Typed memoirs of a British soldier || My father, John Stafford, served at the Battle of the Somme. My mother convinced him to write a memoir of his experiences as he was obviously suffering, mentally, with memories of his wounding. This memoir has been typed for safekeeping. The subject of the memoir is the Battle of the Somme, specifically an attack on the fringes of Trones Wood 6-8 August 1916 (crossing No Mans Land across what was known as Death Valley). Stafford describes the kit he carries, including 2 large cans of water for his section. He describes their attempts to dig-in while waiting a day or more in No Man's Land. Stafford has a terrible premonition of his wounding, and of his survival. However, when he is shot through both legs and crawls into a shell hole for safety he is stranded for 2 days, less than 20 yards from the Germans who he can clearly hear. He is saved finally by a reconnaisance patrol of British soliders from the unit which replaced the Liverpools after the attack. He describes their rescue attempts and their bravery, as well as the death of another soldier in the same shell hole. Finally he goes on to describe his treatment - including the chilling label pinned to his chest - Maggots! Private John Andrew Stafford, from Liverpool, served in the 5th Liverpool Regiment. His regiment number was 3083 (then 200947). His Medal Award card (online) shows he was eligible for the Victory medal and the British medal (reference H/2/102 B35 p4971), as well as the 1915 Star (reference H/2/7B p1598), and that he went overseas to France on 21 February 1915. Later he moved to Preston. He was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services during the Second World War. || || John Andrew Stafford || Memoir || Preston || 53.763201,-2.7030899999999747

JOSEPH PRIOR was under age when he signed up as a regular in 1915 aged 15 years and one month. He joined the 5th Essex Brigade - one of the first Kitchener brigades - which the family says shows how the recruitment campaigns were working. Joseph hero-worshiped his older brother, Bertie Augustus, who was a regular soldier 10 years older than him. In the 5th Essex Brigade, an older soldier, P.Oliver, looked after the younger boys and quickly worked out that Prior was underage and told him to “wet his razor”. Joseph was born on 8th October, 1899, in Chesham, Bucks. He was the last of 12 siblings - his mother was aged 49 when she fell pregnant with him. His father, Robert, was a railway engine driver, so the children were all born near railway stations. Joseph was very short and took only a size 6 in shoes. His wife-to-be worked in a boot factory back in England so Joseph would teasingly blame her for the fact they didn't make boots small enough for him. Instead he had to wear boots that were too big with two pairs of socks underneath. Out of the 20 photos of Joseph Prior, only three were placed on show in an album for the family to see. These included a photograph of the 5th Essex Brigade with the old Anzac boys; the first photograph of Joseph when he signed up as a regular and a group picture of the 5th Essex Brigade. The other photographs were found in an envelope. As Joseph was posted to the Middle East, he had many stories about the enjoyment of seeing new places in the world. One he told related to riding camels around the pyramids in Egypt. However, Joseph said: “I would walk the whole of Egypt and Palestine leading a mule rather than riding a camel again. This hatred of riding camels was due to the sea sickness feeling he encountered when riding a camel. When Joseph's brigade discovered he couldn't swim, they threw him in the Suez Canal. He soon found out how to do it .... Remarkably, Joseph Prior managed to keep his war rifle. At home he used it to shoot rabbits for the pot. He died on Easter Day April 1993 at the age of 93. This was despite being invalided out of the army 22/7/19 due to recurring attacks of malaria for which he was entitled to free treatment and a pension until 20/1/20! He was considered to have a temporary 10% disablement. BERTIE AUGUSTUS PRIOR was Joseph’s older brother - and someone he hero-worshiped. He was born in either October or November, 1889, at Marylebone, London. His baptism was held on 1st Dec 1889 at St Barnabas, Marylebone. He is listed in the 1911 census as being in the military, England. However, it says the 59th Battalion, Royal Field Artillery, Institution: India. The family understand that Bertie was in the regular army and was initially posted to Belgium. He was in the Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery as a driver. However, he was soon transferred to Salonika on the HT Marquette, which was carrying a number of New Zealand doctors and nurses when it sank on the 23rd October 1915. Dying aged 26, Bertie is commemorated on the Mikra Memorial at Kalamaria, Greece. || Photos and postcards

Photograph of the regiment. Close up of Frank from the above. Death plaque issued to the family. || Frank Langton Wilkinson was the contributor's uncle. He was killed on the Somme in September 1916. Born in 1897, and joined the West Yorkshire Regiment as a Private, possibly in early to mid 1916. He has no known grave.