221285 Pte. Edward Wicks British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Berkshire from:47 Weldale St., Reading (d.20th Augu 1917) Until August 2014 I had no idea that our family had suffered loss in WW1. A relative gave me a letter written to my grandparents from their nephew, Ted Wicks, my father's cousin.
It was dated 9th October 1916 and was written to thank them for their gift of Woodbines, which, he said, "went down alright." He wrote, "I am keeping quite well very happy and cheerful. We are having very bad weather and very cold nights. No hope of the war being over yet not what I can see of it. But let us hope that it will soon be over so that we can all come home once more.... We are still at rest, but not far from the line.... I don't think much of France. Best part of the places which are near the line are down to the ground where they have been shelled." He ends by wishing them both the best of luck.
He died of wounds in the August of the following year, aged 22, and is buried in Harlebeke New British Cemetry, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. His mother, my great aunt, requested that the words, "At Rest" be inscribed on his headstone.
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