Elsie's Scrapbook

Elsie’s Scrapbook

I was born in 1896. Here I am as a baby with my mother. Mother says I was very good and never cried.

I have two brothers – Bertie and Fred. Bertie was born two years before me and Fred was born two years after. Here is a picture of Bertie and Fred when they were little.

I also have a little sister called M eg. M eg is six years younger than Fred. Here is a picture of M eg when she was five. My father died when M eg was little.

I was 18 when war broke out in 1914. Bertie was 20. Fred was 16. M eg was 10.

Bertie was mad keen to join up. Here he is in his soldier’ s uniform.

1

Mother found it hard when Bertie went off to war.

At least she had lots to do to keep busy. She knitted socks, mittens and mufflers, and she sewed pyjamas and shirts. She also went to Red Cross meetings where groups of ladies got bandages and other things ready to go in First Aid kits.

Of course, Mother wrote to Bertie every week and she sent him parcels of good things from home. She worried about him all the time.

Bertie wrote when he could. Here is a postcard he sent from France in 1914 for my birthday, with violets on, and one from 1915.

2

3

Fred did war work too. He went out to gather conkers to help make explosives. Children could get seven shillings and sixpence for 8 stone of conkers.

4

5

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a nurse.

When the War began, I was even more keen. Look at the brave nurses in these posters.

6

7

8

When I told Mother that I wanted to be a nurse, she became very upset. She didn’ t want me to leave home. In the end, I agreed to stay with her and to join the Women’ s Land Army instead.

9

Here I am with my friends in the Land Army. We did all the jobs that men used to do on the farm – ploughing, sowing, digging drains, chopping wood and building fences. I even learned to drive a tractor.

10

In 1916, Fred turned 18 and he joined the Army too.

I was glad that I was still at home with Mother. It was very tough for her now.

11

Meg, Mother and me, 1916

Food became very scarce in 1916. We began to grow more of our own food and to keep chickens. M eg helped mother in the garden every day.

12

1917 was a very hard year. In April Mother had a telegram to say that Bertie had been killed. They sent Mother a medal he had won for bravery.

Here is a violet I pressed for Bertie, like the violets on the card he sent me for my birthday in 1915.

13

In 1918, after four long years, the War ended at last. We were lucky – Fred came home to us. We know families who lost all of their sons. But not a day goes by that we do not remember Bertie. Here is a picture of the War Memorial that was built in our village. Bertie’s name is on it.

¥ Bertie’ s War Medal

14

15

16