The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War

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The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) can be traced back to 1702. Today it is part of the Yorkshire Regiment Battalions during the Great War. 1st Battalion 2nd Battalion 3rd (Reserve) Battalion 4th Battalion 2/4th Battalion 3/4th Battalion 5th Battalion 2/5th Battalion 3/5th Battalion 6th Battalion 2/6th Battalion 3/6th Battalion 7th Battalion 2/7th Battalion 3/7th Battalion 8th (Service) Battalion 9th (Service) Battalion 10th (Service) Battalion 11th (Reserve) Battalion 12th (Labour) Battalion 13th (Service) Battalion 14th (Service) Battalion Ernest Rainsforth 2/5th Btn. West Riding Regt My Grandfather - Ernest Rainsforth, was badly injured but also survived and was repatriated to England from France with his bicep blown off and with a serious knee injury from sharpnel: whilst fighting with the 2/5th West Riding Regiment as the Germans pulled back from the Hindenberg Line in March 1917. I am lucky enough to have my Grandad's war discharge papers - discharged as being medically unfit for further war service - and the original telegram sent to his Mother advising her that Ernest had been wounded and admitted to hospital in London. I ache with sheer anguish for her when I read that telegram and know what his Mum must have felt at the time. My Grandad survived the war: met my Nan at Malden Hospital in Middlesex where she was nursing during WW1 and returned to his home town of Gainsbro with a beautiful new wife. Ernest lived until the age of 94. He never chose to speak to anyone about his experiences in France except to say to my younger brother - when my brother was a boy - that he laid on a stretcher in a field at a Clearing Station - gagging for a drink of water for over 24 hours and when he called the orderly for water the orderly said "shut-up Rainsforth, the bloke laid next to you has 16 bullits in him ". Grandad unrolled his shirt sleeve and showed my brother a massive intentation in his left arm where his bicep had been literally blown off. List of those who served with The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) during The Great War Ernest Rainsforth 2/5th Btn. Read his Story.

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