Letters From the Front

Sgt. Ernest Waines, 38th Battalion C.E.F.

Sgt. Waines - a lone survivor

Toronto Evening Telegram

Introduction transcribed from original newspaper article that included Waines' letter:

HIT BY "WHIZ-BANG"

Sergt. E. Waines of Todmorden is Now in Colchester Hospital

Writing to his mother from the hospital in Colchester¹, England, Sergt. E. Waines states that he is getting on well although badly wounded.

Mrs. Waines lives at 5 Westwood avenue, Todmorden.²

Dated: September 14, 1917

"I was the luckiest out of six," he says, "as the others got an R.I.P. It happened while we were being relieved. We had to go along a sunken road in front of the Germans. It was dark, after midnight, and all went well until the last eight of us, when the Germans threw a light on us. I was hit by a 'whiz-bang' but, thank God, it did not explode. I lost a lot of blood, but I was able to help dress another poor fellow who got hit in the stomach. He died before they got him to the dressing station. I guess I am out of it for a month or two."

¹Todmorden, East York, Ontario.

²Colchester Military hospital is now demolished. More information about Colchester military hospital during World War One.

Transcribed by: M. I. Pirie