Jim Birley giving Jimmy his daily bath

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Credit: Image © Durham Record Office (D/DLI 7/602/16(172))

Description

This drawing depicts Jimmy having his daily bath. The sight of Jim Birley soaping him all over and then standing him in a stable bucket at the door of his tent and ladling water over him out of a cavalry canteen, used to be the daily excitement at Akasheh after mid-day stables. Private James (Jim) Birley was Jimmy Durham's first nurse. An account from 1894 suggests that Jimmy's name derived from old Jim Birley, the soldier who first cared for him. Apparently good old Jim Birley had as much affection for the boy as if he were his own child, and kept him in a clean and highly polished manner.

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Notes

The description of Jim Birley's care of Jimmy Durham in his early years comes from the 2nd Battalion magazine, The Bugle, published on 14 June 1894, page 50.

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