We will remember them…
A letter from the trenches
In April 1915 the Second Battle of Ypres began – a battle notorious for the first use of gas by the Germans. Three battalions of the Cheshire Regiment were engaged in the Ypres salient. We know of one Alderley Edge man who was there: Private Alfred Haywood, serving in the 5th Battalion.
Alfred Haywood was a painter and decorator living at 44 South Street. He was to die 18 months after writing this letter in the Battle of the Somme and his name appears on the War Memorial.
On 23rd April the Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser printed a letter from him ‘to his friends in Alderley Edge thanking them for their second gift of cigarettes and papers’.
In his letter he referred to a report by the officer commanding his Company that No. 6 Platoon had distinguished itself
‘firstly, in bringing in some wounded men under fire, and secondly, reinforcing the firing trench with fixed bayonets at the double when they were in a working party, and a request for support was sent back.’
This is an extract from Private Haywood’s letter:
“Both Alcock and I were in it, and all this praise was given us by the General of our Division. It was a terrible night when we fetched the wounded men from the firing line. We had to carry them about a mile and a half, and were under fire half the distance. We just managed to get clear as daylight was breaking, after which we had to go back to our billets, and pack up for a fresh depot. It poured down with rain, and we were all ‘done in the world’ when we landed, but our lieutenant kept cheering us up, and we soon got round after a few hours’ rest. The second item, when we reinforced the firing line, was a lucky do for us as we had none wounded at all. We ran to the trenches, where we usually had to go on our hands and knees. The attack was soon repulsed.”
If you know of Alderley Edge men who served in the war
and returned home afterwards, we should be glad to hear of them.