Extract from WW1 letter dated 28th Dec 1915
From David Taylor to Ginger (Ethel) Linn in USA
“…I don’t know if Mum has told you that I have joined the Army. I have joined up under Lord Derby’s scheme and shall be called up with my class….I had also joined previously the London University Officer Training Corps Engineers Unit and I am now down at Kensington being instructed in the gentle art pf “strafing” Germans….Some while ago I thought of applying for a commission direct and after much trial and tribulation I gave it up on Mr Rushbrooke’s advice…He pointed out that I should be responsible for the lives of the men under me and that we had already lost large numbers through young officers being incompetent…”