142551 Pte Charles Ellis British Army Sherwood Foresters from:Hacconby, Lincolnshire My Dad, who was born on the 20 September 1899 enlisted when he was 16 years old. He didn't talk much about his time in France and I failed miserably to be interested in what happened, which I very much regret. He always made us eat up out meals as children and told us the story of how luck he was when he had a tin of jam, yes, just a tin of jam - his mate had a tin of golden syrup. Imagine that - a growing boy of 16 and that was your meal! He did mention how scared he was when, one night he was on "Sentry go" and there was an awful banging noise very close to him - he HAD to investigate and it was a rat with its head stuck in a bully beef can. He was badly gassed and spent some time at the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley. After the war he was based an the Cologne Cavalry Barracks where he was friendly with a German family.
Being gassed caused enormous abcesses and I remember he could not sit down for three Christmas dinners. He died at the age of 75 and I still miss that very brave man.
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