17 years old and fighting a war
At 17 years he had lied about his age and joined the Shropshire Yeomanry. The regiment shipped off to Egypt where he spent the next 4 years mainly in charge of the mule teams. Luck to avoid the trenches of Flanders, he missed trench foot, bayonet charges, shelling and gas attacks. He returned to return to England in 1918 unscathed but shot between the eyes.
Unscathed but shot between the eyes so how could this be possible?
Grandad never said much about his experiences of war but he always carried a bullet pinned to his lapel. This bullet had his name on it and it saved his life!
I always notice the bullet but had thought little of it. At 10 years of age, my curiosity aroused and I asked grandad why he always carried the bullet. Grandad shared this unbelievable and true story.
The grim reaper
The regiment had been ordered to charge the Turks who occupied facing and fortified trench positions. The charge of horses, men and swords was repulsed by machine gun fire. Grandad missed the grim reapers. Many a horse and soldier lay dead or dying in the sand. His horse shot from beneath him and he shot between the eyes but Grandad lived. In fact, he lived until the ripe old age of 84 years.
He opened his eyes but couldn’t see and felt dazed. The smell of the camel and its odd rhythm made him feel sick. He was aboard a ship of the desert and he had escaped death.
On the other side of the camel stretcher, another trooper moaned. Grandad didn’t comprehend the gravity of the situation but he did realise he had been blinded.
The field dressing station
Grandads shipment ended at a field dressing station, but the luckless trooper had to endure a long journey to the nearest field hospital. I know not of his plight, but I think at best it would have been a ship back to blighty.
At some point, Grandad had drifted into sleep, probably due to shock and loss of blood. He woke, cleaned and dressed with a bandage over his eyes. He also had a straw up each nostril to keep him breathing while blood clotted in the wound between his eyes.
Return to active service
Two weeks later subaltern Grandad returned to full active service in the Shropshire Yeomanry. In 1918 he left military service and returned to agriculture, He farmed until in his late 50s.
3 separate events saved his life
- He had his sword drawn and his body well inclined forward while his horse galloped headlong at the machine guns.
- The machine guns were firing at the end of their projectories and bullets were less effective.
- The bullets were sharp rather than rounded.
The bullet impacted the bridge of the nose and exited in his neck, narrowly missing the jugular vein. It missing both his eyes and brain but had the bullet been rounded it would have spread on impact and blown his brains out.
