Tuesday, April 25, 2017
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them."
I remember my Grandfather to be a very happy gentle loving man, I remember him well.
WW2 - Clements Ripley Rodd outside his garage which was the local Head Quarters for A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions).
Clements Ripley Rodd - (1888 - 1961)
Account for Injury Sustained in the Trenches,
Zonnebeke, Belguim.
October 1917
I had been detailed to take a
party of twenty men (including Stretcher Bearers) to bring back 48 hours ration
for the Battalion. On reaching the
Ration Dump and realizing that there would be too much for the boys to carry, I
had the stretchers loaded up with some of the rations and told off two men to
assist in the carrying of same, in relays. The two men assisting were relieved of their rifles, myself
taking one of them and slung it across my back.
As on the way to the Ration
Dump, we were under constant shell fire and after a very hazardous journey we
eventually reached the entrance to the Trench. I stood beside the entrance to see that everybody got in
safely with the Rations. As the
last man passed me I was prevented from following for the moment as Fritz had
sent up a Star Shell and I was plainly visible to the enemy. The general idea is to stand still
until the star shell had faded but I was hailed by the Sargeant-Major who said,
'You are in a bad spot, Sargeant, get down'. As he spoke a German Machine Gun opened fire and I
could hear the scream of the bullets over my head and realized that they were
getting lower and lower -- I immediately laid down with my hand under my chest
ready to rise when the burst finished.
However, before I had time to move another burst came from the Machine
Gun and I then saw that during my absence from the trench, that part of the
parapet had been blown down and I was still exposed and in the line of
fire. I attempted to push myself
over to the left to gain the
shelter of the shell hole. As I
started to rise my left hand shot out from under me. It had been hit by one of the bullets from the machine
gun. I eventually crawled into the
trench and received First Aid from one of the Army Medical boys. Whilst I was having my hand dressed a
remark was passed that I had had a close shave as the bullet had passed through
my web equipment and torn my tunic across my chest before shattering my hand,
just missing going through my body.
I certainly thought that was close enough, but later I learned the
following facts.
It was on the ship that I was
being repatriated to Australia, as a result of my wound that I met another of
my mates from the Battalion -- the very man whose rifle I had carried on the
night I was wounded. He asked how
I got on with the wound in my back and when I told him that I only got it in
the hand he would not believe me.
The reason why he doubted me (in his own words) was - 'I cannot
understand how you missed getting it in your back, because when I went out
later to look for my rifle, I found that it had been shot through the swivel
and the sling was cut'.
Apparently in the excitement I
did not realize that I had not brought his rifle in with me and never thought
another thing about it. Although I
had had a close shave with the bullet in front of me it seems that my body was
between two bullets and that makes my close shave even closer.
The forgoing is the absolute
truth but unless necessary I would prefer to keep my name out of it as if any
of the boys should hear this over the air they might think I am doing a bit of
a skite.
C.
R. Rodd,
61
Rawson Street,
Haberfield.
Labels: Anzac Day, Rodd Family
# posted by Pennie @ April 25, 2017 
