‘How a soldier found his brothers’

AN eye-opening first-hand account of a medic who bizarrely bumped into his two brothers while in enemy territory was revealed in the April 10 edition of the Warrington Guardian in 1915.

Private Tom Kay of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), from Lymm, inadvertently found his two brothers who were part of Lymm Territorials just a few miles away from where he was based.

On a letter home, he recalled an opportunity for a quick game of football with his siblings during a ‘quiet’ day on the frontline.

“We played while shells were flying over us like mad and bursting in the next field. There was no telling whether one would drop in the football field, but, luckily, the game finished in our favour 3-1, and no casualties.”

Private Kay also provides an insight into the constantly hostile atmosphere medics faced on a 24/7 basis.

“Things have been quiet this past week, both with regards to artillery and rifle fire. But, when we go up at night and hear the rifles cracking away, one would imagine there couldn’t possibly a soldier alive – there wouldn’t be if every bullet hit a man.

“But, as these old soldiers tell us, the trenches, when you are in them, are safe as houses from rifle fire. It is only when a man exposes himself he gets hit.

“Of course, it is different for shells, but it is very difficult to get the exact range of a trench.

“The ones who do get wounded are looked after so well here, and our officers are among the best doctors in London.”

Despite an eight-mile walk in bitter winds, which left the RAMC camp ‘in a glow’, morale was high after their efforts were rewarded with a bath, new vests and new cardigans.