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Sunday, 23 September 2018

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Local ww1 soldier's diary discovered

on 06 February 2015.

Attention all Vockins - Are you related to WW1 soldier Pte F. C. Vockins?

Townsite has been contacted by a reader who is in possession of a transcript from the May-July 1915 diary kept by WW1 soldier Pte V. C. Vockins of the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Pte Vockins name appears on the Hungerford War Memorial and it is thought that families with that name are still resident in the area. Below is a brief excerpt from these fascinating documents which record the events of May and June 1915 from the front line British trenches in France.

24th May: Arrived Fortubert, occupy reserve trench at 2am.

25th May: Saw Coldstream Guards splendid charge up a hill. Great sight. We move up to the front line of trenches.R.C.D. A squad charge and take port trench. Germans holding out on flank for a few minutes.Then I swept off the ‘boys’, cleared them all out. Built parapet of dead German bodies, an awful sight.

26th May: Very hot, 28 snipers taken, 1 fort and machine gun taken. ‘Stand to’ leave trench 12 o’clock midnight, arrive Locon 4am.

27th May: Colonel’s congratulations. Trench we left blown up by mines an hour after we left.

Having survived battles, sniper fire, bombing and trench warfare, Pte Vockins sadly lost his life to a burst appendix after being sent home for treatment. If you think you might be related to Pte Vockins and would like these documents for your family archives, please contact us.

You can read the journal extracts here, opens in a new window

vockins war memorial

FC Vockins listen on the memorial with three other Vockins

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