12 months back anything like so bad I should have fell over. For instance to sit by the side of a wounded man just as he is having his last groan before leaving this world does not seem very pleasant and carry him out straight away, sometimes we have a dozen die in our hospital in one day. All the wounded give our chaps a good name, as they are always waiting and willing to do or fetch anything the patient requires, and they do not like leaving it. I can tell you it is a grand hospital, fitted up fine like Wolverhampton, the most serious cases that can eat a little solid food have chicken each day as there is so many cooked every day. We have got two female nurses from England with us. I suppose the War Office send them along to work with us, there is any amount of English nurses out at the hospitals here. We should be able to do without the two we have got, as we have got three good nursing sections in our RAMC, and these two nurses only want to attend to the clean wounds, and they also want waiting on hand and foot, very swanky I can assure you, of course I must admit they are very skilful, and I can assure they are paid all due respect by all our troops out here, if an English nurse passes a sentry he always salutes her smartly, or if she passes a soldier anywhere he would come smartly to attention. We have had a good deal of rain out here the past two days, and it is not so warm.I have had a rotten cold all this week, a bad throat and I could hardly breathe, as my head was stopped up, although I have not reported sick, as in the case of medical units out here they soon send you into hospital at Base for a rest in cases of ordinary convalescent as it is not wise to let you attend to patients if you ought to be one yourself, and I should not like to move away from my unit and go amongst strangers, as I should feel lost and miserable so I have done my best to keep up, it is now a little better. Now I will answer your question about George Cartwright, he was not sent back to England after all, he returned to our unit 3 days ago, he has been down at the Base about 7 weeks. Darling I did receive your letter in which you said you would like to see Cartwright if he came back to England, and this is the reason Dearest I never answered that question. When he left us ill, a few days passed by, and the rumour got about that he had been sent back to England, and I never knew officially whether it was right until a good few weeks after and I heard he was at the Base, and I forgot all about your question, so I hope you do not think anything. I know you will forgive me as I have much to think about. I quite remember what you said in your letter, you would like to speak to him, I wish I could come to you, I would give you such a ...... , for wanting to speak to another young man, of course I am only joking darling. Dearest you do make me wish I was back home with you this Whitsuntide when you talk of possibilities of your people going to Rhyl, it makes me think of the grand time we spent together 12 months last Easter, I think that is right, when they went to Hereford, we had the time of our life, did we not, I did enjoy myself, and we should have been able to have had perhaps a better time perhaps this past Easter if I had been at home. And comes Whitsuntide insight; and possibilities of such a grand and happy time if I was at home with you, and there was not war, but Darling we must both make the best of our conditions, and I pray the war will soon be over, as I can assure you I am tired of it, as one never knows what each moment may bring you, all one can do is hope and pray and have patience. I shall be thankful to place my feet on English soil when the war is over and I pray I shall come back wholesale, as I ..................
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