War Diaries (May 25) (nonfiction)
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Diaries
Harold R. Peat: May 25, 1915
When a man is lying close to the ground there is not so very great a chance of his being hit by bullets. They pass overhead as a rule. It is when a man is kneeling or standing, or between the two positions that the danger lies. The lad Bob and I were just in the act of rising (to carry in a badly needed ammunition box) when mine came along. I felt no more than a stinging blow in the right shoulder, a searing cut and a thud of pain as the bullet exploded in leaving my body. I fell on my face and blood gushed from my shoulder. I closed my eyes. From a distance I heard Bob speak. "I'm going to fix you," he said, and knelt beside me. He got into such a position that his own body shielded me from any of the enemy bullets. It was a marvelous piece of bravery; less has earned a Victoria Cross. Bob then turned me around so my head was towards our trench and my feet towards the Germans. Then he struggled to lift the ammunition box. Bob tried to reach the trench, but a rain of bullets got him and he fell dead only a little way from me.
—Private Harold R. Peat, 3rd Battalion (diary: Battle of Festubert)
["Bob" may have been Private Robert Downey #63277, 3rd Battalion, 22 years old, member of "C" Company who was Killed in Action May 25, 1915]
James Keith Dick-Cunyngham: May 25, 1918
Quite a cool day. Walked a good deal before & after Roll Call. More bread parcels for individuals issued, but fear most of it very mouldy. Worked for 1 ½ hours at Shorthand. Had a bread & jam pudding made of mouldy bread for supper, think it is best way of using it, as boiling takes out mould. 4 letters arrived about 7 p.m. 1 from DD, 2 from Alice, 1 from B. B.F. & D have not had any yet. So am very lucky having had 7 this week.
—Brigadier General James Keith Dick-Cunyngham, Prisoner of war, Mainz (diary)
George Beck: May 25, 1945
Passed through Sheffield about 6am. Leicester breakfasted and carried on, destination said to be near Brighton.
—George Beck,1st Battalion The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, former prisoner of war (diary)
With this entry the diaries ended. On November 01, 1945 from York he was notified that on the expiration of his leave he should report for duty and further medical examination on November 08, 1954 at West Hartlepool detraining station. His war service ended on November 13, 1945. He applied for a resettlement grant to start a Sole Ownership Fruit and Vegetable business and was awarded a War Gratuity of £37 and a Service Post –War Credit of £38-8-6 (Thirty eight pounds eight shillings and six pence). His disability was described as: Operation – Right Renal Calculus, whilst a five year prisoner. Date of termination of furlough March 17, 1946. On November 13, 1946 he received a Hawkers License at a cost of £2.
In the News
Fiction cross-reference
Nonfiction cross-reference
- George Beck (nonfiction)
- James Dick-Cunyngham (nonfiction)
- Harold R. Peat (nonfiction)
- War (nonfiction)
- War Diaries (nonfiction)