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Sjt. Ernest Arthur Machin
British Army 4th Battalion London Regiment
from:Shoreditch, London
My Granddad, Ernest Machin was in the 4th Battalion of the London Fusiliers and during the first year of the war, took a bullet through his jaw. Fortunately, his wound was treated and he was subsequently returned to the battlefields in France with the rest of the BEF. He was later captured and held as a POW in Oppy Wood during 1918. He was moved from various holding camps, finally being held for 6 months in Germany. He worked in fields, toiling the land growing food for the Germans. After armistice was declared, the POW's were freed but had to walk hundreds of miles north to Ostend. They boarded a ship and returned to England. He eventually arrived home in January 1919 and on walking through the door of his home, found his fiancee having tea with his parents. I have been unable to track down Ernests' Military service records, which would include medical and personal details.
