Norman Marshall Halcombe

Halcombe – Turton On the 22 January 1919 at St Mary's Church Battersea, by the Rev H. Foster. Pegg Norman Marshall Halcombe Major R.E and RAF, fourth son of Arthur and Edith Halcombe, Fern Grove, Urenui, New Zealand, to Blanche Sturt Turton, eldest daughter of Wesley and Amy Turton, Hawkeshead, Lake Whakatipu, New Zealand.

76th Casualty Clearing Hospital Port Said 7 February 1919

‘Dear Mrs Halcombe. Your husband has just told me he would like me to write to you and tell you of his present condition. He developed influenza on board ship with slight lung symptoms and was disembarked and sent to us on the 5th.

He now has pneumonia I am sorry to say, but though his condition is, of course, critical and will be for some days, he is holding his own very satisfactorily and has a good strong pulse and is not in pain. ‘With sympathy for your present great anxiety, Believe me Yours sincerely J.N Wheeler (Major R.A.M.C)’

76th Casualty Clearing Hospital 18 February 1919

‘Dear Mrs Halcombe, You have my greatest sympathy over the death of your husband.

I buried him in the Port Said cemetery which is quite a nice one surrounded on three sides by the sea. In a few weeks a cross will be put up. All the graves are covered in a green creeper - more of an ice plant than anything, with pretty daisy-like flowers…

With great sympathy for your loss,

Army Chaplain’