Frederick Robert Heffron, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards

Pte. Frederick Robert Heffron, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, described helping a wounded German in a letter, extracts of which were published on 29th June 1915.

A pre-war regular, enlisting on 31st August 1908, he expressed the hope that if he were wounded he would be able to receive immediate treatment, not be left out in no man's land for days. He was eventually discharged due to wounds on 30th August 1918.

“LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.”

“NOTTINGHAM SOLDIER’S KINDNESS TO GERMAN WOUNDED.

“Some narrow escapes he has had are mentioned in a letter from Pte. Heffron, of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, to his sister, Mrs. R. Childs, Byron-road, West Bridgford.

“At the present time," he writes, “I am at a place, where, as I stand in the firing line I can see La Bassée. I am nearer Berlin than I have been since I came out here seven months ago. I have been to many parts of the firing line, from Ypres to where I am at present, and I have had some hard and rough times. But I take things as easy as possible, and the trenches don't bother me any more than working at home would. Of course I have some narrow escapes, and it was only a bit ago that I had a bullet through my haversack, and not long after that a shell dropped not more than a yard away from me, but it did not burst, though the shock threw me to the ground. If it had exploded I should have been blown to pieces, but we take such things as they come and almost forget them soon after. At the portion of the trenches which we held before we came here there was some heavy slaughter, and the sights I saw I shall never forget. The Germans even shelled us while we were burying our dead, and had gathered some of their wounded up and placed them where our stretcher-bearers could come and fetch them. One of them sat up, and was killed by a bullet from the German lines.

“WOUNDED GERMANS' ORDEAL.

“It was at the same place that two German wounded asked me for a drink. I was never hard-hearted and I couldn’t refuse, so I gave them what they wanted, and a cigarette as well. I shall never forget the look in those fellows’ eyes as they thanked me. Picture for yourself a man getting wounded, and too helpless to move, having to lie two or three days without being looked after. That was what those Germans had gone through and we are all men when all's said and done. I hope that if ever I get wounded I shall be able to get back to the dressing station straight away.

“People at home shout about the Zeppelins coming and doing damage, but I don’t know what they would think if they saw things out here. I have seen villages absolutely wiped out, not a house being left standing, and it is a common thing to see people living in half a house, the other half of which has been destroyed shell fire. It was only a few days ago that we were marching towards the firing line when the German observers saw us, and they started shelling the road we were on. As we were passing through a village where civilians were living a shell came intended for us, but struck a house where a woman was nursing her baby. It killed the woman, but the baby was unhurt.”

'Nottingham Evening Post', 29th June 1915.