Mexborough and Swinton Times, May 13, 916

Private S Sharpe
(York and Lancs)

Mrs Sharpe, 99, concrete cottages, Wombwell, has received the following letter from her son, Private S Sharpe:

“You will be getting anxious at not having heard from me for so long, but I am all right and in the trenches. No one can say that the Barnsley battalion are not doing their bit, for they are, and they are doing it with a good heart.

I am a stretcher bearer, and have had experience of bringing in both dead and wounded. It is at such times as these that you understand what warfare really is. The other night I experienced an artillery duel, and I can assure you the noise was dreadful. It really did make a man feel nervous at the beginning, but we quickly got hardened to it. One of our stretcher bearers actually helped us to bring his dead brother out, and he did it with a good heart. I had a very great respect for that lad; all he said was: “if I could only get among them I would avenge his death.” That is the spirit of our lads.

You will see the names of our brave boys on the role of honour. Well, this is the way I am taking it, and if I have to leave this world it will be the Almighty is will. It shocked is all going straight into the trenches and hearing the bombardment. The other day I got hit on the helmet with a bullet, but as luck would have it, it skidded off. It made my helmet ring like a bell, but I knew it was not my passing bell, for I heard the bullet go into the parapet of the trench.

Our bill sends his best love to you all, so cheer up. We are keeping our heads down and don’t forget us.