Letter from the front 29th October 1915

[John-B-Rooks]

What ho all. This family letter, one of two has recently come into my possession and may be of interest to followers of the early days of the Gallipoli campaign as a primary trace.

Letter from the Dardanelles Front - Transcription

29/10/15 Corporal E Penney, 16071, 6^th Batt. York & Lancs, D Coy 32 Bde, 11 div. B.M.E.F.

Dear Dad

Just a line in answer to your nice letter I was so pleased to hear from you and I am glad to hear you are keeping well, and continue to do so. I have had a letter from George and he say s he is keeping well in his little dugout in Flanders. I also had a letter from Annie and she say she has not yet given John up she has not heard officially from the War Office yet but I am afraid she has seen the last of him I do feel sorry for her and them poor kiddies but what has to be will be, fate will take its course. “Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his friends”/

I can tell you there is nobody taken it more to heart than me. There are hundreds of cases here when men get blown to bits and then they are never recognized they report them missing, and they must stand over till the war is over before they will report them killed. Well dad as regards the war here it would take me a week to explain all the details and the experiences we have gone through since we forced the landing on that terrible night Aug. 6 you must have heard or read about the landing at Suvla Bay and its blunder, but I can tell you the men played their part and payed the price dearly. because in our division we started with about 15000 men and after the battle which lasted several days we mustered about 4000. we lost about 700 men killed or wounded in our battalion alone/

and we have had to put up with several hardships and sufferings through want of water and the terrible heat. Once I had to lay in a gully 30 hours dare not move and the well was only 12yds away but it meant certain death If I went to get water so we had to stick it the best way we could. The gully was piled with dead they had been there about 3 days under a burning sun we put our respirators on to keep the stench away but it made us all sick, that all happened on the 21^st Aug a day that will live in my memory

We advanced 500 yds under heavy shrapnel fire and rifle and machine gun fire and held the gully which I have spoken for 30 hours before being forced to retire minus hundreds of our comrades. I can tell you I must be lucky because there are not many left of us that forced/

the landing here now but all the divisions are being made up to full strength with reinforcements from England. Well dad I have never been away yet either from shell or rifle fire yet since Aug 6 At present there is a big siege gun blazing away just at the back of me while I am writing this letter enough to deafen any body. I can assure you that I am fed up with the war can tell you I shall never regret doing my bit. We saw some pretty -sights when the battleships line up to bombard the enemy trenches before we make an advance and if it was not for our brilliant Navy we should have to abandon/

the Peninsular altogether it is a job that no other nation in the world would have attempted to undertake. I really think myself that it is impossible to force the dardenelles the only way to beat them is to cut them off altogether from the flanks and make them surrender that is what we are doing now. but the nation will have to pay dearly for it because we are fighting against our own fortifications which we fortified for the Turks during the Balkan War. Well dad I must now draw to a close I have heard from Edith to say she has just sent me a parcel I am waiting to see if I receive the parcel before I write to her. Winter/

is now on us and a very severe winter it is heavy blizzards during the night and sunshine at day time, but I can tell you I am as happy as can be under the circumstances and am hoping for the day when they will send us away from here for a rest. as we need one so I will now close with heaps of love to all and tell Kathleen if you hear from her that I am quite well and in good spirits. I wrote Louisa a letter a little while ago but I have not had a reply yet. Tom is a fellow I cannot stand somehow

So goodbye for a bit and good luck

From your loving Son, Teddy, write back soon

Love to Aunt and Uncle and goodwishes/

P.S. I think Reuben has made a foolish mistake joining the army just yet he should have waited a bit till he had learned a little more of his job and then I would have advised him to join the Army Service Corps. I think he has made a big mistake but I wish him luck and I hope he gets on well in his new sphere of life / Teddy/

_____________________________________

Written in pencil on seven sheets of flimsy, lined paper (6”x 4”) this letter was sent by my great uncle, Edward to my great grandfather George Penney, described 5 years later as a ‘Grocer’s assistant’ of London. Teddy did not survive the war. Of the other people mentioned, Edith was my grandmother (QAIMNS R) who , a little over a year later was on the HMHS Britannic when she hit a mine. Annie, John, Kathleen, Louisa, Tom and Reuben are unknown entities at present. Spelling, punctuation and pagination are retained as far as possible although the format has been altered to reduce the overall space required to present this letter.

What I find amazing is the detail that is allowed without censorship. I presume that a few weeks into the campaign the officially sanctioned news was so bad anyway that any attempt to silence individuals would be seen as counterproductive.

Photographs of the original letter can be posted if ayone is interested.

© John Brooks 2012

[RaySearching]

Hi John

a very intresting letter tells it as it was

Thanks for posting

regards Ray

not shown by the op

(Edward was killed in action on Gallipoli on the 18th November 1915

not long after writing this letter

Born St Philips Sheffield

Enlisted Sheffield

Edit I am sure the detectives on this forum will be able to identify who

Annie, John, Kathleen, Louisa, Tom and Reuben were

[kelly]

John,

A very moving letter.

Regards

Garry

[John-B-Rooks]

Thank you very much Ray for the additional information. I had failed to find him through the CWGC website. I'll try again with a bit more info. I knew he hadn't survived the campaign and in the second letter I have, sent directly to my grandmother, dated a few weeks before this lengthier missive, he goes to some pains to suggest how lucky he has been since landing. I was aware of the Sheffield connection through my g/m's birth certificate and family lore.

Cheer ho

John.

[Tunesmith]

Many thanks for posting this, John. Knowing he was killed so soon after writing it makes it a very touching letter.

He mentioned putting on respirators - an interesting detail. I didn't know troops at Gallipoli were issued with them and have never seen a reference elsewhere.

T.

[RaySearching]

Reuben Penney

was the younger brother of Edward

he served as 20087 Royal Scots Fusiliers

(He has a couple of pension papers on Ancestry)

Edward,George and Reuben, were the sons of George and Mary E Penney

and Edith mentioned in the letter was the sister of Edward,George and Reuben / daughter of George and Mary E Penney

regards Ray

The family can be found on the 1901 census residing at 1 House Hollis Croft Sheffield

[RaySearching]

John

Edward is on CWGC as ( Penny)

SDGW as Penney

regards Ray

[anthony osborne]

Thanks for sharing this amazing letter - are you planning to post the other you mention?

Ant

[John-B-Rooks]

This additional information is wonderful and much appreciated Ray. Spot my deliberate mistake above confusing GG/F George with a GG Uncle, Robert Barley who appears in non-relevant documents. Must learn to deal with one person at a time!. Edith had 4 daughters one of whom died in the 1960s after protracted illness before I got a chance to know her properly. The other three, including my mother, have never provided anything but the sketchiest of details of the family, most of which I am now finding to be wrong.

Ant, the other letter will be posted shortly when I have proofed it for original spelling and punctuation. As a brother to sister letter it is perhaps less frank than this one but it gives a sense of what was important to men in the trenches.

Cheer ho

John.

[John-B-Rooks]

Many thanks for posting this, John. Knowing he was killed so soon after writing it makes it a very touching letter.

He mentioned putting on respirators - an interesting detail. I didn't know troops at Gallipoli were issued with them and have never seen a reference elsewhere.

T.

I must admit to being surprised that they were issued away from the Western Front this early. It makes one wonder what pattern of respirator would have been issued there.

Cheer ho

John.

[RaySearching]

by 1911 the family appear to have split up

George and Edward as residing with the Fisher family

as can be noted below a member of the Fisher family is called Annie

its possible that Annie in the leter is Annie Fisher (a possiblity by no means conclusive)

(extract from the 1911 census)

Name: George Penney

Age in 1911: 20

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1891

Relation to Head: Boarder

Gender: Male

Birth Place: Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

Civil parish: Sheffield

County/Island: Yorkshire-West Riding

Country: England

Street Address: 64 Garden St Sheffield

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: Labourer Genl

Registration district: Sheffield

Registration District Number: 510

Sub-registration district: North Sheffield

ED, institution, or vessel: 6

Piece: 27873

Household Members:

Name Age

Charles Henry Fisher 33

Kate Fisher 32

Annie Fisher 12

Elsie Fisher 9

Sarah Fisher 6

Evelyn Fisher 4

George Penney 20

Edward Penney 18

Harry Barnsley 42

Gertrude Carter 15

regards Ray

[RaySearching]

Hi John

as can be seen in the following transcript of the 1901 census

Kathleen and Louisa mentioned in the letter were also Edwards sisters

Transcript from 1901 census

Household Members:

George Penney 51

Mary A Penney 44

Louisa Penney 18

Kathleen Penney 15

Edith Penney 13

George Penney 10

Edward Penney 8

Rueben Penney 4

James Penney 1

which leaves only Tom to be found

its possible that Tom could be the pet name of James the last remaining brother of Edward

regards Ray

[John-B-Rooks]

Ray, I couldn't have possibly hoped for such a thorough review of my family as you have supplied in the last couple of hours. You have a knack for finding records online that I have yet to nurture. My enormous thanks for your help.

I can add one small part to the Penney family from 1884 with the death of another daughter Margaret, born 24/7/1881 died 27/3/1884 and interred at Intake Cemetery 30/3/84.

My suspicion about Tom is that he is the husband/fiance/gentleman friend of Louisa hence Teddy's dislike/distrust/discombobulation of him.

I don't think Teddy is talking about Annie Fisher because 4 years on from the 1911 census she'd only be 16 which would, even in 1915 be quite young to have a husband and 'kiddies'. One of those implausible though not impossible scenarios.

The family had moved to Clapton Common, London by the 1911 census by which time my grandmother was a probationer nurse at the Hackney Union Infirmary (1910 -1913 when she qualified as a staff nurse) . She left shortly afterwards to work in a private clinic in Harley Street for just under a year before joining up in August 1914. There are lots of photographs of her in this thread

Thanks for your help Ray.

Cheer ho

John

[RaySearching]

so that leaves Tom and Annie ?

I am sure some of the genealogists on the forum will take it up

they like a challenge

regards Ray

[John-B-Rooks]

Here you are Ant. This is a slightly more chatty letter but with its poignant moment. Without the other letter I don't know his 'address' on this date, just over a month after landing at Suvla. Also without the original envelope, I don't know exactly where Edith was stationed although I believe she was still in France at this time although she would be travelling to the Mediterranean theatre shortly after this.

Cheer ho

John.

Letter from the Dardanelles - Transcript

Sept 14 / 1915 Address as before

My dear Sister

Just a line in answer to your welcome letter. I received your nice writing book and envelopes just as I was returning back to the trenches after having a short rest and am writing this letter in the trench because we are having a rather quiet day today save a few snipers that keep having a pop at us. I do feel sorry for poor Annie from what I hear from home she is going out of her mind and I can tell you it makes me feel no happier hearing this bad news out here they say she will not believe it till the war is over a great pity for the poor kiddies

Well Edith George has now gone to France let us hope he will not meet with the same fate I have not heard from him yet. I think our family are doing their bit. I have had one narrow squeak a bullet pierced my helmet and I was caught on the thumb by a small piece of shrapnel but luckily it did no damage a rather lucky day for me. I should be very pleased if Kathleen would drop me a line. I should very much like to hear from her as it is years since I saw her so you might tell her. We had quite a touching experience the other night while putting one of our comrades to his last rest place we found an song in his pocket pierced by a bullet entitled “ We laid him away on the

hillside” and as it happened we were burying him on the side of a hill rather a strange coincidence. Well Edith if you like you may send me a small tin of coffee a few biscuits and some mint rock but remind you to pack them well as the parcels get knocked about a good deal. Well Edith I really must close now with my best wishes to father and Kathleen and I hope you are well and happy as I am happy and as well can be under such trying times. So goodbye dear with much love from Your loving soldier brother

Teddy

It’s a long way to Constantinople but we will get there yet.

________________________________________________________________________

The letter comprises two pages written in pencil on flimsy, lined paper but sadly, the original envelope is no longer extant. Unfortunately his earlier letter with an address no longer exists either. He had landed at Suvla Bay.

Spelling, punctuation, format and pagination are maintained a closely as possible, hence the gap between “…away on the” and “hillside”.