Shrapnel Bullets as Souvenirs

Wednesday 10th February 1915: The Senior Bible Class at the Wesleyan Chapel (East) Kempston, have up to the present supplied thirteen members of His Majesty's Forces, a fact of which Mr. A. J. Riddy (head of the class) is proud. Sapper F. Greenaway of the 1st Field Company, East Anglian Royal Engineers, a member of the class, spoke to Mr. Riddy today from the Front and, after thanking friends for letters and presents said: "We are now having a five days' relief rest, which I think we have well deserved. We take it in turns, as you will see, for the Company is made up of four sections, two go in the trenches or do the work which we Engineers have to do, while the other two sections have a rest. The last day or, rather, I ought to have said the day before, we started on our rest, we had quite a hundred German shells over where we were working, but I am glad to say the majority of them went begging. I picked up some of the shrapnel bullets, which were quite close to us, and shall keep them as souvenirs. I have seen quite a number of flying machines get fired at, but have not at present seen one brought down. The other day I counted thirty shots in one minute at an aeroplane, but they never fetched it down. I wish to be kindly remembered to all members of the Class, and tell them I am always thinking of them".

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 19th February 1915