208813 Pte. Thomas Hughes British Army 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry from:Stockton on Tees (d.21st Sep 1914) The story begins in 1914 when the First World War was only a few hours old. 26 year old Private Thomas Hughes from Stockton-on-Tees was one of the first people to be called up to the war and on hearing the news sent a postcard to his wife and 2 year old daughter sending explaining where he was going and sending his love. This was the last time they heard from him - or so they thought!
Not only was Private Hughes one of the first people to go to war, he was also one of the first to die. His body was never recovered. On the 9th September 1914, two days before he died, he wrote a letter to his wife and put it into a green ginger beer bottle. He also wrote a letter to whoever was to find the bottle asking that they forward the message to his wife and “earn the blessing of a poor British soldier on his way to the front.†He then screwed on a rubber stopper and tossed the messages in the bottle into the English Cannel as he left to fight in France.
It was 85 years later that a fisherman from Canvey Island, Steven Gowan, was trawling for cod of the Essex coast when he dredged up the bottle - still in near perfect condition. “Someone else may have just thrown it back into the sea or taken it home and done nothing about it,†says Steven “but I became determined to deliver the letter. Even though I assumed that Mrs Hughes must have passed away, I felt a great personal responsibility to get the letter to any family he may have had.â€
Mr Gowan began his search by placing an advert in a newspaper local to where Private Hughes was from and by amazing co-incidence, his plea was spotted by a distant relative of Mrs Hughes. She had emigrated to New Zealand eight years after her husband’s death with their daughter Emily. Mr Gowan was flown out to meet her by a New Zealand newspaper and personally delivered the bottle and the message that was meant for her mother all those years ago. Emily said it was a great source of joy and comfort to her.
The letter, written in blue ink, reads: "Dear Wife, I am writing this note on this boat and dropping it into the sea just to see if it will reach you. If it does, sign this envelope on the right hand bottom corner where it says receipt. Put the date and hour of receipt and your name where it says signature and look after it well. "Ta ta sweet, for the present. Your Hubby."
The covering note says: "Sir or madam, youth or maid, Would you kindly forward the enclosed letter and earn the blessing of a poor British soldier on his way to the front this ninth day of September, 1914. Signed Private T. Hughes, Second Durham Light Infantry. Third Army Corp Expeditionary Force."
Local News Report
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