'I would give a year of my life for a lump of roly pudding with jam': First World War soldier's postcard home from German POW camp comes to light

  • Private William Flood wrote matter-of-factly about the horrors of war
  • He wrote in the postcard to his sister Edith: 'I was shook up in the scrap'
  • Flood was captured at the brutal and bloody battle of Saint-Quentin

A World War One soldier who escaped with his life only to be captured by the Germans wrote a fascinating postcard home from a POW camp in which he said he would give ‘a year of his life for a lump of his sister’s jam roly-poly pudding'.

Beset by hunger and the privations of captivity, Private William Flood also talked of his yearning for a piece of cake and ‘a bit of toffee’.

But the postcard, which has just come to light, is also notable due to the matter of fact way in which Private Flood, then aged 36, talked of the horror of war.

Beset by hunger and the privations of captivity, Private William Flood talked of his yearning for a piece of cake and ¿a bit of toffee¿ in an intriguing letter

Beset by hunger and the privations of captivity, Private William Flood talked of his yearning for a piece of cake and ‘a bit of toffee’ in an intriguing letter

Private Flood wrote a fascinating postcard home from a POW camp in which he said he would give ¿a year of his life for a lump of his sister¿s jam roly-poly pudding'

Private Flood wrote a fascinating postcard home from a POW camp in which he said he would give ‘a year of his life for a lump of his sister’s jam roly-poly pudding'

He writes in the postcard to his sister Edith: ‘I was terribly shook up in the scrap.

‘I am booked now till the end of the war and I am not sorry. It is quite peaceful here to the horror of the other job and I had just about enough of it, bits knocked off here and there. I was blown up by a shell then buried, dug out, and had a liberal supply of gas.

‘In fact, no one is more surprised than myself that I am alive at all. But I said I was coming back before I started and I’m keeping my word up to now.’

He goes on to say he would like ‘some cake and a bit of toffee and be your debtor for life, in fact I would give a year of my life cheerfully for a lump of roly pudding with jam on, and I mean it.’

He adds that all he had with him to remind him of home was a khaki handkerchief sent to him by his sister and a table spoon given to him by his mother which he had somehow clung on to.

Private Flood was captured on March 21 1918 at the brutal and bloody battle of Saint-Quentin in France, and wrote his letter from a German POW camp a month later.

At the time of his capture the end of the war was just eight months away and after his no doubt horrifying experiences in the trenches, he accepted gratefully that he would see out the rest of the conflict in relatively peaceful captivity.

A Londoner, Private Flood was enlisted in the 7th battalion rifle brigade (Prince Consorts Own).

He noted in the postcard to his sister Edith that he wasn’t sure if his wife had moved home, the reason for sending it to his sister.

His wife Ethel lived in Cowper Road, Stoke Newington, London, and they had five children. The record of Private Flood’s war has been kept in the family as a prized sentimental heirloom.

Private Flood was captured on March 21 1918 at the brutal and bloody battle of Saint-Quentin (pictured) in France, and wrote his letter from a German POW camp a month later

Private Flood was captured on March 21 1918 at the brutal and bloody battle of Saint-Quentin (pictured) in France, and wrote his letter from a German POW camp a month later

His great grand-daughter Sue Smith, 62, of Potton, Bedfordshire, said she understood that her great-grandfather had died relatively young in his late 40s following his return from the war having spent his working life as a gas fitter.

Sue said it was possible that his early death had been due to the injuries and gas inhalation he had endured during the Great War. However, his ancestors now include a dozen great grandchildren.

‘Our family has kept his war record all this time and it is wonderful that there is a photograph of him and it has been kept in the family,’ said Sue.

Wednesday is the anniversary of Armistice Day, commemorating the signing of the agreement between the Allies and the Germans which brought an end to hostilities on the western front. It was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.