A Game Sustained

55 Keeping going: 1914-1915 upwards of 50 parcels of kit a year, ‘which were much appreciated by our soldiers.’ 46 However, not all requests were met quite so favourably. A letter in the Hull Daily Mail from four soldiers based in France complained about a request they had seen reported from a soldier stationed in Hedon in East Yorkshire. They felt a cricket set could be afforded by home-based men without assistance, and more importantly, they suggested that if he had nothing better to do, he could amuse himself by filling sandbags or digging trenches. The communication between troops and those donating equipment was two-way, and the county club and local papers received letters describing how it had been used. A correspondent from the 4 th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, for example, thanked those who had supplied bats and balls and reported that ‘Cricket pitches are not what you may call ‘county’ but bumps and bounces are quite unheeded nowadays’, noting they were doing their best ‘in the other game.’ Similarly, a letter from an officer in the 5 th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry – which had suffered terrible losses in heavy fighting – commented on the delight when they had recently received cricket equipment from a former captain of Pontefract Cricket Club, and reported that they had played two matches. Tragically, by the time the details of these games appeared in the press, at least one of the men involved was dead. Numerous impromptu games were organised at the front, many taken seriously enough that full scores were recorded. Such a game was played in June 1915 between 1-8 th West Yorkshire Regiment (Leeds Rifles) Territorials against the ‘C’ Company of the 2 nd West Yorkshire Regiment Regulars in an orchard only two miles from the trenches, so that the cricket was accompanied by the sounds of rifle fire. A few days later, the Sheffield Independent reported a game between 2 nd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and 1 st Royal West Kents, noting that ‘As both battalions were due in the trenches the same evening, only one innings was played.’ And the 7 th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (Leeds Rifles) also played cricket with shells whistling over their heads.