Two letters from Capt. John Livingston RAMC

Two letters from Capt. John Livingston RAMC

Livingston, John

Two letters from John Livingston to family at home in Barrow (31 October 1918 and 1 November 1918), sent in the same envelope. The first letter includes: concerns about influenza at home and describes his bout of flu in France that week, and the German treatment of influenza; some surgery in theatre that day; some mental cases - an old woman and a "boy" [wounded soldier?]; hearing the guns in the night. The second letter relates how a parcel from home spilled open in front of everyone; about looking at a list of VCs awarded in a newspaper with Sister West and she noticing that her own cousin is listed - DSO, MC and now posthumously VC; and how he was woken up last night by a rat prowling around.

These are some of about 16 letters and service postcards sent between July-October 1918. Some are in ink, some in pencil, some illegible. Most describe where John is writing from, where he has walked/been driven by car or field ambulance that day “ assuming he is not the orderly for the day. In general he appears to be behind the lines, but probably where the front line once was before a push forward. Some letters describe the movements of the war, and politics back home and in Russia (the revolution, the Czar), and in America. Some describe medical cases in France, soldiers and civilian (male/female), some describe cases at home “ some very candid discussions of symptoms/cases etc.

Part of a large collection of photos and other memorabilia relating to the life and work of John Livingston (1872-1959), Barrow-in-Furness, Scotland, who served as a surgeon with the rank of Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps (Territorial Force) in France during the Great War. Livingston obtained medical degrees from Glasgow “ later moving to Barrow, as GP. He married Annie Walker in 1899, a hospital nurse. The sister of John Livingston was the grandmother of John Jenkinson. The complete archive of Livingston (and his wife Annie and son Ian) was received by Sue and John Jenkinson after a cousin's death, being the last of his relatives.

October - November 1918

France

Leaf

Paper

Letter

7

Richard Marshall

The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor

The Great War Archive, University of Oxford

Alun Edwards (Powys Submissions Day)

Sue and John Jenkinson