Leave while serving in WW1

[Deirdre784]

According to my mum, her father refused to come home on leave as he knew he wouldn’t go back. He served in the RAMC, I believe as a driver or stretcher bearer (his service records are presumably among the burned ones) in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine, and instead of coming home would apparently go to Cairo and other nearby places for a few days. I do have some postcards that he sent to his sister from Cairo, Jerusalem and the river Jordan. Does anyone know if this is likely? Thanks

PS he was in the first convoy who landed at Suvla in August 1915 and was discharged to the reserve in March 1919 so he completed his service, though rarely talked about the experience (his letters home are amazing though)

[BumbleB]

My apologies for this, I am no expert on military matters.

If your grandfather was serving in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine, then my thoughts are that there is no way that he would be returning to UK for leave - it was a long way and would take a fair amount of time.  Local leave would be my immediate thought, so Cairo etc. would fit.

I stand to be corrected.

[Crumblie]

I am pretty certain that being so far from the UK he would not have been able to come home even if he wanted to, he would have spent all his leave on a ship only to turn round and go straight back.

[Deirdre784]

Thanks both, that does make sense. Just mum seemed to think others did come home. But yes, his first letter home tells of the ‘amazing 3 weeks on board the ship’ and the excitement of the places they called at. So highly unlikely i would agree on reflection that they would get home leave, unless badly injured i guess. 

[AllanUK]

BumbleB and Crumblie are spot on - soldiers serving in the near east (theatre of war 2 - Balkan Theatre a) Greek Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria b ) Gallipoli and Aegean Islands) would have enjoyed their leave mainly in Egypt. They would not have had enough time to return to the UK.

[Deirdre784]

BumbleB and Crumblie are spot on - soldiers serving in the near east (theatre of war 2 - Balkan Theatre a) Greek Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria b ) Gallipoli and Aegean Islands) would have enjoyed their leave mainly in Egypt. They would not have had enough time to return to the UK.

Thanks Allan, I clearly didn’t think that one through.

Deirdre

[Crumblie]

Deirdre, don't beat yourself up about it, it could be that he told your mum what he did in an attempt to soften the blow of him not getting UK leave. His wife probably saw lots of other families getting visits from their husbands, sons, etc. and would be upset that he was not getting leave. I am sure he made up for it when he did get home. I think a lot of those that did survive the war didn't talk about it to spare their families the horrors they had experienced, and many of them felt guilty for surviving when friends, relatives etc. didn't. I remember reading an article about a wife who described how her husband would wake up screaming every night but would not tell her why, he finally did tell on his deathbed. Whilst she was glad to know at last she also wished he hadn't told her.

[Deirdre784]

Thanks Crumblie, he wasn’t married at the time - and he did wonder if he’d find someone having been at war from the age of 25-29. But he did, apparently rescuing my grandmother who was trying to go against the crowds at a railway station! I am just rather embarrassed that the practicalities didn’t occur to me before asking a stupid question, especially as i have his letter saying how much he and his friends enjoyed the 3 weeks on board ship when they sailed to Gallipoli.

[CraigM63]

Dierdre

I'd echo Crumblie's comment, we've all had those moments. My latest was asking for help with finding two birth registrations from 1923 and 1926, completely forgetting that both of these would fall within the 100-year limitation on viewing births. Sometimes when we get excited about finding another piece of the puzzle we forget about the practicalities. Smile, and file it in the 'what was I thinking' memory bank .

And there is very definitely no such thing as a stupid question.