Thread by @DanHillHistory

This is Ted. For more than 90 years he was one of the thousands of fallen of #WW1 about whom we know very little. A few years ago Ted’s nephew found a case when clearing out his loft. He called me and asked if I wanted to see it. What I found was just incredible. Here’s the story

In mid-1915 an 18-year-old lad called Ted Ambrose from a quiet village in Hertfordshire decided to do his bit and ‘join up’. He spent 9 months training before word came that he was heading for the Western Front. Just before he left, his dad, a man of few words, wrote him a letter

Ted was unlucky. He arrived as the British were preparing to launch an offensive in a little-known place – The Somme. In his first spell in the trenches a shell exploded nearby, perforating his eardrums. At least in hospital he had a chance to write to his sweetheart Gladys

Just before Ted was due to return, he came down with German measles. Gladys didn’t mind, it meant he was away from the frontlines a little longer. I imagine Ted smiling when he read her letter, she thought he must have been ‘cuddling a German girl’.

The quiet didn’t last. By 1st July Ted was back on the Somme. He watched on from reserve as 120,000 men attacked that morning; 60,000 being killed or wounded, most by the time those at home had finished their breakfast.

Ted and the Bedfords went ‘up the line’ on the 7th July, and came under a massive artillery bombardment. In the space of an hour, more than 100 laid dead or wounded. Private Ambrose was amongst them; hit in the head, arm and leg.

Gravely wounded, Ted was taken out of the line and sent to a hospital on the French coast. News of that reached home about three days later. His mother immediately wrote to the Army asking permission to come over and see him.

On 14th July a telegram arrived. It was the Padre from the hospital at Etaples. Permission refused. The timestamp on the receipt? 2.17pm on 14th July 1916 – Ted had died of his wounds an hour earlier.

Ted was buried the next day by the Padre who had written to his mum. He packaged up Ted’s belongings; his pipe, cigarettes, mirror, the French phrase book he hardly used, and that letter from his dad; carried with him wherever he went. He sent them back to Hertfordshire.

A few weeks later Mrs Ambrose received her boy’s effects, but couldn’t bare to look at them. She put them in a suitcase and closed it up. Opening it only once after the war to add the medals he never saw. Into the loft it went, where it remained untouched for over ninety years.

When I got that call from Ted’s great-nephew almost 100 years later, in truth, I had no idea what to expect. But opening that case, what I saw took my breath away. It was Ted’s whole life. A time capsule, sealed since 1916.

His pipe with burnt tobacco inside from the last time he smoked it, a case still containing his unsmoked cigarettes, a sweetheart brooch from Gladys, a photo of his mum, the medals he never wore, and of course, that letter from dad.

Ted was not a famous soldier. He did not perform some uncommon act of gallantry which is remembered today. He was an ordinary lad from a sleepy village in Hertfordshire who simply did his duty. Whenever I go to France and pass by Etaples, I always remember to stop and say hello.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read and for the kind feedback. For all those who have asked, Ted's story along with a number of others appears in the new book I have been working on with @Scarletboy44 - you can check it out here:
pen-and-sword.co.uk/Hertfordshire-…

For those who would like to have a bit more information on the Somme, a quite often misunderstood battle, my colleague @bigandylock gave an excellent talk on the campaign last week. You can watch it here:

danhillmilitaryhistorian.com/archive