I have been re-reading Edmund Blunden's Undertones of War and was pleasantly surprised to find that pages from Edmund Blunden's minute book are available online at the First World War Digital Poetry Archive. These include photos of his much loved sergeant Frank Worley (above) as well as fellow officers and other personalities mentioned in his memoir. This was a real find for me and I hope it may be for others too.
Frank Worley's service record does not survive but we know that he joined the 11th Royal Sussex on the 11th September 1914 (probably at Worthing) and that he was given the number SD/555. His medal index card incorrectly records his name as WARLEY. Frank Worley was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, his citation reading:
He was discharged due to wounds in December 1918, married in 1922 and died at Worthing in 1954 at the age of 63. The register entry for his death records his name as Francis J (for Joseph) Worley.
My grandfather's story is due to be researched for the West Sussex County Council's project on WW1 so hopefully we can add to the story. You may be interested to see copies of a letter from EB to him, an inscribed copy of UoW to my father and Franks's wedding picture in 1922 on the following link: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/msc/tomsc850/msc829/blundenedmund.html
ReplyDeleteI am proud to say I have his medals, citation and discharge papers. The citation is printed and differs a little from your typed version, may I ask where you got that one from?
Best wishes,
Tim Worley.
Thanks for posting, Tim; you have a very famous grandfather and I was delighted to stumble across those photos of him. Thanks for the link you have provided; you're very forunate to have his medals which must be treasured family heirlooms. The DCM citation comes from the collection published on findmypast and which I took to be an accurate copy of the citation that was originally published in the LG.
ReplyDeletePaul