captain elstobs letter

[mack]

7180 charles,frederick tempest price

captain elstob wrote.
pte price was on sentry duty in the trench[15-6-1916],i was standing at his side when he was hit,he practically fell into my arms,he was shot through the head by a snipers bullet,he fell back into the trench without uttering a murmer,he was killed instantly

pte price served in D.coy,16th manchesters,he was a solicitor and articled to mr thomas brownson,town clerk for hyde,he was 26yrs old,the son of john+edith,3 sylvan avenue,sale,educated at manchester grammar school,malvern college and manchester university.

[Tim Bell]

Mack,

Thanks for posting this.  The reality of daily life (and death) is often missed by the books and War Diary.  Reading our VC winning officer's correspondence is great for seeing the context of his role in the forthcoming battles.  The loss of a qualified solicitor as a Private Soldier also sums up the nature of the first (and later) Pals.

Any more??

T

[kingo]

M.E.N of 29th June 1916;

[mack]

i heard that colonel elstob and his friend colonel worthington knew all their mens names and where they lived,and that col worthington even knew the families of some of his men,this article seeems to confirm that capt elstob certainly did because he knew pte price by his nickname.

mack