206549 Dvr Herbert Wilfred Welburn British Army 411th Battery Royal Field Artillery from:Cayton, Scarborough My Grandfather, Herbert Welburn joined up at the age of 18 years and 11 months of age. He was brought up on a farm and was used to heavy horses, and so became a driver. I am still researching my Grandfather, and have been lucky enough to find his service record on line, although it is hard to read!
Grandad did not talk too much about the war, but he told me that when he was in France, he had a girlfriend, who was French, and she worked in the kitchen.He said he used to get through the window for extra food and would have been shot if his superiors knew what he was up to! Of course I was listening to this story when I was eight or nine years of age, so it could have been exaggerated a little! He said that one day he was stood in a trench talking to another soldier, when there was a large explosion. He carried on, but then realised the other soldier was dead, although he was still standing up. It was due to compression of the lungs he told me.
Once he was told to go and move a field gun, but refused saying 'I would sooner be a living coward than a dead hero'. The office threatened to have him court-martialed when the gun was hit by a shell. If he had gone to move it he would have been killed. He did, however, disobey an officer saving a soldier who had been hit after being told not to. The officer received a medal for bravery although he did not go to help.
One day, a soldier asked Grandad if he smoked. 'Yes' said my Grandfather. 'What kind do you smoke?" asked the curious soldier. 'Abide with me' replied my Grandfather.
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