Letters home from wounded in hospital

 

Letters were received at the their homes in Luton from men in hospital in Alexandria and Malta, some as a result of wounds sustained at Gallipoli and others for illnesses.

Mrs Lambert, of 131 Hitchin Road, had heard from the Territorial Records office, Warley, Essex, that her husband, Sgt HARRY J. LAMBERT, 2633, was dangerously ill in hospital at Alexandria in Egypt, having been admitted on August 23rd. The nature of his illness was not stated.

Sgt Lambert (pictured, right), the son of Mr and Mrs John H. Lambert, of 169 Hitchin Road, had a lifelong connection with the Army, having been born in barracks while his father was serving with the Royal Fusiliers. Not yet 35, he had been in the Army and the Territorials for 20 years. He was band-sergeant with the Territorials when war broke out and was then made sergeant of the stretcher-bearers. He was the father of a boy and a girl.

Mrs Lambert received a letter from her husband on August 11th from which, in the absence of official details concerning the removal of her husband to hospital, she had drawn conclusions that he had been wounded, as the letter came from the Gallipoli Peninsular.

The letter said: "We have arrived in the Gallipoli Peninsular somewhere. We have not been in action yet, but expect to have our first experience tomorrow. We have seen plenty of sights so soon. We are bivouacking by the side of the sea, living on active service rations, making out own tea etc. It is quite interesting to sit here and watch the shells dropping around our ships laying close by, but luckily they have not hit any of them yet."

The relatives of Pte GEORGE BROWN, 4485, whose home is at 16 St Ann's Road, Luton, have received an official intimation that he is wounded and in hospital at Alexandria, but no date was given. Pte Brown wrote shortly after landing that he had been in action and was all right. He has since sent one of the service postcards saying he had been admitted to hospital but hoped to be discharged soon.

In hospital at Malta suffering from a poisoned hand was Pte HERBERT SMITH, 3477, of 58 New Town Street, Luton. He is single and a former employee of the Midland Railway.

Sgt G. ELSTON, of 13 Jubilee Street, Luton was taken seriously ill on the voyage out from England and was left at Malta. He is now rapidly recovering from an operation at Valetta Military Hospital.

Pte HARRY DOLBY, of 8 Adelaide Terrace, Luton, is an inmate of Tigne Hospital, Malta, having been shot in the arm. Writing from hospital to his mother he says: "Just a few lines to let you know I am getting on all right, but slightly wounded in the left arm, and in hospital at Malta." Pte Dolby is one of four fighting brothers. Two of them, L-Cpl Alfred and Pte Percy, are in the Dardanelles, and the fourth, Pte Stanley, is now at Landguard waiting to return to the Western Front, where he received a bullet wound in the left arm during the fighting for Hill 60.

[The Luton News: Thursday, September 2nd, 1915]