The May image (below) in the Reepham Life 2024 Calendar shows the thatched cottage that can still be seen on Reepham Moor.

A brief annotation states that the woman in the image is Charlie Self’s mother: Charlie was born in 1896 to Frederick and Florence Self.

Records from the National Archives show that Charlie enlisted in 1915 and by October he was involved in the Balkans campaign. In 1916 his regiment was transferred to France.

During the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, Charlie was wounded by gunshot which led to the loss of his left leg. This was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the First World War.

He was finally discharged in November 1917 from Warley Barracks, headquarters of the Essex Regiment. He was awarded the Silver Badge, the main purpose of which was to prevent men not in uniform being thought of as shirkers.

No record of Charlie has yet been found in the 1921 Census but his parents Frederick and Florence and three of his siblings were all still living on Reepham Moor.

In 1927 Charlie was certainly living with his family as there were reports in the newspapers of his bad behaviour leading to an eventual sentence of three months' imprisonment.

He had threatened both his mother and his brother, and there were “numerous complaints from the neighbourhood and no one could live there peaceably”.

Extract from Yarmouth Independent, 15 October 1927.

Charlie is perhaps an example of a First World War soldier deeply affected by his wound and the subsequent loss of his left leg, suffering from shell shock (now called post-traumatic stress disorder). He died in 1938 aged 43.

Janet Archer

The Reepham Archive is open to the public on the first Wednesday and Saturday of the month from 10 am – 12 noon (or by appointment), upstairs in the Bircham Centre, Market Place, Reepham.