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The Last Battle: Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917
The Last Battle: Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917
The Last Battle: Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917
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The Last Battle: Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917

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This fifth volume of Letters by John Seymour Lindsay takes us from the end of May 1916 to December 1917. From Bienvilliers to the presentation of his Distinguished Conduct Medal and Commission in the field, to the hell of the Battle of Gommecourt, hospitalisation, further training, heavy shelling resulting in his injury at Leuze Wood and final recuperation at Osborne House, Isle of Wight.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 13, 2013
ISBN9781301809172
The Last Battle: Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917
Author

Paul Middleton

Retired now, but worked in publishing for 30 years at Reader's Digest and Times Books. Call myself an Independent Publishing Professional interested in social history and our extensive family archives. Have co-published 3 books on Bedford and currently working on family projects on First World War and 20th century art of a grandfather. Lucky to live in a sub-tropical valley in southern Spain.

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    Book preview

    The Last Battle - Paul Middleton

    The Last Battle - Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917

    Paul Middleton

    Published by Paul Middleton at Smashwords

    Copyright 2013 Paul Middleton

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    All images in this book are Copyright Philippa Middleton and are part of the Lindsay Family Archive.

    Facts about this book

    This copy of The Last Battle - Letters May 1916 to Dec 1917

    contains 62 letters.

    (Note: some electronic versions of this book indicate a small number of pages - this is because pages with images are not counted!)

    Lt John Seymour Lindsay DCM London Rifle Brigade.

    Foreword

    John Seymour Lindsay DCM (JSL) left a fine record for us to read. He wrote hundreds of letters to Mildred his fiancée then wife, and Frank his brother, describing his experiences and feelings, sometimes candidly but more often hiding the reality. I have shown every letter with a full transcription.

    This Fifth Volume of Letters takes us from the end of May 1916 to December 1917, from Bienvilliers to the presentation of JSL's DCM and Commission in the field, the hell of the Battle of Gommecourt, hospitalisation, injury at Leuze Wood and final recuperation at Osborne House.

    The letters passed through the military Censor so it takes us some time to decipher where he actually was, but in hindsight and with some important clues it is possible to trace his career. He experienced devastating losses of his friends, he showed great bravery and privation, but above all what shines through is his enduring love of art. Maybe this saved his sanity. Among the platitudes of comments on the weather and his physical state, his letters continually refer to his sketching of colleagues, the trenches and the nearby villages.

    Read his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, which can be found at the end of this book. Here you will be convinced that he was a true hero and polymath.

    Paul Middleton 2013

    Chronology

    FIRST WORLD WAR

    Sept 1914 Private No.1006 5th London Rifle Brigade 2nd Battalion

    16 Dec 1914 Served in France Theatre of War

    Jan 1915 to Jul 16 1915 1st Battalion

    12 Mar 1915 No.3 General Hospital, Le Treport.

    12 Mar 1915 Transferred to Convalescent Depot

    May 1915 Second Battle of Ypres

    26 May 1915 Transferred to Base Depot Rouen

    16 Jun 1915 Licence granted and married Mildred Ethel Williams (died 1948)

    at Holy Cross, St Pancras, London

    Aug to Nov 1915 Cassel, Caestre and Poperinghe

    11 Mar 1916 DCM awarded to L/Cpl John Seymour Lindsay for action on 3 May 1915

    July 1916 Battle of Gommecourt

    19 Jul 1916 Sgt gazetted with direct commission as 2nd Lieut at Bienvillers

    Sept 1916 wounded and invalided home and then served with 3rd Battalion

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