Beschreibung:

A collection of WWI letters from '50362 Private William Hooker, 11th Btn. Royal Fusiliers' to a Miss E Gill, Seaton, Devon, dating between September 1917 to March 1917: together with three WWI commemorative mugs. An interesting personal account of the First Word War in which conditions in the trenches are referred to, in particular the problems with rats and insects. On the 17th February 1917 Private Hooker was wounded during an offensive in a region described as 'Desire Ravine'. In a letter written from a Hospital in Northamptonshire dated march 1917 Hooker recalls the event. ' On Feb 15 we had orders to go over the top on the 17th so naturally I was rather excited about it, in fact everyone was dear.Well the time came and we started from our dug outs at 2.30am to get into position. The mud was terrible as a sudden thaw set in the previous day. We could only go over the duck boards very slowly. We went down 'Desire Ravine' and could see in front that Fritz sending up his SOS signal, that is lights sent up so his artillery will put up a barrage. We got down the ravine alright and then had to go up a narrow gully. as bad luck would have it, Fritz somehow or other knew we were going over & we had to go through the barrage to get into position. You have no idea what that means. That was where we came to grief. there were 18 in our platoon before the shell burst. Afterwards there were two that were alright, some killed & some wounded. I was blown in the air & knocked against the gull. That was all I remembered...' *Notes- This action may possibly have been the First Phase of the Battle of Vimy Ridge before the Battle of Arras, April 1917.* Notes Militaria artefacts are reproduced in significant numbers, in particular those from the World War II period and some may use original parts. Intending buyers have ample opportunity for inspection of goods and, therefore must, accept responsibility for inspecting and investigating lots in which they may be interested. We ask that interested bidders closely study the images provided and request additional images and condition reports to satisfy themselves to the authenticity and period of any particular items in the auction. Whilst we seek to describe lots accurately, it may be impractical for us to carry out exhaustive due diligence on each lot. Prospective buyers also bid on the understanding that, inevitably, representations or statements by us as to authorship, genuineness, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price involve matters of opinion. We undertake that such opinion shall be honestly and reasonably held and accept liability for opinions given negligently or fraudulently. Subject to the foregoing neither we the auctioneer nor our employees or agents nor the seller accept liability for the correctness of such opinions and all conditions and warranties, whether relating to description, condition or quality of lots, express, implied or statutory, are hereby excluded. This Condition is subject to Condition 16 (Terms and Conditions) concerning deliberate forgeries and applies save as provided for in paragraph 6 "information to buyers".