Table Of ContentJOHNNY GET
YOUR GUN
JOHNNY GET
YOUR GUN
A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF
THE SOMME, YPRES & ARRAS
J O H N F T U C K E R
Pen & Sword
MILITARY
First published in Great Britain in 1978 by William Kimber & Co. Limited
Reprinted in this format in 2015 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley, South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © The Estate of John F. Tucker, 1978, 2015
ISBN 978 1 47385 385 0
The right of John F. Tucker to be identified as Author of
this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The Publishers have made every effort to trace the author, his estate
and his agent without success and they would be interested to hear
from anyone who is able to provide them with this information.
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Contents
Chapter
Acknowledgements
Foreword
I Diversion – The Awakening
II The Weaning Period
III Grim Reality
IV A Quiet Front
V Total Dedication – Spanners in the Works
VI Will It Never End?
VII Blighty – End of Diversion
Brief Re-union
Epilogue
Index
A map of the British sector of Western Front appears on page 52
List of Illustrations
The author at Brighton the day war was declared
The author in his first uniform
The draft en route to Watford, early in 1915
The Kensingtons at Laventie, from the painting by Eric Kennington
Imperial War Museum
With Billy Hewitt and Arthur Budge at Merville
Sergeant Oborn’s cross By courtesy of Albert Oborn, Esq
Major Dickens’ cross By courtesy of Mrs D. Danby
The Pioneer Section, Arras 1918
‘Gassed’ from the painting by John Sargent Imperial War Museum
Helping an ambulance through the mud
The author and his father, September 1918
In the Stoke War Hospital
Back in Civvy Street
Acknowledgements
I must first acknowledge the debt I owe to my wife Lilian, who originally
encouraged me to put these experiences in writing. In 1914 she was one of the
little girls watching over the walls of her school at Sudbury as my battalion one
day marched past on the way to Harrow; neither of us aware that we were to
meet and marry about ten years later. Our daughters Pamela and Joan have also
given me much help and encouragement. Pamela accompanied me on a short trip
to France, where we paid hurried visits to St Omer, Arras, and Amiens,
including the site at Beaurains where I was wounded. She has spent valuable
hours in searching for and obtaining official war maps and in vetting the
manuscript and rendering advice and help with the design for the book-jacket.
I am so grateful for the kindness shown by Miss Monica Dickens, her sister
Mrs Doris Danby, and cousin Mr Charles Cedric Dickens, who have gone to so
much trouble in searching for and eventually finding the print of the cross which
I inscribed for their uncle Major C.C. Dickens.
Thanks are also due to Mr Albert Oborn for the photograph of the cross of his
brother Sergeant F.S. Oborn. Mr S.G. (Stan) White, MBE, formerly Hon Sec of
the Kensington OCA has been most helpful in providing photographs. Miss
V.M. Palmer and Mr F.W. Milsom kindly made excellent copies of several
photographs for reproduction. I am also most grateful to Mr Norman Sewell who
supplied much valuable data without which it would have been difficult to have
drawn my map in such detail.
My publishers Messrs William Kimber & Co. Ltd., (in the person of Ms Amy
Howlett and Mr Oliver Colman) have my grateful thanks for the kindly guidance
and advice given during the production of this volume.
Above all I make humble acknowledgement to the millions who participated
with such fortitude in the holocaust of the so-called Great War.
JOHN FRANCIS TUCKER
January 1978
Wembley
Foreword
This is the narrative of a young man’s life during the four years of the Great War
from 1914 to 1918. It is by no means intended as a war history, which could
better be derived from official and other sources, but it is a purely personal
experience as remembered after an interval of about sixty years. During this
period isolated incidents have come to mind from time to time in most vivid
form, exactly as experienced and in great detail, without exaggeration or
addition of any kind. Recently having been presented with a tape-recorder I
decided to dictate a few such reminiscences and to my surprise found that long
forgotten memories were being brought to the surface and followed each other in
a more or less consecutive manner. As fluent speech has never been easy with
me, I commenced putting my story into writing, with the ensuing result.
With the exception of a few quoted official statements, confirmation of
several dates and reference to sketch maps to recall place names, the narrative is
almost wholly from my own memory and conclusions.
In my efforts to present a true picture of events some of my statements may
possibly cause offence to particular individuals, but I believe that in any such
cases the facts have already been fully publicised.
Some of the details may be gruesome and distressing, but I have felt that my
story would be incomplete or even misleading had they been omitted.
I must be forgiven if many of the episodes are not strictly in their true
sequence, time having tended to misplace some occurrences. Also during some
of the major battles movements and operations sometimes became so frequent
and involved that it is now almost impossible to recall them in proper sequence.
Indeed the physical and mental stresses were at times so great as to leave little
impression on the mind. It will also be understood that the infantry soldier often
did not know much of what was going on around him beyond the space of a few
yards. We had no maps and relied mostly on hearsay and rumour. Of the ten men
shown in the two group photographs reproduced in this book eight became
casualties from wounds. This gives some indication of the losses sustained by
the infantry.
The area covered in these reminiscences stretched over the whole length of the
British line, from Ypres to the Somme and included operations on almost all
sectors.
The excitement and heroics of my childhood imagination have subsided and
left me with the realities and disillusionment of war, the fears, horrors, filth and
stench. Now that I have recorded my memories perhaps the ghosts will rest.
I
Diversion – The Awakening
I was about 17½ years old when the Great War broke out, while I was spending
the August Bank Holiday 1914 at Brighton. We all thought it would be a short
and sharp war, but after about two months it was obvious that it was going to be
a long drawn out affair. My cousin Frankie Jones had gone out to France with
the first contingent as a sergeant in the Grenadier Guards. His father, a former
staff sergeant and a veteran of the South African War, went out early on as a
captain in a Suffolk territorial battalion, but was soon wounded and returned to
England for discharge.
Appeals were being made for volunteers to reinforce our small Expeditionary
Force, and men of all ages were turning up at the recruiting stations in tens of
thousands. Morale and patriotism were marvellously high. The great majority of
the British public was tremendously proud of our heritage and of our enormous
world-wide Empire. The greatest incentive was of course the determination to
protect our families and homes from foreign invasion. The possibility of defeat
was not for one moment entertained, so great was our faith and trust in our
Nation. Spirits were high and much encouragement was given by the popular
songs of the time, such as: Where are the lads of the village tonight
Where are the lads we know.
In Piccadilly or Leicester Square?
No my child, no not there.
They’ve taken a trip to the Continent
With their rifles and their bayonets bright,
Facing danger gladly, where they’re needed badly That’s where they are
tonight.
I was under age at the time and had a disability in my rib-cage, which made
sustained effort such as long distance running or football difficult, causing much
shortness of breath. It was not very likely at that time that I would be accepted in
