Radcliffe
RADCLIFFE
WOUNDED
Theatres of war were dangerous places for Radcliffe soldiers.
Bad weather, appalling living conditions, accidental injuries and
infectious diseases were constant risks. Enemy fire endangered
lives every day. The biggest threats were artillery, exploding
shells and gas.
9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, Tiepval Ridge, Sept. 1916 Wounded Radcliffe
men, like all soldiers,
were treated at field
aid posts before being
relayed by stretcher
bearers to casualty
clearing stations. These
were well-equipped
tented camps where
operations like
amputations took
place.
Soldiers too ill to
travel remained
there. Many were
transferred, often
by rail, to base
hospitals. Quakers
and conscientious
objectors Walter
and Wilfred Houseley
from Lorne Grove
helped transport
wounded men with the
Friends Ambulance
Unit at Dunkirk.
Wounded men wait for treatment near Albert, France
Mortally Wounded
Some injuries were too serious for a soldier's life to be saved.
John Ould, who had lived on Bingham Road, served with the
Australian Infantry Force until wounded at the Somme.
Australian Red Cross files state he died the same day he was
admitted to a Boulogne base hospital with gunshot wounds and
compound fractures to the leg, which had become gangrenous.
WW1
Gassed
The Germans introduced clouds of
chlorine gas in 1915 as part of their
weaponry. By 1916 both sides were
using gas – the British released 1,120
tons during the Battles of the Somme.
Gunner Joseph Barratt, from Radcliffe
and a regular soldier with the RGA,
was known as a 'sober, honest,
reliable, hard- working man'. Being
gassed led to a spell in a British
hospital and 40% disablement.
German Storm Troopers advance
through phosgene gas
Exploding shells
Artillery shells, some containing
gas, were a deadly weapon.
British artillery regiments aimed
mainly at enemy trenches for
much of the war. In 1918 they
changed tactics, shelling enemy
guns and communications
systems immediately before an
attack. A creeping barrage of
shell fire just in front of
advancing infantry cleared
obstacles, hindering the enemy.
These strategies helped win the
war, although highly dangerous
British soldiers prepare artillery shells
for infantry.
Brothers John and Richard Barry were gunners with the
14th Heavy Battery, R.G.A. John was caught by shell burst at
La Boiselle (1916). Medical notes describe the 'large, gaping
pulsurating wound' to his right foot as 'very foul'. John was
evacuated to a Reading hospital. 64% of hospitalised soldiers
returned to the front but his injury was too serious.
John always lived in Radcliffe and became a founder member
of the local branch of the British Legion. His foot was
permanently damaged.
His mother wrote: ‘Pte Charles Paine was my son's friend. They
went to school together, worked together, went to Australia
together, joined the
German sniper on the Western Front
AIF together and
practically died
together. C Paine was
killed on Aug 6/16.
My son was wounded
and died 2 days later’.
John was 20 years old.
Gunshot wounds
Frank Searle from
The Harlequin ran a
hairdressing business
in Nottingham. He
volunteered in 1915 and took the blast of gunshot wounds in his
neck and upper arms in 1918. Dangerously ill in France before
recovering, he was 80% disabled at the end of the war.
John (Jack) Barry, standing on right with crutches, with fellow wounded soldiers at No.3 war
hospital, Reading
Wounding was common
Over two and a half million British military were wounded. Many
Radcliffe soldiers' records reveal injuries like Frank Searle's,
Joseph Barratt's and John Barry's. War-related illnesses were
also frequent.