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Pte. Edgar John Neale
British Army 7th Btn. West Surrey Regiment
My fathers own father, Private Edgar John Neale G/13095, Queens Royal West Surrey Reg. 7th Btln., was injured twice, once on the Somme in Sept 1916 and gassed.
Edgar John Neale letter (27th October 1916) – transcript about the Somme
How a Kettering Soldier was Knocked out. (Kettering Leader newspaper)
Pte. E.J. Neale, of the Royal West Surrey’s (Queen’s) who is in an Oxford hospital, suffering from wounds received in France, has written to Mr. G. Horden, of High Street, Kettering. Amongst other items of information are the following :- "You did not know that I was in the Machine Gun Section. It is a hot job if they got to know whereabouts you are. The machine gun went out of action about a quarter of an hour before I got hit in the elbow. Then about five minutes afterwards I got hit in the jaw, but as soon as the machine gun went wrong, we had to pick up dead men’s rifles, as we had not time to put it right, as the Germans were getting all round us, so we had to open rapid fire. Then they got nearer, and we had a hand to-hand fight, which was not very pleasing, but it had to be done, or we should all have been wiped out.," speaking about a charge, "over the top", he says: "as soon as we started, the Germans shelled us, put the machine guns on us,…… and opened rapid fire….. our Corporal fell, and I dragged him into a shellhole and bandaged him up". ……"in another shellhole" he says "a shell dropped only three feet behind me, and happened to be a ‘dud’, and it only covered us with soil. After a little while, I got with some more of our chaps, and we went on further as they had quietened down a lot, and we got to where we wanted to get. Night was getting nearer, and when it got dark, they started shelling heavily. Eight of us had to hold a strong place at all costs. We did hold it, but what a time they gave us! But we gave them more than they gave us. We were glad to see the day break, for we were tired and hungry. We had still to keep on till I got the knock-out, when I came to my senses, I had lost a lot of bloodâ€. He also relates how it took him about three hours to get back to the dressing station. He is now getting on well in hospital.
