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Herbert Edward Lovell
British Army Bedfordshire Yeomanry
from:Northampton
My grandfather Bert Lovell was wounded in WW1 while serving 1915 in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry. My great uncle was also in the same unit. The family story says that he was injured while mounted on a horse and his horse was killed. Fours others accompanying him were killed along with their horses. He was the only survivor because as he was blown off his horse from the shell shockwave and impact of the explosion (the shell exploded between them) He was also shielded from some of the shrapnel by the body of his horse. He then crawled in a badly injured state to the aid station to notify them that his horse was dead; as horses were more valuable than people. Even though shielded by his horse and a survivor he still spent months in hospital with physical injuries and shell shock and thereafter had to take anti epilepsy drugs for the rest of his life. He still had unremoved metal and scars on his neck and head until he died at 82 yrs old. He never talked about the war (my grandmother said the information was relayed from his unit) and he would get very agitated if anyone whistled. He was reported to be relaying war stories to the nurses in hospital the day before he died when they had taken him off all his heavy doses of medication.
