204602 Sjt. Althol Williamson British Army 6th Btn. Highland Light Infantry from:Hamilton, Scotland My Grandfather Althol Williamson was honourably discharged on the 30th November 1917
He was so badly injured during one battle that his friend hitched him to a gun carriage by his kilt. He was taken back behind British Lines where he was laid out under a sheet as he was presumed dead. We have no further details on this as my grandfather died in 1965. He didn't really want to talk much about this.
My grandfather told me that whilst he was lying on the battlefield, someone or something was moving from the bodies lying on the field and when it came to him it told him he would be aright. He said it was a bright light in the form of a man.
He was sent home, and used to sleep between his mother and father owing to the severe shellshock
One day he went out in London where he then lived using his crutches, he got onto a bus and sat on one of the side seats, the conductor took his crutches and put them under the stairwell. A couple of stops later a woman got on the bus, she was wearing a hat with white feathers in it, she took one of the feathers and put it in my grandfathers lapel. He did nothing, when he got to his stop the conductor gave him his crutches, he looked at the woman, my grandfather said he would never forget her face. He kept the feather in an England's Glory matchbox for many years, and told me he wished he could find that woman to give her back the feather
He remembered waiting in the trenches with the german machine gun bullets pinging on the top of the trench. All waiting for the officer to blow the whistle knowing that as they climbed the ladder to the top of the trench some of them would be instantly killed, my grandfather told me that even with them knowing this no-one faltered and up that ladder they went.
He was 6' 6" tall and cut himself out a special place when they were in the trenches, one day when he came back from a sortie, someone was using my grandfathers special cutout, my grandfather commented to the other soldier but he stayed in my grandfathers cutout. As my grandfather moved along the trench a shell exploded above his cutout and the occupant was killed.
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