Edgar FORTUNE

02 June 1916

LETTERS OF THANKS FROM SILSDEN SOLDIERS

Mrs. Sugden, of Bolton Road, Silsden, continues to receive letter from local soldiers thanking the inhabitants of Silsden for parcels which have been sent out to them. The folowing are extracts from some of the letters:–

Private E. Fortune writes:– “Just a few lines thanking you for the parcel, which I have received. It was in good condition, and I appreciate the kindness shown by you and the inhabitants of Silsden by the way you have all worked for the benefit of all the soldiers who are away from the dear old country. We are in a very hot climate now. We do all our parades with our coats off, but we are close to a canal which gives us a chance of having a swim when we are off parade. We have only had about two wet days in three months. You will therefore see that we are having some beautiful weather. Well, we are in a lot better circumstances than we were on the Peninsula, for we had some hardships to go through there and no mistake, especially when the rain came down in torrents. Then the frost followed, which was very keen. It was a pity to see some of the fellows for they could hardly hobble along. We had no buildings or tents that we could make a bed in, there being nothing but dug-outs. I never even saw a hencote all the three months I was out there. I am in good health and spirits, hoping this will find you all the same in Silsden. I will now close with the best of luck and a speedy success to all our allies for the end of the war. I have received four parcels in all from you, and they have all arrived in good condition.”

22 December 1916

LETTERS FROM SILSDEN SOLDIERS – Thanks for Christmas Parcels

Mrs. C. Sugden, of Bolton Road, Silsden, has received another large batch of letters from Silsden soldiers serving at home and abroad in acknowledgement of Christmas parcels which have been recently forwarded to them on behalf of the inhabitants of Silsden. The following are extracts from some of the letters:–

Pte. Edgar Fortune writes:– “We are not in the line at present, but we anticipate going back again next week. If our anticipation is realised, I only hope we shall all have the luck to come out again. We have not had a failure since we came to France, and our division has done extremely well in regard to winning honours. We have in our brigade a V.C. hero, who won the honour in our last engagement with the Germans. Also we have a fair sprinkling of military medallists in the division. I came across another Silsden lad since I came up to this part of France. It was Fred Wilkinson, who is in the R.M.A. I was surprised to see him, and we had a few days stationed near to one another. Also, last night, I came across ‘Ned’ Summerscales, and he told me they had lost some men since they came up to this part. It feels a great pleasure to meet someone from your own native place. It seems to put a homely feeling into you, which makes you almost devour every word which falls from one another’s lips, especially when we converse about the old place and the good old times we have spent. Wishing you and the inhabitants of Silsden a Merry Christmas and a Bright and Happy New Year.”

31 May 1918

CRAVEN AND THE WAR

Silsden Prisoner of War

Mrs. Fortune, of 13, Tillotson Street, Silsden, has received a post-card from her son. Pte. Edgar Fortune, of the West Riding Regiment, stating that he has been wounded in both legs and is a prisoner of war in Germany. Pte. Fortune, who is 28 years of age, enlisted in September, 1914. He first went out to the Dardanelles then to Egypt, and had been in France just over two years. Prior to enlisting be was employed at the Silsden Dyeworks, and was connected with the Silsden Bethesda United Methodist Church.

14 June 1918

FORTUNE – Died of wounds in Germany, May 7th, Pte. Edgar Fortune, West Riding Regiment, son of Mrs. Fortune, of 13, Tillotson Street, Silsden, aged 28.

14 June 1918

CRAVEN AND THE WAR

Silsden Prisoner’s Death in Germany

Mrs. Fortune, of 13, Tillotson Street, Silsden, has received word that her son, Pte. Edgar Fortune, of the West Riding Regiment, who had been wounded in both legs, and was a prisoner of war in Germany, died on May 7th from his wounds and inflammation of the lungs. Pte. Fortune, who was 28 years of age, enlisted in September, 1914. He first went out to the Dardanelles, then to Egypt, and had been in France just over two years when he was taken prisoner. Prior to enlisting he was employed at the Silsden Dyeworks, and was connected with the Silsden Bethesda United Methodist Church.

28 June 1918

SILSDEN

THE LATE PTE. EDGAR FORTUNE

A Service in memory of the late Pte. Edgar Fortune, of the West Riding Regiment, son of Mrs. Fortune, of 13, Tillotson Street, Silsden, who died on May 7th from wounds and inflammation of the lungs while a prisoner of war in Germany, took place at the Bethesda United Methodist Church on Sunday morning last.

There was a large congregation and the service was conducted by Rev. R. Key (pastor), who preached from the text, Genesis 18-25, and Romans 3-5, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” and “Is God unrighteous Who taketh vengeance.” Mr. Key said both these questions referred to the retributive providence of God as declared in certain decisive acts. Abraham and Paul in their separate experiences were feeling moral pressure upon their reason and conscience, and were compelled to ask “Is it right for God to do this thing?" Today as we face again and again the perils of the world catastrophe, we were often led to ask, “Can this be right?” But we shall get no categorical reply to the question we ask concerning the providence and government of God. What these men found was rest for the heart, and in our perplexity and dilemma today we may find it. Their answer was ours – that God is righteous. This truth we must lay hold of before we reason concerning any isolated acts or series of acts. That God was righteous meant more than God did righteously. It meant He could not do a wrong thing, that the responsibility of a wrong thing could not be with God. God could not commit a crime. Power, as they were witnessing, might, intellect might, but righteousness could not. That day as they thought of the loss of Pte. Edgar Fortune they knew that God’s righteousness was not affected. God permitted many things they could not understand. He saw the end from the beginning, but they only a fragment of the way. In His pity, however, He must often say as He beheld their sorrow as He said of Abraham’s plea, “ Shall I hide the thing which I do.” The concern they all felt as one after another of their brave men went was not for them, nor for the righteousness of God in permitting these losses, but for those who were the instigators of all this carnage and strife and sorrow. We must pity these. We must seek to bring these from the darkness in which they grovel to the true light of things. We might need a league of nations, but what we needed more was an international league of Christian brotherhood. The death of Pte. Fortune after heroic service in Gallipoli, Egypt, and France moved them deeply, but they had every reason to believe that his spirit was now in tune with the Infinite. His own words quite recently expressed were that on the field of battle, having been asked to pray for others, he had learned afresh how to pray for himself. He was wounded whilst attending to his duty; whilst caring for others he was taken prisoner, and after a few weeks in the hands of the enemy he passed away in hospital in Germany. For them he willingly sacrificed and by them his sacrifice was not lightly esteemed. Again and again he manifested the “greater love” of which the Master so beautifully spoke. As a church they prayed the divine comfort be vouchsafed to the sorrowing mother and family. Though hurtling storms again fly over their heads and troubled oceans roll at their feet, yet in this let them be confident that they had a sure standing place, a rock of strength and safety. In all, through all, a righteous God was working, working towards his high and own great ends. His hand was on all, and he would judge all. Let them be sure of this, that in these days light only came to them through the character of God.

During the service the hymns ‘Before Jehovah’s awful throne,’ ‘For ever with the Lord,’ ‘As helpless as a child who clings” and ‘There is no night in heaven’ were sung, and at the close the organist (Miss Mary Longbottom) played the ‘Dead March’ in ‘Saul.’