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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Ernest Rainsforth
British Army 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.
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