Two Luton sappers were among the first casualties sustained in Gallipoli by No 4 Section of the 1/2nd Field Company of the East Anglian Royal Engineers, Sappers George and Harris being wounded with Second-Lieut M. C. Callis by a Turkish bomb on September 9th when they were at work about 30 yards from the Turkish trenches.
Last week Mr G. H. Barrett, the foreman of the brass foundry of Messrs George Kent Ltd, received a cheery letter from Sapper L. T. Harris, 1150, who was an extremely popular member of the staff of Messrs Kent.
Sapper Harris is in Floriana hospital at Malta, and in his letter he writes: "I was clumsy enough to get near a bomb just as it was exploding, so am now taking a rest cure at this hospital. The trench in which I was working was only about 30 yards from the Turks' lines, so the chap who threw the bomb hasn't got much to swank about.
"My hurts consisted of cuts on my right arm, body, shoulders, head and both legs, but I am nearly right again now. There are still a few pieces of metal in me, but they do not give me much trouble, and are only very small pieces - splinters in fact.
"I don't know what they will do with me. They send most of the men from here to England as soon as they are well enough, but I shall probably be sent to a convalescent camp here.
"We had a fairly good time on the Peninsular. There was a lot of work to do, but it was not as bad as I expected. The food was very good - not as good as they get in France, of course, as it is so difficult to get out here. And we had no billets as they do on the French front.
"As there are no houses of any sort, and no tents except for stores, headquarters etc, we had to make our homes in the open. It was all right until it rained, and then it was a mess. There was nothing to do, of course, except to get wet and dry in the sun.
"The flies are a devil of a nuisance, and lots of men are laid up with dysentery. When I left, all the other Kent's men were safe and sound, and I have not heard anything to the contrary yet.
"I have no idea how long the job will last in the Peninsular, but our men have been doing exceedingly well. What we want though is several thousand more men to push the thing along a bit.
"I don't know what they will do out there when the rainy season commences at the end of this month. The country is all hills and valleys, and when the rain comes there will be a hell of a mess.
"I hope Kent's have not joined in the munition workers' fashion, and go out on strike over every little thing. If the men at home are not satisfied, I can assure you there are thousands here who will be quite willing to change places with them."
[The Luton Reporter: Monday, November 15th, 1915]