Letters from Richard Taylor Tanner

Chapter 4.
Letters to Minnie.
1905 to 1919

Letters from Richard Taylor Tanner (and one from his future wife Elsie Pattie Sadd)
Minnie's son Richard Taylor Tanner was in France during World War I and injured in 1917 and sent to England. A series of his letters from 1917 to 1919 written from England survive and appear here. One includes a description of celebrations in Piccadilly Circus at the time of the Armistice. Also included is a letter from his future wife, Elsie Pattie Sadd.

It appears likely that earlier letters would have been written from France, but none were found in the Tanner records of Minnie's daughters Anna Grace Tanner or Mina Pilcher Tanner/Low. It appears the first letter,was written shortly after he arrived back in England after an injury in France. I haven't been able to determine what battle he was in.

I will comment on some of the letters, below.

1917-06-19
This letter, written from the Canadian Convalescent Hospital in Uxbridge, Middlesex, England, appears to have been written shortly after he arrived in England after an injury in France.

1917-09-14
Although the year is not given in this letter, it was originally filed with the others indicating it was the year 1917. It appears he was still in convalescence, and from the letter, it appears there was a lung issue. This may have been from a gas attack. An undated letter, appearing at the end, refers to Ypres, and he may have been there. It was the only letter he used a typewriter for. There were bases where service personnel were expected to type letters for easy scrutiny by censors.

1918-01-28

1918-04-05

1918-05-16

1918-07-28

1918-09-02

1918-10-05

1918-10-13

1918-10-20

1918-10-28

1918-11-03

1918-11-17
This was his first letter after the Armistice, and he describes what he saw in Piccadilly Circus.

1918-12-19
This letter is from Elsie Pattie Sadd, who was engaged to Taylor at the time.

1919-01-01
This was written directly to Minnie (his mother) rather than directed to the entire family. In it, he defends his decision to marry in England. In it, he mentions plans to marry on February 22. In fact, they married a week earlier, on February 15.

1919-01-27

1919-02-04
Although the year given in the letter is 1918, it was obvioulsly a mistake and should be 1919. Not only does it refer to his upcoming marriage, but the address is in the same as the previous and following letters. This is the last letter home that survives. His mother died two weeks after this letter was mailed. She may not have received the letter before her death, as it typically took two to four weeks for mail delivery.

Undated partial letter

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