Analysis of Stapleton Tench Eachus

I am penning these as I find myself sitting at one of the dining tables at the Salvation Army rest for soldiers in London, Blighty. Am on my way back to France after 14 days furlough and seven days extension which was granted to me by the Royal Engineer Records Chatham. I left Stafford this morning with my little boy at 11.37 am and went first to Warwick where I left Derrick in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick at 48 Avon Street. I think that these forced partings from the little chap, who is so dear to me, have caused me deeper and more cruel pain, than all other pains that I have known. If there is such a thing as love in this world, it must be surely just like that, how little Dux is loved by me. Left Warwick at 5.58 pm and arrived at Paddington at 9.10 pm. Took a bus to Victoria station and passed by the Marble Arch and Saint James Park, which was profusely decorated with flags and bunting in honour I suppose of the visit of the American president, who arrived today. At Victoria station went into the free buffet, and had a sandwich and cup of tea. Wreaths in the evergreen and other laurel decorations were hanging up everywhere and welcome greetings to the soldiers were emblazoned in large letters upon the walls, one inscription ran something like this “We pray for all who have died and we thank all for bringing us victory and peace” another ran “Welcome home the nation thanks you”. Was directed by a gentleman to board a small motor lorry, which had two seats down the centre and a roof, something after the style of the well known Irish “stage coach”. This vehicle took a party of us to the pace where I am now and where I have engaged a bed no 182 for the night for the price of half a shilling.

This diary was written by Stapleton Tench Eachus, who was a British soldier. He was born in Stafford, England in 1889. After finishing school, Stapleton joined the post office where he worked until 1910, he then enlisted with the South Staffordshire Regiment before moving to the Warwickshire Yeomanry. Stapleton fought with the Warwickshire Yeomanry in Egypt before he transferred to the Royal Engineer's Signals. Stapleton was sent to France in 1916, and over the next 3 years, he wrote in tiny notepads a set of 15 diaries about his adventures in the Great War, which was what Worl War 1 was called. The diary entry above was written in 1918, when Stapleton was at rest at Salvation Army. He is talking about how he recently visited his family, and discussing his reception by the general public.

At the start of the entry, Stapleton writes "Many months have elapsed since last I made any notes", which shows how little time soldiers have for anything while at war. Every minute they have to be alert and ready for battle, so obviously Stapleton has not had time lately to do something he enjoys, which is writing in his diary. He also writes about visiting his family for two weeks. He seemed really excited about the visit, but also upset that he had to leave his family once again. He described his little boy, and I could feel the sadness radiating from the entry as he left his child. He writes, "I think that these forced partings from the little chap, who is so dear to me, have caused me deeper and more cruel pain, than all other pains that I have known. If there is such a thing as love in this world, it must be surely just like that, how little Dux is loved by me." Out of all of the suffering, pain, and death he has seen in his life as a soldier, the pain that hurts him the most is the pain of leaving his boy. This shows how little he got to see his family, and how long the soldier has to be away from his family. Finally, at the end of his entry, Stapleton describes the welcome he got from the public. There were wreaths and signs that said “We pray for all who have died and we thank all for bringing us victory and peace” another ran “Welcome home the nation thanks you”. This shows the support system the soldiers had in the war, as well as the nationalism displayed during the war. The country was proud of the soldiers representing it, so it used many different obvious signs and decorations to showcase this.