Whigham, R.D., Letter, 13 October 1916

00000346-2.jpg
Description: 
to E.R. Crombie

Tabs

Case Study: 
The Home Front in Rural Ontario: The Crombie Family Archives
Creator: 
Whigham, R.D.
Source: 
letter
Date: 
13 October 1916
Place: Nigeria
Collection/Fonds: 
Contributer: 
McMaster University Libraries
Rights: 
Copyright, public domain: McMaster University owns the rights to the archival copy of the digital image in TIFF format.

Identifier: 
00000346-2
Language: 
eng
Type: 
image
Format: 
jpg
Transcript: 

home twice, in Egypt twice in Gallipoli once and now I am back again in W. Africa commanding the 3rd Battn. of the Nigeria Regt. and expect to be promoted Lt. Col. very shortly. In fact I may hear any day now.
I went through the landing at Gallipoli and we had 10 officers killed and four wounded in a single night and 50% of our men were lost, killed or wounded. Our Colonel was killed that night, the second in command was wounded 3 days later; the only other Major we had was badly wounded 2 days later, when the command of the regiment devolved on me,until I stopped a bullet which lodged in my buttock just a month after the landing. The morning after they wounded me I was lying in the dressing station and the "Majestic" was torpedoed within 300 yds of where I lay.
They sent me to Malta to recover from my wound & then home to get the little bit of trouble cut out, but while I was in Malta I was married to Dorothy Meredith,as I dare say you have heard.
On September 1st 1915 I was promoted Major in my Regiment & I was fortunate enough to be twice mentioned in in despatches and got a D.S.O. Then they wanted officers who have had experience in West Africa & I came out here in March last & have been commanding here ever since. So you see I have lead a somewhat varied existence since the war broke out. I have been on 15 different ships since then including battleships, cruisers, transports