1916 September 27. Seargt. F.W. Soutthorp writes condolences to Cedric's Mother

DescriptionNo.7730, Sergt. F. w. Soutthorp,10th Durham L. Infantry,Bletchingley Castle Relief Hospital,Bletchingley .Surrey.

27. 9. 1916.

Dear Madam,

Just a few lines to you to express my sorrow concerning the noble death of your son, 2nd. Lieut. C. Graham.I may say that I was in your son's Company, C/Coy. 10th Durham has L.I., from the time that he joined us at Dainville, in the Agny Sector till I got wounded in the arm at Longueville Village, the corner of Delville wood, on the l6th of August last. Your son, 2nd. Lieut. Graham was the Officer on duty and I was the N.C.O., on Duty in the Trench at the same time. As soon as I got hit your son 2nd. Lieut. Graham ran down to me to see if I was badly hit or not and then volunteered to take me to the Dressing, Station which was some considerable distance away and the route to the Dressing station was continually being shelled. However, I never lost much blood and felt quite strong enough to get there with the aid of a Stretcher Bearer so I shook hands with him at the end of the Trench and we wished each other Good Luck. That, I am sorry to say, was the last I ever saw of him. I thought a lot of him for offering to show and accompanying me to the Dressing Station as it was totally outside the duties of an Officer to come to the Dressing station especially as the Germans were shelling the whole place at the time. So you see it was no easy thing but In my opinion, a very brave thing to offer

P2to come with me to the Dressing station whilst the Germans were shelling all the time . I may say that previously me and Mr. Graham had had two or three little lively adventures together whilst in the Front Line Trenches at Arras and Agny especially at Arras where we C/Coy., were holding three Craters that the Bosoh had blown up, said to be the largest Craters on the Western front. On this occasion we were both on fight Duty together and I reported to your Son, 2nd. Lieut. Graham that a German Working Party of about 12 strong were out in front of the wire, so we planned it as follows.

I was to go out and get the Lewis Gun and warn the Company Commander (Capt. Batey) since killed, and Mr. Graham was to creep out to the lip of the Crater and watch till we came back. Everything worked splendid but there was no more work done by the Bosoh that night after we let our Machine Gun fly. Our little straffe was quite successful and upset the Bosoh very much. The next day Fritz sent a nice assortment of shells over to us.

As for myself, I am pleased to say that my arm is quite alright now and that I am at this place for 3 weeks convalescence. I hope to be on furlough next week for a few days, then I shall rejoin my Battalion at home in South Shields. I don't know if I shall go out to France again yet, until I have had another medical Inspection but X think the chances are 10 to 1, I shall be out again in France before Xmas. However, I'll conclude with my deepest sympathy for you in your great loss of your son who was a Brave Officer and a Gentleman.I remain,Yours very sincerely,F. W. Soutthorp.Sgt.X. D.L.I.

P3

N.B.Dear Madam,If you have a Photo of your son to spare, would you kindly send one to me.My home address is,Sergt. F. W. Soutthorp,25, Fnnis street,Bethnal Green,LOMDON. E.

---- A version of this article was archived in August 2016 at Perma CC https://perma.cc/9BLA-GR8T.

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PeopleCedric Kenny Onslow Graham (1889-1916)Part of Publication CollectionTauranga Memories (2011-2021) - Publications

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1916 September 27. Seargt. F.W. Soutthorp writes condolences to Cedric's Mother