Smith, John Thomas

Rank:

Private

Regiment:

East Yorkshire

Regimental No. & Battalion

Status:

Research Notes

Derbyshire Times 2 June 1917

CRICH CASUALTIES
Private J.T. Smith, of the East Yorkshire Regiment, was seriously wounded in the thigh whilst in action on the Western Front on the 13th May. He is now lying at the Kitchener Australian Red Cross Hospital, Brighton, from which place he has written to his mother, Mrs Arthur Smith, of The Archway, Crich, as follows: – I should not have sent you the field card, but that I thought you would be wondering what had become of me. I had begun to think that I would not get out of here. You have no need to worry, as my leg is going on as well as it can. I was under the X-Rays, but nothing was found in. I thought I had a bad wound until I got to hospital, but then I saw many much worse. The week before I was hit we had bad luck: the place where I was billeted – a large warehouse with shells stacked ouside – took fire. There were between two hundred and three hundred men in the place, and it was a rush to get out, many having neither coats nor boots on. Everything was burned. I received my wound when going to the front line whilst I was in the communication trench. 'Fritz' had started sending shells over and one burst just at the back of me, and a piece of the case must have hit me".

1891 Census: Market Place, Crich

1901 Census: Market Place, Crich

1911 Census: Market Place, Crich