On the same day, Mr. J. Carruthers, boot dealer, Quay Street, Ammanford, received an intimation that his son, Private Joe Carruthers, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, had been wounded on Aug. 7th , and in the evening a letter was received from him, dated August 1st , a week prior to the engagement.
He was without an envelope, and had ingeniously folded the missive in paper and tied it round with some cotton. In it he said:
“I received your letter dated July 3 rd all right, although it was very late before arriving, and I daresay I shall receive a parcel whenever you like, as they will be most welcome now. We have gone back to the island, where we started form on Saturday night, having been out of the trenches since Sunday, but I cannot say how long we shall be here.
We had Church Parade Sunday morning at 6.30 so that it was nice and cool then. There is to be Holy Communion at 7 o'clock to-night, so I intend going there.
We are on a fine island, villages all round, but we are not allowed in them without a pass. All kinds of fruit are growing well here – grapes, lemons, figs, melons, &c. – although they are not quite ripe enough to eat yet. We can have any amount of pure water; as there are wells everywhere, so it is all right here.
I don't know whether you remember a chap named Eddison, who has been working
in Issac Jones's or Daniel Jones's. Well, he was on the boat that brought us from the Peninsula to this island, and asked for us Ammanford chaps to give us a feed, but we missed him, worst luck, as it was after landing that I heard about him.
We have made little dug-outs to sleep in, and we generally sleep two together, one blanket over us like a tent and the other on us at night-time. They are very cool in daytime, as there are very little shady places here, but we are only about a hundred yards from the beach, and that is better than all the shades. . . . .
You can send me a little money, please, as we have had no pay since leaving England, and we can buy a few things on this island.”
On Thursday, Mr. Carruthers received a letter from the War Office stating that Private Joe Carruthers had been severely wounded by a bomb on the right foot, and that the injury was serious. He had been admitted to hospital in Maltal
