Record

Browse this collection	This entry describes an individual archive record or file. Click here to browse the full catalogue for this collection
Archive Reference / Library Class No.	D3772/E30/4/9
Title	Letters from Anthony Herbert Strutt, (1895-1918), mostly to his father, George Herbert Strutt and (separately) to his stepmother, (always addressed as Mother), Mary Emily Charlotte Strutt, nee Hind. A few letters are addressed to other recipients: his married sisters, Marion and Agnes, and his brother George. There are three letters from other authors written after the death of Anthony Herbert Strutt in April 1918 during active service.
Date	Mar 1916 - Apr 1918
Description	Each of Anthony Herbert Strutt's letters typically includes: Responses to letters received; brief reports about the weather, with in some cases a note about the implications for the state of the trenches; news of recent/forthcoming deployment and occasional comments about the progress of the First World War; news/enquiries about mutual acquaintances; acknowledgement for items of food and clothing received and requests for specific items to be sent. The bundle includes the following letters: D3772/E30/4/9/3: 18 March 1916: to sister Marion: complains of pervasive smell of garlic: "these peasants simply thrive on the stuff." D3772/E30/4/9/8: 15 April 1916: to stepmother: expects another week in billets before returning to the trenches; has a plentiful supply of soap; pleased that his motor bike has turned up; had feared that the garage had sold it; asks for it to be overhauled. D3772/E30/4/9/12: 30 April 1916: to father: thanks for food parcels; current opponents are Bulgars, "judging by a bullet we cut out of a horse's neck;" wonders whether Turkey will give up the fight; tax rate of eight shillings and sixpence in the pound is awful; people will put their big cars on the slips, "as you are doing with the Rolls." D3772/E30/4/9/25: 18 June 1916: to stepmother: Russian advance going well, but prophecy that war would be ended by 19 June will be a good many months out. D3772/E30/4/9/27: 5 July 1916: to father: encloses a chronology of his military postings and activity 6 March -29 May 1916. D3772/E30/4/9/32: 19 July 1916: to father: out of the trenches for few days rest after 35 days in trenches; doesn't see how "the show" can last much longer; fighting all along the line and German losses must be colossal; our artillery are marvellous; supply of shells unlimited; we are paying them in their own coin, sending gas pretty frequently. D3772/E30/4/9/35: 6 August 1916: to brother George: envious that George is at Kingairloch [Strutt family's Scottish estate]; everyone reconciled to at least another year of war. D3772/E30/4/9/46: 10 October 1916: to father: encloses a card said to have been retrieved from over-run German trenches; [the card, about 12cm by 8cm, bears German text and has slim perforated sections, coloured red, at each side]; the letter explains that the card was for use as a label for a wounded serviceman. To indicate the level of seriousness of the casualty the red sections could be left in situ, or one or both sections could be torn off. D3772/E30/4/9/51: 8, 15 & 22 November 1916: tells his father that he's suffering from "flu"; but tells his brother George that he's suffering from trench fever; admitted to Duchess of Westminster Hospital [Le Touquet] and then transferred to hospital in Leeds. D3772/E30/4/9/52: 14 November 1916: to stepmother: Le Touquet is reminiscent of Rhyl; tremendous promenade; miles of sands and very quiet. D3772/E30/4/9/54: 19 February 1917: to father: back at old job at Seaburn Camp. D3772/E30/4/9/58: 9 November 1917: to stepmother: thankful to be rejoining the 16th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters. D3772/E30/4/9/73: 31 January 1918: to stepmother: glad she didn't stop the Fortnum and Mason parcels; asks how "The Governor's" speech from the tank went off; "very thrilling thing for Derby:" rather marvellous the way they collected money. [The reference is to a speech by George Herbert Strutt at a public event in Derby, when a tank was displayed for a week as part of the National War Loan Campaign.] D3772/E30/4/9/75: 14 February 1918: to stepmother: refers to reconciliation between Isabel [his sister] and [her husband] Francis [Hurt]. D3772/E30/4/9/79: 15 March 1918: to stepmother: has seen Bernard, [perhaps Bernard Neame, brother in law], at the War Office about a transfer; travelled with Cecil Stepney and Evelyn. D3772/E30/4/9/82: 3 April 1918: to stepmother: perfectly alright except for a touch of gas incurred during preliminary bombardment; have to burn a lot of kit to prevent the Bosch getting it, but managed to save his, except trench coat, field glasses and a few odds and ends. D3772/E30/4/9/86: 23 April 1918: to brother George: survived "a proper show" but found that he had been reported wounded: got "slightly scratched" on the ear by a bullet from a Bosch machine gun: "nothing at all." Also: letter 5 May 1918: from George A Strutt, [brother], to Emily [stepmother]: condolences. D3772/E30/4/9/88: 23 April 1918: to father: an account of Colonel [John Ryrie] Webster being shot, having returned, during a retreat, to collect his orderly's rifle. D3772/E30/4/9/89: 23 April 1918: to stepmother: believes transfer application papers were lost on The Somme; has received parcel of items bought when on leave, but someone has taken the silk handkerchiefs. D3772/E30/4/9/90: 20 May 1918: from G Powell to Mr E Strutt: eyewitness account of Anthony Herbert Strutt being hit by a shell fragment which severed the main artery in the right leg. D3772/E30/4/9/91: undated: from Evelyn H[erbert] S[tepney] to Emily [Strutt]: Cecil [Herbert Stepney] has come home; "gives Anthony a great character."
Level	file
Repository	Derbyshire Record Office
Archive Creator	Strutt family of Belper
Term	First World War (1914-1918)

Add to My Items

Bryan Donkin Company Ltd of Chesterfield, engineering firm

Bryan Donkin Company Ltd of Chesterfield, engineering firm

Bryan Donkin Company Ltd of Chesterfield, engineering firm

Bryan Donkin Company Ltd of Chesterfield, engineering firm

George M. Woodward (1767-1809), cartoonist

George M. Woodward (1767-1809), cartoonist

Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), naval officer and arctic explorer

Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), naval officer and arctic explorer

Harpur Crewe family of Calke

Harpur Crewe family of Calke

Collection Highlights