Produced by Wigan Museums & Archives Issue No. 67 August-November 2014 £2

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Visit Wigan Borough Museums & Archives ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS Write 1000 words - Win £100! Contents Letter from the Do you have a passion for local history? Is there a local history topic that you would love to 4-5 The Fallen see featured in Past Forward? Then why not take part in 6-7 The 5th Battalion Editorial Team Wigan Borough Environment The Manchester and Heritage Network’s Local Regiment (1908-1914) Welcome to PAST Forward and this special History Writing Competition? Local History Writing 8 News from the extended commemorative edition of the magazine. Competition Archives/Local Studies At the Archives & Museums, our staff and volunteers have spent many 1st Prize - £100 9 Collections Corner long hours working on collections, documenting and digitising 2nd Prize - £75 10-11 Deadman's Penny sources and making sure that researchers are able to share in telling 3rd Prize - £50 the stories of Wigan Borough and the Great War. Since asking for Five Runners-Up Prizes of £25 12-13 Postcard from Africa contributions about the First World War, we’ve been overwhelmed The Essay Writing Competition 14-15 Brothers in War with the response we have received from readers old and new, all is kindly sponsored by Mr and with histories to tell and the lives of men and women to remember. Mrs J. O'Neil. 16-17 From Playing Field to Battlefield Criteria in Past Forward Issue 68. • Electronic submissions are • It will not be possible for articles We wanted to create something that would offer a record for the Other submissions may also be preferred although handwritten to be returned. • Articles must be a maximum of published in Issue 68 or held on ones will be accepted. 18-19 The Unmovable future that showed how people in 2014 marked the centenary of the 1000 words. • You are welcome to include file for publication in a future • You must state clearly that your photographs or images however Arthur Turtle First World War and reflected on the lives lost or damaged during the • Articles must focus on a local edition. If selected for publication article is an entry into the Local they cannot be returned. long years of the conflict. We hope that this special edition does this. history topic within the the Past Forward Editorial Team History Writing Competition. 20-21 1915: Trouble on geographical boundaries of may edit your submission. Submit to the Homefront We have tried to offer a balanced overview of the many wars fought Wigan Borough. • You must include your name, [email protected] OR How to enter between 1914 and 1918; on the home front, in fields and factories, • By entering the competition address, telephone number and Local History Writing Competition, 22 Online Blog you agree to your work being • Articles must be received e-mail address (if applicable). Past Forward, Museum of against loss and grief, as well as in the different corners of the world published in Past Forward. The by e-mail or post by Friday We will not pass your details on Wigan Life, Library Street, Wigan 23 They Also Served where men and women from Wigan Borough found themselves at war. winning article will be published 3 October 2014. to anyone. WN1 1NU 24-25 A Wigan Man's Eastern If you have further stories you’d like to tell of life during the Great Journey: Gallipoli War, we’d be delighted to hear from you. FORWARD Copy Deadline for Issue 68 26-27 PAST Wartime Friends: Contributors please note the deadline for the Zeppelins over Europe Information for Submission Guidelines receipt of material for publication is 28 Lusitania Contributors Subscription Form Friday, 31 October 2014. • Electronic submissions are preferred, 30-31 Wigan Hero Wins We always welcome articles and letters although handwritten ones will Victoria Cross? be accepted for publication from both new and Past Forward Subscription Name 32-33 Thomas Dakin: existing contributors. • We prefer articles to have a maximum Magazine subscription is £9 for An Experience of War If you would like to submit an article for length of 1,000 words three issues (incl. UK delivery). Address FORWARD Payment by cheque (payable to PAST , please note that: • Include photographs or images 34-35 Commercial Advertising WLCT), postal order or credit/debit • Publication is at discretion of where possible – these can be in World War One returned if requested card (telephone 01942 828128). Editorial Team Postcode 35 For worldwide subscription prices and Your Letters • The Editorial Team may edit your • Include your name and address – we will not pass on your details to information, please contact us. Telephone No. 36-37 Edward Williams submission anyone unless you have given us Digital subscription (delivered by email, (1890-1918) • Published and rejected submissions permission to do so Email will be disposed of, unless you worldwide) is £6 per year. Payment options as above. 38 Society News request for them to be returned We aim to acknowledge receipt of all Signed Date submissions. Please state which issue you wish 39 Events Calendar • Submissions may be held on file for your membership to begin at: publication in a future edition CONTACT DETAILS: [email protected] or K Please tick here if you would like to receive information regarding Wigan Heritage Service (Museum, Archives) • Articles must be received by the FRONT COVER The Editor at PAST FORWARD , activities and events.We do not pass your details to other organisations. Images of local men and copy date if inclusion in the next issue is desired Museum of Wigan Life, Library Street, Return to: The Museum of Wigan Life, Past Forward Subscription, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1NU women of the First World War. Wigan WN1 1NU.

2 3 Hospital in Basra. Mary recovered accidental. Margaret is buried at volunteered to deliver the but the disease had considerably Wigan Cemetery (Lower Ince). message before Alfred had all weakened her. On returning Also buried at Wigan Cemetery been killed. Alfred delivered the home to Tyldesley, Mary was (Lower Ince), are Samuel and message through 600 yards of appointed District Nurse but less Jane Tomlinson, husband and heavy machine gun fire. than a year later Mary died from wife who were killed during the Assistance was eventually sent. her weakened state. She is buried zeppelin air raid on Wigan. in Tyldesley Cemetery as well. Before midnight on the 12 April After the war, Alfred opened a 1918, a zeppelin dropped bombs sweet shop at 113 Etherstone The Fallen There are other female casualties on the Whelley, New Springs, Street with his wife Grace but he who are buried in local Scholes and Lower Ince areas of gave this up to work in the cemeteries. Bertha McIntosh [see Wigan. The bombs created huge surveyor’s laboratory at Ann Glacki's article later in this devastation. Six people were Bickershaw Colliery. During the BY HANNAH TURNER, LEIGH LOCAL STUDIES edition] is buried in Atherton killed, five of them outright, Second World War, Alfred Cemetery with her family. Bertha including Samuel and Jane assisted in the home guard. died of TNT poisoning contracted On 18 October 1940, Alfred was One of the most enduring images On the first day alone there were Tomlinson. Samuel, a gas whilst working at a National found dead at work. He had died of the First World War is of the around 60,000 British casualties, inspector, lived with Jane at 35 Filling Factory in Morecambe from carbon monoxide poisoning seemingly endless rows of white 20,000 of whom were killed. Sixty Harper Street. On the night of the making munitions for battle caused by a bird blocking the gravestones, somewhere in a per cent of all officers were killed raid Samuel and Jane were asleep ships. Both Bertha and her sister ventilation pipe. Alfred was foreign field. The Commonwealth on that first day too. A letter from in bed when the bomb fell. The Ida had gone to work at the buried in Leigh Cemetery will full War Graves Commission is a soldier which appeared in the blast from the bomb threw them factory. On the 20 April 1917 military honours. responsible for maintaining Leigh Journal said that, ‘the both through a window and they Bertha had been taken ill, less cemeteries and memorials which trenches were full of dead and died from the impact. Over the years Alfred’s grave fell than a month later she died on stretch from the Menin Gate dying, and some of them have into disrepair. Encouraged by Bert the 13 May at Royal Albert There are of course those who Memorial in Ypres to the Helles been 30 hours waiting for Paxford on behalf of the Old Edward Infirmary in Wigan. fought and survived the First Memorial in Gallipoli. attention. Ambulances are running Comrade’s Association of the Bertha’s family received £50 in World War buried in local about at full-speed, and everybody Manchester Regiment, Wigan compensation for her death. cemeteries. These veterans are Sir Fabian Ware, a British Red is doing his best for them. I have not always in graves which have Council spent around £250 Cross commander, started the seen over a hundred bodies in one Another young lady called memorials commemorating their restoring Alfred’s grave. A black Commission after being grieved at line waiting to be buried’. Margaret Ann Silcock also died service but one that does is that granite cross with the Victoria the number of casualties in the from the effects of poison whilst of Alfred Wilkinson, the Victoria Cross inscribed on it now marks first years of the war. The mobile After he was wounded, Alfred working at the same National Cross winner, who is buried in Alfred’s burial site. unit Sir Fabian commanded wrote home to his mother telling Filling Factory in Morecambe. Leigh Cemetery. Alfred was started to record and care for the her that, ‘we got a terrible To find out more about casualties Grave of Private Albert Oxley, killed Margaret was only 22 years old. awarded the Victoria Cross for graves they uncovered. By 1915, handling. One of our men came of war buried in local cemeteries in France in 1917, with a temporary She died on the 20 February 1917 volunteering to deliver a message visit the Commonwealth War the unit had been officially cross to mark the location. to see me at the dressing station, at 1 Wright’s Yard, Wigan. under heavy fire. The message Graves Commission website recognised as the Graves and he told me that our battalion Inquests were held for both was to send assistance to his Registration Commission and by use frequently to find the names losses were very severe. But thank http://www.cwgc.org/find-war- Margaret and Bertha’s deaths. company who were under attack. dead.aspx . A simple search such 1917 the Imperial War Graves and memorials of the fallen. God every regiment did not get as Both causes were cited as The four runners who had Commission had been granted a tough a job as we bonnie as “Hindley Cemetery” can show Royal Charter. However, not all casualties of the Scotties’. Alfred also wrote it which of the fallen are buried in War memorial outside Top Chapel, Tyldesley, c. 1919. your local town. First World War were buried ‘shall be a good bit before I am The war memorial was later moved to Tyldesley Cemetery. After the armistice, land and abroad. The fallen lie buried in right again. My left thigh is The Archives and Local Studies cemeteries for the dead were our local cemeteries and broken and they have not got the indexes for the First World War sought. Three architects were churchyards too. old iron out of my leg yet’. Alfred are an excellent source of commissioned; Sir Edwin was brought back home by ship information. To find out more Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker, and For instance, Private Alfred but he died of his wounds on the about the lives of the fallen in Sir Reginald Blomfield. Rudyard Jackson is buried in Tyldesley 19 July 1916. Alfred received a the First World War please visit Kipling advised on inscriptions Cemetery. He died from wounds military funeral and a firing party http://www.wlct.org/wigan/muse on the memorials. suffered at the Battle of the came from the Leigh Prisoner of ums-archives/wals/ or get in Somme. Alfred had been a War camp. touch with Leigh Local Studies Today school groups and tourists member of the 1st Battalion of on 01942 404559 or email visit the war graves, in fact special the King’s Own Scottish Many of those who lie buried in [email protected] trips are created for those who Borderers, who had fought at military graves died of diseases wish to learn more about the Gallipoli and then at the Somme. contracted whilst serving abroad. First World War Cemetery casualties. The Commonwealth Nursing Sister Mary Ann Allen walks are taking place in local War Graves Commission website The Somme was a hideous contracted malaria on the cemeteries. To book please is an amazing resource which campaign. It lasted from the Mesopotamian front whilst contact Leigh Local Studies on both local and family historians 1 July 1916 until November 1916. serving at the 33rd British General 01942 404559 or email [email protected]

4 5 BY YVONNE ECKERSLEY Using a similar pattern, moving from personal practice Government showed no real understanding or to larger theatres, Terriers developed their marching empathy for the economic reality of working men, expertise. Hence, from Drill Hall practice who, without security of tenure (many miners were to participating in local recruiting parades, then datallers), could not risk two weeks absence - or even widening their sphere. The Battalion marched at the a Saturday away - from work. Unsympathetic The 5th Battalion head of the procession for the Maypole Colliery employers could simply replace them. Disaster Memorial Service, from the tram lines at Platt Bridge to Abram. In this instance they were soberly Unemployment or underemployment (no Saturday dressed in green serge. When they Paraded to Wigan overtime) could result in hardship or destitution for The Manchester Regiment Parish Church and received their Colours at Haigh Hall, themselves and their families. The camp allowance of they paraded in their ‘walking out’ uniform of scarlet one shilling a day was totally inadequate. Despite and white. Highly visible, they marched from their Drill constant pressure to introduce a married men’s Halls (Powell Street, Wigan, Ellesmere St, Leigh, allowance, compensate for loss of earnings or Mealhouse Lane, Atherton, and Cromwell Road, refund the incidental expenses incurred by ordinary Patricroft) to railway stations en-route to weekend Terriers, no progress was made. By the end of 1913, and annual camps. They took their place among the Terriers were better provided for, but were still often 16,000 troops of the Manchester Regiment marching out of pocket. past King Edward at Worsley and participated in mass marches at multi-divisional camps at Salisbury Plain Mandatory attendance at Annual Camp posed and Aldershot. specific problems in Lancashire cotton towns, with their rolling timetable of Wakes Weeks. The training objectives at Camps focussed on Should Annual Camp not coincide with your town’s preparation for war-readiness. A vital component of holiday week you were stuck; you either went to this was the camaraderie necessary to create a work and fell foul of military law, guilty of being viable fighting force. Within the self-contained ‘absent without leave’, or went to Camp and risked military world of the camps, Terriers shared with your job. others of like mind activities designed to foster feelings of pride, belonging, team spirit, loyalty. They Yet being a Terrier was not without its rewards. There moved from being motivated by personal, to group was, of course, the emotionally uplifting experience achievement, through inter-Battalion/Division Football of marching to the catchy and jaunty popular tunes matches - the 5th’s team was the ‘All Blacks‘ - and songs played by military bands - perhaps with a Wigan Territorials, Manchester Regiment, c. 1914 wrestling, boxing, marching, shooting competitions bit of a swagger? - through their home towns, and of course war-games. maybe watched by friends and family. For all the Lancashire’s contingent of the Territorial Force had Young men of ‘good character’ initially enlisted for negative criticism in the press this type of personal two divisions, East and West. The Manchester four years, and submitted themselves to military However, attending camps did pose serious problems, experience must have been affirming. As well as Regiment was part of the East Lancashire Division. discipline. They were required to attend their local some of which had direct links to the parsimonious pride and self-respect, being a terrier also offered Each Regiment had fourteen Battalions of Drill Halls twice weekly after work - men who nature of funding. In 1908, the Battalions of the opportunities to widen horizons, and not just literally approximately 1000 men. The Wigan Battalion (5th) worked night shifts attended during the day. This was Manchester Regiment attended a mass camp on by travelling outside their immediate environment. consisted of Wigan (A to E), Patricroft (F), Leigh (G) non-negotiable. Salisbury Plain. On arrival, the 5th had to march ten They also got the opportunity to develop knowledge and Atherton (H) Companies. County Associations miles in pouring rain, most without greatcoats, some and skills not normally open to them including Drill were responsible for its administration and military At the Drill Hall, Terriers were introduced to the wearing civilian clothes, then sleep on sodden ground Hall classes in musketry and the use of the Maxim authorities for training. rudiments of soldiery. They were not passive recipients without sufficient tent boards during their time at gun, medics or signalling training. of training. They had targets to meet. The main focus, camp. Many returned ill. 400 Lancashire men were The Territorial Force (TF), established in 1908, replaced apart from Drill, was rifle training. The programme hospitalised, many with pneumonia. Though not a ‘Pals’ battalion as such, much of their the existing Local Volunteer and Militia units, and was involved weekly target practice in the Drill Halls, military identity was matched by their identity as conceived primarily as a home defence force. Their progressing to firing at a local Miniature Range, then Other health related issues were more chronic. Most of miners or mill workers. They shared personal organisation and training reflected this. further training and assessment at the Regiment’s the 5th Battalion’s Terriers were miners or mill workers, experiences of their work and neighbourhoods. The attitude of mind behind the derogatory phrase, Rifle Range at Stalybridge. whose long hours and poor working conditions took To the Terriers, alongside their fellow mill workers and ‘Terriers playing at soldiers’, resulted from policies and their toll. These young men - they were mostly young, miners wearing their Sunday best Monkey-toed clogs practices that were detrimental to the Terriers. They Apart from personal awards (proficiency certificates) aged 19 and under - went directly from work to camp as they marched off to War in 1914, the experience revealed a leadership out of touch with the realities of they were encouraged to compete within their own and after further exhausting themselves travelled home would not have felt completely alien. the lives of the working men who formed the company, between other companies at weekend in time for work early next morning. For instance, battalions; their leaders expected too much for camps, between other Battalions within their whilst at weekend camp at Parbold, local Terriers were too little and expected part-time volunteer recruits Regiment and both within, and as part of, the required to sleep in ditches, again in atrocious weather References: to attain the same level of proficiency as East Lancashire Division, against other divisions at conditions, then due to lack of funds, march back to References for this article available on request. professional soldiers. annual camps. Wigan late on Sunday.

6 7 NEWS FROM THE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES COLLECTIONS CORNER

Much of our time in recent months – Recent Acquisitions Museum Collections Corner working with volunteers and local history societies – has been focused on the centenary & Accessions commemorations, producing many new Whilst researching the upcoming exhibition we have come across several interesting objects, including a German trench dagger and bayonet. This style of bayonet was horrifyingly known as catalogues and indexes and improving access Wigan Borough Archives the German Butcher Knife (Butcher Blade) Bayonet. The trench dagger was produced by the to war-time records. company Ernst Busch. It features a double-edged blade and steel scabbard and was donated by This is a brief summary of what is now – • Records of Wigan Baptist Church (D/NB/10) – a local man who took the knives from German prisoners of war. The belt loop fitted to the or soon will be – available: We would also like to thank the Church for scabbard is made of woven paper – a substitute for leather, which was in short supply in their kind donation towards the cost of wartime Germany. • Members of Leigh Family History Society cataloguing and conserving these records. We also have the First World War era prosthetic arm which belonged to Robert Marsh, a local have completed the recording of most • Billinge Hospital & Leigh Infirmary, man who was born and lived in Wigan and injured during the war. Mr Marsh lost his arm and of the Monumental Inscriptions of the additional records (Acc. 2014/14) suffered damage to his eye from a gas attack. Robert was a cotton mill worker and his Leigh Cemetery, now available at Leigh • Parish Church of St Peter, Newton-in- Local Studies; grandson told us he worked at Eckersley’s mill after the war and never actually wore the Makerfield, additional records (DP/35) prosthetic arm. It is likely the arm was a dress arm possibly only used for formal parades. • Archive volunteers have digitised • Aspull, St. Elizabeth Church and School, every military image in the collections, additional records (DP/4) The objects we will be displaying represent the war both at home and on the front lines. now available online at • Wigan Comrades Club and British Legion The weapons conjure the horror and the reality of the war, whilst the post cards and personal http://wiganimages.wlct.org/, seach Comrades Club (D/DS/158) effects show the anguish of families separated. for PC2013; • Records of Ruth Margaret Haddock, of The cigarette case which bares the design, ‘good luck for a brave man’, on the front has a date • 1914-1918 newspaper indexes for Wigan Wigan, midwife (D/DZA/392) scratched into the lid, ‘14.6.15’. It still contains two packets of Lloyd’s cigarettes. One packet and Leigh; • Mayor Sydney Burgess Collection contains all five cigarettes the other has one left which • Photographic record of graves and (CB/Wi/A13/3/1) leaves us speculating as to why they were never finished memorials in local cemeteries; • Rowden Family Photographic Collection and is again a very poignant object. These and many • Full transcriptions of Wigan Council war (Acc. 2014/38) more will be on display at the Museum as part of the memorials, online from 4 August; • Blackley Hurst Colliery Company Limited, First World War centenary exhibition. • Digitised and indexed local military tribunal wage books, 1954-1956 (Acc. 2014/35) and Prisoner of War records; • …and finally, later in the year we will launch Wigan Local Studies a full database of those who lost their lives in the Borough, linking together information • Fearnley, David A., Garswood New Hall, we hold on these men and women, from Cigarette case with date newspapers, memorials and archive sources. Ashton in Makerfield, Lancashire, Shelf Mark scratched inside Watch this space! 942.736 FER • Fearnley, David A., Lancashire Hussars Yeomanry Cavalry 1848 -1914 Vols 1 & 2, Shelf Mark 357.1 • Gathurst Golf Club. A History Celebrating Ernst Busch German trench dagger 100 years 1913-2013, Shelf Mark 796.352 • Gathurst Golf Club. This was the year that was. A Reflection of the Cenenary Year, Shelf Mark 796.352 • Wigan Rugby Union Football Club 1913-2013 Centenary Brochure, 796.333 • Wigan & District Technical College Rag Robert Marsh's Magazine, Stop Uzz , Shelf Mark WLD 741 prosthetic arm John Marsden, PoW Postcard

8 9 First World War was not only on the years old and single enlisted in DEADMAN'S battlefields of Flanders and November 1914 and was last Passchendaele, but in the hearths, employed as a drawer at the Maypole hearts and homes of the mothers and Collieries. A comrade-in-arms, writing fathers who would never see their to the bereaved mother, tell her that BY TOM sons again, not even left with a grave her son was very well liked by all the to tend. I think I half realised, even boys in the platoon.’ PENNY WALSH for one so young, that part of Mrs Kelly died on that day in 1918. John Kelly was born on the 4 June 1899, so he was only fifteen years, As the centenary of the start of that six months old when he volunteered war is remembered, my mind went (conscription was only introduced in back to Mrs Kelly and the so called 1916). Therefore, he must have As the anniversary of the First World In preparing this article I had the asking her about it she explained Deadman's Penny and I resolved to exaggerated his age to enlist; I don't War approached I began to think great pleasure of meeting Mrs that it was given to the families of find out more about her son. The think many questions were asked about Wigan's involvement in the war Veronica Ashton, grand-daughter of servicemen who died in the war following article is what I was able to in those days. The tragedy is to end all wars – if only it were so – this outstanding man. She was able and that it was called ‘The ascertain with the help of the records compounded by the nearness of the and my mind wandered back to my to give me an insight into the pride Deadman's Penny’. from Wigan's Archives & Local ceasefire; had that taken place a school days at St Patrick’s School and his family still have almost a century Studies, where the newspaper index week or so earlier, John Kelly would being told about Thomas Woodcock after his sacrifice; she allowed me to I remember saying in a childlike way, and records of the war are truly have returned to Wigan a war hero V.C., a former pupil of the school. We view her albums and a picture that ‘a penny isn't much for a life’. I can amazing; thanks are due to all who and Mrs Kelly would have been were told how after a Civic Reception has pride of place in her home. She still remember her reply, ‘e love it's worked on its compilation. Below is spared thirty-three years of heartache. Thomas Woodcock's grave at Wigan Town Hall he was the guest recalls clearly his medals being not but it's all I've got of him, and it's the full report: If a week is a long time in politics, it of honour at our school and that very displayed in a glass case in her worth its weight in gold to me’. must be an eternity in war. Had I been older when Mrs Kelly night he left Wigan to return to the grandmother's home in Cambridge ‘Wigan Observer, 2 November 1918. died I would have suggested that it front, never to return to Wigan. Street. Mrs Ashton has visited her At such a young age I couldn't fully Nineteen, and Four Years Service. I was only six years old when was placed in her coffin. Mother grandfather's grave along with her comprehend what she meant or Mrs Kelly died and I have often and son together forever. What ever He had cheated death once but children; she tells me of the understand her great sorrow, which Mrs Kelly of 34 McCormick Street wondered what happened to the its fate, I'm sure Mrs Kelly would be wasn't to be so fortunate a second overwhelming feeling of pride never truly healed. Mrs Kelly died in Wigan has received news that her son penny. I hope it didn't go in a house proud to see her son remembered in time. He was killed in action on the mixed with sorrow, tears only just the family home in 1951, still a Pte. John Kelly, Royal Irish Fusiliers clearance or was sold in a second- the pages of Wigan's own history 27 March 1918, only months before held back. Veronica is a kind broken woman. The suffering of the Lewis Gun Corps, has been killed in hand shop for a few coppers; a man’s magazine almost a hundred years the armistice. His bravery was further person, of steely determination and it action. Pte. Kelly who was nineteen life surely deserves better than that. after his death. underlined by the fact that as a is clear that Thomas Woodcock's traits recipient of the Victoria Cross, he was have been passed down the excused front line action, but he generations. As she is proud of him, insisted on rejoining his comrades. I'm sure he in turn would be equally Refugees in Leigh, local industry and munitions NEW EXHIBITION: manufacture. It also includes local heroes who were Considering his experience, his proud of her. insistance on returning to rejoin awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery, the battle was surely as brave as his There are memorials to this brave Home Front to Battlefront – zeppelin raid over Wigan and sportsmen who fought exploits on the battlefield; by this soldier in both St Patrick’s Church and Wigan Borough at War in the war. There is a local family history section commitment surely another medal School. His Victoria Cross can be seen showcasing oral and video histories - supported by Wigan Council’s Centenary Fund – from local residents for bravery was deserved. at The Guards Museum, Wellington 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most catastrophic wars in European history. On 28 July 1914, telling the stories of their relatives’ experiences both at Barracks, London. I haven't yet seen home and on the frontline. His citation reads: the medal but on my next visit to the Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and other countries soon followed with Great Britain declaring war Alongside authentic First World War film footage, objects ‘On the 13 September 1917 north of capital I shall certainly pay a visit. I'm sure it will be a surreal experience on Germany on 4th August. Over 60 million people were on display include William Kenealy’s Victoria Cross, one of Broenbeek, Belgium, when an mobilised for the armed forces alone and young men knowing that I've shared a schoolyard the famous ‘six before breakfast’ awarded for bravery at advanced post had held out for 96 signed up to serve in their thousands from all over Gallipoli, Lord Crawford’s original war diary, an artificial with a man of such outstanding hours and was finally forced to retire, Britain. Many of those who signed up never came home prosthetic arm belonging to local soldier Robert Marsh, Private Woodcock covered the retreat. courage, albeit 55 years apart! and those who did were often deeply affected by the medals, daggers, trench art and ammunition. Private Woodcock heard cries for help events they had witnessed. My only real memory regarding the ‘Home Front to Battlefront – Wigan Borough at War’, behind him - he returned and waded First World War was of seeing a large A commemorative exhibition at the Museum of Wigan is a free exhibition and suitable for all ages. into the stream amid a shower of coin type ornament on the sideboard Life tells the story of local men who fought in the Great Open 6 September 2014 until 10 January 2015. bombs and rescued another member of a neighbour in McCormick Street. War as well as what life was like in Wigan Borough during of the party the latter he then carried Mrs Kelly had lost a son in The Great that time. It looks at the struggle faced by women and The museum is pleased to be hosting local artworks across open ground in daylight War, as she always described it, and those left behind and their contribution to the war effort. relating to the First World War (16 August – 30 November) towards our front line, regardless of The exhibition features local conscientious objector and a programme of special events (see Events Calendar). machine-gun fire.’ Thomas Woodcock, V.C. Arthur Turtle, the Prisoner of War camp and Belgian

10 11 Tanga, then in German East Africa

ammunition for 24 hours and few entrenching tools. However another entry made me smile: More rations were taken ashore during the night and they prepared to invade at eight in the morning the ‘Everything seems very cheerful. Lancs men were next day. The climate was intensely hot and the fishing, others shooting geese, hippo and crocodiles. vegetation extremely dense. For the first half mile At night monotony varied by hippos strolling into there was no opposition. However, more German camp. Imagine a mule which had never before seen troops had arrived by rail and the ensuing battle anything bigger than a Abottabad bullock seeing a caused a swarm of bees to be disturbed. The British hippo eating its hay’. retreated and left their wounded in the German hospital. The muddy beaches meant they could not When you think that these men were fishing for retrieve their ammunition and stores. Two hundred food as supplies were so low, it wasn’t quite the unarmed North Lancashire soldiers were sent by safari adventure that we hear of today. When you small boats to retrieve the injured but were not look on maps at the places named in the reports, allowed to land and drifted in the harbour. They were these men tramped hundreds of miles across terrible later able to board the Karmala but had been terrain and then were sent off again to some other without food and water for fourteen hours. This part of the continent. Postcard from Africa episode was labelled as one of the worst defeats of the war and became known as the Battle of the Bees. I’ll probably never know exactly what grandfather did in the First World War as I have be unable to BY GLENYS M cCLELLAN Later diary entries show the Battalion moving all find his service or medal records. However, through over the African continent persuing Colonel von reading the diaries, websites and various books, I Lettow-Vorbeck, the Commander-In-Chief of the have found that the ‘sideshow ‘ in Africa, as it was Most reports about the First World War seem to be My only clues were a collection of postcards sent Schuztruppe, and his army. It was his intention to known, certainly affected my family and I’m sure all about what happened in France. What I wanted and received from him. The ones from him are keep the British forces occupied in Africa, thus many others as well. to know was why my grandfather sent postcards postmarked between 1917-1918 and show scenes diverting their strength from the Western Front. from Africa? of Tanga, Neu Langenburg and Berreda. An older Further Reading: cousin could only tell me that he had been told that My own interest was in the conditions endured by Tip & Run by Edward Pace Robert Hewitt Dean was born in St. Helens in 1871 grandfather landed in Dar es Salaam. these soldiers. Hundreds of locals were enlisted to The First World War in Africa by Hew Strachan and married Sarah Jane Harrison in 1900. After their act as porters and they suffered terrible losses as http://www.namibiana.de/de/the-battle-of-tanga- marriage they moved to Wigan as Robert was a I found Tanga on the east coast of Africa in what well as the troops. The losses were caused not only german-east-africa-1914.html butcher and had a shop in Newtown. The 1911 was then German East Africa. At the start of the war through the fighting but also by the terrible climate http://www.lancashireinfantrymuseum.org.uk/2nd- Census lists the family at Union Street, Pemberton Africa was largely divided into colonies, ruled by the and jungle-like conditions. The diaries loyals-in-east-africa-1914-17 but when my mother Amy was born in December European powers. The Governors of these colonies record that men were constantly sick 1913, they had moved to Ormskirk Road. Amy was never expected to be pulled into a war fought and receiving quinine daily. the youngest of five children. largely in Europe. Unfortunately, due to the strategic The Commanding Officer wrote placing of ports and wireless communications this to India for a supply of My grandmother always said that grandfather was was not to last. mosquito nets. never well after he returned from the war. She blamed his death in 1929 on ill health caused by I got in touch with the Lancashire Infantry Museum In May 1915, seven officers and conditions suffered during his time abroad. at Fulwood, Preston, who confirmed that the Loyal 150 men were sent to Karungu North Lancashire Regiment were the only British near Lake Victoria to salvage the When he came home he told my mother that he troops to land in Tanga. The Museum kindly British ship, Sybil. The officer’s had slaughtered sheep that had been brought by allowed me to view the war diaries which proved report reads: train to the front line. One day, one looked up at to be fascinating. him and baa-ed. After that he only worked on the ‘We spent three of the worst butchering side. Whether this is a true story or one In November 1914, the Indian Expeditionary nights at Majita. Midnight poured he told his young children we’ll never know. He also Force arrived at Tanga from India aboard the British with rain then attacked by brought home ostrich feathers for his daughters to ship, Karmala, with just one British Battalion, the mosquitoes. Every officer and man attach to their hats; that was quite fashionable at Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. The rest were all down with fever within 16 days of the time. Indian troops. They only carried rations and arrival on the Victoria Nyanza.’ Postcard home from Robert Hewitt Dean, 1917

12 13 The following day he was back in hospital at No.24 General Hospital, Etaples because the tissue in his right foot was causing problems. After treatment he was once again discharged on the 14 May 1916 and was able to BROTHERS rejoin his battalion. About a month later on 24 June 1916 artillery bombardment of the German lines began and lasted until the start of the Infantry IN WAR attack on 1 July. It was thought by this time that the bombardment BY TONY ASHCROFT would have destroyed or considerably weakened the German front line. Unfortunately In the early years of the First On 21 January 1913 Joseph Luckily Joseph survived when the Charles Simm, casualty form this was not the case as the World War there was a call for married Alice Unsworth in St troops were withdrawn before Germans had constructed deep mobilization and many enlisted. Peter's Church, Firs Lane. Their Christmas 1915. W. Rigby. The remuneration for underground chambers where Leigh's Drill Hall in Ellesmere first child Elizabeth was born on the post was £12-12-0d per they were able to wait until the Street was one of the main 5 January 1914 and was aged By 22 February 1916, Joseph had annum. During his time in this bombardment was over. They then recruitment centres. Initially there nine months when her father been transferred to the Royal position he was in attendance returned to the trenches to await was a great deal of optimism enlisted in Atherton on 3 Engineers 182 Tunnelling when the town welcomed King the infantry advance. about the outcome, but by the September 1914. He had been a Company. Serving in France he George VI and Queen Elizabeth end of the war families voluntary member of the 5th reached the rank of Lance on their visit to Leigh in 1938. The South Lancashire Regiment throughout the country had felt Battalion of the Leigh Territorials Corporal. A report in the Leigh Leigh's V.C., Alfred Wilkinson, was was given the task of taking the the effects of the loss or disability as a teenager but had been Journal of 20 July 1917 states that also presented to the Royal village of La Boisselle, situated on of a loved one. discharged for not attending drill. Joseph had been wounded during couple on this occasion. the Albert-Bapaume Road to His chosen regiment was the the Battle of Arras having received Gommercourt. The attack was a The enormous effects of war can Gordon Highlanders. He was in injuries carrying wounded The King died in February 1952 and disaster with over 60,000 be mind numbing because of the the 1st Battalion and experienced comrades during heavy enemy on Friday 8 February the young casualties recorded in 13 days of large number of casualties in an the Gallipoli landings of 1915. fire; he was recovering from his Princess Elizabeth became his fighting. On 8 July 1916, Charles event which occurred a century Many regiments were engaged in wounds at the Fairfield VAD successor. Crowds gathered outside was wounded in the abdomen ago; the reality can be felt more the attack; a large number of Hospital in Kent. At a later date Leigh Town Hall to hear the Mayor, and thigh, more than likely from readily today when the details of local men lost their lives. he was transferred to the Lord Councillor W. Woolstencroft, read fragments of a shell. He was individuals are known to relatives Derby War Hospital at Winwick. the proclamation; Joseph was in taken to 57 Field Hospital which still alive. Whilst recuperating here he attendance on this special occasion. was just behind the Front Line received notification he was to be Charles Simm where he was initially treated This article is a record of two local awarded the D.C.M. for his After retirement his spare time before transfer to a Special brothers from the Firs Lane area of bravery at Arras. Joseph was was taken up with one of his Battalion South Lancashire Hospital at Warloy, an advanced Leigh, by the names of Joseph and finally discharged from the forces favourite hobbies, gardening. He Regiment as a Private. operating centre for urgent cases. Charles Simm whose lives were on 10 December 1918, no longer was a vegetarian and grew all his affected by the events of 1914. fit for service. own vegetables and was After undergoing the necessary It was here that Charles died on One brother survived the conflict; particularly proud of his dahlias. training this young collier boy 10 July 1916, aged only 18, as a the other lost his life in 1916. After the war, he found became a soldier and was sent to result of the wounds he had employment with the Leigh France. On 18 July 1915 he arrived received. His burial plot is in the Corporation and lived with Alice Charles Simm as part of the 56th Infantry Warloy-Baillon Communal Joseph Simm at 60 Cowper Street. They went (1896-1916) Brigade in the 19th Western Cemetery Extension. D.C.M. (1894-1976) on to have eight more children, Division. On 3 January 1916 their first child, Elizabeth, having Joseph's younger brother, Charles, Charles reported to the No. 7 Editorial Note: Joseph, the son of Joseph and died in 1918. was determined to follow in his Casualty Clearing Station at The author would like to Alice Simm (nee Ogden) was born brother’s footsteps. Although Merville suffering from thank Mary Halliwell for in 1894. The family lived in the For many years Joseph acted as only 16 and not old enough to 'Inflammation of the Connective suggesting the subject of the Firs Lane area of Leigh. Joseph, Mace Bearer to the Mayors of enlist, he applied to join the Tissue', a term covering a article and the relatives of the like many sons followed his father Leigh. His appointment was noted South Lancashire Regiment and multitude of muscular and joint Simm brothers who allowed sight into coal mining and found work Joseph Simm with his wife, in the Council Finance, Estate and lied about his age, giving it as 19. problems. From there he was of copies of the genealogical in the Plank Lane Coal Pit Nurse Alice Simm at the Parliamentary Committee on He managed to pass the medical transferred by train to the No.5 documents relating to the (Bickershaw Colliery). Lord Derby War Hospital, Winwick 29 November 1935, replacing examination and joined the 7th General Hospital at Rouen. brothers’ war records.

14 15 BY MIKE LATHAM “Bradley in style was different. Fireworks were always At Crown Flatt O’Neill also became a big crowd evident in his game. Outside or inside run mattered favourite and he was a member of Dewsbury’s nought to him. He could get up pace in a stride or Challenge Cup winning side in 1912. After beating two and he picked up his feet at a rare rate. He the amateurs of Lane End United 36-9 in the first could twist and dodge with a shrewdness he had round, Dewsbury then had a series of low-scoring assimilated in Welsh football and there were few victories in their successful cup campaign. They won From Playing Field 9-8 at Salford, beat neighbours Batley 5-2 at home more effective wing three-quarter backs in the Northern Union. Bradley was also a good kicker and, in the quarter-final and then defeated Halifax 8-5 at like others of the Welsh school, he knew the value of Fartown in the semi-final. The final, staged at return pass and reverse, but he delighted most of all Headingley was also a low-scoring affair, Dewsbury in the exercise of his speed and some of his runs winger Billy Rhodes scoring two second half tries to to Battlefield were thrilling.” win the game after Oldham had led 5-2 at half-time. Lewis Bradley • Patrick O'Neill Bradley signed for Wigan in December 1911 and O’Neill joined the Army in May 1915 and went to made his debut at Wakefield Trinity a few days later. France twelve months later, serving as a gunner with He was top try-scorer with 37 tries in 1911-12 and the Royal Garrison Artillery. When he returned to Men and women from all walks of life Bradley’s scoring exploits attracted the attention of with 39 tries one season later and was considered Leigh on leave, he played in some friendly games for volunteered for service during the First World Wigan scouts and he moved North in 1911 soon after unlucky not to gain selection for the 1914 Australian the club. He was killed in action in Flanders on 27 War. Sports clubs were urged to encourage their impressing in a county game at Kingsholm, when tour. He joined up in the Army in 1915 and while September 1917 aged 35 and is buried at Belgium players to sign-up as a means of promoting a Gloucestershire played Monmouthshire. Northern training in Leeds played a few friendly games for Battery Corner Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium. When spirit of shared duty; the 17th Service Battalion Union scouts were said to have been prominent at Leeds as well as returning to play for Wigan. “His Leigh won the Challenge Cup Final in 1921, his son of the Middlesex Regiment was known as The that game and Wigan won the race for his signature, heart was in Wigan,” his sister concluded. Stanley was the Leigh mascot. Stanley later worked Football Battalion, formed around a core of men ahead of stiff competition from Salford. He soon the scoreboard at Mather Lane and became a big friend of Tommy Sale. Paddy’s brother James also who were professional footballers. became an idol of the Central Park spectators. Reproduced with kind permission of Mike Latham played for Leigh and he looked after Stanley after his Wigan Borough’s sporting teams were no and Forty-20 magazine, A local writer of the day compared Bradley’s style to brother’s death. different and many men took up arms as they https://mobile.twitter.com/Forty20magazine that of the man he replaced in the Wigan side, the marched from the playing field to the battle field. brilliant James Leytham, who hailed from Lancaster. Writing to Paddy O’Neill’s widow in Oxford Street, Mike Latham explores the lives of two such men. Leytham also met an untimely death during the war Leigh, Captain D Seed of his battery wrote: years, the victim of a boating tragedy in Morecambe Paddy O’Neill “Everyone of this battery speaks of their sorrow for Bay. “There was a great difference between their you. Your husband was a great favourite and will be deeply missed. It was during a heavy bombardment Lewis Bradley styles,” he wrote. “Leytham was cool and calculating that your husband was struck. and did not take many risks. In his long, raking Paddy O’Neill was a Leigh Irishman who became one He volunteered to guide a strides, however, there was much pace and if an of the most prominent forwards in the Northern rationing party to the battery Many famous sportsmen lost their lives on the opponent did not meet him early he would have Union before the war. A collier at the Nook Pit, and just as he completed his Battlefields of France during World War One and the little chance against the North Lancashire player if it Tyldesley, he made his Leigh debut against Batley in work a piece of shell, bursting town of Wigan was in mourning during June 1918 came to a race for the goal-line. Leytham preferred March 1903 and was a key member of Leigh’s very near, struck him. when the death was announced of their free-scoring to go on the outside and championship winning side in 1905-06, the last We brought him in, but he winger, Gunner Lewis Bradley, at the age of 27. flank his rivals. season of 15-a-side. O’Neill missed only one of Leigh’s 37 games during the season and was also a passed away in two or three He rarely chose an minutes. Your husband Bradley had been in the forces for three years and inside route if there member of the Leigh side beaten by Wigan after a replay in the first Lancashire Cup Final. and I have suffered fatal injuries in action in France. He was existed an alternative. served together wounded by shell fragments which penetrated his He was one of the for the last Described as fearless, strong and clever, he was skull and died a few days later of this and gangrene. cleanest and most two-and-a-half considered one of Leigh’s finest ever forwards and The news was received with great sadness in Wigan, gentlemanly of years and I could also play halfback in an emergency. O’Neill after long-serving Club Secretary George Taylor players who ever trod cannot tell made the transition from 15-a-side to 13-a-side with received a letter from Bradley’s sister. a football pitch and you how sorry ease and he went on to make 211 appearances for everybody regretted I am for you. Leigh, scoring 15 tries and kicking 11 goals before Lewis Bradley, known as ‘Lew’ was a brilliant winger his lamentable death. He was a being transferred to Dewsbury in April 1911 who scored 117 tries in 106 games for the Club. A very brave native of Cinderford in the Forest of Dean he began alongside Billy Smith. Apart from the championship soldier.” playing for his local club and soon earned County season O’Neill also featured prominently in the honours in rugby union for Gloucestershire in 1908. Leigh sides that defeated the inaugural touring sides He moved on to play for Lydney and then Pontypool from New Zealand (in 1907) and Australia (in 1908), RU clubs. Bradley was also a well-known sprinter and both games played at Mather Lane. He also his pace earned him several prizes in sprint represented Lancashire. competitions in the Border Counties. Lewis Bradley Paddy O'Neill

16 17 – for the offence of 'Disobeying supported young men who Rhyme appearing in the Lawful Command'. refused to fight as combatants, Arthur Turtle papers and also the Fellowship of In early 1916 at the age of 28, Reconciliation (FoR). Many Arthur married Sarah Louisa members of the NCF and FoR 'Louie' Hinton-Hine. Eighteen years were Friends (Quakers) and Arthur THE UNMOVABLE his senior, Louie lovingly was in close contact with supported her husband members of the Manchester throughout his imprisonment; branches when he was their correspondence gives a imprisoned. A Christmas Greeting ARTHUR TURTLE by Denise Colbert poignant insight into their sent in solidarity to Arthur (via common beliefs and strength. It is Louie) from one such, Shipley striking how concerned Arthur is Brayshaw, contained these words for the well-being of his family of the Quaker poet Whittier: and his employer managed to and friends whilst downplaying obtain a two month exemption his own discomfort. He later said His fame who led the stormy van starting from the day he was of his time in prison, ‘There were Of battle well may cease, expected to report for service. no blankets and we ate bread and But never that which crowns This was not acceptable to Arthur, water. I was very thankful for that the man since The Act allowed for COs to period…I went in objecting to Whose victory was Peace. be unconditionally exempted war and I came out objecting to according to the extent to which everything which was wrong. I Arthur was released from prison they could convince the Military read a lot…and it gave me a fuller on 5 April 1919, three months Service Tribunal of the quality of view of life’. Reading was not before the earliest release date of their objection. Arthur refused always easy for Arthur though. He his sentence. Although he supporter of the Campaign for this respite in order to pursue was once placed under punitive obviously never served in the Nuclear Disarmament in the Absolute Exemption from the measures for attempting to army, in May 1919 Arthur was 1950s. Arthur's influence on the Tribunal. In April 1916, he was receive a book from another given a dishonourable discharge younger generations is nicely given a Certificate of Exemption prisoner. He appealed to the certificate which warned, demonstrated in a letter he from Combatant Service which he Home Secretary over this injustice, ‘Should he attempt to join received shortly before his death once again appealed against. again receiving no reply. H.M. Forces he will be liable to from an American relative, who two years imprisonment’. had spent time in prison for He explains in his third petition It seems Arthur's incarceration Understandably, this caused him protesting against the Vietnam to the Secretary of State in also provided opportunities for great amusement. War. She ends her letter, ‘Your October 1918: further spiritual development. He example has set my feet on a Arthur and Louie attended many Quaker Meetings In 1923, Arthur and Louie joined path to search for light, to listen ‘I refused the work under the Home for Worship in prison. He had Leigh Meeting of Friends, Arthur to the still small voice within, and The First World War saw men socialist and strenuous advocate for Office Committee because I joined the No-Conscription becoming an active member and to act in the spirit of truth… placed under increasing pressure to liberty and peace for all men. In considered it to be a scheme Fellowship (NCF) in the spring of Clerk for the Quakers for a long I want to thank you for helping to sign up to fight at the front. This later life, Arthur upheld Ghandi as organised to facilitate the 1916, an organisation which time to come. Arthur went on to create these values in my life’. was a time when women of the another of his personal heroes; prosecution of the war. To have become a herbalist, opening one Order of the White Feather would when he was due to visit England accepted it would have been to Sketch given to Arthur by a of the first health food shops in 'Arthur' is a name that exudes friend and fellow inmate challenge any man of suitable age in 1930, Arthur tried and almost violate my principles which I am Leigh and later one in Atherton. nobility, evoking thoughts of not in uniform to enlist, by handing succeeded in getting Ghandi to talk unable to do’. The Leigh store moved to Lord Camelot and the round table of them a white feather - a symbol of in Leigh. A vegetarian for almost Street in 1952, where it still the mythological king. The Anglo- cowardice. Arthur Turtle, a peaceful seventy years, Arthur's pacifist In these petitions, Arthur stands today under different Saxon origin of the surname, yet steadfast man of principle, sensibilities clearly extended repeatedly communicates the management. Arthur tended his 'Turtle', derives from a nickname spent over two years in prison for beyond the limits of humanity illegality of his imprisonment based ailing family, devotedly caring for for a mild and gentle or his absolute refusal to contribute to to include what he saw as all on the fact that members of the his sister and sister-in-law as well affectionate person, a the war in any way. of God's creation. Tribunal panel did indeed believe as Louie who died in 1957, development of the Old English him to be genuine in his objection lovingly nursed by her husband ‘turtla’, meaning turtle dove. Born in Tyldesley in 1888, Arthur With the passing of the Military to the war. None of these petitions through her final illness. Such an apt name for our local was a twin and one of ten children. Service Act in January 1916, gained any response. pacifist with a warrior-heart. The family were Methodists and in Arthur received notice to report Arthur and Louie had no children 1911, Arthur heard a lecture given for service on 8 March 1916. He Ultimately, Arthur was arrested in but Arthur was very much The Arthur Turtle Archive by the Methodist minister entitled applied to the Military Service January 1917. He faced several involved with youth groups, can be consulted at Wigan “Tolstoy: The Greatest Man in Tribunal for absolute exemption court martials in Oswestry and was spending a lot of his time helping Archives Service; catalogue Europe”. This turned out to be a on grounds of Conscientious eventually sentenced to two years young pacifists during the Second information is available on the pivotal event that impacted on his Objection (CO). Arthur was hard labour in Wormwood Scrubs – World War. He was also an ardent Archives website. life in such a way that he became a working as a grocer at this time, before his transfer to Strangeways

18 19 grounds that along with other corporation workers they Until the men actually came out, the strike had been purely a 1915: TROUBLE had just been awarded an extra two shillings (10p) ‘war local matter; even the General Secretary of the Union only bonus’ to cover rises in the cost of living. However, on heard about it when asked by the Corporation to assist in Tuesday 27 July they again put in a wage demand, for a negotiations. A telegram was also sent to the Board of Trade halfpenny an hour increase, which on the normal 60 hour in London and Sir George Askwith, a high ranking civil servant week would give a rise of two shilling and sixpence. This indicated that because of possible implications for the war ON THE was considered by the Tramways Committee on the effort he wished to be involved in the negotiations. Talks on following Thursday when the union was told that the the Monday failed to reach agreement in time for the restart Committee would carry out a study of the wages of of local industry on the following day but intensive tramway workers in other Lancashire towns before deciding discussions throughout Tuesday eventually brought a solution, HOME FRONT on any possible increase. under pressure from Askwith. This proved unacceptable to the men who responded with It was agreed that a government tribunal, the Production a threat to come out on strike at the weekend. This in turn Committee, set up under The Munitions of War Act 1915, led to the committee posting notices at the depot would arbitrate and that any award would be backdated BY BILL MELLING threatening to sue for breach of contract any employee to the day the men went back to work. They did so on who withdrew their services. Notwithstanding this threat, the Wednesday. The tribunal met on the 13 August and after the last tram had returned to the depot on Sunday after hearing evidence from the Corporation and the For anyone interested in local history, one of the rewards of night the men held a mass midnight meeting and voted to Union and studying data on wages paid in other working as a volunteer at the Borough Archives is in come out on strike immediately. Lancashire towns, granted an increase of a farthing an coming across seemingly trivial facts or events which upon hour, that is, half what the men had asked for. The award further examination can give a fascinating insight into the The strike came as a complete surprise to the people of was accepted by both sides. lives of our ancestors. Wigan. Monday was the August Bank Holiday, the principle holiday of the summer and despite the war, all the mills, At the next meeting of the Tramways Committee there was A recent example of this was a letter from the mines and factories were closed. People were anticipating a considerable discussion on whether the Committee’s threat Wigan Postmaster to the Borough Treasurer, claiming the day of leisure – a trip to the seaside, a ramble or picnic in to sue any strikers for losses incurred due to the strike, sum of £2-8-0d for expenses incurred, “…in consequence the surrounding countryside or just visiting friends and should be pursued. It was decided that since the whole of the strike of Tramway Employees at Wigan, the Mails relations, all activities involving travel on a tram at some matter had been passed to the Government Arbitrators no could not be conveyed by tramcar between the Wigan Post stage. Needless to say the strikers were not popular and further action should be taken. With regard to the request Office and Sub Offices, and it was necessary in many cases many people thought their actions unpatriotic. A wounded for compensation from the Post Office it was deemed that to engage horsed vehicles for the purpose”. What drew my local soldier, in a letter to the Wigan Observer, said, ‘Isn’t it this was not appropriate. The Committee then went on to attention to this letter was the date, 18 August 1915, just a a great encouragement for men risking their lives in the discuss its next problem – the difficulties conductors had in year after the start of the First World War at a time when I shell swept trenches to think of men at home striking for getting Belgian refugees to understand the fare structure. It had always assumed the country was united in support of more money. What would happen if we refused to fight was agreed that the solution was to charge refugees a flat their men at the Front. unless we got another few pence a day extra’. rate of one penny, but that as they say, is another story.

A visit to Leigh Local Studies, where copies of the Wigan Observer are available, confirmed that a strike had taken A sniper's bullet, a roadside bomb, a traitor's kiss, a friend's remiss. place which had paralysed the town and made the headlines in the national press. In 1915 most Wiganers What and how matter little now, a soldier lies dead. relied on the electric tram for local transport and it was said A mother weeps over a cold and empty bed. that over 5000 people used the trams each day to get to A father ponders times of yore, of holidays, football games,and those and from their places of work. The tramway was owned and operated by Wigan Corporation and employed 260 silly, silly, childish names. staff who operated 73 trams, running on over 30 miles of Those days can never be again, but who to blame? track which radiated like the spokes of a wheel from the Not the politician, that's not his game, nor the minister, town centre to Upholland, Standish, Hindley, Platt Bridge, Who to Ashton and Martland Mill. Who to O, the shame ! Not the brigadier in braided splendour, nor the sergeant major with The day to day operation of the tramway was in the hands voice like thunder. of a General Manager, F. Buckley, who reported to a sub- BBllaammee?? committee of the Town Council, the Not the solder in coffin dark, awaiting his long journey home, Tramways Committee, who were responsible for financial to a family that will forever mourn. and policy matters. The minutes of this committee are kept BByy TToomm WWaallsshh in the Archives and form the basis of most of what follows. Lessons will be learnt we're told, fighting and war will be no more. I think we've heard that all before, but who to blame? In March 1915, the Wigan Branch of the Amalgamated Wigan Corporation Tramways, Aspull Route, C. 1916 Association of Tramway and Vehicle Workers had applied Editor’s note: This poem was written by Tom Walsh a few years ago when a soldier from Wigan died. It has for a wage increase, only to have it turned down on the also been published as part of the Letter to an Unknown Soldier project, http://www.1418now.org.uk/letter/

20 21 Staff and volunteers at Archives and Local Studies in Greater Manchester have been working to compile stories about the war and the effect on the area as part of an online blog, GM1914. By Ann Glacki The blog is part of the work of the Greater Manchester Archives & Local Studies Partnership and you can read more of the stories uncovered at http://gm1914.wordpress.com/ Here are a couple of the stories submitted by volunteers at Wigan Archives & Local Studies.

Extract from the Leigh Journal following the death of Shadrach Tragedy at Westleigh and Annie Critchley Susan Berry, Leigh Local Studies At the inquest it was revealed While searching for information on the First World War in the that Annie had left a letter to her Leigh Chronicle at Leigh Local Studies, a headline jumped out at sister and Shadrach to his father. me, ‘Sensational Tragedy at Westleigh’. The coroner requested that the contents of the letters be kept It is the story of a soldier, Shadrach Critchley and his wife Annie, private but disclosed sufficient being found in their house having committed suicide. evidence to the effect that they wanted to die together and did Shadrach was born 1881 in Leigh, the son of Thomas, a coal not wish to be parted. They miner, and Sarah. Following him through the census it appears he were buried together on the grew up in Westleigh and in turn became a miner like his father. 27 May 1915 in St Paul’s, In 1906 he married Annie Heaton, and in the 1911 census they Westleigh. The jury returned a are found living in Westleigh, with the census stating they had no verdict of temporary insanity. children and Shadrach still working in the mines. They Also Served When we think of deaths in Shadrach appears in the Leigh Chronicle in April 1915 in the list the First World War we think of new recruits at the Leigh office. He signed up with the 3rd of soldiers dying in the Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment where he was stationed at trenches and on the front. Birkenhead. According to the Leigh Chronicle, he returned on Although Shadrach and his As with many churches, there is a Their popular name was Munition workers, possibly from Saturday 22 May for three days leave and should have reported wife did not die in combat, war memorial in the churchyard at munitionettes. Bentley Ammunition back on the Monday. their deaths can still be St. Luke’s in Lowton. Last year, it manufacturing, c. 1916. directly attributed to the was decided that we should Munitionettes worked with He was seen at the Fleece Inn on the Sunday night, by his friend war. I have checked all the commemorate those recorded hazardous chemicals on a daily out of action for the remainder of and fellow soldier, Richard Adamson, where he had discussed local war memorials and as there who gave their lives in the basis without adequate protection. the war. The explosion at the with him how he had regretted joining up. His friend told him far as I can tell Shadrach does not appear on any of them. Great War by staging an Many women worked with National Filling Factory on White to, ‘buck up and he would be alright’, saying he had shown no However, he does appear on the Commonwealth War Graves exhibition. There are 37 names on trinitrotoluene (TNT), and Lund was so strong its force was signs that he was considering suicide. The following evening, Commission site. His name appears on the Brookwood (United prolonged exposure to the Richard went to Shadrach’s home so they could return to their the memorial, including one felt as far away as Burnley. Ten Kingdom 1914-1918) Memorial. This memorial was created in sulphuric acid that turned the regiment and found the door locked. He told a neighbour he woman, Bertha McIntosh. The people were killed during the night 2004 and currently commemorates 500 men who were women's skin a yellow colour. The thought something was wrong and they forced open the door, casualties in the United Kingdom. So nearly 90 years after his inclusion of a civilian on the war the majority of whom were firemen. women whose skin was turned where they discovered Shadrach and Annie lying on a mattress death, it was finally acknowledged that Shadrach was as much memorial intrigued me, and I Fortunately, most of the factory on the kitchen floor with their heads inside the gas oven. a victim of the war as the soldiers who died in combat. wanted to find out what yellow were popularly called canary workers were in the canteen on happened to her. It can be girls. Prolonged exposure to the their supper break when the alarm difficult enough to find out about chemicals also created serious was raised around 10.30pm which the soldiers who fought in the health risks for the munitionettes. probably saved many other lives Moses Yates: a boy soldier from Tyldesley war as so many of the records Exposure over a long period of time though in the rush to escape the were destroyed in the 1940 Blitz, to chemicals such as TNT can cause site, some were injured. The biggest Michael Yates, Leigh Local Studies but researching a civilian promised severe harm to the immune system. explosion occurred around 3am. to be even more challenging. People exposed to TNT can My great uncle was born on the 18 July 1898 at 50 Sale Lane, Tyldesley. He was the eldest of five children; Lily, Minnie, Annie and With thanks to Hannah at Polly. He joined the army, the 1st Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers on the 2 January 1915 aged 16. After training he was shipped to experience liver failure, anemia, I found out that Bertha was born in Leigh Local Studies. Gallipoli arriving on the 25 September 1915 at Sulva Bay and was in the trenches five days later. Unlike the trenches in France, and spleen enlargement; TNT can troops could not recuperate miles behind the lines in relative security, at Gallipoli there was nowhere to go that wasn’t within Atherton in 1894. She worked as a even affect women’s fertility. artillery or rifle range of the Turks. cotton winder and in 1911 was Bertha was one of those who died There will be an exhibition living on Stonecross Lane in of poisoning, aged just 23. commemorating those who died in Moses wrote to his mother, Ellen, on the 7 November telling her that ‘things are very quiet here at present, we are still at Sulva Bay, Lowton. When war broke out, she the war at St. Luke’s Church in so you can watch our movements in the papers, we have been in the trenches since the 30 September, without being relieved’. became a munitions worker at the As if the risk of chemical poisoning October. This will also include a In his last letter home written on the 22 November Moses wrote ‘just a line to let you know I received the ‘Journal’ and your letter. National Filling Factory in were not enough, there was, concert by the Lowton, Golborne A great many who came out with our draft have gone off the Peninsula sick, in most cases they have dysentery’. Morecambe. Replacing men who obviously, the risk of explosions. and Newton Choir. For further On the 26 November terrific thunderstorms flooded the Peninsula followed by freezing snow. Many men froze to death in the had gone to fight with women was In 1917, only a few months after information on this, or if you have trenches. Sadly one was Moses who died on the 1 December 1915 aged 17. Moses has no known grave. He is commemorated on the only option, and over 700,000 her death, there was an explosion any memorabilia or information the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli and on the Tyldesley cenotaph. Moses was posthumously awarded the Star, War and Victory medals. women went to work in the at the Morecambe factory where which could be used, please e-mail His family still have Moses’s death penny. factories producing explosives. Bertha had worked, which put it [email protected]

22 23 A Wigan Man's Eastern Journey

France and the terrible conditions there, but it must of their homeland. In popular memory it was the be said that Gallipoli was equally terrible because of ANZAC's campaign but in reality it involved many the lack of water. The heat in summer was appalling others who paid an equally high price for this and the cold in winter equally so. The horses had misguided campaign which ended in terrible failure thicker blankets than the men! The drinking water for a variety of reasons. Gallipoli had to be brought in by ship from Egypt and on many occasions could only be had by boiling and Recorded in the South Lancs Regimental History, By Hilary Barker filtering the sea water around them which was 'The three 6th Lancashire Battalions landed at sometimes full of bodies and red with blood. Suvla in August to open a second beachhead on the peninsula and it was here that, on the 8th, in their In the December issue of Past Forward there was an regiments such as the first major battle the 6th South Lancashires, with interesting article on the First World War which asked Manchesters and the Fred Holcroft's excellent book, 'Just Like Hell', is an 1/6th Gurkhas, captured Hill ‘Q’ on the crest-line of a series of questions regarding the links between the Northumberland Fusiliers. invaluable source of information with a special the vital Sari Bair ridge. This success, which could war and Wigan. This was presumably emphasis on Wiganers at Gallipoli. It was there that I have resulted in victory on Gallipoli, was not because they needed read of Clement Atlee's role as Captain in charge of exploited or even supported and eventual retirement My grandfather, William (Bill) Bentley was a man from reinforcements due to the South Lancs men and I have often wondered was inevitable. Fierce fighting followed in which Wigan who joined the South Lancashire Regiment depletion of numbers what effect his admiration for those plucky little the three 6th Battalions were overwhelmed and and who ended up fighting at Gallipoli. because of casualties. Lancashire men had on his vision of a fairer world when he became leader of the Labour party. I should almost wiped out, losing in all 41 officers and He was an older married man, aged 34, with a young The family stories tell of say that my grandfather was a forge man by trade around 1,500 men.' family and had previously served with the Cheshire him being wounded at and very strong, yet only five feet, two inches tall. Regiment in 1901. He was one of the first to sign up I suspect this is where my Grandad was shot. Gallipoli, shot through Just like many of his mining compatriots they were at the outbreak of war in August 1914. Signing up the mouth during a face mostly small men but great in spirit and courage. with the South Lancashire Regiment in Wigan, It truly was just like hell. Gallipoli might have been to face encounter with a hell but then Mesopotamia was to follow and that presumably at the Drill Hall - if anyone knows for sure William Bentley in later life, Thanks to the ANZAC presence at Gallipolli, it has not Turkish soldier. I guess he in his garden in Pemberton was even worse in terms of climate, lack of supplies where the recruitment took place I would love to been quietly forgotten about as I am sure the British must have been charging and a grave lack of medical equipment and know - his first year was spent at training camps with Government of the time would have liked it to have and yelling at the same time as soldiers are still personnel. My Grandad then fought his way all the the South Lancs and his first action indicated in his been. But the input of the Lancashire soldiers is not trained to do today. The bullet passed through his way up through Mesopotamia from Basra in the discharge papers was with his 'war service battalion' quite so well remembered as was brought home to mouth and out behind the ear. He said he lay south to Baghdad and on northwards, battling the at Gallipoli; in August 1915 he was sent in as part of me when I was able to visit Gallipoli a few years ago wounded on the battlefield for three days until he Turks all the way to a wave of reinforcements. and had to quietly remind our guide that not only the was found and brought back for medical treatment the Caspian Sea. ANZACs fought and died here but also many others His actual war records were amongst those destroyed by VADs (Red Cross Volunteers). It seems amazing to His war did not of various nationalities, including the Lancashire by the Second World War bomb on Somerset House in me that the Red Cross was present at Gallipolli but finish until 1919. London. So I have had to find out what might have they are on record as being there. My dad still regiments, Sikhs, Gurkhas and French Colonial troops. happened by using regimental diaries and books about remembers sitting on his knee as a child and playing Out of the total of 410,000 troops who served, there both the Gallipoli and the Mesopotamia campaigns. with the hole at the back of his ear William were 205,000 casualties; one in two. 33,000 of these Bentley's His discharge papers record him starting in the South Gallipoli is not often featured in First World War were ANZACs and 47,000 were French. Let us not discharge Lancs and being transferred at various points to other commemorations, much more emphasis is put upon forget the Turks who suffered equally in the defence papers

24 25 Damage following the Zeppelin raid, Harper Street, Wigan Our particular interest centered Captains G. E. Livecock and ‘Bob’ for mistakenly entering in his log on the airship that arrived over Leckie. During hostilities it had that he had bombed Sheffield Wigan. This we discovered from been engaged in ‘scouting’. rather than Wigan.' museum records was the It was finally decommissioned in German Airship Number L61 August 1920. Commander Smith gives the tally of five dead which had been built at Herbert Ehrlich died in December and nine injured from local Friedrichshafen in Factory Shed 2. 1921 without knowing he had information. Was the discrepancy In length it measured 644ft 8ins; missed the most prized target in from the German accounts its diameter was 78ft 5ins, whilst middle England.' influenced by war time its height was recorded as 91ft propaganda I wonder? 1in. It had been powered by This Zeppelin raid and others five Maybach engines. On the over Lancashire are detailed by The reunion of two war-time occasion of this raid it had been Peter J. C. Smith in his book friends after 50 years has under the command of veteran Zeppelins over Lancashire certainly brought to light the flyer Herbert Ehrlich; it had published in 1991. The book bombing of Wigan and other carried a bomb load of 6,600 confirms the raid and illustrates recollections that I did not pounds, including four bombs of the route of the raid over Wigan. know about and made me 660 pounds each, their intended Smith writes: 'Continuing conscious of the changing face target Sheffield. northwards, Ehrlich soon spotted of Wigan, of air power and of a glare from the six blast communications. It makes me BY DENNIS HOLLAND Once over the English coast the furnaces of the Wigan Coal and realise how important our local weather took hold, squally rain, Iron Company (known locally as industrial heritage and history is low cloud and later when flying ‘Top Place’) at Kirkless on the and that we should not forget it. at 20,000ft an east-north-east eastern out-skirts of Wigan, wind was encountered making it where no warning of an References: impossible to hold the correct impending air raid was given. Peter J. C. Smith, Zeppelins War Time Friends: course, and Sheffield, completely Ehrlich could perhaps be forgiven Over Lancashire, 1991 blacked out, was missed. Zeppelins over Wigan Eventually a well-lit area came into their sights and was assumed to be the correct target, but in fact was Wigan. The town Recently my mother, born 1921 in her friends with the name farmhouse... thankfully there had received no air raid warning Wigan, met a friend with whom of Carson who had lived in were no serious injuries to any and the blast furnaces from the she worked at the ROF Chorley Wigan. Megan originated members of the family, but Wigan Coal and Iron company (Euxton) during the Second from Walton-le-Dale and the others less fortunate, in Wigan were throwing up a glow into World War. She had not seen her letter recounted a visit to were killed.' the night sky. Fifteen bombs friend Megan, now aged 91, for Friedrichshafen by the Carson’s were released on the town killing around 50 years but they had whilst on a holiday in 1976. The visit to Friedrichshafen by seven people injuring a further corresponded by letter and had the Carson’s included the twelve and causing damage spoken on the telephone. They The letter from Mrs Carson Zeppelin Museum where they estimated at over £11,600. had both worked in the wages relates to an air raid on Wigan discovered the following about The last bomb dropped, the four department at Euxton calculating by a Zeppelin in 1918. It reads: the raid: 'Five Zeppelins based at 660 pounders fell in open fields, pay by hand, making up wage 'At about this time our interests Wittmundhaven were ordered damaging cottages and causing packets in cash and distributing had turned to family history to attack England on 4 April further injuries. them to workers on the research. My husband had been but bad weather forced this ammunition sections. born in Wigan, on 11 April 1918 raid to be cancelled; then on Airship L61 made it back to prior to a Zeppelin raid on the the night of 12 April with Wittmundhaven and to shed The reunion brought back town during the night of 12/13 more favourable conditions ‘Willie’ in spite of engine trouble memories of a letter sent to April when a bomb had fallen forecast the raid was given the and an encounter with Flying mother by Megan, from one of on land adjacent to his uncle’s “go ahead”. Boat Number N4283 crewed by Damage following the Zeppelin raid, Cecil Street, Wigan

26 27 Tyldesley Creative Writers: A Commemoration Tyldesley Creative Writers and Nightwriters is a lively group which meets weekly and writes on all sorts of topics. Like many in this Borough, we appreciate our local history and heritage and wished to write about the First World War. Several of us have stories about our own relatives’ involvement in the war and this went some way to inspire our group leader, Mary Berry, to suggest we produce a presentation of our work. We divided the confict into its separate years and looked at each year both at the home front and at war. The stories, poems, diary Lusitania excerpts and sketches we have written are based on true events, many describing local people. As ever, research has taken place by Jack Houlihan Work Experience Student, Leigh Local Studies using Wigan Archives & Local Studies resources. Alfred Wilkinson VC, Arthur Turtle, a conscientious objector, Shadrach and Ann Critchley, tragic suicides, Roberts Brooks, who defied orders and helped an enemy soldier in distress but lost an arm, are documented and can be studied further by interested individuals. Tyldesley members’ creative writing is interspersed with a narration of the war’s chronological milestones. The production was filmed deck stairway. Henry went onto the in July and props and costumes were gathered. It is not easy to find original costume but several have been made after studying deck where he reported women were contemporary pictures. We’ve ransacked charity shops for anything that would fit the bill – waistcoats, flat caps and braces abound. crying for their children to be brought We even have a real fox-fur stole, complete with claws and glittering eyes. Amazing what one finds in a sister’s attic. Battledress, to them and men were busy fitting helmets and weapons were harder, but we’ve managed it. them with life-belts. Henry stood with a Next task was to find props to construct a makeshift trench - some old wooden spars sorted that problem. Our talented film-maker mother and her two children on the will be able to put real background in place of a blue-screen. So – the aspidistra is watered, boots are polished and tin hat stands ready. deck until the boat sank under them. Our DVD will be available to any group who wishes to see it. Although there has been much organising, rehearsal and fun in Henry felt as though it seemed a long preparation, we have ever been conscious of the dreadful tragedy that was the war. One of our group has researched and written time before he returned to the surface. about the Battle of the Falklands. Not many realise it was a part of the First World War but member Earle’s description of HMS He climbed onto a damaged, Inflexible whetted our appetite to find out more. overturned lifeboat, the boat righted and Henry helped others to clamber in. Diane’s rendering of Vesta Tilley may ring bells with senior citizens and Christine and Joe’s very funny sketch is followed by more sombre aspects as the war progressed. Soldiers writing home and vice-versa convey personal dramas that were common to every They rowed towards a sailing vessel five family in the land. We have tried to encapsulate as many aspects of the war as we could, from the sad execution of Nurse Edith Cavell miles away and after rowing for four to the destruction of over seven million war-horses. Our group has learned a lot about the war. As we have listened to aspects of the and a half hours were taken on board war new facts have come to light and discussed. Our project, the aim of which was to present the war to others through the eyes of another lifeboat, as their own boat was local amateur writers, has proved to be an eye-opener for ourselves. Our thanks go to all who have helped us; to the Archives & Local almost submerged. Women were Studies, locals who donated artifacts and costume, people who shared their family stories, volunteers who are helping with acting and transferred to a Hull steamer, and filming and Tyldesley Library staff who ignore our sometimes noisy discussion as our enthusiasm gets the better of us! Henry went back with the crew of the lifeboat and helped to save several passengers. Henry made it back to his The sinking of the Lusitania, from the German Federal Archives home town of Tyldesley on the 9 May in a miserable condition. Centenary Heritage Weekend A famous cruise ship, the Lusitania, was an armed merchant cruiser carrying sunk by a German submarine torpedo in Canadian troops and munitions. Another Tyldesley inhabitant, Fred 1915; over 1000 passengers lost their Isherwood, had gone to live in South St Philip's Church, Atherton lives including Fred Isherwood, a young One of the survivors, Thomas Sumner America for six years, part of which had man from Tyldesley. from Atherton, did not see the first been spent working in the electrical St Philip's Church, Crosby Street, Atherton, is holding a torpedo hit but he did see the line of engineering department of the Chilean heritage weekend as part of a year of events celebrating the Launched in 1907, the Lusitania was the second. The first torpedo caused copper mines. Due to the outbreak of Church's Centenary. The Church will be open from 3pm to 6pm at that time the world’s largest ship. the ship to list very badly but the the war, Fred had decided to return on Friday 24 October and from 10am to 2pm on Saturday 25 She was also one of the most second torpedo completed the home and join the British forces. October; visitors will be able to view old registers and records luxurious and a favourite on the destruction. Thomas slid down into and enjoy photographs of walking days and other events in the transatlantic passenger route. the water and swam until he found Fred travelled from Peru to New York. life of the church and school from the past 100 years! Since the outbreak of war, ocean some wreckage to cling to. He later He sent word to his parents from New travel had become more dangerous found, along with 30 or 40 others, an York that he expected to sail to A major part of the exhibition will be, 'A history of the fallen' – and German U-boats searched British upturned lifeboat to scramble onto. England on board the Lusitania. information and memorabilia commemorating the lives of waters to prevent war resources from They waited five hours before being Another cable-gram informed his soldiers from St Philip's who made the ultimate sacrifice getting through. rescued by the S.S. Indian Empress, parents that he was homeward bound during the First World War. which took them into Queenstown. on the ship. Fred travelled as a third- On 1 May 1915, the Lusitania set sail class passenger. After the ship sank the Everyone will be made most welcome in this lovely family from New York with 1962 passengers Another survivor, Henry Birchall, had Cunard Steamship Company sent word church which is justifiably proud of its 100 year history. and crew on board. A week later, near been at lunch in the second-class to Fred’s family that nothing was Refreshments will be available all weekend and the church the coast of Ireland, the Lusitania was saloon when the disaster occurred. He known of his fate. has wheelchair access and disabled facilities. spotted by a German submarine, U20. heard a noise as though a big window The Germans torpedoed the liner; she had been shattered. As the vessel Fred is remembered on his parent’s took only 18 minutes to sink. The began to list and the crockery slid off memorial stone in Tyldesley Cemetery. For more information, please contact Reverend Reg Sinclair on 01942 892996. Germans believed the Lusitania was the table, the passengers made for the

28 29 By Peter Walker him to go back but he said, ‘No, I would rather see John’s father may have died when he was young you safe’. While lifting the officer on to his shoulders because the 1891 and 1901 censuses found him living Gleaves was shot in the arm but managed to get back with grandparents, Moses and Elizabeth Williams, in Wigan Hero to his own trenches. He then went for a stretcher and Holywell, Flintshire. He joined the Loyal North Lancashire accompanied the officer back to the hospital 400 regiment in 1906 as a regular soldier but when he yards away, where the lieutenant shook hands with married in 1909 his occupation was given as collier. him. Returning to the trenches Gleaves again went out Wins Victoria to rescue a wounded private who had been lying near Annie’s father also died when she was young. Her the officer. Whilst returning with the second casualty mother remarried and following the death of her Gleaves was struck in the foot and side by shrapnel. A second husband moved to Wigan where she was stretcher party took the private but Gleaves crawled running a fish and chip shop in Wallgate in 1911. In Cross? on his hands and knees through the mud to the 1911, John and Annie were living in Sutton, were he hospital. On his way to the hospital two officers of the was described as a miner and by 1915 they were living King’s Own Rifles told him that he would be with his mother-in-law, Margaret Jane Selby, in Linney ‘Wigan Hero Wins VC. Through shot and shell to save recommended for the Victoria Cross. Invalided home Street Scholes. Gleaves stated that he was a regular comrade’. So ran the Wigan Observer headline on 23 Gleaves spent some time in hospital in Manchester soldier for some years prior to the outbreak of war but January 1915; the Wigan Examiner was more cautious, from where he was discharged on 15 January. had been invalided home from Mauritius and given a ‘Wigan Hero Recommended for the Victoria Cross – job at Fulwood Barracks, rejoining his regiment at the Gallant Rescues of Wounded Comrades’ was its There is no official record of his having been outbreak of war. He appears to have survived the war, headline on the same date. awarded the VC; perhaps in the chaos of battle there possibly living in Preston. His mother-in-law is buried was no time to obtain sufficient verifiable witnesses to in Wigan (Lower Ince) Cemetery. The names of the people from Wigan Borough who justify the award. were awarded the Victoria Cross are quite well known Sources: so when I came across the name of John Gleaves, who The newspaper reports stated that Gleaves and his Wigan Council Minutes, Wigan Observer, appeared to have been missed out of the official lists, I wife were both born in Wigan. However, research Wigan Examiner, www.loyalregiment.com, was intrigued to find out more. suggests that he was born in Accrington, son of www.cwgc.org, Ancestry.com, findmypast.co.uk, John Edward Gleaves, a butcher. In 1909 he married lancsbmd.org, The details came to light when I was indexing the Annie Stone, daughter of Edward Stone, fisherman, www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/cemetery.php?opt=cemete ry minutes of Wigan County Borough Council for the who was born in Fleetwood. period of the Great War and I found the following item on the agenda for the Town Council meeting, dated 29 January 1915: • SPOTLIGHT ON • ‘To pass a resolution, if deemed advisable, John Gleaves congratulating Corporal John Gleaves (Loyal Lancashire Regiment), of 57 Linney street, Wigan, upon his having him to get anything at all. He did not want to say been awarded a Victoria Cross for his exemplary anything voluntarily’. Hindley & District History Society conduct at La Bassee in the present ‘European War.’ On the afternoon of 31 December 1914 Corporal However, by the date of the meeting on Gleaves with three other NCOs and 30 men had The society was formed in 2001 and meetings were held in the museum area of Hindley library 3 February a note of caution had emerged. completed digging trenches about 150 yards from the and museum. The society also ran the museum on a voluntary basis and was open several German lines and were returning to their billets when times a month as well as for schools, groups and by request. During this time we produced European War - The Town Clerk read statement given they met Colonel Powell leading a regiment of the Loyal many leaflets on various aspects of Hindley as well as a DVD on Walter Hurst, well known local him by Corporal Gleaves with reference to certain brave North Lancs and he ordered them to fall in. incidents with which he was connected whilst in the clogger, which was sold for charity. The society also mounted displays on on Walking Days and field of battle in France on the 31st December last. The Returning to the trenches they waited some time until John Farrimond, a local author. Town Council congratulated Corporal Gleaves on the they were ordered to fix bayonets and take the German bravery displayed by him.’ trench at all costs. They charged against a continuous At the end of 2011 the library and museum building was closed and the society had to find hail of enemy fire and reached the German positions, No mention of a VC and there is nothing in the a new home. We were fortunate in being able to store our artefacts and paper archive in driving them out. The enemy retreated to a line of official records. railway wagons from where they opened up a rain of Tudor House, Hindley Community Centre, where we now hold our meetings. On 6 February both the Examiner and the Observer deadly fire driving them back to their own trenches. published identical accounts of the Town Clerk’s Our latest ongoing projects are Hindley Cemetery Walks and Borsdane Wood. Meetings are meeting with Corporal Gleaves, as reported at the Town On the way back Corporal Gleaves noticed Lieutenant held on 2nd Monday of the month and all are welcome. Further information can be obtained Council meeting. Rowell lying wounded about mid-way between the two from Mrs. Joan Topping on 01942 257361. The history society will be putting on a display in lines. Having reached the safety of his own trench the shop window of Tudor House around Remembrance weekend on the First World War with The Town Clerk reported that, ‘…he is a very modest Gleaves rushed forward to the Lieutenant’s side with and retiring soldier and therefore I had to cross-examine shrapnel falling all around him. The Lieutenant ordered information on Hindley people of the time.

30 31 revolver and threatened to shoot anyone generous man and supplied Dad and other who refused to hold his position. Eventually, wounded soldiers with food and cigarettes. He the troops returned to their posts and order owned a big house and kept photographs of was restored. all the soldiers he had befriended on the walls of his living room. Dad would do errands for Thomas Dakin: After another few yards advance, Dad and a the hospital and the less fortunate, using local few of his mates were pinned down again. This trams or walking to get around. The wounded time they were trapped in a dip in a nearby were treated well. If they were wearing field. For better protection they dug shallow hospital-blue then transport, cafes and An Experience of War trenches with their bayonets. In the chaos that theatres were all free. followed they became separated from the rest of the party. As the light began to fade, Dad Dad was eventually discharged on 14 January BY TED DAKIN and a few more managed to reach an isolated 1919. He returned home wearing a thin, cheap farm which was owned by two old women. demob suit and was issued a war pension of The farm was already occupied by a squad of seven shillings and sixpence per week, which My Dad, Thomas Dakin, was the youngest of Welsh Guards who were awaiting orders to when he was on the dole he relinquished for a four brothers and two sisters, born to Richard attack the German position in the wood. Dad, lump sum of £10. and Margaret on 24 March 1899. Richard and who at one point was concealed behind a tree, On Dad’s discharge certificate are the Margaret were ‘water gypsies’ and worked on managed to down a German soldier, who was following words: the Leeds to Liverpool canal. They also lived in one of a group trying to reach his comrades in a boatman's cottage at Spencer's Bridge, the wood. Being surplus to military requirements (having Newburgh, seven miles from Wigan. suffered impairment since entry into service). Some time later, with supplies low, Dad With the advent of speedier road and rail volunteered to get water from the farmhouse He received one blue stripe for the wound transportation, canal work began to suffer, well. As he was crossing the yard he was inflicted; he died in Wigan Infirmary on so the family loaded up their possessions, caught in a hail of bullets fired from the copse. 8 March 1978. boarded their horse drawn boat, and came A machine gun bullet entered his neck a few to Wigan. inches below his left ear, and down he went. Ted Dakin, holding the bullet removed from The time was about three o’clock in the his father's shoulder In desperation, Grandad led his faithful horse morning on Sunday 13 May 1918. He was into a local pub and tried to sell it. As a lad, unconscious for some time and came to with Dad saw the statue of Sir Francis Sharp Powell blood pumping from his mouth and a being erected in the year 1910. shadowy figure kneeling over him. Later that morning he was taken by a London bus with On 10 May 1917, Dad enlisted to fight in other wounded to safety behind the lines. the Great War; he had just turned eighteen. He was a private in the Welsh Fusiliers and He was shipped from France and hospitalised at after a few months training he was shipped Birkenhead, near Liverpool. The bullet, which out to France. was lodged in his right shoulder (on the opposite side to where it had entered) was On their first day on foreign soil the regiment found three weeks later by a matron and was taken by London buses up to the front removed. It had missed his wind pipe by a mere line. Dad and his company were detailed to fraction. They gave him the bullet as a memento flush out a company of German soldiers who of his brush with death. Because of his injuries were ‘holed-up’ in a small wood near the he couldn’t speak for three months. Whilst village of Esteres. They managed to get within recovering, he and other injured troops were 300 yards of the copse but the enemy, entertained nightly in a large marquee. Dad met possessing heavy artillary, began an almighty a soldier who was suffering from the effects of bombardment. However, the British dug in and shell-shock; he stole the man’s army great coat managed to hold their positions. to replace the one he had lost in France.

In the fierce battle that followed many British Whilst recuperating he met Dr. Floyd, a retired Thomas Dakin, 1917 soldiers threw down their arms and began to general practitioner, who used to have a panel retreat. Their commanding officer drew his of wealthy patients. Apparently he was a very

32 33 Also of interest is the registration, EK524, of the Many more examples of similar advertisements BY RITA MUSA vehicle in the advertisement. We have in our were published throughout the local newspapers. Archives the Motor Vehicle Licensing Record for this The Wigan Observer from 1853 onwards and The lorry. The registration of motor vehicles was Wigan Examiner 1853 – 1961 can be viewed on introduced under the Motor Car Act, 1903. It microfilm at Wigan Local Studies. Commercial Advertising designated County Councils and County Boroughs as the licensing authorities. and the First World War

As the war progressed there was a surge in newspaper readership, the public clamoured for news from the front. This increase presented large numbers of potential customers to advertisers. Evidence of this is recorded in Wigan Public Libraries Annual Report for 1914 when the Chief Librarian, Henry Tennyson Folkard lamented the reduction in the number of books issued, against the, ‘public’s insatiable appetite for Newspaper Specials’.

Because of the shortfall of recruits into the army, the Secretary of State for War, J. E. B. Seeley employed the services of the publicist Hedley Le Bas of Caxton Press to launch a campaign drawing on emotional appeals. It was acknowledged for the first time that advertising might make a contribution to the war effort. YOUR LETTERS Household names defended their existing reputations, as can be seen in the advertisements by Dunlops extolling the use of British made tyres and J. Lyons acction for libel against Lipton Limited.

Patriotism was a recurring theme in commercial Local advertising, alongside the denigration of the enemy. businesses Dear Editor Poole’s Central Warehouse, Wigan, published on a were behind regular basis advertisements such as the ones the war published in the early days of the First World War. effort; they Issue No. 66 is great but did you know it had Ted McAvoy’s piece on Wigan collieries brought reinforced remedial properties? back memories of pit heads and mine shafts in propaganda Billinge, my home village. As someone who messages I woke up this morning with man-flu, that now works for the Church of England, I took and at the distressing and debilitating malady only perverse pleasure in ‘Falling from Grace’, same time experienced by the male of the species and Denise Colbert’s story of the Rev. Charles benefitted therefore not understood by our wives, female Newbold. And the two tragic accounts of Peter through the partners, daughters, mothers, who tend to Peters and Shadrach and Annie Critchley made sales of show little sympathy. In my miserable lonely me feel that perhaps I hadn’t much to their goods. state, I sat down with a cup of strong tea and complain about. to read Past Forward which arrived yesterday. W. R. Deakin Limited, preserve The result? I feel much better thanks to Past manufacturers of Bradford Mill, Bradford Place, Wigan, placed an advertisement in Its effect was amazing. Tom Walsh’s article on Forward, but I’m not telling my wife yet as, the Wigan Observer, 21 Novermber 1914, his first day at school made me smile as I being a mere man, I need more pampering. under the headline, ‘Leading the way as usual recognised features from my own beginnings with Deakins’. in 1947 at what was St James’s Road County Best wishes, Primary (now Newfold) School in Orrell. John Richardson

34 35 home on leave a few times. His girls to support, Ann aged five, the Imperial War Graves oldest daughter, Ann, remembered Edith, three and Olive, one. Commission asking her, ‘to be so Edward Williams that on one occasion, when he good as to forward to the Finance was on his way home for a short Later through letters from two Department the sum of 11 shillings leave, he called in at St Luke's of his officers, both written on and 8 pence in payment for the school and asked her teacher if he 15 November 1918, Mary found following personal inscription: could take her home for the rest of out that Edward had been Gone but not forgotten, from dear 1890-1918 the day. Naturally permission was wounded on 8 November, almost wife and children’. given. He was also given the last time 267 Company had compassionate leave to see his come under fire. Although his When my grandmother died in BY JEAN SWIFT youngest daughter, Olive, when companions did what they could 1980, we found a shoe-box at the she was born on 2 April 1917. On for him Edward died the next day bottom of her wardrobe. In this she his last leave, when he knew that in a field hospital. They were near had kept all the correspondence he was going back to France, he the village of Wannehain on the relating to Edward's death, My grandfather, Edward Williams, and Mary was vey proud of the left home with a very heavy heart. France-Belgium border and photographs and postcards, many was born in St Helens in December fact that they were one of the few When he arrived at the bus stop at Edward was buried in the of them beautifully embroidered, 1890. He was the third child of couples in Stubshaw Cross who the Ram's Head he realised that churchyard there. which Edward had sent to her and Edward and Elizabeth Williams. His could afford to buy a daily paper. he'd left his rifle behind. At that his children. two older sisters were Margaret When Edward had finished time soldiers going home on leave In early 1919, relatives of those and Annie and after Edward was reading the paper he went out and had to take all their equipment who had died were informed by Sadly, Mary was never able to visit born there were four more gave it to a group of men who with them. He was forced to turn the War Office that they could Edward's grave but in October children, Moses, Edith, Elizabeth every evening gathered under the back for it and Mary saw this as a request a photograph of their 1984, I accompanied my mother and Catherine (Kitty). gas lamp on Golborne Road and very bad omen. loved one’s grave. Mary filled in Edith and her two sisters Ann and one of them who could read the necessary form and in due Olive to Arras and we were able to Some time between 1905 and would keep the rest up to date Edward fought in France and course the photograph arrived of a lay our own poppy wreaths on 1911, Edward senior went to work with what was happening in the Belgium with 267 Company Royal simple wooden cross in Wannehain Edward's grave. It was a very at Golborne Colliery and the family rest of the world. Field Artillery. On one very Churchyard. When the government emotional moment. moved to Edge Green Street, memorable occasion he was able set up the Imperial War Graves Stubshaw Cross. When my When war was declared Edward's to meet with his brother, Moses, in Commission, it was decided to Letter informing Mary of the death grandfather left school he joined younger brother, Moses, was one Ypres when both were allowed rest make large cemeteries as near to of her husband his father working at Golborne Pit, of the first to volunteer. He joined from the battlefield. the battlefields as a job he hated. the Lancashire Fusiliers as 9745, possible and to bring to Private Moses Williams. Years later On 11 November 1918, great was them the bodies of In 1912, Edward married a Moses admitted to me that like so the rejoicing in Stubshaw Cross those soldiers who lay neighbour, Mary Coombes. They many young men at the time, he when the Armistice was declared. in scattered graves. lived with Mary's widowed father saw it as a way out of working Mary remembered joining in with Before a body could be in Dawber Street, Stubshaw Cross down the pit, which he too hated. the rest of her neighbours dancing moved the consent of and that was where their first Edward, however, did not want to round the gas lamps on Golborne the relatives had to be child, Ann was born on 17 leave his new job and his young Road that night. It was to be more given. Mary gave her December 1912. Soon after this family. Mary was pregnant with than a week later when the fateful consent and received a they were offered a house of their their second child and on 28 telegram arrived telling Mary that letter telling her that own to rent, 68, Golborne Road. Edward Williams January 1915, Edward and Mary's Edward had died of wounds on 9 Edward's body had This house was next door to an second daughter, Edith, was born. November. One of the ladies from been reburied in Arras outdoor license. The owners of this about his ideas and they offered to the outdoor license saw the Road British Cemetery, shop, the Hodkinson family, owned lend him the money to buy a By 1916, by which time thousands telegram boy about to go down Roclincourt. the house my grandparents lived bicycle, a bucket and a ladder. He of our young soldiers had been the path of number 68, guessed in, as well as quite a lot of property was able to leave the pit and on killed and fewer were volunteering, what it was about and was able to Mary requested to in Stubshaw Cross. his newly acquired bicycle he rode it was decided to introduce intercept him and take the have a personal round the area calling at the newly conscription; Edward was called up telegram to Mary herself. inscription on Edward was still very unhappy built larger houses offering to do to serve in the Royal Field Artillery Edward's gravestone, working at the pit. His ambition any odd jobs, window cleaning, as 164802, Gunner Edward I can't begin to imagine how my as did many other was to become self-employed. One gardening, cleaning the drains. He Williams. He did has training on grandmother must have felt. relatives. She then day he told his new neighbours gradually built up a good business Salisbury Plain and was able to go A widow at 24 with three little received a form from

36 37 SOCIETY NEWS EVENTS CALENDAR

Aspull and Haigh Leigh & District Family Wigan Archaeological local and family history fair, guided tours WW1 Centenary Walks of the church and the town hall, family activities Historical Society History Society Society and much more! The walk will look at the memorials and the stories of Meetings are held on the Meetings held at the We meet on the first Wednesday local men commemorated in Wigan Cemetery. Saturday 13 September 2014, 10.30am-3.00pm second Thursday of the month at Derby Room, Leigh Library at of the month, at 7.30pm, in the Wednesday 3 September 2014, 1.30pm-3.00pm Civic Square, Leigh Town Hall and Leigh Library, Wigan Cemetery, meet at the Cenotaph, £3.00. Our Lady’s RC Church Hall, Haigh 7.30 p.m. Standish Suite at the Brocket Free but some activities may have a small charge Road, Aspull at 7.30pm. Arms on Mesnes Road - on the For more information or to book, please phone For further information, please contact 19 August, Getting Started 01942 828128 or email [email protected] 01942 404430 / 01942 404559 All are welcome, contact Barbara first Wednesday of the month 19 September, 'Anecdotes of a Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Rhodes for further details on (except January and August). 01942 222769. Registrar', Carole Codd There is a car park adjacent on Home Front to Battle Front 21 October, 'In Flew Enza', the left. Admission is £2 for Exhibition Coffee, Cake and Culture: Atherton Heritage Society Tony Foster members and £3 for guests. Families at War 18 November, 'In Search of a For more information call From 6 September 2014 Monthly meetings held on second Hero', Bill Taylor Bill Aldridge on 01257 402342. Saturday 16 September and Tuesday 18 November This new free exhibition reveals the impact of the First Tuesday of each month in The Society also runs a You an also visit the website at 10.30am-12.00pm www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk World War on the people and places of our borough. £3.00 (includes tea / coffee and cake) St Richard’s Parish Centre, Mayfield Help Desk every Monday from Discover the local stories behind this global Street, Atherton at 7.30pm. 1.30-3.30, except Bank Holidays, Wigan Civic Trust catastrophe. Find out more about the the hidden Admission: Members £1, at Leigh Local Studies. histories of women in munitions and other factory We Shall Remember Them: Non Members £2 including Contact Mrs G McClellan work, pit brow lasses and men in reserve occupations Rugby Footballers in Khaki If you have an interest in the refreshments. Contact Details: 01942 729559 for further details down the pit. This exhibition explores everything from Margaret Hodge, 01942 884893. standard of planning and bombing raids over Scholes to the German Prisoner of or www.liverpool- architecture, and the by Mike Latham genealogy.org.uk/leighgroup War camp near Leigh. Billinge History and conservation of buildings and A look back at the rugby footballers of the Leigh and structures in our historic town, Horses for the War Wigan area who gave their lives for their Country Heritage Society Local History come along and meet us. during World War One. The casualty list included ten Federation Meetings are held on the Leigh players including League Championship winners Meetings are held on the second Monday of the month by Nigel Neil Sam Whittaker and Paddy O’Neill and Wigan’s star second Tuesday of the month at Lancashire at 7.30pm. The venue is When the First World War broke out, the War Office winger Lou Bradley. Mike Latham gives the Billinge Chapel End Labour St George’s Church, Water Street, needed to source 150,000 horses in just 12 days. background to their careers, time in the services and their tragic ends serving King and Country. Club at 7.30pm. There is a door The Federation holds several Wigan WN1 1XD. Contact Mr A Draught and riding horses were requisitioned by the A special event as part of the First World War charge of £2. Please contact meetings each year, with a Grimshaw on 01942 245777 for government from businesses, farms and houses Geoff Crank for more further information. across Britain to pull guns, transport supplies, exhibition. varied and interesting evacuate the wounded, and occasionally mount information on 01695 624411 or programme. For details visit Thursday 25 September 2014, 12 noon-1.15pm, at [email protected] Wigan Family and cavalry charges at the front. But most of the million www.lancashirehistory.org or or more war horses and mules that Britain £2.50 including tea/coffee call 01204 707885. Local History Society eventually needed actually came from the USA and Places are limited so to book please phone Hindley & District Canada, and more than a quarter of these were 01942 828128 or email History Society Skelmersdale & We meet on the second trained at Lathom near Ormskirk in Lancashire. [email protected]. Wednesday of each month at These animals suffered huge losses from artillery Meetings are held on the second Upholland St Andrew’s Parish Centre, 120 and machine gun fire as well as the cold and Guides to take visitors Woodhouse Lane, Springfield, difficult conditions of war. Listen to the fascinating Monday of the month at 7.00pm Family History Society story of the last war in which horses would be used through the labyrinths: at Tudor House, Liverpool Road, Wigan and the last Tuesday of each month at the Museum of on such a huge scale. A special event as part of the First World War training Hindley. Please contact Mrs Joan Meetings held at 7.30pm on the First World War exhibition. Wigan Life. No meetings are held and the public in Blackpool Topping on 01942 257361 for fourth Tuesday each month at information. in July, August and December. Saturday 6 September 2014, 1.00pm-2.00pm Hall Green Community Centre, Attendance fees are £2.50 per Museum of Wigan Life, £2.50 including tea/coffee, Leigh & District Antiques Upholland. There are no meeting for both members Suitable for 12+ years By Nigel Neil meetings in July or August. and visitors. Our aim is to Places are limited so to book please phone Tuesday 11 November 12.00pm – 1.15pm and Collectables Society For more information contact provide support, help, ideas and 01942 828128 or email £2.50 (includes tea / coffee) Sue Hesketh (Secretary) advice for members and non [email protected]. The society meets at Leigh RUFC, 01942 212940 or members alike. For more Blackpool was an important training town for the Beech Walk, Leigh. [email protected] information please visit, Leigh for All – Heritage Open Day north west during the First World War with a New members are always or visit http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/fa reported 14,000 troops billeted there in November 1914. Practice trenches were constructed in the town welcome and further details www.liverpoolgenealogy.org.uk/ milyhistory/ or see us at our To celebrate Heritage Open Day there will be a variety available from Mr C Gaskell on weekly Monday afternoon of events in and around the Civic Square themed to train troops for war. Find out how more about this SkemGrp/Skem hidden story of the First World War. 01942 673521. helpdesk at the Museum of around the commemorations of the First World War Wigan Life. and a celebration of Edwardian Leigh, including a How to Find Us

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