Funeral of a Soldier

Silsoe Church c.1905 [Z50/104/50]

Saturday 17th July 1915: A funeral was held today at Silsoe for Edwin James Hand, one of the wounded soldiers being treated at Wrest Park Hospital.[1] Although his wound was so serious that it was necessary to amputate his leg in a hospital at Boulogne, it was hoped that he would live. Gunner Hand had served with the 5th Company of the Reserve Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. His funeral was attended by a large number of his comrades from Wrest and the Last Post was played at the end of the service. Despite this recent tragic death, it should be pointed out that considering the large number of men treated at Wrest, the percentage of fatal cases is extremely small.

Source: Monthly Magazine for the parishes of Barton-le-Cley, Clophill, Flitton and Greenfield, Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Westoning, August 1915 [P21/30/17]

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[1] While it is not possible to positively identify him, a search of Ancestry suggests that he is most likely to be the Edwin James Hand who was baptised in Bristol in 1881.