Married and living in Woodstock, ON. with his wife Catherine. A salesman. Member of 24^th Kent Regt. 3 years. Attestation: 13/10/15 at Woodstock, ON. to 71^st Bn. It was reported that Freeman was on leave from the 71^st Bn. In March of 1916 when he visited his aunt Mrs. Thomas Baynton.

A Soldier Writes of Experiences

In First Line.

First Published in the Chatham Daily Planet

Transcribed from the Bothwell Times – 3/08/1916.

Jack Tewkesbury received the following letter from Pte. Freeman Burgess who was serving “Somewhere in Belgium”. The letter was given to the Chatham Daily Planet for publication. The letter was written by Freeman while in the trenches and was “covered with mud”, In part he says:

Well Jack, old boy, we are just back from the trenches for a rest which is of course welcome.

I have been through some experiences since I have been here. I sent you a card following the big scrap. She was sure some little mix-up, and I just landed in time to get into the play. We arrived here about 5:30 in the afternoon and marched to the rest camp where we joined our battalion and had a bite to eat and then smartly stepped off to the promised land which was a few miles away.

I can tell you old boy, it kind of give you a funny feeling when one first goes in with coal boxes and wiz-bangs landing around. There have been very few battalions got into the music as quick as we got into that big charge.

Of course you would know a scrap generally starts with a heavy bombardment. Well the heavens was a ball of fire for a while and the sight was grand in one sense of speaking but hell in another.

Nerves are at high tension. I never lost mine once, and when the order came to advance and for the first line to hold then I jumped to it. The mud was very deep in some places over the advance which we made, and the big boys were coming past. Besides being wet through and covered with mud from head to foot I carried a bag of rations.

Just before we made the advance I got buried with a coal box and had my overcoat and haversack and rubber sheet blown into a thousand pieces. I laid it on the side of the trench to dig myself in when a wiz-bang came over, then all I could find was a piece of my safety razor.

Through the advance I lost my pal. I stopped just long enough to do all I could for him – laid him comfortable on one side then beat it on. Just before I hit the communication trench I ran into a dug out and made a spring for it. I was met inside  by 15 dead Huns and a thousand rats which landed all over me, giving me a start I must say.

Well, Jack I had to sit down and laugh. I stayed there for a few minutes and then made the last dash for the goal and got in all O.K. with my rifle plugged of dirt.

I was only in the front line a few minutes when and officer came up and asked for a volunteer to carry a wounded Sargent out of the trench to a dressing station. He asked me though I was ready to drop. I thought I was in better shape than the poor fellow, so four of us carried him out over the trench under fire in broad daylight to a station three miles away.

Well, I can tell you I was all in, but the gladness the fellow showed on his face paid us for the helping hand. One never knows what one can stand until put to the test.

We started back to the firing line again and dropped into an old bunk house for a rest and we all fell asleep and did not wake up until six in the afternoon. We never would have awakened then if Fritzy had not put a wiz-bang into it and we got off smartly and laid in a ditch just in time for a coal box to smash the roof in.

Well at dusk we hiked back and were alright. We held the front line for two days and were handed a great many compliments from headquarters that is our battalion.

After that we retired and went back for a few days rest. My first trip in was with the infantry, the second with the signallers. I had a dug-out with an officer and it was Jake. We had all wire work and no flagging.

I guess I told you I saw Peck, Gemmel and LaMarsh. They are all well and cheerful.

Well Jack, I must quit. Please forgive the condition of this letter as I am writing it where it is mighty hard to write. Give my regards to the boys of No. 29. I meet a lot of Oddfellows in the trenches.

Sincerely yours,

FREEMAN BURGESS

Signaller Freeman S. Burgess went overseas with the 71st. Battalion March 29th, 1916, and was drafted to the 2nd. Canadian Battalion June 2nd, 1916. At the Battle of the Somme, in the first charge with the Canadians he escaped with slight injuries, but at Vimy Ridge, April 11th, 1917, he suffered a crushed back and also trench feet. He underwent hospital treatment in England for eight months, and was invalided to Canada February 18th, 1918.

Signaller Freeman S. Burgess received his discharge May 21st, 1918, being medically unfit for further military service.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

IODE, Chatham Daily Planet (23-01-1917), Chatham Daily Planet (25-04-1917), Victoria Ave. United Church - Roll of Honour, RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 1275 - 25, BT (30/03/16.)

Supplemental Information

NOTES: - There are three Tewkesbury enlistments on the Library Archives of Canada for the Great War, Alfred Oliver 189552, George 189749 and William 880687, a three are brothers and their father is John Tewkesbury. It may be that Freeman may be writing to the father who may have gone by the name Jack? Gemmel, Wilfred H. 522922 CAMC, Lamarsh Clayton 33601 CAMC and Peck, Walter R. 522945 CAMC are likely the local me he might have seen, perhaps at a casualty clearing station since they were all Canadian Army Medical Corps. Wilfred Gemmel would be Lost At Sea 27 June, 1918 when the German submarine U-86 sank the Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle, killing 234 (14 of which were Nursing Sisters) only 24 survived the sinking and the ramming of life boats by U-86. A “wiz-bang” was slang for the German 77 and 130 high velocity, flat trajectory artillery shell named for the sound it made and detonation. A “coal box” was a German high explosive shell large and slow that plunged down and looked about the size of a box of coal. Freeman was reported as being wounded CDP25/04/17. He may be a black enlistment based on physical description on attestation papers. Not on CWGC.

Height	5' 8''
Eye Colour	Brown
Age	25
Complexion	Dark
Hair	Black
Race	White
Birthplace	02/10/1890 at Bothwell, ON.
Religion	Methodist
Last Place of Employment	Heintzman and Company, Woodstock, Ontario.
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Info	August 11th, 1914, Chatham, Ontario.
When Enlisted	October 13th, 1915
Where Enlisted	Woodstock, Ontario
Allowance from Patriotic Fund	$13.00 per month
Next of Kin	Wife- Mrs. Catherine Burgess, Woodstock, Ontario. Son- Jack Burgess. Father- John E. Burgess, Chatham, Ontario. Mother- Mrs. Mary Jane Burgess.

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