Verandah at Whitchurch Hospital during WW1
Richard Berry during the 1920s
Whitchurch Hospital Chapel during WW1
Back in August a comment was left on the website by Jon Langley:
Hello,
I could not find a contact e-mail on your website but would you like a scanned picture of the Hospital taken I think around 1916? The shot is of the Verandah and is entitled M.I., Military Hospital, Whitchurch, Glam. I also have a shot of the Church.
Jon
Jon’s mother recently passed away and in her photo collection were a number of postcards that his grandfather, Richard Berry, had left to her.
Richard Herbert Berry was a solider in WW1 and was invalided out of the service at the end of 1915. Jon believes he may have spent some time recuperating at Whitchurch as there are 2 postcards of the hospital and 4 of the city. Richard was a Mancunian and a member of the 7th Bn Manchester Regiment:
http://www.themanchesters.org/7th%20batt.htm
It would seem logical that’s how he came to have the postcards, but they are not annotated.
Jon does not believe his grandfather is in any of the pictures.
According to his military records, he returned from Egypt on the 5th February 1916 and was discharged from the service on the 26th May 1916. If he spent time at
Whitchurch, it was possibly during that 3 month period.
Jon’s grandfather’s full name is Richard Herbert Berry, born 17th February 1879. See photo above of him taken around 1920.
If anyone has any information about Richard, we would be grateful to add it to his family history profile.
I wonder if the soldiers at Whitchurch and maybe other hospitals were given postcards as a memento of their time or possibly the Hospital sold them?
Does anyone have any further information?
Thank you so much to Jon for this post and photos and a special thank you to Richard Herbert Berry for keeping the photos
