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Remembered Today:

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I'm sure I've seen checklists in soldiers' service records which itemise the kit they've been issued with.

Vests, jackets, trousers, lanyards etc.

I'm sure toothbrushes were on the last list that I saw.

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48 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

I'm sure I've seen checklists in soldiers' service records which itemise the kit they've been issued with.

Vests, jackets, trousers, lanyards etc.

I'm sure toothbrushes were on the last list that I saw.

 

 

Tooth brush soldiers kit value Six pence and one farthing

value.jpg

 

regards Ray

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HF 1972

 

Here's a drawing of the kit made by a Lieutenant with the 3rd Herefordshire Regiment. The illustration appeared in the Hereford Times in 1915.

I am wondering about if the brush next to the comb (similar appears in the kit in past thread) is a toothbrush or for another task, as it seems to sit next to the shield for cleaning buttons.

Drawing of kit editedP1000869.JPG

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21 minutes ago, RaySearching said:

Tooth brush soldiers kit value Six pence and one farthing

 

regards Ray

 

That's the one.

Ta Ray.

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I've decided that it must be the toothbrush next to the button shield as there is a tin of Tooth powder to its right.

8 hours ago, Myrtle said:

HF 1972

 

Here's a drawing of the kit made by a Lieutenant with the 3rd Herefordshire Regiment. The illustration appeared in the Hereford Times in 1915.

I am wondering about if the brush next to the comb (similar appears in the kit in past thread) is a toothbrush or for another task, as it seems to sit next to the shield for cleaning buttons.

 

 

Edited by Myrtle
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7 hours ago, HF1972 said:

Fantastic newspaper clippings Ray, thank you. Can you remember the newspapers that they came from? I would like to use these. Dentures are a hazard, aren't they?

 

Trooper  John William George Newman   (Manchester Evening News 10/03/1915)

Private William Holby Habershon (Hull Daily Mail 07/09/1915)

 

Tommy's teeth stolen by a German

tommys teeth stolen.JPG

 

Lancashire Evening News 08/04/1918

 

Regards Ray

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Perhaps of marginal interest, but I recall an old thread concerning products available then and still around now: one was Euthymol toothpaste as requested in letters home.  You may also have seen the "Punch" cartoon.  Young man up for a medical:

 

Medical Officer "Sorry I must reject you on account of your teeth"

Recruit "Man, ye're making a gran' mistake,  I'm no wanting to bite the Germans.  I'm wanting to shoot them."

 

Edwin

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11 hours ago, edwin astill said:

 

Medical Officer "Sorry I must reject you on account of your teeth"

Recruit "Man, ye're making a gran' mistake,  I'm no wanting to bite the Germans.  I'm wanting to shoot them."

 

Actually that's quite funny for Punch.

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I don't know if it adds to the topic but my Grandfather's diary records the following in June 1916.

Wed 21 June 1916

Firing on 2 gun Good shooting

Thu 22 June 1916

Firing in No 6 Det No. 6 Sent teeth home

Fri 23 June 1916

Firing all afternoon No 2 and No 3 German trenches Observation balloon Thunderstorm

It would appear that living without his false teeth was preferable to the risk of losing or damaging personal property; (I wonder how expensive a set of dentures was)?

 

Peter

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/21/2016 at 13:30, RaySearching said:

 

 

Tooth brush soldiers kit value Six pence and one farthing

value.jpg

 

regards Ray

This is very useful Ray, thank you. It makes you wonder why he absconded...

Edited by HF1972
typo
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On 11/21/2016 at 13:32, Myrtle said:

HF 1972

 

Here's a drawing of the kit made by a Lieutenant with the 3rd Herefordshire Regiment. The illustration appeared in the Hereford Times in 1915.

I am wondering about if the brush next to the comb (similar appears in the kit in past thread) is a toothbrush or for another task, as it seems to sit next to the shield for cleaning buttons.

Drawing of kit editedP1000869.JPG

This is interesting, I have seen a toothbrush in a holdall like this. Now I know what the 'u' shaped instrument is for! I think that the brush was issued, but whether it was used for its intended purpose is difficult to know. Thank you for posting here.

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On 11/21/2016 at 18:09, RaySearching said:

 

Trooper  John William George Newman   (Manchester Evening News 10/03/1915)

Private William Holby Habershon (Hull Daily Mail 07/09/1915)

 

Tommy's teeth stolen by a German

tommys teeth stolen.JPG

 

Lancashire Evening News 08/04/1918

 

Regards Ray

Brilliant, thank you for the references. These newspaper stories are somehow rather humourous, a good foil for the awful events.

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On 11/25/2016 at 22:21, edwin astill said:

Perhaps of marginal interest, but I recall an old thread concerning products available then and still around now: one was Euthymol toothpaste as requested in letters home.  You may also have seen the "Punch" cartoon.  Young man up for a medical:

 

Medical Officer "Sorry I must reject you on account of your teeth"

Recruit "Man, ye're making a gran' mistake,  I'm no wanting to bite the Germans.  I'm wanting to shoot them."

 

Edwin

Thank you for this Edwin. I have heard the quote in various forms, but good to know that Punch took it and made a cartoon out of it.

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On 11/26/2016 at 11:42, petwes said:

I don't know if it adds to the topic but my Grandfather's diary records the following in June 1916.

Wed 21 June 1916

 

Firing on 2 gun Good shooting

 

Thu 22 June 1916

 

Firing in No 6 Det No. 6 Sent teeth home

 

Fri 23 June 1916

 

Firing all afternoon No 2 and No 3 German trenches Observation balloon Thunderstorm

 

It would appear that living without his false teeth was preferable to the risk of losing or damaging personal property; (I wonder how expensive a set of dentures was)?

 

Peter

Hello Peter,

Thank you for this. All personal memoirs are valuable to my research as I am interested in not only what the 'offical line' was on bad teeth, but also the lived experience. Dentures were an expensive and luxury item in this time (when I find out exactly I will add it here). He may have sent his dentures home to be mended, or as you suggest for safe keeping. There was a market in second hand dentures, so perhaps people sent dentures home if they felt that they weren't going to make it?

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On 11/26/2016 at 12:21, charlie962 said:

I had put this link on another thread some time ago which I found useful background.

 

Charlie962

Hello Charlie

 

Yes, I found that on here too, it was useful reading. If you are interested, the original book from which it was taken from is here.

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3 hours ago, HF1972 said:

Thank you for this Edwin. I have heard the quote in various forms, but good to know that Punch took it and made a cartoon out of it.

 

It was published in August 1914.    I spotted it in "Mr Punch's History of the Great War".

 

Edwin

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19 hours ago, edwin astill said:

 

It was published in August 1914.    I spotted it in "Mr Punch's History of the Great War".

 

Edwin

Thank you for that, you are most kind.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been working hard on writing up this chapter. However, I have a source which I am pretty sure I found on here, and screenshotted, but cannot find it again to ask the postee where it was from. ARRRAAAHHH!!!

Has anyone seen this on the forum?

 

Many thanks

 

recruit stats.jpg

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HF1972,

May not be relevant/of interest, but I have noted that in WW1 Canadian army soldiers files a standard dental chart is sometimes included, presumably so that a medic can record bad/missing teeth (?and fillings or other intervention).  

 

The files are largely available online (they are in the process of being digitised), via here http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/Pages/introduction.aspx#g  

 

If it were a topic you wanted to follow up in detail, perhaps you could consult the CEF Study group via their website http://cefresearch.ca/phpBB3/  - the members would likely have better knowledge of cases than I would!  

 

Clive

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On 17/12/2016 at 05:41, HF1972 said:

I have been working hard on writing up this chapter. However, I have a source which I am pretty sure I found on here, and screenshotted, but cannot find it again to ask the postee where it was from. ARRRAAAHHH!!!

Has anyone seen this on the forum?

 

Many thanks

 

It perhaps has come from an annual publication called Army Medical Department Report 

See a similar page from the 1906 edition,  Page 12 

 

Alternative sources could include an annual publication called GARBA General Annual Report of the British Army, or

 

History of the Great War Based on Official Documents: Medical Services: Casualties and Medical Statistics of the Great War by Major T. J. Mitchell and Miss G. M. Smith. 1931 Hathi Trust Digital Library (click on coloured text)

 

Cheers

Maureen

Edit: For those who have access, the two annual reports may be available through 

Edited by Maureene
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Hi

 

From The Silent Division and Concerning One Mans War by Ormond Burton pp 416

NZers were in front to Rossignol Wood in 1918

"One night I came along our trench, and found a very hushed assembly, of all in or about that particular bay. Jim Holst, a corporal had been out in no mans land. On his return a new recruit had thrown a bomb at the party by mistake. So here was poor Jim, dying on the duckboard, and everyone standing reverently around to see the last of him. A bit of a wound on his neck, and here he was choking to death! On an inspiration I put a finger into his mouth, and fished out his false teeth from the back of his throat. Jim immediately started to take a new interest in life, and departed cheerfully on a stretcher. We heard afterwards.. a splinter had shaved the carotid artery...Jim lived and I was best man at his wedding"

Edited by Herekawe
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Written by a New Zealand Sapper

…the habits of those Terrier shipmates of ours were enough to set you thinking…As for toothbrushes, well, they were all right for polishing buttons. The spectacle of a big, husky bushman cleaning his teeth night and morning was a thing they couldn’t understand at any price, much less appreciate. “If I did that”, observed one in my hearing, “I’d have toothache bad”; which seemed to be the general opinion.

 

Pages15-16 On the Anzac trail : being extracts from the diary of a New Zealand sapper by Anzac 1916 Archive.org

 

Cheers

Maureen

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