LIKE many soldiers returning from the horrors of the First World War, Jack Drake did not talk much about his experiences.
There were snippets, of course. A few vague anecdotes as to where Jack and his brothers in arms had served as part of the 1st Hull Heavy Battery. But few of the stoic heroes who came home after "the war to end all wars" went into huge detail about what they had seen and endured.
It says something of the fate that awaited many of the Hull men, part of the Service Battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment, who set sail from the banks of the Humber bound for East Africa in 1914, that many would later claim they wished they had been sent to the front in Europe.
There, they said, "at least you knew what you were going to die of", instead of long, lingering, deaths from diseases such as malaria, typhoid and the blackwater fever that befell many East Yorkshiremen dispatched to the southern hemisphere.
For the main theatre of war on the Western Front, where soldiers perished in their hundreds of thousands on infamous battlefields such as the Somme and Ypres, there are reams of information, diaries and archive material for historians to pour over.
But for those who volunteered for the Hull Pals – and were then drafted into the first subscription-raised heavy artillery division – much of what they did had been lost to the mists of time. Until now.
A new book following the soldiers written by Rupert Drake, the grandson of signaler Jack, is seeking to shed a light on what the Hull men achieved.
Called The Road To Lindi: Hull Boys In Africa, the book is the result of nine years of research by globetrotting engineer Rupert, 54, who lives in Vietnam.
Intrigued by his grandfather's story, he decided to dig further into Jack's wartime exploits – a labour of love that has flourished into a history of the whole Hull company and its colourful cast of characters.
But it nearly did not get off the ground at all.
"My grandfather was a man of few words," says Rupert.
"He was an old man when I was born and, as was the way with old soldiers, he never really talked much about what he did in the war.
"He had a notebook with details about it but when he died, it was accidentally thrown away so I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to find out any more.
"When I started to look into the history of the unit, I found there is actually very little written about it. But I was determined to try to fill in some of the blanks.
"Luckily, I was corresponding with some cousins in America and it turned out they had a photocopy of his notebook. That was my starting point."
Starting his epic research journey in 2004, Rupert set out by finding out the names and serial numbers of everyone in the unit, and then sending 600 handwritten letters to people with "unusual names" he thought might have links with it.
"I'm the king of the long shots," says Rupert.
"But it was surprising how many replies I got back. Many people wrote back with information, diaries and some fantastic pictures.
"Although I wanted to write a history of the unit, I wanted to focus on the story of the men who served in it as much as possible. I wanted to get as many first hand accounts as I could."
The Hull Heavy Battery played a vital role in East Africa, working its way through what is now Tanzania and Kenya and battling against a determined German guerilla campaign.
The African campaign's importance is still debated by historians but without its actions many of the trade routes that supplied the allied war effort, such as the Suez Canal, may have been under threat from the Germans.
On a more human level though, fighting the enemy was only half the battle for the Hull soldiers not used to the hot, dusty and uncomfortable climate.
Disease was rife. Rupert estimates that in excess of one third of all troops in East Africa were permanently unfit for duty during the rainy season due to illness. Jack Drake himself suffered frequent bouts of malaria while the Chigoe flea and ticks were a constant disease-bearing nuisance.
No one was immune. The men who made up the unit represented a wide cross-section of Hull's community.
While Jack Drake was a tenant farmer, of Goxhill, who would regularly travel by paddle ferry to sell his produce in Hull's teeming markets. His comrades included people from all walks of life.
"It was a typical mix, people from all walks of life," says Rupert.
"There were solicitors and professional people, trawlermen, a rat catcher and even one man who was a bouncer in a brothel – and a fair few deserters.
"But, by doing the research, I feel like I've got to know the men and especially my grandfather. It's been a fascinating experience unearthing this part of Hull's history that had been a little bit forgotten."
Grandfather did his dutyAlthough born in Newark, author Rupert Drake feels strong affinity for Hull. His grandfather Jack worked a tenant farm at Goxhill, on the south banks of the Humber, and was a regular visitor to the city, travelling by paddle-driven ferry to sell his barley and vegetables.
It was for this reason that Jack enlisted in Hull in December 1914, following the outbreak of war, rather than into other nearby Army units being formed in Lincolnshire. Due to his skills with horses, learnt on the farm, he was posted to the 1st Hull Heavy Battery still being formed at the East Hull Barracks in Holderness Road.
Rupert says his grandfather was not "overly keen" on soldier life but, like many young men in 1914, felt it was his patriotic duty to volunteer.
During the Second World War, Jack served in the Home Guard. He died in 1983 aged 92.
Grandson Rupert, 54, now travels the world as a power plant engineer and consultant. He lives in Vietnam and has spent years working in South America, South Africa and China.• The Road To Lindi: Hull Boys In Africa is published by Reveille Press priced £17.99 and is available from Amazon and Waterstones. Visit reveillepress.westernfrontassociation.com
