And the Rawness of War
Appreciate for a while the tranquil postcard scene of Rochester High Street from sometime in the first few years of the 1900s ……. and then continue to read the message that was found on the other side.
The words Charlie wrote to his ‘Mum’ on 12 April 1917 gave me more sense of the physical and emotional deprivations experienced by young men conscripted to fight, than any museum display I’ve viewed and articles I’ve read.
I suspect Charlie was involved in the Battle of Arras or possibly Vimy Ridge. The date and the description of the weather conditions matches these battles. The Canadian’s were at Vimy Ridge and the British at Arras. The offensive lasted two months. The average daily loss rate during this period was 4,072 killed, wounded, missing or taken prisoner [The British Soldier, Lawrence Brown OREP Collection 1914-18] – something that Charlie and his compatriots must have been aware of.
The postcard could have been purchased by a solider passing through Medway on their way to being deployed at the Front, but I suspect though Charlie could have been from Rochester, and he took a postcard of a familiar scene with him as a reminder of home.
Most learned books I’ve read acknowledged that the British Army was poorly equipped for the task they faced at the start of the Great War – in fact the whole British army was totally under resourced and equipped for a war on the Continent. However it is claimed by some writers – and in a display at the “In Flanders Fields Museum” – that this was not the case by 1917.
Based though on Charlie’s description of his boots, the fact he seems to have been blamed for them failing – and not being given replacements – suggests there were no replacements, or what was available were not right for the conditions, or worse there was a disregard for the wellbeing of the men.
I know from reading about the local appeals tribunals against conscription that, in advance of a planned offensive, the upper age for conscription was often increased and appeal criteria were tightened in order to get more men into uniform. [See links below of Life in Rochester during the Greta War – search on Appeal Tribunals.]
Could it be that the drive to get more men into the army was not matched with increased procurement of equipment? Could there have been the equivalent of the insufficient/inadequate protective equipment provided to our health care workers during Covid? Contracts quickly let to ‘providers’ without the experience to produce fit-for-purpose equipment? This was certainly the case in Canada.
If the postcard was written at Arras or Vimy Ridge the date places Charlie in an active offensive. We can also see that he was unwell, cold & wet, with ‘failed’ boots, shivering outside from the cold, struggling to write to his ‘Mum’. During the Arras offensive, thousands were injured/killed – something I’m sure Charlie would have been aware of – but makes no mention.
Could it be that by writing to his ‘Mum’ he was getting some comfort? There was nothing she could do but in writing to her he knew he was ‘speaking’ to someone who would have cared and who cared about him.
We will never know if ‘Mum’ received the card but I suspect she did for me to be able to buy a card in such good condition some 107 years after it was written. On reading the card she must have felt dreadful and fearful for her son – and in all probability, also her husband.
We will never know if Charlie survived or returned injured. I fear though he may not have returned – could this card have survived in such good condition as his ‘Mum’ took great care of it as it was the last communication she received from her son?
Whatever happened I feel obliged to share Charlie’s personal real account of the deprivation of war – no heroics – just fear and extreme discomfort.
The Under-Sung Role of ‘Mums’
The chance-finding of this postcard made me recognise an essential role fulfilled by women – particularly ‘Mums’ – that had nothing to do with munitions or taking on jobs previously undertaken by men. They provided an essential psychological crutch to their men who were in a dire situation.
I wonder how many boys and men like Charlie gained comfort from writing to their ‘Mum’?
Not because ‘Mum’ could do anything – but because the writer knew that she would have cared …. and at times we all need to feel someone cares about us – something that’s much more than being cared for.
Perhaps the Charlie’s and their ‘Mums’ need to stand alongside the VCs to remind us of what War – total War – really brings and is really about? A few will experience ‘glory’ but the majority will experience pain, loneliness, extreme discomfort, fear and desperation.
Who would want to be a ‘Mum’ who received a letter such as that written by Charlie? But where would Charlie have been had he not had a ‘Mum’ to whom he could draw some comfort by writing to her?
Geoff Ettridge aka Geoff Rambler
24 April 2024
For more about Rochester’s Home Front visit my other blogs. Each has a section relating to Women.
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