LIEUTENANT SLADDEN’S GALLANTRY
Mrs D Churchley, of the Old Anchor, Bewdley Street, Evesham, has also received a letter from Private J.W. Baldwin, in which he says:
“Just a few lines to you hoping this will find you in the best of health, as it leaves me going on as well as I can expect. My arm still pains me, for it does not seem to heal up very quickly, but I must trust for the best. I can tell you that I was lucky getting out of it as I did, for we did get a time for about twenty-eight hours. In that time we got neither food nor water, for they could not get it for us, but we very soon got some when we got out of the firing line. I was under Lieutenant Sladden, of Badsey, and I must give him praise how he gave us the orders that kept the Turks back, or else we should have been completely cut off. I said to Lieutenant Sladden that I wished I had just one pint of their best ale, and he did not half laugh; but I said it in earnest, for being so thirsty and hungry I could have eaten anything. It was like being in hell, and the poor chaps groaning for water made it worse. Several that were close by me got wounded. I must pray for the best to come, and then everybody can get home once again and be happy. It will take a long while to finish this war yet, for there are so many Turks about. The more we keep killing the thicker they seem to get.”