A Soldier’s Letter From Portugal

Remembering The Great War (1914–1918)

The 4th of August marks the one hundred and tenth anniversary since Britain declared war on Germany, starting World War I. Following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, a chain of events soon led to the start of the Great War in early August 1914, the war that was meant to end all wars. 

Portuguese troops embarking to Angola c. 1914 – Public Domain
Wilfred Gregory [1883 – 1915] courtesy of Luka Alexander

To mark this period in history, I wanted to share a story of one British serviceman who stopped off in Lisbon en route to fight the Ottoman Turks and liberate the Gallipoli peninsula, and sadly gave his life for our future freedom. 

Wilfred Gregory, born on 17 August 1883, in Reading, England, was a private in the 6th Service Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment. He was one of the 12 children of James and Martha Gregory. He joined the Royal Navy in 1905, and later married Alice Maud in 1913 and had one child named Ella.

After serving in the Royal Navy for nine years, Wilfred took up work as a builder, but his stint in civilian life was cut short when Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914. Soon after, Wilfred joined Lord Kitchener’s newly raised 6th Service Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment and underwent training in Grantham, Lincolnshire, before partaking in final exercises at Frensham in Surrey.

HMS Talbot – Public Domain [The ship Wilfred Gregory arrived in Lisbon on]

On 20 June 1915, Wilfred, along with his comrades of the 6th Service Battalion, sailed from Liverpool to Gallipoli on board HMS Talbot. En route, the battalion stopped off at Lisbon, where the troops took a well-deserved break, marvelling at the sights of the Portuguese capital and, most importantly, taking advantage of time to send letters back home to their nearest and dearest. 

Letter from Lisbon [dated c. June 1915] courtesy of Luka Alexander

In one letter sent to his mother, Wilfred wrote:

“Dear Mother, 

This is another view of Lisbon. There are lots of gardens like this. 

You see they are in the centre of the road. The road opens out and runs each side of them. 

It gives the town a lovely and refreshing appearance. 

W. G. [Wilfred Gregory]”

The letter, postmarked June 1915 – Lisboa, Portugal, was accompanied by a small selection of postcards featuring a view of Lisbon’s Praça do Duque da Terceira and the Monument to the Restorers on Avenida da Liberdade. With flourishing avenues of trees and tropical plants seen in the distance, it’s no wonder this historic and somewhat green city impressed the young soldier. It was a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Britain’s ports which were preparing for one of the bloodiest wars in history. 

Leaving Portugal, the battalion later stopped at Mudos in Greece before landing at Suvla Bay just off the coast of Gallipoli on 6 August 1915. Upon arrival, the battalion was immediately thrown into action as part of the August Offensive to break through Ottoman lines in hopes of taking over the Gallipoli peninsula. 

Lisbon Post Card I –  Praça do Duque da Terceira 

Sadly, Private Wilfred Gregory (Private 11541) was killed in action on Turkey’s Dardanelles Strait, just twenty-four hours after landing in Gallipoli. He was killed on 7 August 1915, aged 31 years old, having spent much of his adult life serving in the British forces. According to a death report written in the Lincolnshire Chronicle, dated 11 September 1915, Wilfred had witnessed first-hand the tragedy of war, stating “from the time [of] landing up until his death he had seen some fierce fighting”.

Pvt. Ronald Gregory [1894 – 1917] courtesy of Luka Alexander

The letter to his mother, written from Portugal, would be one of his last. He was survived by his parents, his wife, his only child and four remaining siblings. His younger brother Private. Ronald Gregory (Private 515508), born in 1894, also served in the Great War in the 14th (1st London Scottish) Battalion. He died in Louverval, France, two years after Wilfred, on 24 November 1917, aged 23. 

The death of the two brothers sent shock waves throughout the family, but their names were remembered and given to my grandfather, who shared the names of his uncles, Wilfred and Ronald, a small token of remembrance of two men who sacrificed their lives for king and country.

It may seem like fate that one hundred and nine years later, Wilfred’s great-great nephew would be writing this story about him and living in the same country in which he wrote one of his final letters to his family. Whilst this soldier, like many, did not have a grave, his body was identified and his identification tag was returned to the family and now hangs on my living-room wall here in the Algarve, along with his bronze death plaque and his photograph. Wilfred, along with thousands of others is remembered on the Helles Memorial in Turkey on Pannal 44–46.  

Helles Memorial in Turkey – (c) Harvey Barrison [Wilfred Gregory listed on pannel 44-46]

During his time in Lisbon, it would seem unimaginable that the quaint city of Lisbon would be dragged into the war just a year after HMS Talbot dropped its anchor in the Tagus River. Following Britain’s request to confiscate German warships docked in Portuguese ports and Portugal’s compliance with the request in 1916, Germany declared war on Portugal. The Great War resulted in about 12,000 deaths of Portuguese troops, including Africans who served in its armed forces on the colonial front. Britain lost over 880,000 British troops and the overall global loss of life was estimated at over 20 million throughout the four-year-long war. 

Death Plaque of Pvt. Wilfred Gregory courtesy of Luka Alexander
Identification tag of Pvt. Wilfred Gregory  courtesy of Luka Alexander

In the words of the poem ‘For the Fallen’, written by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869–1943) and published in The Times in September 1914:  “At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.”

Main image: Lisbon Post Card II – Monument to the Restorers on Avenida da Liberdade

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