The interview was conducted by Age Exchange in partnership with The University of Essex and The First World War Centre –University of Hertfordshire –as part of the Children of The Great War project. John Blake came to talk about his father Ernie. Sapper Ernie never talked about the war but John knows he served in 3 Regiments in Essex, Cambridge and the Kings Royal Rifles. He was at the Battle of the Somme and lost an eye during the war but John doesn’t know where. He was honourably discharged in 1918.He worked in Wivenhoe Shipyards before the war and volunteered from there. He had two brothers Reg and Bert and they all worked together at Wivenhoe. Working in the shipyards meant you were exempt from military service. But the three of them volunteered despite the fact that many men went to work in the shipyards to escape conscription. Luckily all three survived. After the war there was no job at Wivenhoe, which was not unusual for returning servicemen, so he ended up working on sea defenses at Blakeney in Norfolk. He was a very home loving man and rarely travelled far. John felt this was probably a legacy of the war. John brought in various pieces of documentation about Ernie’s army career including discharge certificates and pay book etc. Interesting there were certificates that showed how Ernie went back to a hospital in Ipswich where they upgraded Ernie’s glass eye to match the colour of his ‘good’ eye. A joint project between Age Exchange, the University of Essex and the Everyday Lives in War FWW Engagement Centre, University of Herts. For further information, please contact Everyday Lives in War, https://everydaylivesinwar.herts.ac.uk/

Ernie Blake, who lost an eye
Ernie Blake
Photograph
Official document
Honourable Discharge Certificate of Ernie Blake
Certificate re: eye injury of Ernie Blake