WORLD WAR ONE NORTHAMPTON INDEPENDENT SOLDIER NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
PTE. F. TEBBUTT of the 1st Northamptons, May, 1915
A thrilling story of how he carried a wounded officer, Lieut. Forbes, to safety is told by
Pte. Frederick Charles Tebbutt of the 1st Northamptons, who is now in the 18th General Hospital
at the base with a shrapnel bullet in the thigh.
“As you know, I was an officer’s servant, and my officer got wounded in the right leg. Of course,
I was at his side, and Jack Kilburn the other. He said to me ‘Oh! Fred, bandage me up.’ He had a
terrible wound, and whilst Jack and I were attending to him, a bullet came along and took the side
of Jack’s haversack right off, and poor old Jack soon got down. I finished bandaging my officer, and
the next thing was to get him back to the fire trench, which was 100 yards back. Bullets were whistling
and shells falling all around us. I got him about 50 yards when a shell came burst just over us. It
wounded me and also gave him another one in the other leg, and he rolled over, and I did too. He said
‘Oh Tebbutt, are you hit?’ I replied ‘Yes, sir,’ ‘How shall I get in now?’ he asked, and I said ‘Don’t worry sir,
I will get you in.’ I was not worrying about myself, so long as I got him in all right, which I eventually did,
and then helped to carry him down on the stretcher. Then we both went to hospital. I think I earned the
V.C. that day, and Lieut. Forbes is going to do his best for me when he is better. So cheer up, I shall be
all right I hope.”
