The Missing of the Somme




The Missing of the Somme

Historian Charles Bean observed during the Somme offensive how ‘a scrap piece of iron flung at random on the hillside in front of Mouquet drove its course right through to the furthest end of the world.’

It was a random scrap of iron that struck Captain Ralph Ekin-Smyth in the failed attack on Mouquet Farm on 3 September 1916. His body unrecovered, Ralph was classified as missing in action. 

For months afterwards, his wife Hilda waited patiently for news about her husband, but little came. Then ‘out of the blue’, she received a parcel containing his prized Kodak camera.

Then in 1923, Hilda received an unexpected letter. It explained that Ralph’s remains, along with those of 18 others, had been discovered in a large crater just beyond the farm. The contents in his badly deteriorated wallet had helped to identify him. Hilda requested that it be returned so her sons, Raymond, Walter, and Kenneth would have something to remember their father by.

For these young boys, the perished wallet, muddied epaulette (pictured), and that old camera would be their personal connection to a father they never really knew.

The wallet is now in the possession of Margaret Lee, the granddaughter of Ralph. For Margaret, the wallet signifies terrible sadness. She recounted that during the Somme offensive, Ralph, perhaps sensing the ‘hopelessness’ of the situation, sent a letter to Raymond. In it, he implored his eldest son, who was still at primary school, to care for his mother and siblings should he not return home. 

Margaret has memories of Hilda’s life after Ralph’s death: her financial struggles, her custom of always wearing navy to mourn her husband, her torment when her sons marched off to the Second World War, and her foreboding during those years whenever the telegram boy rode past the house. 
 
Like my posts? Then take a sneak preview at my soon-to-be-released novel, ‘Night in Passchendaele.’ Pre-order now available:

https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761265976/night-in-passchendaele/


We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". If you enjoy this blog please let us know in the comments below. If you are interested in history, we recommend you check out our other blogs here on the "From Yesterday to Tomorrow: Exploring the Journey of History". Thank you for reading.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"This is Anna Maria Von Stockhausen’s corpse, strapped to keep her coming back from the dead.

Image
"This is Anna Maria Von Stockhausen’s corpse, strapped to keep her coming back from the dead.  She was accused of being a witch during the Middle ages and Black Plague. This folklore about Anna was that she was killed about 6 times. She was first hanged and later clawed herself out of the grave. The town people captured her in a nearby town and quickly drowned her in a lake, by tying her to a plank. The townspeople said they checked her several times after dragging her lifeless body out of the water.  They buried her again, only to see an empty grave 2 days later! It was said they found her rotting corpse dwelling in her old place, with worms, dirt and water spitting out of her. So the townspeople dragged her out, drove a stake in her heart and once again buried.  They placed a guard at her grave and felt she was finally buried for good. The guard failed to check in for 4 days, so a local priest went to find him, it was said that he his rotting body was near his post, wit...
Read more

The Lost Soldier Mine

Image
The Lost Soldier Mine It was in 1869, that Abner McKeever and his family were attacked by a large band of Apache warriors. The McKeever ranch was located at Gila Bend and a long distance away from the protection of Fort Lowell and Fort McDowell. At the end of the raid, the Apache made away with over 20 head of horses, 6 rifles, ammunition, clothes, food and sadly Belle McKeever as well. Abners very own daughter.  After the Apache had left the now destroyed ranch, Abner rode out to Maricopa Wells which was not far away. Maricopa Wells was a popular and reliable watering hole with many pools of fresh ground water. Stagecoaches, mail carriers, miners, travelers and even soldiers frequented Maricopa Wells. As Abner entered the small population of Maricopa Wells he told his story with great emotion and urged every able man to take up arms and help him retrieve his daughter.  Over 15 soldiers were posted to guard the Wells and 6 joined Abner, as well as 5 miners. As the posse began ...
Read more

Most Radioactive Man' Kept Alive For 83 Days As He 'Cried Blood' And Skin Melted

Image
Most Radioactive Man' Kept Alive For 83 Days As He 'Cried Blood' And Skin Melted On September 30, 1999, Hisashi Ouchi was exposed to the highest dose of nuclear radiation in human history. A 35-year-old lab technician at the nuclear plant in Tokaimura, Japan, Ouchi was mixing a uranium solution by hand directly over an open container when he accidentally poured in too much uranium, immediately causing a violent explosion.  For the next 83 days, Ouchi suffered unimaginable agony as the radiation worked its way through his body, obliterating his DNA and causing his skin to melt off and his eyes to weep blood before he finally died.  He begged for death, doctors refused to listen and kept him alive against his will for nearly three excruciating months.  More than 20 years ago, a freak chemical reaction at a power plant in Japan left one of its technicians living in agony, kept alive by doctors as he 'cried blood' and his 'skin melted'. Hisashi Ouchi was he...
Read more

A man begging for his wife’s forgiveness inside Divorce Court. Chicago, 1948.

Image
A man begging for his wife’s forgiveness inside Divorce Court. Chicago, 1948. This decades-old photo is worth more than 1,000 words. The black-and-white image, which has made the rounds on social media and Reddit in recent years, features a suited man on his literal knees, begging for the forgiveness of his fur-clad, soon-to-be ex-wife outside a Chicago divorce court. The looks on their faces seem to say it all: The scorned husband appears desperate, mouth slightly agape as he looks up at his one-time lover; the woman, meanwhile, appears utterly unbothered. "It's a powerful photo today because you can sort of imagine your own story behind it," Jeff Nichols, a Chicago historian who acquired a copy of the 1948 newspaper photo via an eBay listing of the image, said. But thanks to Nichols' sleuthing, as well as the digitization of old newspaper records, we don't have to merely imagine who this couple is. The image depicts one of t...
Read more

11 Insanely Brutal Methods Of Execution Used In The Past

Image
11 Insanely Brutal Methods Of Execution Used In The Past  The story 11 Insanely Brutal Methods Of Execution Used In The Past appeared first on StoryPick. Since earlier times, different cultures have been using different methods of execution, some humane and some grotesquely inhumane. However, methods of execution have always been a subject of debate. Nowadays, the most commonly adopted methods are hanging, electric chair, lethal injection etc., which are considered a bit more “humane” than their historical counterparts. But the history has seen some of the most brutal and gruesome methods of execution over the period of time. Let’s have a look: 1. The Gridiron Image Source:facebook It was simply a grill made of iron but for a slightly different purpose, to roast people to death. That’s right, the person to be executed would be first soaked in oil to ensure proper heating and then placed over a grill, with burning charcoals at the bottom. Needless to say, the death wasn’t a quick on...
Read more

The untold story of Carrie Fisher’s ‘Star Wars’ Stinson Beach photo shoot

Image
The untold story of Carrie Fisher’s ‘Star Wars’ Stinson Beach photo shoot In the summer of 1983, Stinson Beach hosted Princess Leia and Darth Vader for a classic set of 'Star Wars' photos By Charles Russo, The San Francisco Gate, May 3, 2023 Princess Leia arrived to the beach with Darth Vader, a scruffy Ewok and one of Jabba the Hutt’s hefty henchman. Although it sounds like the setup for a joke you’d tell Greedo over drinks at the Mos Eisley Cantina, it happened 40 years ago, when Carrie Fisher showed up to Marin’s Stinson Beach for a “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” photo shoot for Rolling Stone in the summer of 1983.  The magazine had reached out to Los Angeles-based photographer Aaron Rapoport to tackle the assignment. Despite windy conditions, a crowded beach and three costumed subjects lumbering through the sand, the shoot resulted in a classic cover photo and showcased Fisher at the height of her “Star Wars” popularity.  The magazine had reached out to Los Angeles-based ...
Read more

Eye-opening photos of executions torturers from Nazi camp

Image
Eye-opening photos of executions torturers from Nazi camp The Holocaust is a dark chapter in human history, and the atrocities committed during that time are almost incomprehensible. However, one aspect that is often overlooked is the punishment meted out to the perpetrators of those crimes. A recently discovered collection of photographs provides a glimpse into the executions of Nazi war criminals, many of whom were responsible for running the concentration camps where millions of innocent people were murdered. These photographs serve as a reminder that even in the darkest of times, justice will be served. They also serve as a warning to all those who would engage in similar conduct in the future that there will be consequences for their actions. The release of these photographs is also a call to action. It is important that we never forget the past, and that we continue to hold those accountable for their actions, regardless of the passage of time. The Holocaust is a reminder o...
Read more

Killing someone's Soul ... Emotionally Dead has to be the Worst Death!

Image
Killing someone's Soul ...  Emotionally Dead has to be the Worst Death!  Bone Pointing ...  A strange method of execution used by Aborigines. Supposedly the practice never fails to kill despite the fact that the victim is never physically harmed. The practice leaves no trace whatsoever on the condemned. This practice is carried out by a Kurdaitcha, or a ritual executioner. The name Kurdaitcha comes from the slippers that the Kurdaitcha wear. These slippers, made of cockatoo or emu feathers and human hair are completely silent when the user walks in them. The Kurdaitcha will use this silence to quickly hunt down the person to be killed if the person has fled. Once the person is caught the Kurdaitcha will go down onto one knee and point the kundela, or killing bone (which will have been charged with a psychic energy in a previous ritual), at the condemned.  At this point the victim is said to be completely frozen in fear. The Kurdaitcha will then chant a curse. Afterwa...
Read more

Sally Lippman, known as Disco Sally, a 77 year-old Studio 54 regular.

Image
Sally Lippman, known as Disco Sally, a 77 year-old Studio 54 regular. After her husband passed away, she found a new lease of life in the discos of the 1970s and 1980s. “I gotta come every night. It’s like a drug,” Sally Lippman, who was a lawyer, told the Washington Post in 1978. “I haven’t practiced for 40 years but have given out advice free, gratis, for nothing.” Her husband, who died in 1975, had studied law and had worked for the Federation for Jewish Philanthropies and in public relations. Her husband never really liked to dance. They both liked “good music.” In September 1978, Sally first came to Studio 54 “with a young 25-year-old boy” who told her, “You really must see it.” She recalled, “I stuffed my ears with cotton, and came.” Scott Bitterman, a former busboy and then assistant manger at Studio 54, recalled, “My favorite regular at the club was a bright, funny elderly woman who came several nights a week and danced much of the night. I attended several dinner parties at he...
Read more

The Sickening History Of The Rack, The Medieval Torture Device That Stretched Victims’ Limbs Until They Dislocated

Image
The Sickening History Of The Rack, The Medieval Torture Device That Stretched Victims’ Limbs Until They Dislocated Though it was an innocuous-looking wooden frame, the torture rack might have been the medieval era's most brutal device — and it was used well into the 17th century. Originally believed to have been used in antiquity, rack torture is most often associated with medieval times. At a time when executioners meted out creative — albeit cruel — forms of punishment, this particular device stood in a class all its own. Consisting of a wooden frame on which a victim was laid with their arms and legs bound to a roller on either end, the device was used to stretch out victims until their muscles popped or were rendered useless. But contrary to popular belief, rack torture wasn’t left behind in the 1400s. Indeed, various forms of it popped up in different countries across the world — and were reportedly used in Britain well into the 17th century. How The Rack Torture ...
Read more