Private FREDERICK JAMES PORTER

Frederick Porter was the second son born to James, an agricultural labourer, and Kate Porter of Wilkes Water, Broad Oak on 24th July 1895. His nephew Keith Porter is well known in Odiham today.

Frederick enlisted in Odiham and joined the 1st/4th Hampshire Regiment in the early weeks of the war for, like Ambrose Offer, his name appears on the Roll of Honour published in the Hants & Berks Gazette of 12 September 1914. He left England on 9 October 1914 for the journey to India.
A letter home from India gives us not only a picture of a thoughtful and kind 19 year old who had responded to the call to serve his country, but also a glimpse into what it must have been like to suddenly be in a totally different environment and culture to that of a farm labourer in Odiham.