DOCSLIB.ORG

The Thiepval Memorial Walking Tour

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Thiepval Memorial Walking Tour Starting from the Velodrome At this crossroads take the A few metres further on, still on your Take the path to the right to the Next, turn left to the memorial to D 2 th 5 sports ground, set off towards sharpest right turn and, at the left, the churned up field surface 3 Thiepval memorial. the 18 Division, then turn right Albert. top of the slope, take a path to the left. still shows traces of fighting. You will be on the German front line, along the D151 road. At the cross- THE Turn left again when you come to a roads, turn left along the D 73 road. 4 Immediately beyond the The Lonsdale Cemetery was esta- with a fine view over the battlefield : on THIEPVAL MEMORIAL 1 Velodrome café on the left, road further on. blished in 1917 for the dead from the the left is the dark mass of Aveluy Wood On your left, if the fields are ploughed WALKING TOUR take the footbridge which crosses the A little later, on your left, you will find battles at Authuille and Aveluy and ori- from where the British artillery fired on and clear of crops, you can see a white River Ancre. Go through the gardens the Nab. This valley, between Ovillers ginally contained 96 graves. It was the slopes of Thiepval hill, Authuille chalk line which marks the site of an to the tennis courts. Turn left and, at and Thiepval, led to Mouquet Farm extended after the Armistice, and today Wood, Ulster Tower and Connaught old trench. DEPARTURE : the next junction, turn left along the and was used by the soldiers as they it holds a total of 1,515 men. Most are Cemetery with, beyond, the Soon after this, two British cemeteries Albert Authuille path to a road. went up the line. In July 1916 it was British, but four Australians and two Newfoundland Memorial Park above are planted with Irish yew trees : (the Velodrome sports ground) The site known as the “Entre-Deux- almost on the front line and consisted French soldiers are also interred here. Beaumont-Hamel. Pozières and - Connaught Cemetery on your left. of a network of trenches. To the south RETURN : Chemins” contains what are probably Mouquet Farm lie to the right. Established in the autumn of 1916, this the remains of a blockhouse. of the Nab was the “Dead Man’s Bank”, Gradually you approach the great cemetery held only 228 graves at the Albert the site of numerous bloody deaths on (the Velodrome sports ground) memorial of the Somme. By time of the Armistice but it was exten- 1 July 1916. approaching it in this way from the ded later to take in the bodies of men DISTANCE : west you will be following the direction from other cemeteries. Most of the 17 kilometres / 10,5 miles of the British attack. 1,278 men who are buried here now TIME : The Nab. 4 hours 15 3 WAY-MARKING : DON’T MISS ✯ The Town Hall DON’T MISS yellow Albert he vast Town Hall, rebuilt in Neo- Thiepval ✯✯ Basilica of Notre-Dame de Brebières TFlemish style, is surmounted by a ✯✯✯ The British National Memorial 64-metre high belfry. The richness of he decision to build the basilica of Notre-Dame de Brebières stemmed from a its Art Déco interior design (stained n 1932 the British government began to work on Maps IGN n°2407 and 2408 Tlegend. In mediaeval times, a shepherd is said to have found a miraculous sta- glass windows) and its size, which Ithe great Somme Memorial at Thiepval. This © IGN Paris 2001 n°6060.38 6 tue of the Virgin in the fields, which became the destination for pilgrimage. The may seem excessive, are a reminder imposing brick and stone monument, the work of 7 Neo-Byzantine church was built between 1885 and 1895, by the Picard architect of the prosperity of this industrial the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, is 45 metres high 1 cm : 350 metres Edmond Duthoit. Very seriously damaged in the First World War, it was rebuilt bet- town in the inter-war years (machine and visible for many kilometres around. It comme- ween 1927 and 1929 by the architect’s son and grandson. The Virgin and Child at tools and aeronautical engineering). morates the 72,085 missing British and South its top is the work of the architect Albert Roze, a replica created at the time of It was inaugurated by the President African soldiers who fell between July 1915 and reconstruction. The pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Brebières is still undertaken March 1918, and who have no known graves. Their th of the Republic, Albert Lebrun, today, during the first half of September. The 11 century statue of the miraculous in 1932. names are inscribed on the sixteen columns which Virgin is on display in the apse chapel. In addition, the interior of basilica is richly A large commemorative plaque in form the base of the edifice. The inscription across the top of this triumphal arch LONDRES decorated with frescoes and mosaics. reads : “Aux armées françaises et britanniques, l’Empire britannique reconnais- TUNNEL the entrance foyer of the Town Hall 2 Anvers stresses the significance that the sant” (“To the French and British armies, the grateful British Empire”). Two ceme- Gand teries - one French, one British - at the foot of the memorial, each with Calais BRUXELLES ✯✯ Somme 1916 Museum government wished to lay on the E 300 graves, are a confirmation of the equality and the brotherhood of arms. Boulogne A LITTLE HISTORY… reconstruction of the devasted H Lille his museum lies at the heart of C VERS N Tthe Battles of the Somme (1914- regions. Outside, another plaque was A ALBERT COLOGNE Albert M placed in memory of the 175,000 Abbeville lberts is a town heavy with history and which experienced substantial 1918), in an underground area adap- British soldiers who served in the Amiens ted as an anti-aircraft shelter in Péronne industrial expansion during the nineteenth century. The town boasted “THE THIEPVAL A 1939. It retraces the soldiers’ life in Machine-Gun Corps. MEMORIAL 7,343 inhabitants in 1914…and only 120 by January 1919. Occupied by the Le Havre Beauvais WALKING TOUR” Germans from 29 August until 14 September 1914, then evacuated after the the trenches during the offensive of Rouen ✯ Laon Battle of the Marne, it suffered ceaseless bombardment from the time that July 1916 along this front, which was The Train Station Aéroport Reims held by the British army. The entrance Charles the front line was stabilised along the Ovillers-La Boisselle-Thiepval line. In he station ceiling, entirely reno- De Gaulle to the Somme 1916 Museum lies VERS January 1915 a German shell hit the basilica belfry ; leaving the gilded sta- Tvated, is enhanced with a Potez PARIS STRASBOURG tue of the Virgin hanging horizontally until it finally fell in March 1918. close to the basilica. The 230-metre- 36 aircraft. Henry Potez, a pioneer of Known as “the Leaning Virgin”, it gave birth to a belief among the Allied long gallery is studded with alcoves aeronautical engineering, was a nati- D soldiers that its fall would mean the end of the war. The relief of the French showing realistic scenes of trench ve of Albert. In 1922 he set up an air- army by the British army took place in July 1915. The town then became a life. Eighteen display cases present craft factory of expanding importan- centre of intense military activities, particularly during the Somme offensive various objects and documents, often ce at Méaulte which in 1970 became 1 (staff headquarters, billets, material and munitions depots, hospitals, inces- very moving as well as war material Aérospatiale and then EADS Airbus sant convoys of troops and vehicles going up the line or returning, etc). and weapons of the period. Industrie. He pushed for Albert’s Albert has remained a symbolic town for the British. After its recapture by The gallery opens out into the expansion in the aeronautical indus- the Germans in March 1918, then its liberation by the British in August of delightful public gardens. A museum try. that year, the town was nothing but a vast pile of ruins. shop is located at the end of the Ninety per cent of the town of Albert was destroyed in the First World War. It was visit. rebuilt in Art Déco style during the 1920s and ‘3Os, with the aid of the city of Birmingham. Today, the perspective given by the train station, basilica and the town hall is entirely typical of the architectural style of the reconstruction period. were killed during the summer and A few metres further on, on your right, On reaching Saint-Pierre-Divion, At the next junction, take the Just beyond the cemetery, go autumn of 1916. A memorial set up at the remains of a German fortifi- turn left and then left again. 5 track facing you which runs 6 uphill to the left along a path the time, in honour of the men who fell cation stick out of the ground, As you leave Saint-Pierre-Divion, look along beside Authuille Wood. to the Bois de la Haie. at the Schwaben Redoubt on constructed with retrieved materials up to see, on your right, an electricity A large number of non-natural excava- La Turn right. 28 September 1916, is now in the City (railway track, brick, stone). pole with a helment and a shell tions, shell craters or the 7 of York. You can also enjoy a fine view over the at its top.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Your Virtual Visit - 63 to the Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
    YOUR VIRTUAL VISIT - 63 TO THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY MUSEUM OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Throughout 2021, the Virtual Visit series will be continuing to present interesting features from the collection and their background stories. The Australian Army Museum of Western Australia is now open four days per week, Wednesday through Friday plus Sunday. Current COVID19 protocols including contact tracing will apply. National Memories of the Somme Beaumont Hamel, Delville Wood, Helen’s Tower, Thiepval An earlier Virtual Visit (VV61) focussed on the Australian remembrance of the Somme battles of July – November 1916. Other countries within the British Empire suffered similar trauma as national casualties mounted. They too chose to commemorate their sacrifice through evocative national memorials on the Somme battlefield. Newfoundland Regiment - Beaumont Hamel During the First World War, Newfoundland was a largely rural Dominion of the British Empire with a population of 240,000 people, and not yet part of Canada. In August 1914, Newfoundland recruited a battalion for service with the British Army. In a situation reminiscent of the khaki shortage facing the first WA Contingent to the Boer War, recruits in the Regiment were nicknamed the "Blue Puttees" due to the unusual colour of the puttees, chosen to give the Newfoundland Regiment a unique look and due to the unavailability of woollen khakis on the island. On 20 September 1915, the Regiment landed at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula. At that stage of the campaign, the Newfoundland Regiment faced snipers, artillery fire and severe cold, as well as the trench warfare hazards of cholera, dysentery, typhus, gangrene and trench foot.
    [Show full text]
  • World War I Casualty Biographies
    St Martins-Milford World War I Casualty Biographies This memorial plaque to WW1 is in St Martin’s Church, Milford. There over a 100 listed names due to the fact that St Martin’s church had one of the largest congregations at that time. The names have been listed as they are on the memorial but some of the dates on the memorial are not correct. Sapper Edward John Ezard B Coy, Signal Corps, Royal Engineers- Son of Mr. and Mrs. J Ezard of Manchester- Husband of Priscilla Ezard, 32, Newton Cottages, The Friary, Salisbury- Father of 1 and 5 year old- Born in Lancashire in 1883- Died in hospital 24th August 1914 after being crushed by a lorry. Buried in Bavay Communal Cemetery, France (12 graves) South Part. Private George Hawkins 1st Battalion Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry- Son of George and Caroline Hawkins, 21 Trinity Street, Salisbury- Born in 1887 in Shrewton- He was part of the famous Mon’s retreat- His body was never found- Died on 21st October 1914. (818 died on that day). Commemorated on Le Touret Memorial, France. Panel 19. Private Reginald William Liversidge 1st Dorsetshire Regiment- Son of George and Ellen Liversidge of 55, Culver Street, Salisbury- Born in 1892 in Salisbury- He was killed during the La Bassee/Armentieres battles- His body was never found- Died on 22nd October 1914 Commemorated on Le Touret Memorial, France. Panel 22. Corporal Thomas James Gascoigne Shoeing Smith, 70th Battery Royal Field Artillery- Husband of Edith Ellen Gascoigne, 54 Barnard Street, Salisbury- Born in Croydon in 1887-Died on wounds on 30th September 1914.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things a Little Learning
    1 Old, Unhappy, Far-off Things A Little Learning I have not been in a battle; not near one, nor heard one from afar, nor seen the aftermath. I have questioned people who have been in battle - my father and father-in-law among them; have walked over battlefields, here in England, in Belgium, in France and in America; have often turned up small relics of the fighting - a slab of German 5.9 howitzer shell on the roadside by Polygon Wood at Ypres, a rusted anti-tank projectile in the orchard hedge at Gavrus in Normandy, left there in June 1944 by some highlander of the 2nd Argyll and Sutherlands; and have sometimes brought my more portable finds home with me (a Minie bullet from Shiloh and a shrapnel ball from Hill 60 lie among the cotton-reels in a painted papier-mache box on my drawing-room mantelpiece). I have read about battles, of course, have talked about battles, have been lectured about battles and, in the last four or five years, have watched battles in progress, or apparently in progress, on the television screen. I have seen a good deal of other, earlier battles of this century on newsreel, some of them convincingly authentic, as well as much dramatized feature film and countless static images of battle: photographs and paintings and sculpture of a varying degree of realism. But I have never been in a battle. And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can be like. Neither of these statements and none of this experience is in the least remarkable.
    [Show full text]
  • Section, No-Man's Land Was Everywhere Exceptionally Wide
    Extract from ‘Westcountry Regiments on the Somme’ By Major (Retired) Tim Saunders MBE (Late D and D) This book covers the part played by both the Devonshire and Dorset Regiments in the 1916 Battle. It covers the arrival of the battalions on the Somme, preliminary operations and the part they played in the various phases of this grimmest of battles from the disaster of 1 July through to the very final attack in mid November. The extract below is on the attack of 2nd Battalion the Devonshire Regiment on Ovillers la Boissele on 1st July 1916; the blackest day in the long history of the British Army. Introduction Of the five Westcountry battalions in action on the first day of the battle, 2/Devon was one of the two battalions that attacked or ‘went over the top’ in the first wave at Zero Hour. They had arrived on the Somme, to join the Fourth Army, at the end of March with 8th Division joining III Corps. Along with the remainder of the Army, the Devons worked hard training and preparing for the great offensive. Meanwhile, the Germans, with only the questions of time, date and boundaries of the British attack to determine, continued to strengthen their position. The German Positions Opposite III Corps, the Germans 26th Reserve Division occupied positions on three spurs that ran down from the Pozieres Ridge. The two fingers of high ground of significance to 8th Division and the Devons were the Ovillers Spur and the la Boisselle Spur. Both were crowned with German held villages that had been developed into fortresses within the front line trench systems.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of War Memorial Design
    A BRIEF HISTORY OF WAR MEMORIAL DESIGN War Memorials in Manitoba: An Artistic Legacy A BRIEF HISTORY OF WAR MEMORIAL DESIGN war memorial may take many forms, though for most people the first thing that comes to mind is probably a freestanding monument, whether more sculptural (such as a human figure) or architectural (such as an arch or obelisk). AOther likely possibilities include buildings (functional—such as a community hall or even a hockey rink—or symbolic), institutions (such as a hospital or endowed nursing position), fountains or gardens. Today, in the 21st century West, we usually think of a war memorial as intended primarily to commemorate the sacrifice and memorialize the names of individuals who went to war (most often as combatants, but also as medical or other personnel), and particularly those who were injured or killed. We generally expect these memorials to include a list or lists of names, and the conflicts in which those remembered were involved—perhaps even individual battle sites. This is a comparatively modern phenomenon, however; the ancestors of this type of memorial were designed most often to celebrate a victory, and made no mention of individual sacrifice. Particularly recent is the notion that the names of the rank and file, and not just officers, should be set down for remembrance. A Brief History of War Memorial Design 1 War Memorials in Manitoba: An Artistic Legacy Ancient Precedents The war memorials familiar at first hand to Canadians are most likely those erected in the years after the end of the First World War. Their most well‐known distant ancestors came from ancient Rome, and many (though by no means all) 20th‐century monuments derive their basic forms from those of the ancient world.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Shaping a First World War Narrative : a Sculptural Memorialisation Inspired by the Letters and Diaries of One New Zealand
    Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. Re-Shaping a First World War Narrative: A Sculptural Memorialisation Inspired by the Letters and Diaries of One New Zealand Soldier David Guerin 94114985 2020 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand (Cover) Alfred Owen Wilkinson, On Active Service in the Great War, Volume 1 Anzac; Volume 2 France 1916–17; Volume 3 France, Flanders, Germany (Dunedin: Self-published/A.H. Reed, 1920; 1922; 1924). (Above) Alfred Owen Wilkinson, 2/1498, New Zealand Field Artillery, First New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 1915, left, & 1917, right. 2 Dedication Dedicated to: Alfred Owen Wilkinson, 1893 ̶ 1962, 2/1498, NZFA, 1NZEF; Alexander John McKay Manson, 11/1642, MC, MiD, 1895 ̶ 1975; John Guerin, 1889 ̶ 1918, 57069, Canterbury Regiment; and Christopher Michael Guerin, 1957 ̶ 2006; And all they stood for. Alfred Owen Wilkinson, On Active Service in the Great War, Volume 1 Anzac; Volume 2 France 1916–17; Volume 3 France, Flanders, Germany (Dunedin: Self-published/A.H. Reed, 1920; 1922; 1924). 3 Acknowledgements Distinguished Professor Sally J. Morgan and Professor Kingsley Baird, thesis supervisors, for their perseverance and perspicacity, their vigilance and, most of all, their patience. With gratitude and untold thanks. All my fellow PhD candidates and staff at Whiti o Rehua/School of Arts, and Toi Rauwhārangi/ College of Creative Arts, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa o Pukeahu Whanganui-a- Tara/Massey University, Wellington, especially Jess Richards.
    [Show full text]
  • The Durham Light Infantry and the Somme 1916
    The Durham Light Infantry and The Somme 1916 by John Bilcliffe edited and amended in 2016 by Peter Nelson and Steve Shannon Part 4 The Casualties. Killed in Action, Died of Wounds and Died of Disease. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License You can download this work and share it with others as long as it is credited, but you can’t change it in any way or use it commercially © John Bilcliffe. Email [email protected] Part 4 Contents. 4.1: Analysis of casualties sustained by The Durham Light Infantry on the Somme in 1916. 4.2: Officers who were killed or died of wounds on the Somme 1916. 4.3: DLI Somme casualties by Battalion. Note: The drawing on the front page of British infantrymen attacking towards La Boisselle on 1 July 1916 is from Reverend James Birch's war diary. DCRO: D/DLI 7/63/2, p.149. About the Cemetery Codes used in Part 4 The author researched and wrote this book in the 1990s. It was designed to be published in print although, sadly, this was not achieved during his lifetime. Throughout the text, John Bilcliffe used a set of alpha-numeric codes to abbreviate cemetery names. In Part 4 each soldier’s name is followed by a Cemetery Code and, where known, the Grave Reference, as identified by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Here are two examples of the codes and what they represent: T2 Thiepval Memorial A5 VII.B.22 Adanac Military Cemetery, Miraumont: Section VII, Row B, Grave no.
    [Show full text]
  • The Birth of Airpower, 1916 the Character of the German Offensive
    The Birth of Airpower, 1916 359 the character of the German offensive became clear, and losses reached staggering levels, Joffre urgently demanded as early a start as possible to the allied offensive. In May he and Haig agreed to mount an assault on I July 'athwart the Somme.' Long before the starting date of the offensive had been fixed the British had been preparing for it by building up, behind their lines, the communications and logistical support the 'big push' demanded. Masses of materiel were accumulated close to the trenches, including nearly three million rounds of artillery ammuni­ tion. War on this scale was a major industrial undertaking.• Military aviation, of necessity, made a proportionate leap as well. The RFC had to expand to meet the demands of the new mass armies, and during the first six months of 1916 Trenchard, with Haig's strong support, strove to create an air weapon that could meet the challenge of the offensive. Beginning in January the RFC had been reorganized into brigades, one to each army, a process completed on 1 April when IV Brigade was formed to support the Fourth Army. Each brigade consisted of a headquarters, an aircraft park, a balloon wing, an army wing of two to four squadrons, and a corps wing of three to five squadrons (one squadron for each corps). At RFC Headquarters there was an additional wing to provide reconnais­ sance for GHQ, and, as time went on, to carry out additional fighting and bombing duties.3 Artillery observation was now the chief function of the RFC , with subsidiary efforts concentrated on close reconnaissance and photography.
    [Show full text]
  • Montage Fiches Rando
    Leaflet Walks and hiking trails Haute-Somme and Poppy Country 8 Around the Thiepval Memorial (Autour du Mémorial de Thiepval) Peaceful today, this Time: 4 hours 30 corner of Picardy has become an essential Distance: 13.5 km stage in the Circuit of Route: challenging Remembrance. Leaving from: Car park of the Franco-British Interpretation Centre in Thiepval Thiepval, 41 km north- east of Amiens, 8 km north of Albert Abbeville Thiepval Albert Péronne Amiens n i z a Ham B . C Montdidier © 1 From the car park, head for the Bois d’Authuille. The carnage of 1st July 1916 church. At the crossroads, carry After the campsite, take the Over 58 000 victims in just straight on along the D151. path on your right and continue one day: such is the terrible Church of Saint-Martin with its as far as the village. Turn left toll of the confrontation war memorial built into its right- toward the D151. between the British 4th t Army and the German hand pillar. One of the many 3 Walk up the street opposite s 1st Army, fewer in number military pilgrimages to Poppy (Rue d’Ovillers) and keep going e r but deeply entrenched. Country, the emblematic flower as far as the crossroads. e Their machine guns mowed of the “Tommies”. By going left, you can cut t down the waves of infantrymen n At the cemetery, follow the lane back to Thiepval. i as they mounted attacks. to the left, ignoring adjacent Take the lane going right, go f Despite the disaster suffered paths, as far as the hamlet of through the Bois de la Haie and O by the British, the battle Saint-Pierre-Divion.
    [Show full text]
  • History of the Hampstead War Memorial
    Hampstead War Memorial Located on Main Street in the Center of Hampstead, Md. The War Memorial Association, in conjunction with the American Legion and the Rotary International have been instrumental in organizing the festivities for the dedication of the War Memorial in Hampstead. On November 1, 1947, dedication was held for the new War Memorial in front of the Hampstead High School on Main Street in Hampstead, Md. The dedication was very well attended and there were many speakers there. Among them were Senator Tydings, (who had just returned from making an extensive survey of the devastated and impoverished countries in Europe after the war), Former Mayor of Baltimore, Theodore R. McKelden, Samuel Jenness, superintendent of Carroll County Schools, Commanding officers or their alternates representing the Army, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard branches of the service, United States Senator George L. Radcliffer, Howard S. LeRoy, Governor of the 180th District of Rotary International, and Jack Tribby, State Adjutant of the American Legion. At this dedication, a bronze plaque was presented with 383 names of veterans from WWI and WWII and attached to the stone memorial wall. The $6,000 wall was built with funds collected by the War Memorial Association of Hampstead, The American Legion Post 200, and the local Rotary Club. Mr. George Bollinger, a stone mason laid the cornerstone as part of the ceremonies. The festivities opened to a crowd of about 500 people at 2 pm with a parade beginning at the south end of town, then came up to the north end of town and back down to the center of town in front of the school.
    [Show full text]
  • We Remember Those Members of the Lloyd's Community Who Lost Their
    Surname First names Rank We remember those members of the Lloyd’s community who lost their lives in the First World War 1 We remember those who lost their lives in the First World War SurnameIntroduction Today, as we do each year, Lloyd’s is holding a But this book is the story of the Lloyd’s men who fought. Firstby John names Nelson, Remembrance Ceremony in the Underwriting Room, Many joined the County of London Regiment, either the ChairmanRank of Lloyd’s with many thousands of people attending. 5th Battalion (known as the London Rifle Brigade) or the 14th Battalion (known as the London Scottish). By June This book, brilliantly researched by John Hamblin is 1916, when compulsory military service was introduced, another act of remembrance. It is the story of the Lloyd’s 2485 men from Lloyd’s had undertaken military service. men who did not return from the First World War. Tragically, many did not return. This book honours those 214 men. Nine men from Lloyd’s fell in the first day of Like every organisation in Britain, Lloyd’s was deeply affected the battle of the Somme. The list of those who were by World War One. The market’s strong connections with killed contains members of the famous family firms that the Territorial Army led to hundreds of underwriters, dominated Lloyd’s at the outbreak of war – Willis, Poland, brokers, members and staff being mobilised within weeks Tyser, Walsham. of war being declared on 4 August 1914. Many of those who could not take part in actual combat also relinquished their This book is a labour of love by John Hamblin who is well business duties in order to serve the country in other ways.
    [Show full text]
  • Bousfield Family Tragedy
    The Bousfield Family Tragedy Pictured are the men of Sunnyside Pontoon, Ellesmere Port, all neighbours, who joined the Cheshire Regiment together as part of the town’s ‘old pals’ – the ‘Glorious 514’ – the first of the volunteers. Standing are the Bousfield brothers; Robert, Percy and Anthony. by Mike Royden When John Bousfield left his home in Westmoreland in 1886 and travelled south, he was hoping for a better life for his family. He was born in 1848 in Oxton, and by the age of twelve he had moved out of the family home and was living at a nearby farm not far from Appelby, where he was working as a farm labourer. For the next two decades, he moved from one local farm to another, securing labouring work wherever he could in this sparsely populated rural landscape. At the age of thirty-two he married Margaret Nelson, a girl from the next village ten years his junior. Their first son, John, was born shortly afterwards, followed by William in 1882, and Emily in 1884. But it was clear that working as an indoor farm servant on the local farms in the tiny hamlets surrounding Appleby was never going to improve his station, and providing for his growing family was proving a serious challenge. And so, in 1886 he decided to move to the industrial north west hoping for something better. The family settled in Primrose Hill in the Wirral, an area soon to be absorbed by William Lever’s model village of Port Sunlight. He was still working as an agricultural labourer two years later, when their twins Richard and Thomas were born, who were followed by Robert in 1890 and Anthony in 1892.
    [Show full text]