"So, what did you do in the war then?"

When reading some of the inane comments posted on discussion forums and elsewhere, it's all too easy to gain the impression that all men who have served as soldiers are to be regarded as heroes, even more so if they were unfortunate enough to die in the course of doing so. This is a fiction, and a dangerous one, too: the Armed Forces contain the full spectrum of society, from the salt of the earth to the scum of the earth, and always have.

With the release of Military Service Records into the public domain the truth is often laid bare. Here follows the career of one soldier. Although the events took place nearly a century ago I won't name him; I'll refer to him simply as Soldier “B.”

In civilian life he was a crane driver at Vickers’ Shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness. However, he decided to become a soldier, and enlisted in the 4th Battalion on November 10th, 1914. He chose not to serve abroad, electing instead to remain in the UK, initially serving with the 2nd/4th Battalion, and later the 41st (Provisional) Battalion.

I suspect that there was something of the recidivist about him, making him temperamentally unsuited to the disciplined life of the Army, as his surviving service papers amply bear testimony: 

BLACKPOOL - 1/3/15

Charge: Overstaying his pass.

 

Punishment: Admonished and forfeited 2 days’ pay.

 

BLACKPOOL - 4/3/15

 

Charge: Reporting sick without good cause.

 

Punishment: Deprived of 2 days’ pay.

 

BLACKPOOL - 4/3/15

Charge: Shouting on parade.

 

Punishment: Confined to Barracks for 3 days.

 

BLACKPOOL - 5/3/15

 

Charge: Disobedience of order i.e. “showing the upper lip.”

 

Punishment: Confined to Barracks for 3 days.

 

BLACKPOOL - 15/3/15

 

Charge: Absent from Defaulters’ Roll Call 6.0 p.m. to 9.0. p.m.

 

Punishment: Four days’ Field Punishment No. 2.

 
 

March seems to have been quite a busy month for him. I’m particularly amused by the reference to “showing the upper lip.” It’s not an expression I’ve come across before, but it’s one I rather like!

He then appears to have been quiescent for a while, but, once again, his name started to figure quite prominently at the Defaulters' Parade:

 

RYE – 7/9/15

 

Charge: Being late for parade.

 

Punishment: Deprived of 1 days’ pay.

 

RYE – 9/9/15

 

Charge: Being late for guard duty (15 minutes).

 

Punishment: Deprived of 2 days’ pay.

 

WINCHELSEA - 14/9/15

Charge: Unshaved on 8.0 a.m. parade.

 

Punishment: Confined to Barracks for 2 days.

 

WINCHELSEA - 21/9/15

 

Charge: Absent from tattoo 21/9/15 until 9.0 p.m. 23/9/15.

 

Punishment: Deprived of 3 days’ pay.

 

WINCHELSEA - 8/10/15

 

Charge: Parading sick without a cause.

 

Punishment: Deprived of 3 days’ pay and Confined to Barracks for 3 days.

 

WINCHELSEA - 28/10/15

 

Charge: Absent without leave from 10.0 p.m. 26/10/15 until 12.0 p.m. on 28/10/15.

 

Punishment: Awarded 168 hours detention.

 

BIRCHINGTON - 23/4/16

 

Charge: Whilst on Active Service improperly dressed on 11.30 a.m. parade (not wearing identity disc).

 

Punishment: Deprived of 2 days’ pay.

 

BIRCHINGTON – 8/5/16.

 

Charge: Whilst on Active Service (i) being unshaved on 9.0 a.m. parade, (ii) having a dirty rifle.

 

Punishment: Confined to Barracks for 4 days.

 

Co-incidentally, this incident when he was not wearing his identity disc was reported by Sergeant John Longmire, about whom I have posted previously on this blog.

In December, 1916, Soldier "B" was posted to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion and was soon in trouble again:

 

FORMBY – 4/1/17

 

Charge: Irregular conduct on parade.

 

Punishment: Confined to Barracks for 5 days.

 

Finally, on January 29th, 1917, he was posted to the British Expeditionary Force, spending about 5 weeks at the notorious training camp at Etaples before joining the 1st/4th Battalion on March 9th, 1917. Given the reputation of the place – and the men that staffed it – I very much doubt if he dared to turn up late for parade or ‘showed the upper lip.’

In France, he had quite an eventful time too. He was hospitalised once with Trench Fever (26/5/17) and wounded three times; 16/7/17 (Gunshot wound to right wrist and finger received near St. Julien); 31/7/17 (Gunshot wound to shoulder received at Wieltje on the opening day of the Third Battle of Ypres); 20/11/17 (Shrapnel wound to left thigh received at Guillemont Farm, near Epehy during the Battle of Cambrai).

After being wounded for a third time the Army must have thought he was due for a rest and he was granted home leave from January 18th, 1918, until February 1st, 1918. He managed to overstay his furlough;

FIELD – 2/2/18

 

Charge: When on Active Service overstaying his pass by a day from 2/2/18 to 3/2/18.

 

Punishment: Confined to Barracks for 3 days.

 

A couple of months later he found himself a prisoner again, except this time it was as a temporary guest of the Kaiser rather than the King. He was captured at Givenchy on April 9th, and held at Mons until the Armistice. Rather surprisingly he remained in the Territorial Army after the war and eventually got promoted to Corporal.


 

So, ultimately it would appear that Soldier “B” made good and served his country admirably. He wasn’t really a bad lad, simply 'a bit of a handful' - what the Australians term a “larrikin” - and the items listed weren’t really crimes, being more misdemeanours, the sort of things he would probably have laughed about years later. True? Possibly, but there’s one crime on his Conduct Sheet which I haven’t yet listed. It was altogether more serious, and a direct consequence of his general lack of regard for authority and his irresponsible behaviour. It occurred at Birchington on May 30th, 1916;

2029, Drummer Boy George Lovell was 16. If you care to look, you’ll find a photograph of his headstone in one of my earlier posts. For causing his death, Soldier "B" got 6 months in a military prison and, despite the brutal regime in such places, he didn’t seem to learn a great deal from it, as witnessed by his subsequent continued appearances at Defaulters’ Parades. Not that much of a hero, to my mind.

I wonder if he ever got asked what he'd done in the war - and what reply he gave?

Temporary Gentlemen

The old saying goes, 'in every soldier's knapsack is a Field Marshall's baton.' A case in point was Sir William Robertson, Bt., or "Wullie" as he was known. He commenced his career as a lowly trooper in the 16th (The Queen's) Lancers, distressing his mother in the process, who despaired at him having 'gone for a soldier.' However, his example was the exception rather than the rule, and inherent class prejudice (and often the need for a private income to maintain the lifestyle), generally militated against men from the ranks joining the officer elite.

The First World War did a lot to tumble these barriers. It was all very well having a huge army, but that body required officers, and the Public Schools simply could not provide enough of them, such was the rate of attrition. It was only a matter of time before the stuffier elements of the Military Establishment bowed to the inevitable and nodded approval to the routine commissioning of men from the ranks.

Three such individuals were Arthur Rigg and Harry Robinson, from Dalton-in-Furness, and Alfred Burns, from Ulverston. Arthur and Harry both enlisted in the 4th Battalion on the outbreak of war, whereas Alfred was already a serving Territorial, having enlisted in April, 1914. Alfred was grammar-school educated and I suspect that Arthur and Harry were too.

Ian Lewis has provided this lovely photograph including Arthur and Harry, presumably taken soon after they had enlisted and been issued with their uniforms.

(l to r) Pte. Tom Corkhill; 2380, Pte. Arthur Rigg; Pte. "Bob"; 2393, Pte. Harry (Hal) Robinson.

As far as I can tell, Tom Corkhill never served abroad, or if he did, it wasn't with any battalion of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). Judging from the close sequence of Service Numbers, "Bob" may be 2377, Private Robert Henderson, but I'll need to check that with Ian to see if my identification is correct. A job for the future!

Arthur and Harry both landed in France with the 4th Battalion on May 3rd, 1915, Arthur by then already a sergeant, Harry still a private. By the time of the Territorial renumbering exercise in Februray, 1917, Arthur was a Company Sergeant Major and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (Temporary) soon afterwards. Meanwhile, Harry had been transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, initially as 22452, Private Harry Robinson, and then later as Second Lieutenant Harry Robinson (I've never consulted his Service Records but I suspect he served in the 164th Company of the Machine Gun Corps).

Second Lieutenant Arthur Rigg.

Alfred Burns followed a slightly different Army career path. His Medal Index Card only quotes his 6-figure Territorial Service Number, indicating that he never went abroad until after February, 1917. He was then subsequently commissioned into the Labour Corps as a Second Lieutenant. His late posting to the British Expeditionary Force and his transfer to the Labour Corps may hint at a lower medical grading, although he didn't qualify for the Territorial Force War Medal so he obviously hadn't signed the Imperial Service Obligation, agreeing to serve overseas at the time when it was still voluntary for Territorial soldiers.

Private (later Second Lieutenant) Alfred Burns.

I sometimes wonder about the impact of such promotions on both the men themselves and also the men they served with. It's not something I'm knowledgeable about but I suspect that the general rule would not be to commission a man in the battalion he was serving in as it could have made life somewhat awkward, especially in a Territorial battalion where a lot of the men would have known and worked alongside each other as equals in civilian life. I also wonder how they overcame some of the social barriers when mixing with other officers who had originated from a more privileged background. No doubt there was a degree of latent snobbery in some quarters concerning these 'temporary gentlemen' but, generally speaking, they probably would have been acknowledged as being men of merit whose experience was to be learned from; they had, after all, risen to their position by virtue of ability rather than patronage.

Happily, all three of these 'temporary gentlemen' survived the war.

Not worthy

Civic war memorials don't tend to bear the names of executed men. When they were being commissioned the disgrace of such individuals was something to be forgotten about rather than celebrated, the prevailing opinion being that the inclusion of their names would sully the memory of those who had died honourably in the service of King and Country.

Society has moved on and, de jure, the men executed for purely 'military' crimes have now been granted a posthumous pardon, being regarded as much victims of war as any of the others who died. Occasionally there have been attempts to 'update' local war memorials, although, by and large, the clamouring has been resisted by the councils or public bodies responsible for their upkeep.

One man who is not commemorated on any war memorial in Barrow-in-Furness is 2701, Lance Corporal William John Irvine, of the 1st Battalion. He lived in Sloop Street, one of a series of canyon-like tenements on Barrow Island, cheap and cramped housing, built to supply the demand of the town's burgeoning population in the late nineteenth century. They still stand to-day, although now modernised, of course.

Sloop Street, Barrow-in-Furness c.1902.

Reportedly, he'd joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion around August 10th, 1914, and - puzzlingly - he was posted to the 1st Battalion in France on September 12th, only a month later. I say, 'puzzlingly,' because this seems an awfully short time to have sufficiently trained a man for active duty and, assuming the enlistment date to be correct, I suspect that he may have had some prior military service, perhaps as a Territorial, although he was only 19according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.* He was also (speedily) promoted to Lance Corporal, which again suggests a bit more than the average new recruit.

Whatever his background on enlistment, after a month in France he'd had enough of soldiering and, after stealing the property of another soldier, deserted on October 13th, while the 1st Battalion was at Hazebrouck, preparing to move off to the trenches near Meteren. It was a bad day to abscond: by nightfall, nearly forty of the battalion were dead, with many more wounded. Under the circumstances I suspect that he wouldn't have attracted a great deal of sympathy from his fellow soldiers regarding his subsequent fate.

He was eventually arrested but managed to escape from custody. The second time he was apprehended was the last. It was time for the Army to settle it's account with him and they did, near Steenwerck, at dawn on April 20th, 1915.

He was buried in Le Grand Beaumart British Cemetery. Six days later, on April 26th, he was joined by 8136, Private James Kershaw, another deserter from the 1st Battalion.

The graves of Irvine and Kershaw, side-by-side in Le Grand Beaumart British Cemetery.

After the war William Irvine's mother, Jane, supplied her address details to the Imperial War Graves Commission when invited to do so, for inclusion in the cemetery register. Whether she ever submitted his name for inclusion on any of the Barrow-in-Furness memorials I'll never know, although somehow, I doubt it.

Nearly a century on, I think it's probably best left that way.

* I suspect that his age, as given in the CWGC's database, is incorrect, as he is shown on the 1911 Census as being 21, which would make him around 25 when he was shot.

His just desert?

The execution of soldiers for desertion during the First World War is an emotive issue with opinions on either side being both polarised and irreconcilable. Much has been written about the subject, a lot of it sensible and a lot of it nonsense.

When visiting the battlefields of France and Belgium I would usually sign the visitors’ books left in the cemeteries and I would often come across the scrawls left by well-meaning fools drawing attention to the fact there was a “Shot at Dawn” man buried there. It was also a particularly undignified spectacle to see a coach-load of battlefield tourists being specifically directed to these graves, there to gawp and ‘tut-tut’, before being hustled on to the next location on their packed itinerary. It was almost as if the other casualties interred there were entirely co-incidental and of a lesser consequence.

To me, such people seem to miss the point of a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery entirely. The central tenet of these places is equality of commemoration, irrespective of rank or deed. The grave of a general is no more carefully tended or marked than that of a private; ditto the graves of those shot by the enemy or by their own side.

I once visited the French military cemetery at Barly, near Arras, there to photograph the grave of a local man, Private William Kerr of the Northumberland Fusiliers, originally from the hamlet of Kirksanton. He wasn’t killed in action nor did he die of wounds; he’d had a heart attack while on a route march on July 18th, 1916. He left a widow and two children. Two days previously, on the 16th, a man of the 1st/4th Battalion had been shot for desertion, possibly the first Territorial soldier to be executed in the war, and he too was buried at Barly, only three graves away. He was 3563, Private John Sloan.

Although his Service Records and Court Martial transcript have survived he is a bit of a mystery. Naturally enough, there were no references to him in the newspapers of the time. His enlistment at Ulverston on June 22nd, 1915, would imply that he was living in that vicinity, although he originated from Northumberland and his next of kin was living in Workington.

It would appear that he may have been illiterate, as he signed both his Attestation Form and the Imperial Service Obligation (to serve overseas) with an ‘X’, and in August a travelling medical board assessed him as having an ‘inferior physique’ and being ‘unfit for any military duty.’ Despite this, in April, 1916, he found himself posted to France to join the 1st/4th Battalion.

He’d only been with the Battalion ‘in the field’ a couple of weeks – and had seen little in the way of front-line service with them – when he absconded from a bombing course on May 18th, as noted in the War Diary.

He wasn't at liberty for very long. Apprehended six days later, he was court-martialled for desertion. There were plenty of witnesses and, no credible excuse being offered in his defence, he was sentenced to death. Commanders all the way up the line to Douglas Haig confirmed the sentence, and on the morning of July 16th he was shot. He was 25. The execution wasn't noted in the War Diary; it simply stated that the Battalion was in training at Barly with a view to the forthcoming offensive, and that the billets were very poor.

Should John Sloan have been executed for his crime? You can decide that for yourself. I do know one thing, though: for every John Sloan there was also a William Kerr, and when 'remembering' one it's all too easy to overlook the other.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire

“For you, Tommy, ze war is over!,” was the sort of stereotypical comment that filled the cheap pulp fiction war comics that were popular in my youth. In 1918, for young Lance Corporal Joseph Steele, the opposite was true.

He was an agricultural labourer hailing from Corney, a rural community of scattered houses and farmsteads in West Cumbria. Desperately keen to join up, he’d lied about his age when enlisting in the 4th Battalion in late-November, 1914, claiming he was 18, when in fact he was only 16. Apparently, his mother was furious when she found out, although she must have relented, with nothing more being said, because after training at home with the second-line unit of the 4th Battalion he was posted to France on Christmas Eve, 1915, still only aged 17, and technically too young to serve in an active theatre of war.

The next couple of years were uneventful, with him managing to emerge unscathed from the various actions in which the 1st/4th Battalion participated. Then, on April 9th, 1918, at Givenchy, during the stand made by the 55th (West Lancashire) Division against the German offensive on the River Lys, he was taken prisoner.

He might have expected to be removed to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany, or at least to a location well away from the battlefield, in accordance with the terms of the Geneva Convention, to which Imperial Germany was a signatory. If he did, then he was wrong. He, and many others of the West Lancashire men who were captured that day, were instead held just behind the German lines at Salomé, almost within sight of Givenchy, there to be put to battlefield clearance, burial, and carrying duties by their captors.

By means of a post-card delivered through the Red Cross he managed to get word home that he had been captured but, by the time it arrived in early-June, he was already dead, killed by a British shell. His family subsequently learned that he, along with several other prisoners of war, had been confined in the ruins of the church at Salomé, being employed as a stretcher-bearer by the Germans. On April 28th, the British artillery started shelling the area and apparently the German sentries ran out of the church to find cover, leaving Joseph and the other men unguarded; they promptly made a run for it. Joseph, however, had left his helmet behind and went back for it, only for a shell to make a direct hit on the church, killing him outright. Some of the other prisoners, who got back to the British lines safely, reported what had happened him.

Lance Corporal Joseph Steele (photograph courtesy of Mr. Ivor Holden).

He wasn't the only prisoner from the 1st/4th Battalion to be killed by the British shellfire that day. Private Robert Helm of Dalton-in-Furness also became a victim, as did Private Robert Ralston, of Caton, near Lancaster, both also having been captured on April 9th at Givenchy. These two men were possibly not with Joseph when he died, as their graves were located post-war and to-day they are both buried in Plot VIII, Row U, of Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez. Joseph's grave, on the other hand, was never formally identified and he is now commemorated on the Loos Memorial, although I feel that in all likelihood he is buried somewhere in a quiet cemetery marked simply as an "Unknown Soldier."

I wonder how many more British soldiers were killed under such circumstances? Probably quite a few.

Grandad's Army

A few weeks ago I sat and watched an episode of Dad's Army, although I have to admit I don't usually need much of an excuse to do so. It was one of the first series - in black and white - and the storyline centred around an officious inspecting Major's assertion that Lance Corporal Jones was too old to be in uniform.

It prompted memories of a name on a war memorial in St. Mary's Church at Egton-cum-Newland, near Ulverston. It was a name that intrigued me a great deal when I first researched that particular memorial because I didn't recognise the unit listed and it took me a while to identify the man commemorated.

'Private' George Frearson was 60 years old when he died on on March 7th, 1917, at home, peacefully, in his bed. His was a military funeral, attended by fellow members of the Crake Valley Section, and also the Ulverston Section, of the 14th Battalion, Lancashire Volunteer Regiment, a unit of the Volunteer Training Corps affiliated to the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment).

But just who were the 14th (Barrow) Battalion of the Lancashire Volunteer Regiment, and what did they do? Fortunately, for anyone interested, there is an excellent description of the Volunteer Training Corps available on the website of the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment Museum - http://www.kingsownmuseum.plus.com/ww1-volbnskorlr.htm - and I don't think it will serve much purpose to repeat it here. Suffice to say, the Volunteer Training Corps were the quasi-military forerunners of the Home Guard of WW2, and were employed locally, finding guards for strategic locations and industries. In reality, I think their existence was an excuse to enable men who were too old or unfit to serve in the regular forces to feel that they were still able to play their part - rather like Corporal Jones.

The pedant in me notes that the memorial at Egton-cum-Newland Church is actually wrong, since it gives Private Frearson's regimental details as 2nd (V) Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). In fact his unit didn't receive that title until 1918, when Army Order 208 of that year authorised new alternative titles for the units of the Volunteer Force. At the time of his death, in 1917, it was still the 14th (Barrow) Battalion, Lancashire Volunteer Regiment, as correctly stated in his newspaper obituary.

Unfortunately, I know of no photographs showing men of the Volunteer Battalions of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), although I'm sure there must be some somewhere. However, the following two photographs come courtesy of a contributor to 'The Great War Forum', and show men of a detachment of the Volunteer Training Corps on parade in Manchester. This particular unit would later be styled the 2nd (Manchester?) Battalion, Lancashire Volunteer Regiment.

The oganisation and activities of the Volunteer Training Corps seems to be an aspect of the 'Home Front' during the Great War about which there is little known or written down. Perhaps it's a subject long overdue for some serious research.

Volunteer Training Corps badge (King's Own Museum).

Mr. Smith goes to war

A few years ago some renovations were being done at a shop in Sevenoaks, Kent. The shop had once previously been a photographic studio belonging to the Essenhigh-Corke family of photographers and artists and, bricked up in an old fireplace, were discovered nearly 500 glass plate negatives, photographs of soldiers of the WW1-era. These precious objects are now in the safe custody of the Kent County Archive.

Among many others in this amazing time-capsule were several photographs of men of the Territorial battalions of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), who had obviously had their portraits professionally captured when stationed in the district in early-1915, there probably not having been sufficient time or opportunity to do so in their home towns after they had enlisted on the outbreak of war.

Unfortunately, in the main the photographer had only recorded the surnames of his subjects and most cannot now now be definitely identified, although one, of Richard Usher of the 4th Battalion was obviously the portrait supplied by his parents for publication in the 'Barrow Guardian' when his death in August 1916, was announced.

2410, Private (later C.Q.M.S.) Richard Usher.

One of the unidentified images is of a youthful-looking 'Private Smith.' His portrait is perhaps unusual in that it depicts him in full marching kit, holding his rifle.

I know nothing else about him other than he must have been serving in either the 4th or 5th Battalion, and that by deciding to get himself professionally photographed it would suggest that he was a new recruit to the regiment - and proud of the fact.

I have never seen this photograph reproduced in any of the local newspapers in connection with the reporting of a casualty so that is no proof that he survived the war unscathed, but I hope he did.

Wrapping up

The Met' Office  forecasted snow to-day and it seems they were correct. I was watching a cantankerous grey squirrel vigourously defending it's territory in the pine tree at the bottom of the garden against the unwanted incursion of a wood pigeon when the first delicate flakes started to descend. It's now quite heavy and settling on the already-frozen ground. Cumbria will be shut for business again, no doubt!

The winter of 1914/1915 was a particularly cold one too and the soldiers on the Western Front would have needed all the insulation they could get, being as they were, exposed to the elements. In letters sent home by ordinary soldiers during that period a common theme seems to be requests for warm clothing - gloves, scarves, balaclavas, and the like. I'm not sure what the Army provided in the way of severe-weather clothing as 'kit' other than the standard-issue greatcoat. Whatever was issued, it appeared to have been inadequate. Given the rapid expansion of the British Expeditionary Force the requirement was perhaps on such a scale that no-one had ever really anticipated the need or planned for it.

In consequence, the photographs from that time tend to show men wearing a variety of garments and usually presenting a somewhat 'unmilitary' appearance. One particular item often seen was the fleece - quite literally, being either of goatskin or sheepskin. I don't know whether these were officially issued or whether individuals had to purchase them privately, although perhaps the latter is more likely as I would have thought that if they were generally available then most soldiers, if not all, would have been wearing them.

Men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in the trenches: Winter 1914.

Some photographs of the 2nd Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) dating from February 1915, when it was billeted at Ouderdom near Ypres, also show men wearing fleeces.

Officers' Mess kitchen (King's Own Museum).

Hutted encapment (King's Own Museum).

Sitting writing this in a centrally-heated house it's difficult to imagine just how cold they must have been, living in wooden huts which, I suspect didn't even have a stove to provide warmth. It must have been even worse for the men stationed in the trenches - frostbite was the biggest source of casualties at that time. 'Miserable' probably sums it up adequately.

 Captain Thomas Brittain Forwood (King's Own Museum).

These photographs are particularly poignant for me. In all probability the men featured in them became causalties on May 8th at Frezenberg, either dead or taken prisoner, including Captain Forwood, who is now commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.

Seeing double

The many official memorials to the missing maintained by the CWGC bear the names of some servicemen who, in actual fact, have an identified grave. There are several reasons for this. The graves of some men were identified either during or after construction of the memorials in the post-war years and for aesthetic reasons it was (and still is) preferable to leave the carved panels intact rather than trying to erase a name. However, in the days of cross-referencing paper records there were also administrative mix-ups which resulted in men being commemorated twice, once by a headstone on an offical war grave and also by being listed on one of the memorials.

By and large the CWGC have managed to identify most of the names that fall into the latter category and have amended their records accordingly. Their official line is that the place of commemoration of a man (or woman) is that which is listed in their database, searchable online. So, for example, 3805, Private Tom Eccles, of the 1st/4th Battalion, is officially buried in Serre Road Cemetery No. 2 although his name is also visible on the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) panel on the Thiepval Memorial, his remains having been found after the Thiepval Memorial was unveiled in August, 1932. More on Tom Eccles in a future blog.

One man who has escaped the regular 'housekeeping' trawls of the CWGC database is 2248, Corporal Thomas Long, of the 1st/4th Battalion.

He was an iron ore miner by trade, working at the Hodbarrow Mine near Millom. He'd previously been a Territorial and rejoined their ranks when war broke out. He was severely wounded at Guillemont in August, 1916, and was evacuated to the U.K. to recuperate, returning to France in January, 1917.

Corporal Thomas Long. Not a brilliant photograph but infinitely better than none at all.

A couple of months later, on March 11th, 1917, he was killed in action, sniped while in the trenches near Wieltje. The news of his death was conveyed to his parents by Lieutenant William Ross Pattinson, then commanding 'D' Company:

     “It is with the very deepest sorrow that I have to tell you that your son, 2248, Corpl. T. Long, was killed in action on the 11th March. He did a brave deed, going out by himself early in the morning to watch the enemy. In the evening he did not return, and a search party later found him lying near the trenches, dead. It will be, I know, some comfort in your sorrow to know that he died painlessly and instantly. He was brought in, and will be buried to-morrow, the 13th, where, I cannot exactly tell you, but I will let you know later on.”

     “Your son was a decent lad, well thought of by all his officers, popular with the men, and his death is very keenly regretted by us all. The Company wishes me to convey their sympathy to you, which I do willingly, adding my own. I am line company commander, and appreciated his worth, although no sympathy can in any way save you any of your awful loss. May it be a comfort to you all that he died doing his duty as an Englishman should, with his face towards Germany.”

Contrast this with the letter his brother, 867, Private George Long had to write to their sister:

     “It is with regret that I write to convey the sad news that Thomas was killed yesterday morning (Sunday). I saw him last night on the stretcher; they were carrying him by our place when they came in and asked us the way to the aid post. They told us who it was, and I went out and had a look at him. He will have a decent burial place. I don’t know how you will let poor mother know about it. I have not written to her, so you will have to let her know. The Captain of his Company has letters and everything out of his pockets. I hope you don’t take this news too bad.”

Leaving the jingoistic sentiments of the officer's letter to one side (which, in truth, probably didn't offer much in the way of consolation at all) the fact that Corporal Long's body had been recovered and would be buried is quite clear. In fact, his burial took place at Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery, a place rapidly filling up with the dead of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division.

However, Thomas Long is also commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial - officially!

I suspect the oversight may have occurred due to him being killed right on the cusp of the issue of the new Territorial Numbers, since he is commemorated on the Menin Gate as 200375, Corporal Thomas Long, whereas his commemoration in Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery is as 2248, Corporal Thomas Long. Perhaps the news of his death going back to the Territorial Force County Association and formal notification of his newly-allocated number coming from the Territorial Force Country Association "crossed in the post", so to speak, and after the war, when the records were being compiled, the authorities believed that they were dealing with two different men.

What is puzzling is that his Vlamertinghe database entry gives his next of kin as Rowland and Hannah Long, of Millom, Cumberland; by contrast his Menin Gate database entry gives no next of kin details.

I've never alerted the CWGC to this double commemoration. To me it is simply an interesting curiosity, and it means that "1" should always be subtracted from any official total of war dead.

Active Service Companies

In previous posts I've made several references to the "Active Service Companies" of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). An explanation is overdue!

The Second South African War, or Boer War, fought against the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, began badly for Britain. Several disastrous military reverses were suffered, highlighting gross deficiencies in the Army's structure and organisation. Hurriedly, the government rushed additional troops to South Africa from all corners of the Empire and gradually began to get the upper hand, but a lot of damage to national prestige had been done and Britain's standing in the eyes of other world powers was somewhat diminished. Public opinion at home was a mixture of outrage and dismay that a group of colonial settler-farmers should be inflicting such humiliation on what was then the world's greatest power. Consequently the political situation was rather grave.

On the outbreak of war groups of Volunteers had, perhaps somewhat optimistically, offered their services, but these were rejected, mainly through prejudice, the prevailing military opinion being that the men of the Volunteer Force were little more than "toy soldiers." However, the politicians belatedly realised that there was a large body of semi-trained men available for ready deployment to assist with the operations, and that utilisation of them would both help to assuage the public's discontent and, more importantly, tap into their patriotism. Consequently, the offers were reconsidered and in late 1899 the War Office issued a call to the Yeomanry companies and Volunteer Force battalions affiliated to the various county regiments to supply Active Service Companies to serve in South Africa. Subsequently it is estimated that as many as 20,000 Yeomanry and Volunteers served in South Africa, with contingents also being supplied from Canada and Australia.

Over the next two years the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) and, after it's formation in 1900, the 2nd Volunteer Battalion as well, provided four drafts of Volunteers, with men being drawn from the detachments at Lancaster, Morecambe, Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston, Dalton-in-Furness, Millom and Hawkshead. There were three separate Active Service Companies despatched to South Africa and one Relief Draft to strengthen the First Active Service Company.

The criteria for selection of the men were rather strict, and led to a lot of would-be volunteers being rejected on the grounds of health, age, and proficiency. One notable area of concern was the requirement to be adept with the standard Army rifle, an area in which most Volunteer detachments had only developed rudimentary skills due to the obvious civilian training restrictions placed on them. The number of men rejected was high and the unlucky ones would have felt this rejection quite keenly, especially when set against the great swell of public emotion which accompanied the formation and despatch of the Active Service Companies; the men were feted royally, both when they departed and when they returned.

However, many Volunteers were accepted and were formally enlisted into the parent regiment as regular soldiers, on regular pay, for a fixed term of one year with the Colours, being posted to the strength of the 2nd Battalion upon arrival in South Africa.

Although no Volunteers were killed in action, two men, both Lancastrians serving in the First Active Service Company, died of disease, and several others were invalided home through sickness. At the end of their period of engagement some chose to remain in South Africa, accepting regular appointments in the King's Own, or joining local civilian and military organisations. Most of the ones who returned home would have continued to serve as Volunteers and would later have transferred to the new Territorial Force when it was created in 1908. Some of them would go on to serve in the First World War; at least four of the Volunters are known to have been killed in that conflict.

The Furness contingent of the First Active Service Company, photographed at Bowerham Barracks, Lancaster on May 10th, 1900, wearing their Volunteers' uniforms. The only definitely identified Volunteer is Ulverstonian Private James Penny, who is ninth from the left on the third row up. However, Colour Sergeant P. Tyrell may be recognised from his rank badge, sitting sixth from the left on the second row up. He was invalided home in June, suffering from enteric fever (Barrow Archive Office).

Private Wilfred Ashcroft, the author of the diary published previously on this blog, is also on this photograph, although sadly I do not know which one he is.

Any hat will do

Young Herbert Carl Gawith sounded as if he was a bit of a 'ne'er do well', as they say. He and his elder brother, James, were born in Kendal, his family later moving to Dalton-in-Furness. At the time of the 1901 Census they weren’t living with their parents but were instead residents of the Industrial School for Boys, Offerton Lane, Stockport, aged 11 and 12 respectively.

I don’t know the circumstances under which they found themselves there, so far away from their home, but it wouldn’t have been through choice. Boys sent to Industrial Schools were usually classed as vagrants, living on the edge of the law, or in many cases living beyond the law. Whatever the reason, they were what would be termed ‘juvenile delinquents.’

Despite the pleasant appearance of the building as shown in the photograph, I’ll bet it was a tough establishment. The discipline regime in such places was notorious; order and a sense of responsibility wasn’t so much instilled into the young inmates as beaten into them.

Coming from such a background Herbert would probably have assimilated into the disciplined life of the Army quite easily when he joined up in 1907. He seems to have taken to soldiering, because rather than serving 3 years with the Colours and a further 9 years on the Reserve (to give him a pension after 12 years service) he appears to have remained a full-time soldier after enlisting. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he was serving in India with the 2nd Battalion.

The 2nd Battalion didn’t move to France straight away; India was far too important to be left unguarded and release of the Regular troops stationed there had to wait until newly-formed units could be transferred to take over the garrison duties.

When he did arrive in France with the Battalion on January 15th, 1915, it was as part of the 83rd Brigade in the 28th Division. Service in and around Ypres and Northern Flanders then followed. At some point between then and May 8th he got wounded, seriously enough to warrant evacuation back home for recuperation. His Service Records have not survived but the May date is a reasonably certain cut-off as on that day the 2nd Battalion was wiped out, the men either dead or taken prisoner.

Following his recovery he wasn't posted back to the 2nd Battalion, but was transferred to the 8th Battalion, co-incidentally the same battalion in which his younger brother, Frederick, was serving. However, during the time he was recovering from his wounds he had his photograph taken again, as can be see from the fact that he is wearing 'hospital blues', the temporary uniform given to patients in military hospitals. He's also wearing a hat bearing the badge of the South Lancashire Regiment, not the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). Quite why he is wearing another badge is a mystery. There are no records that I can find that suggest he ever served in the South Lancashire Regiment, either before the war or during it. It could just be that he needed a hat for the purposes of the photograph and borrowed it from a fellow patient.

That aside, he was wearing the badge of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) when he was killed at Longueval on July 18th, 1916. I wonder how many more 'reformed' citizens like Herbert Gawith were churned out of the Industrial School system only to end up being churned into the mud of the Somme battlefield?

86% correct isn't too bad, is it?

Since the advent of the online database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission the researching of local war memorials has become a common theme among amateur military historians. Some have published part or the whole of their efforts on the Internet (myself included), while others are content to merely compile a 'Roll of Honour' for posterity.

I have always been very cautious about listing a man where I entertain any doubts as to the accuracy of my identification. I always manage to resist the urge to 'fill in the gaps' unless I'm more or less certain that I've got it right. A few, although thankfully not many, are less circumspect and seem to give in to this temptation.

Does it matter? Yes, I think so. If, by researching the names you intend to specifically perpetuate their memory, then if you've got the wrong man you may as well not have bothered in the first place, no matter how well-intentioned the motive.

I'll illustrate this with a couple of memorial photos provided by my friend Ian Lewis. They are from the Dalton-in-Furness Conservative Club. One is the original, compiled immediately post-WW1, the other is a more recent addition.

The original Roll of Honour as displayed in the Conservative Club. It gives names, ranks, and regiments, including battalions.

The new Roll of Honour displayed in the Conserevative Club, complied with information provided by the online Commonwealth War Graves Commission database.

In the original, Private Edgar Hall is noted as 4th Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment); in the new Roll of Honour (presumably compiled by one of the Club's members) he is identified as 11868, Private Edgar Hall, 1st Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment), killed on October 8th, 1915, and buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery, Colincamps.

It seems highly plausible, doesn't it? A simple transcription mistake made back in 1919 (or thereabouts) when '4th' was mistakenly written instead of '1st'. Edgar Hall isn't a very common name, when all's said and done, and the only other 'Edgar Hall' recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as serving in the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) at the time of his death was a bank clerk from Bolton-Le-Sands, near Carnforth.

Time to consult other sources, say, local newspapers from late-August, 1916:

Pte. EDGAR HALL.

         Official intimation was received on the 18th inst. that Private Edgar Hall, “A” Company, 1/4th Battalion King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment was killed in the recent advance in France. Private Hall was 26 years of age, and the only son of Mr. J. R. Hall, a director of the Carnforth Hematite Iron Company, Ltd. He was educated at Miss Pickford’s School, Carnforth, and the Royal Grammar School, Lancaster, and only went out to the front about two months ago. At the time of his enlisting, he was a clerk in the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank at Dalton-in-Furness where he had been for about ten years, and was held in high esteem by his employer, colleagues, and many other friends by whom his death is lamented. He was the secretary of the Dalton Cricket Club, and also secretary of the Warton Lawn Tennis Club, and a member of the Dalton V.T.C.

I know next-to-nothing about the Edgar Hall of the 1st Battalion who is buried in Sucrerie Military Cemetery. I do know that he wasn't the Edgar Hall who is commemorated on the original Roll of Honour in Dalton-in-Furness Conservative Club. That Edgar Hall was killed at Guillemont on August 8th, 1916, serving in the 1st/4th Battalion.

However, I can happily report that the other six men named have been correctly identified.

A deadly little strand of DNA

The First World War claimed 16 million lives. The influenza pandemic that swept the world in 1918 (and continued until 1920) killed an estimated 50 million people, perhaps even twice that number. It was termed the 'Spanish Flu', although that name was a misnomer as it probably originated in the Far East.

It emerged in two distinct phases. In early Summer, the first phase appeared without warning. This was termed the “three day fever” and victims tended to recover after a few days, with a low mortality rate. In Autumn, it was a different story. Some victims died within hours of the first symptoms, others after a few days. The medical profession was at a loss to identify and control this pernicious disease and it was indiscriminate, being rampant in both urban and rural areas alike.

Naturally enough, soldiers were not immune to its depredations and to-day the headstones marking the graves of the many servicemen who died in late-1918 and early-1919 can be seen in the churchyards and cemeteries of the United Kingdom. On investigation, most of them are found to have been victims of the pandemic.

Men of The King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) fared no better than anyone else. One such example was 49980, Private Joseph Murgatroyd, of Dalton-in-Furness.

He hadn’t been a soldier very long, having been conscripted in early-1918. He’d just completed his basic training at Harwich with the 3rd Battalion and had been granted a home leave prior to being drafted out to France.

He most likely contracted the virus in camp at Harwich or on the long train journey back to Dalton-in-Furness. Either way, he fell ill almost as soon as arriving home and was dead within a few days, pneumonia being cited as the cause of death, although it was without a doubt the Spanish Flu’.

Contemporary newspaper accounts describe his military funeral, courtesy of the local detachment of the Volunteer Training Corps - the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). One hyperbole-riddled report suggested there were “thousands” present, although that was likely an exaggeration. In hindsight, it was probably occasions such as that which further contributed to the spread of the disease; the more funerals they held, the more they would need to hold.

Joe Murgatroyd never did get to fight against a visible enemy. He was felled by an altogether more deadly foe - the H1N1 virus. With the Armistice being called three days after his death, the timing must have made it particularly painful for his family, and thousands of other similarly bereaved  families up and down the land.

In the bag

Stan Hall had grown tired of being an assistant librarian at Millom and enlisted in the Regular Army. Following a few months learning how to drill in an ‘efficient and soldierly manner’ at Lancaster’s Bowerham Barracks he joined the 1st Battalion. The outbreak of war found him stationed at Dover, the 1st Battalion forming part of the port garrison.

On the morning of August 26th, 1914, he was quietly having his breakfast in a field in northern France when all hell broke loose. The Battle of Le Cateau had begun.

There are various accounts of what happened that day, some contradictory. The fact is, it was chaos, and few knew at the time what was really happening in any great detail. Stan survived the initial onslaught but, along with around 350 others from the Battalion, he was taken prisoner. By his own account he was captured, unwounded, on the 27th, at Cambrai. Whether this was correct is now anyone’s guess; the date could have been confusion on his part; the location certainly was, as Cambrai lay to the north-west and the Battalion retreated south. Most probably it was where he thought he was captured, not knowing the geography of the area.

British soldiers being marched into captivity (1915)

His relatives didn’t receive news of his capture until November, such was the time it took for the information to filter through the channels of the Red Cross. In captivity his health deteriorated to the extent where, in February, 1916, he was repatriated under a prisoner exchange scheme. On arrival back in the U.K. he was interviewed about his experiences as a prisoner of war, the information gleaned being used by the authorities to assess how well the men in captivity were being treated.

Reptriated British prisoners of war (1916).

A transcript of his interview has survived in the National Archives (Catalogue File WO/161/98 pp 325-327). It makes for fascinating reading.

Interview No. 326.

Home Address: 29, Settle Street, Millom, Cumberland.

Name, Rank and Regiment: Hall, Stanley, Lance Corporal, No. 10983, K.O.R.L.

Place and Date of Capture: Cambrai, 27 Aug. 1914.

Nature of wound, if any: Nil.


Journey. Aug. 27-28. 1914.

Witness was captured at Cambrai in the course of street fighting when two companies of his regiment were out-numbered in the dusk. His overcoat and money were taken from him on capture and were not restored.

He was taken in a motor-wagon to Halle, and then by train to Germany. The journey lasted 37 hours. Bread was issued, but it was difficult to get water. Prisoners travelled in carriages. The guards on the journey behaved well, but the civil population spat on prisoners when the train stopped.

Sennelager I. Aug. 28, 1914 – Aug. 27, 1915.

Accommodation.

Witness was housed in a stable which contained two stoves, but was cold since little fuel was supplied. A palliasse and two blankets were provided. Washing accommodation was poor, six bowls for 120 men. There were in addition horse troughs and two taps. Soap could be bought after the first few weeks. There was a bath-house where a bath could be obtained once in six weeks or two months. Sanitary arrangements were very defective, open trench latrines near the building.

Two huts were set apart as a hospital for the sick, in which there were a few bedsteads, but not enough to accommodate all the patients. If a man could walk at all it was difficult to obtain admission to the hospital, and little treatment was given when there. The doctor had been a prisoner in France and took no trouble. Witness was sent to this hospital for a fortnight since he was losing flesh and was given extra food to put on weight. The extra food consisted of about 1 ounce of white bread a day. Witness appeared to be in an advanced stage of phthisis.

Food.

The food is described as “terrible,” insufficient and bad, sometimes unfit to eat. Coffee only was issued in the early morning before the men went to work. Dinner consisted of a bowl of soup of some description, very watery at first, but somewhat thicker after. Bread was issued in the evening, with a piece of sausage or pickled fish. For some months past the bread ration has been about one slice per man, 10 to a loaf. There was a canteen where soap and margarine could be bought at fair prices. Food was received from England, sometimes in bad condition in consequence of having been packed in tins. Witness started that wooden boxes are preferable to tins.

Clothing.

Witness kept his own clothing and only received two shirts and a pair of drawers from the Germans. He did not ask for more as he had some sent from home.

Exercise.

There were at first no facilities for exercise in the camp, but the men walked 6 miles each way through swamps to work at agricultural labour. No payment was made. Witness heard of attempts to make prisoners work on munitions. Prisoners invariably refused, and were said to have been punished for their refusal by imprisonment and deprivation of food. The first commandant, from August 1914 to June 1915, was a martinet, who hated the English and treated them worse than other nationalities. He was succeeded by an under-officer who accorded better treatment and allowed boxing, concerts &c., which the former would not permit. Smoking was allowed outside the bungalows. Indoor games were permitted if the prisoners had them.

Religious services were held for R.C.s every day, but not for other denominations until the under-officer, who was appointed as commandant in June permitted an English corporal, who was a divinity student, to hold services. This corporal was also allowed to continue his studies for ordination.

Discipline.

Nothing special to report under this head. Notices in English were posted on doors prohibiting smoking in huts and setting out regulations for keeping hours. Breaches of the rules were punished by making a man stand in the sun or tying him to a tree for two or three hours. No complaint of cruelty.

English were harassed more than the French. If an offence were committed and the perpetrator could not be discovered, all the prisoners were paraded, the French were allowed to fall out in a few minutes, but the English were kept standing for some hours.

Illnesses.

There were no epidemics.

Postal Arrangements.

Letters and parcels came regularly and were opened in the presence of the prisoners. Newspapers and matches were not allowed. Prisoners were permitted to send four postcards and two letters a month. Postcards were received quicker than letters.

American Ambassador came to the camp but did not visit witness’s bungalow. Everything was tidied up under orders before his arrival, but no improvement followed.

General Conditions.

The food was bad till May, but got a little better after that time. On returning from work, men often had to wait three or four hours in rain to draw rations.

Irish prisoners were not allowed to mix with the English. Witness knew nothing of Sir Roger Casement.

In September 1915, witness saw a doctor at a factory where he was engaged in unloading wagons and was ordered to hospital.

This man’s most serious complaint related to the food on which men were expected to work. A long working party worked from 6 a.m. top about 3 p.m. A short working party worked from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Coffee was issued at 5.30 a.m., but no solid food was provided with it, and unless a man had kept a portion of bread from the previous day’s rations, he had absolutely nothing to eat until he returned from work. To this the witness attributes the illness from which he is now suffering.

Dortmund. Sept. 1915.

In September 1915, while at Sennelager, this man got attached to a working party at Dortmund, in the hope of getting better food. He was there employed in unloading wagons. He was seen by the doctor at the factory who ordered him to hospital. He was sent to Rennbahn No. 2 Camp for four days, and there examined by a Russian doctor, who prescribed “No work.” He was, however, made to work the day before he left. Next morning he was ordered by a German doctor to the Münster Lazaret. The journey took two hours by train and was accompanied by no particular incident. He was in the charge of a nice sentry.

Münster Lazaret. Treatment in Hospital. Sept. 1915 – Feb. 1916.

In October the witness had pleurisy and was in bed for 10 days, and in November he grew weaker and his chest became bad. He was then ordered to bed, where he remained until exchanged. He had little medicine and no nursing. The food was similar to that supplied in Sennelager Camp i.e., insufficient in quantity and inferior in quality. The sanitary conditions are described as “not too bad.” The Russians were treated worse than other nationalities.

Clothing.

Hospital clothing was supplied. From September to February he had one hospital suit and two changes of underclothing. The sheets were changed once.

Postal arrangements described as “all right.” He returned to England in his own clothing.

Opinion of Examiner as to intelligence and reliability of informant.

The witness is intelligent and, in my opinion, reliable.

Digby L. F. Koe

10^th February 1916.

A month later, on March 23rd, 1916, Stan Hall died.