Rushden Echo, 1st January 1915, transcribed by Kay Collins
Rushden Man and “Jack Johnsons”
Pte A Forknall Hit in the Face with a Lump of Sludge
How Chocolates Disappeared
Another very interesting letter is to hand from Private A Forknall (Rushden), of the R.A.M.C. Thanking his wife for a parcel of nuts, chocolate, and toffee, he says he and others soon gave the things “a good hiding.” Continuing he says:-
“We had it very hot last Monday. There were about 20 or 30 ‘Jack Johnsons’ burst about 300 yards from where I stood. My word, you should have seen me dodging behind a railway wagon to watch results! But I got nothing worse than a lump of sludge, straight in the ‘dial.’ I shall not hurt if I get no closer than that.”
Private Forknall concluded by wishing all his friends the season’s compliments.
In a letter to the Editor of the “Rushden Echo,” Private Forknall says:-
“It gives me great pleasure to write these few lines to thank you for your kindness in sending to me the ‘Rushden Echo’ which I receive fairly regularly. I also thank you on behalf of my comrades to whom the ‘Echo’ is passed, as English news is much appreciated out here. We are having a hot time of it at present, with great ‘English successes’ all along the line. I am in the best of health, but find the stone floor of a church (in which we are now billeted) much colder than the straw of an old barn which we have just vacated. We are having plenty of rain here, and it is quite convenient to have a mud bath in the centre of the roadways, but I have not yet seen anybody take advantage of that opportunity. I must now conclude by wishing you the season’s compliments and success to the ‘Rushden Echo’.”
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Rushden Echo Friday 12th March 1915, transcribed by Susan Manton
Rushden R.A.M.C. Man at the Front
“Sleeping with rats” - A humorous anecdote
In his letter to his wife, Private A. Forknall (Rushden) R.A.M.C., attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery writes:-
“March came in like a lion, with plenty of wind, rain and snow. At night we sleep in a barn with plenty of rats to keep us company. I heard a funny thing the other day. I was down in the village with the water cart, and a sentry was standing against a crucifix by the side of the road when an officer came up to him. This was the dialogue:- Officer: “Have two battalions of Infantry passed this way?” Sentry: “I don’t know sir – I didn’t see them. I have been standing here all the while.” Naturally as the sentry didn’t know whether 2,000 men had passed or not the officer walked away.”
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The Rushden Echo, April 2nd 1915, transcribed by Kay Collins
Rushden Soldier in the Thick of the Fighting
How a Rushden Man was Wounded
Pte. Arthur Forknall (Rushden), of the R.A.M.C., now with the British Expeditionary Force, writes home, under date March 18th:-
“I am still in the land of the living and still have the water-cart in my charge, and I have been under shell fire with it for the last five days. Of course, it is not all honey, but we have put the Germans through it somewhat this last week, and I have had some lucky escapes. I had a look at the names of some soldiers buried on the roadside to-day, there being 28 in one grave, and all Scotch.
“We are having much better weather now, and my cold is better. We are in a much better farm now–healthier altogether. I have not had the papers this week yet, but they may have been delayed by the big bombardment which is taking place.
“I saw L. Green (Rushden) this morning. He says it is a long while since he received ‘The Rushden Echo’ and it is a long time since I received one. Of course we are in the thick of the fighting now and cannot put any war news in our letters, but we are all right, and driving the Germans back in quite a satisfactory manner.
Writing on March 18th, he says:-
“I have received your parcel quite safely, also ‘The Rushden Echo’, and thank you very much. We had an accident with one of the guns on Tuesday, One of our own shells burst inside the gun, killing two men and wounding three. L. Green, of Rushden, was dangerously wounded, and now lies in hospital, but they have every hope of his recovery. Well, I shall have to close, or the censor will think he has ‘The News of the World’.
[We are sorry Pte. Forknall has not been receiving his copy of the ‘Rushden Echo’ regularly. Unfortunately copies occasionally get lost in transit-Editor ‘R.E.’]
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The Rushden Echo, 16th April, 1915, transcribed by Jim Hollis
Rushden Man in Hospital - Still Cheerful
Private A. Forknall (Rushden), of the R.A.M.C., has written home to his wife to say that he is in No. 7 Clearing Hospital at the front, but says:
“I am improving, and hope soon to be about again. I don’t know what is the matter with me. I think I have had a bit of everything. I don’t know how long I shall stay here. I may be sent down to the base or I may stay here till I am quite well again. I have just had dinner; rice pudding and a cup of hot milk (want some?). Tell Dad if he likes to have a walk over here I will give him a game of crib. I don’t suppose he has many games now.”
Since writing the above, another letter has come from Private Forknall, in which he says:
“I am quite well again, and am leaving hospital to-day, so I shall be with the battery again. I have been doing all right here on champagne and milk, but I expect I have got to have some more bully beef and biscuits now. We are having some lovely weather now; the sun is quite hot. We have just had a church service on the lawn.”
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The Rushden Echo 23rd July 1915, transcribed by Kay Collins
Rushden Man Home On Leave
Amusing Interview With Private Forknall
Saving a Man's Life
Pte. A. Forknall (Rushden), of the R.A.M.C., from whom many interesting letters have been published in our columns, has been spending 7 days' leave from the front with his wife at Rushden. He has been at the front since last August, and the brief leave he has just had has been the first real rest he has had since the outbreak of hostilities.
 Interviewed by a representative of the "Rushden Echo" he said:
"The battery to which I am attached has not been out of action since October 25th and the seven days I have been allowed at home, which I am sorry have now nearly come to an end, have been like a taste of heaven after eleven months of hell. I am pleased to say I have arrived home all in one piece, although I can thank my lucky stars that I am not minus three or four legs, as I have had plenty of narrow escapes. One such was on the day following the big scrap at Neuve Chapelle. We had gone out with a water cart with the intension of getting water for the battery and on the return journey had got to within about 30 yards of the battery when an enemy shrapnel shell, commonly called a coal-box, fell and ‘busted’ about 20 yards in front of us. Fortunately none of us were hit and I couldn’t tell you whether any fragments of the shell came in our direction, as we didn’t stop to see, I can tell you. You couldn’t see our heels for dust as we made for cover as hard as we could hop it. On the same day another of these coal boxes fell on the edge of the field where the battery was situated and this slightly wounded two of the chaps but did no damage to the guns.
“The most serious thing that happened at this time was the blowing up of one of our own guns. This however was not due to any efforts of the enemy. We don’t exactly know how it happened, except that the shell, instead of leaving the muzzle, burst inside the breech and blew the gun to blazes. The gun looked like a penny watch when a kid has finished playing with it. Three of the gun section in charge were killed outright and two or three more were wounded. One of those seriously wounded was Gunner L. Green, of Rushden, who is now in the London Hospital, Whitechapel. He was very badly wounded in the arm and side. I saw the fellows that were killed and they were so badly mangled that it makes me bad to think about it. My friends tell me that I have got thin since I been at the front and I dare say I have. So would you if you were out there. You get all your fat frightened off you, you can take it from me. I should soon put on weight if I could stay at home a bit, as it is a treat to get a drop of good old English ale after the spoilt water you get out there at a penney a pint.
“I have saved one chap’s life since I have been at the front, although I haven’t been given the iron cross for doing it. It happened this way. I had a fancy to learn to ride a horse and volunteered to take one down to a village near by for a drink. I got on his back and started off at a walk. The chap who was usually in charge wanted to see him trot and incidentally see me break my neck, so he touched the animal on the hocks and off I came in double quick time. Whilst he was watching me training for the Derby a German shell dropped straight in the roadway, opposite where the staff was billeted, and burst. The chap to whom the horse belonged would have been passing there at the time if he had been riding instead of me, so it is plain to everyone, including himself, that if I hadn’t desired to become jockey he and his horse would have gone up in the air.
“You would be surprised to see the havoc that has been wrought by the German bombardment of the various places we have been through. The villages where the battery was stationed when I left for home has been reduced to nothing but a mass of ruins, in spite of that however, many of the residents cling to their homes, and go about just as if nothing was happening. It is surprising the nerve some of them. There are not many of the villagers that can talk English at all, although we can always make them understand when we want beer. We have only got to hang our tongues out and they know what we want. One day one of our chaps wanted some eggs, and could not make the lady of the farm understand what he wanted. He went through all sorts of manoeuvres with his hands and cackled like a fowl. He then pointed at a hen, and the old girl picked it up and wrung its neck. He didn't get his eggs but he had the fowl. The fowls out there have a nasty habit o of disappearing if they come anywhere near any of our chaps.”
Asked whether he thought the war would last much longer, Pte. Forknall said:
"I don't think the first five years will be so bad. It is hard to say when it will be over, as opinions at the front vary. Personally, I don’t think the Germans will face another winter, and the war will probably finish in the late autumn. I don’t want another winter there, anyway.”
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Rushden Echo, 28th January 1916, transcribed by Gill Hollis
Rushden Soldier on Leave - More about the Battle of Loos
British Gas Shells Very Effective - Germans Hanging Their Tongues Out
Damaged by an Enemy Shell
Pte. A. Forknall (Rushden), of the R.A.M.C. has again been home on seven days’ leave. Since he was home last July he says he has had a fairly easy time as the only big battle that has taken place during that period was the battle of Loos and he went right through that.
Interviewed by a representative of the “Rushden Echo” he said:-
“The battle of Loos started with a five days’ slow bombardment of the enemy’s lines, and our artillery sent over some heavy stuff, but for the first day or two the Germans made very little reply. On the day the attack was made, however, both sides let fly with all sorts of projectiles, our gas shells being very effective.
“As you have previously mentioned in your paper I am attached to the 5th Siege Battery, and I was with them all through this battle, but I had little work to do, as none of our men were hit. We were situated behind the fosse, and had a splendid view of the ridge where the enemy were situated. We could see the smoke from our gas shells rolling over their lines, and there is no doubt it was making them hang their tongues out.
“Our battery on the day of the attack had orders to advance, and we went about a couple of miles under heavy shell fire, and had to dodge a bit, but all of us got through without a scratch. We are still in the same position we took up, and find it pretty hot quarters, as the enemy are shelling us all the time, sending over both light and heavy stuff. The Battery, however, is fairly well sheltered, and since the battle of Loos we have had only three casualties, two men being dangerously wounded and the other slightly. Their wounds were caused by an explosion of a German ‘five nines’ shell which burst at the side of the house in which they were billeted. At the time, one of the chaps was standing outside and another was just going in, and these were the two that were seriously wounded. When I left for home both of them had turned the corner and were likely to recover.
“I have been very pleased to receive the “Rushden Echo” each week as I often see in its accounts of the experiences of chaps I know.”
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