Letter from Nicholas Hurst to Thomas Tyner, 24 November 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Nicholas Hirst

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 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

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Letter from Captain Nicholas Hurst to Thomas Tyner (1856). Hurst writes an apologetic letter to Tyner about the death of his son, Goodwin (1896-1916), during the battle of Ginchy. According to Hurst, three officers, Hurst, Goodwin and Dalton, survived the initial attack on the 9 September. Early in the morning of the 10th, Goodwin was hit by a stray bullet and died of wounds at a casualty clearing station shortly after. The Tyner family moved from Cork to Wicklow but Goodwin was working in Cork prior to his signing up. Both Dalton and Hurst were awarded medals for their actions at Ginchy. Hurst would survive the war.

 Private Collection https://letters1916.ie/item/3177 English Nicholas Hirst 1916-11-24 9th Royal Dublin Fus B.E.F , France Thomas Tyner Male World War I (1914-1918) World War I (1914-1918)

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 9th R Dublin FusB.E.FFrance 24/11/16 Dear Mr Tyner It is with thegreatest sorrow & sympathythat I write these fewlines to tell you somethingconcerning the death ofyour son. The newsof Goodwin's death cameas a great blow to me,and at first I couldnot believe it. After the capture of Ginchy on Sept 9th there were only three officers left unwounded with the battalion — Goodwin, a chap called Dalton and myself. I was with Goodwin during the attack in the afternoon about 5 pm, and we were together during the night until relieved by another regiment. During the relief about 4 am on morning on Sept 10th he & I were walking about collecting our me in one spot before marching out when he got hit by a stray bullet in the right thigh. I had him dressed by the Stretcher bearers. He appeared to me conscious and cheery and spoke to me before going back, but was naturally very weak due to loss of blood and little food that day. I got the Stretcher bearers to take him to the dressing Station, but I was horrified when the told me later that he died just on arriving there about 4.30am. I have just come back from leave and was speaking to Mr Vickery who had a letter from Rev Caldwell asking for information about Goodwin. He and I have been together in our military life for the past 17 months and were at Cork Kinsale and Moore Park together and also came to France the same day. He is greatly missed in the battln as he was a general favourite with officers & men. Please accept my deepest sympathy in your sad bereavement. Yrs very Sincerely Nicholas Hurst. 9th Royal Dublin Fus B.E.F , France Letter from Nicholas Hurst to Thomas Tyner, 24 November 1916 Nicholas Hirst Letter from Nicholas Hurst to Thomas Tyner, 24 November 1916