One hundred years ago today, the Express & Star printed details of the following postcard, received from a former employee of the Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways Department:
Have arrived here to-day. Splendid reception by the French people. Our destination from here will no doubt be the fighting area. Troops in the best of spirits. Splendid weather and plenty of sport
The postcard did not indicate where it had been sent from, and because it is anonymous we have no further details about the sender or the recipient. However, this does give an indication of the spirit of the men on the front line in the first few months of the War.
Cheery Letter, in the Express & Star 26 August 1914
The South Staffordshire Reg arrived around the 18 August on the Irawaddy with them was my grandfathers Regiment the Kings Liverpool Reg 1st Battalion. Strangely my grandfather Fred Turley started work at the Tram depot when he was medically discharged March 1915 from the army. Two brothers already worked there William and Daniel.
Daniel died 1918 and is buried in France. He is remembered on the St Philips church memorial.