Discovered by chance almost 100 years since it was written, the original “Field Dressings by Stretcher Bearer” manuscript contains the poems of Alick Lewis Ellis, a stretcher bearer of the 2/3rd London Field Ambulance, 54th Division, London Regiment. During more than 3 years of active service on the Western Front in World War 1 his first-hand experience of the horrors of battle at Gommecourt, The Somme, Arras, Ypres and Cambrai, led him to produce a series of compelling poems that will trigger an entire spectrum of emotions in the reader. While many poems reflect the sadness and pain that comes from witnessing so much death and futile suffering, Alick’s work shows he remained full of admiration for his fellow soldiers. In others, the gallows humour of the trenches will make the reader smile at times, while the hope and optimism of his few post war poems will be tinged with the sadness our historical knowledge allows.

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About the Author

Alick Lewis Ellis was born on 19th January 1887 to John and Susan Ellis of Terrington St. Clement in Norfolk, England. One of 10 children, he had 2 elder and one younger sisters and 3 elder and 3 younger brothers.

Little is known of his early life, but it is thought that he attended the local Terrington School with his brothers and sisters where he received a good but unremarkable education. The Ellis family had for several generations been shopkeepers, butchers or grocers and his parents were no different.

By 1911, Alick appeared to be following in the family tradition and was registered on the census as a self-employed grocer aged 24 in Greenhithe in Kent.

He was resident there with his widowed sister in law May Ellis formerly married to Walter Percy Ellis, one of his older brothers. His younger brother Charles Wesley Ellis also lived in Greenhithe and was a grocer’s assistant.

Alick volunteered for Territorial Army service on 4th February 1915 with the 3rd London Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), part of the 56th (1st London) Division, who were based at the Duke of York’s Barracks in Chelsea.

In October 1921, he was best man at his brother Clarence (Kal) Ellis' wedding.