Archive Item of the Month – November 2012
2nd November 2012
With Armistice Day approaching, the focus this month is on a collection of documents deposited by Miss Mayer, the niece of Gertrude Mayer, who was a student at St. Mary’s College from 1906 to 1908.
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| Part of D467 – Miss Mayer deposit |
The deposit contains material relating to Gertrude and her time at St. Mary’s College, and also on her three brothers, Arthur Mayer, Edwin Frederick Mayer, and Leonard Joseph Mayer. Both Arthur and Leonard saw active service during World War I, and the material includes letters written amongst the siblings along with three war diaries written by Leonard in the trenches.
The diaries cover the period from 9 March 1915 to 15 May 1916, and are detailed accounts of a soldier’s daily life. One even includes a pressed flower.
Leonard also wrote to his family from the front line after being wounded on 21 May 1916:
Dear M & F [Mother & Father]
After sticking it for 15 months my turn has come to be unlucky.
It was last Sunday. The Germans made an attack on us and after a terrible fight a huge piece of shrapnel went through the top of my left thigh. The Doctor tried to save my leg for a week but decided today to take it off. I do not feel so bad considering and when I am fit to be moved and providing that no complications set in I pray God that I will see you all in England again.
With love to all at home
Len
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This documentation is of great interest to me. I have been researching the 38 Old Boys from my school who died in the Great War. Since I retired I have managed to compile a useful record of their deeds in WW1 and have visited some of their graves on the Western Front. The testimony provided above puts another piece into the puzzle. Both helpful and moving information. A picture of Leonard would be a bonus. In fact I do have a picture of his CWGC grave.
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