Nothing But Bad Times: Chapter Nine, Chapter Two
On a cold and frosty morning in December 1917, Mary Ann received another knock at the door...
She answered with a silent expression, but that all changed. Once again, she could not contain her emotions and she burst into tears. She let out a loud squeal and embraced the figure in the doorway. It was her son Patrick, he had come home from the war! The joy in this moment, is that which cannot be described. I won't even attempt to.
Yet, Patrick had a secret. He had returned from the war, yes, but in fact as opposed to him finishing his duty, he has actually been invalided out after being shell shocked in the trench warfare system. My granny tells me, as do her cousins, that Patrick had suffered a horrific wound in his back, that had actually made a “hole”, and if this is true, it is remarkable to know that he kept this a secret for two months, until one morning Mary Ann stumbled upon him getting changed. She must have got quite a shock, and truth be told you cannot disguise the fact that you have half your back missing. As soon as she found out, Mary Ann made sure Patrick was well looked after. Despite his war wound he remained cheerful and relatively comfortable. In this bitter-sweet circumstance, Patrick was home from the war, but was still at serious risk of infection.
The stories he must have told do not bear thinking of. He must have told his brother sand sisters about the dreadful slaughter happening across the Channel. It seems a miracle that people like Patrick survived, even if what he had seen had scarred him.
Patrick's recovery from the wound was a slow one. He found himself constantly in bed, and in early 1918, he caught a strain of the deadly influenza that was sweeping across much of Europe and would soon be on all seven continents. Patrick was extremely vulnerable, and when he caught the bug, he never recovered. For Mary Ann, the news that Frank had come home had lightened her spirits minutely, and was a celebration in itself, yet Patrick was still very unwell. Frank at last married his long term girlfriend, Flora McLachlan, on October 18 1918, in Pollokshields, before returning to Luton to be discharged from service. Mary Ann had no choice but to miss her eldest child's wedding, because she could not leave Patrick back in Holytown. Less than 24 hours after Frank married, Patrick died of influenza in 2 Nimmo's Row's, which had set in as he lay recovering from his war wound. He died eight days before his twenty-second birthday, and four weeks before the war ended.
Although Patrick died in Scotland, he did die as a result of a wound sustained in the field of battle. It was for this reason that Patrick was included amongst the war dead of Lanarkshire, and along with his cousin Peter, has his name inscribed on the New Stevenston War Memorial.
It is Patrick who I have to thank for my family history research taking hold. In July 2006, whilst telling my gran that I was studying the First World War in History, she told me that she had an uncle who died in the conflict, and then she mentioned Peter, and Frank. The rest is history, and here I am two years later.
Patrick's death is indeed, very tragic. I don't know what Eliza would have thought if she had lived to see the entirety of the war. Little did she know that when she died, two of her grandchildren would follow within the next twelve months.
The First World War was something that started over petty means, and affected every family in Britain. Lanarkshire suffered particularly heavy casualties, and for Mary Ann to lose her nephew and son within a year was all too raw. Especially now as she had lost her third child. Patrick had been cut ff in his prime. Who knows, two years longer and he could have been married and be providing Mary Ann with her first grandchild. It just wasn't meant to be.
Despite this though, Frank and Flora had some good news for Mary Ann. Flora was pregnant, and in 1919 gave birth to a son, whom they named John (Jackie). Frank and Flora had a total of nine children. Frank and Flora continued to live a happy life until their deaths. Frank died in 1952 a few days after the death of King George VI, and Flora died in 1967.
For Mary Ann, Maggie, Barney and Nellie, life simply went on...
Copyright © Matthew Reay, 2008
