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Friday, 04 September 2015 08:52

The diary of Soldier Hannen - Part 5

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The diary of Soldier Hannen - Part 5 BBC - WW1 at home

French students have imagined the diary of Steve Hannen, a soldier from Nelson (NZ) buried in Rouen (France). They based their production on different archive documents. Over the next few weeks, Soldier Hannen's story, will unravel. This is Part Two, as he is fighting in the horrors of the Battle of Gallipoli.
Read Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /

20/01/17:
I've entered Tidworth camp for a few days because of a disease contracted in the North of France. I had to leave the battlefield because of it.
The doctors told me that I wouldn't die from this. Indeed, it was measle. The only cure was to rest for around two weeks. I spent most of my time looking at nurses taking care of others. They were very kind and smilling. Their work was nevertheless not so joyful.

02/02/17:
One more time, I have again been transfered to Codford in a base depot in order to send me back to the battlefield in a few days.
During those few days, I didn't feel good. Indeed, I got a headache and a horrible pain in my ears. It was as if I had taken a bullet in the ear (without blood of course).
But it allowed me to escape from trenches and this horrible war, even if I missed my mates. Having said that, two weeks at the hospital had been widely enough for me.
It was the opportunity to talk to some other soldiers who like me, were waiting. We told one by one our stories. One of them came from New-Zealand too.
When they were talking, we could see through their look that they were as motivated to win this war as homesick.
Like me, they were all young and a bit naive

08/02/17:
My state has been getting worse. Then, I tried to find a nurse to be examinated. She told me that I've caught the mumps, a contagious disease. I was a bit fed up because I had to stay one more week stretched out in a hospital bed. Moreover, it was not my fault. Indeed, it was the Headquarter's fault who piled us up in camps, thereby promoting the spreading of diseases. It has been already one month since I left the front. I thought of my friends who were fighting and honoring the nation whereas I was here, at Tidworth, waiting for my cure while lots of New Zealander were dying.

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