Chedworth Remembers the Great War 1914-1918

The stories of the men and women who served and the village they left behind

DEDICATION

"The citizens here assembled on Remembrance Day,

August 4th, 1918, silently paying tribute to the

Empire's sons who have fallen in the fight for freedom on the scattered battlefields of the world-war, whether on sea or shore, and mindful also of the courage of our sailors, soldiers, airmen and men everywhere, and those who are working on the munitions of war and helping in other ways for the preservation of civilisation, unanimously resolve to do all that in our power lies to achieve the ideals on behalf of which so great a sacrifice has already been made."

(George Mills, vice Chairman Chedworth Parish Council on the fourth anniversary of the start of the Great War)

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CONTENTS

Pages

The stories of the Men and Women who served 006-154

The Diary of Private Albert Broad 155-164

Captain George Ellis RAMC 165-166

Royal Flying Corps Rendcomb Airfield 167-170

Bravery Awards and Silver War Badges 171-172

Recruitment and Conscription 173-174

Chedworth and the Home Front 175-183

The Reverend George E. Mackie wartime vicar 184-186

Peace Celebrations 187-189

Chedworth (and Stowell) War Memorials 190-194

The Chedworth Roll of Honour 195-197

Chedworth Electoral Register Absentees 198-200

The Chedworth Brass Band 1905 201

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Chedworth Remembers the Great War Project has been assisted by people and organisations who have helped us in many ways including financial donations, research and giving permission to use photographs and documents. We offer them our grateful thanks. This list includes, but is not limited to the following:

Chedworth Society, Chedworth Heating Oil Club, Chedworth Village Trust, Cirencester Library, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucester Regiment Museum, Heritage Lottery Fund, National Archives at Kew, Ystalyfera Electronic Archive Research Group.

Chris Abbley, Keith Arnett, Chris Bain, David Broad, Denise Burford, Toby Carson, Nick Christian, Francis Clark-Lowe, Simon Colbeck, Johnny Coppin, Lyn Court, Margaret Cross, Paul Evans, Derek Fielding, Jenny and Roger Fisher, Tony and Maureen Floyd, Rev Stephen Goundrey-Smith, Sheila Harris (nee Coates), Heather Jones, Nikki Jones, Peter Juggins, Mark Knopfler, Jerome Lee, Kevin Leech, Judy MacDonald, Gordon Mackie, Richard Mason, Geoff Millard (now deceased), David Miles, Jenny Parsons, Ken Powis, lain Robertson, David Read (Gloucester Regt Museum), Dr. John Robinson, David Scott, Annette Seymour, Byron Sherborne, Janette Smith, Val Trevallion, Peter and Jean Tucker, Peter Turner, Jane Waters, Richard Knight Williams, Joy Wixley, Janette Woodman, Robert Young.

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FOREWORD

Some 129 men and 2 women of Chedworth served our country in the Great War. They fought on land, sea and in the air as far away from our Cotswold village as India, East Africa, Egypt and Salonika, as well as on the Western Front. Several earned honours for bravery and some never returned and are now remembered on village memorials. However, in 2013, with the centenary of the Great War in prospect, we resolved to: • research and record for future generations the stories of those brave men and women • research the effect that the Great War had on our village. • research and record the stories of those who served and life on the "Home Front" • restore the 100 year old wooden Roll of Honour in the church porch • engage with our community about aspects of the Great War

Work on the project should have started forty years before when many of the men who went to war were still within our community, but the opportunity has largely been lost and cannot be reclaimed from history. However, the Roll of Honour in the porch of St Andrew's church has been the rock on which this project has been built and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our villagers of 100 years ago for creating this unique record. Home computers linked to the internet have been our primary 21st century tools enabling us to research, to contact people and to assemble information on a scale that even ten years ago would have been impossible. We have gained in depth much of what has been lost in personal and first-hand accounts of the Great War, and we are grateful to a large number of relatives who have come forward with stories and photographs of this period. Nevertheless, there remain gaps in our information that have proved impossible to fill. We have deposited with the Gloucester Archives digital copies of everything that we have used in this project including newspaper articles, images of original documents, photographs, lists, and correspondence may help future researchers. The Chedworth Remembers the Great War project has been an interesting and rewarding experience for all of us involved and we hope that you, the reader, feel that the result is a worthy tribute to those of our village who served.

Mike Tovey and Peter Seymour Chedworth January 2017 (revised May 2019)

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THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED

Private Albert Edward Allington, Born: 1894 Chedworth 18920 9th Bn, Gloucester Regiment Parents: William George Fry Allington and Amelia Emma Mustoe Married: Annie Goodall 1920 Died: 1963 Enlisted: about January 1915 (precise date not known) Demobilised: 28th January 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

The youngest of three brothers who served with the colours during the Great War, Albert joined the 9th Battalion of the Glosters (as did Albert Broad, Bert Day and Reg Lawrence). Deployed to France on 20 September 1915 he also served in Salonika. Albert is recorded as having been met there, together with the others, by William Mills, another Chedworthian serving in Salonika as a platoon sergeant in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

From the 31st Casualty Clearing Station (in Salonika) records we know that Albert was admitted on 4 April 1917 suffering from Benign Tertian Malaria, that he was evacuated in a sick convoy the following day and that he was serving in B Company of the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. He had by then been in the army for 2 years and 3 months and on active service for 1 year 7 months. Records indicate that he was discharged on 17th May 1917 but no further information is available about his active service.

After the war Albert returned to Chedworth and a photograph shows him as a member of the Chedworth Band with the musical instrument that he took with him to France. As with so many of his generation he spoke little of his wartime experiences. However, one of his fellow bandsmen remembers him having had a hard war and saying in response to a complaint about the local weather “If you had been in the trenches, you wouldn’t mind this rain!”

In 1939 Albert and Annie were living in Chedworth and he was working for the GWR railway.

Private John Ernest Allington Born: 1891 Chedworth Parents: William George Fry Allington and Amelia Emma Mustoe Married: Ella Blanche Neale 1919 Died : 1970 18180 12th & 13th Btlns, Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: 1st February 1915 Discharged: 8th February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM,Victory Silver War Badge: 214631 issued 18th June 1919

John Allington’s military records are sparse and only a few clues as to his war service are available from a brief newspaper item, the memorial panels in St Andrews, his medal card, his SWB record and the general medal roll created after the war.

He enlisted before his brother Albert in the Gloucestershire Regiment on 1st February 1915 and served in both the 12th (Bristol) Battalion and the 13th (Service) Battalion (The Forest of Dean Pioneers). Both Battalions fought with great distinction through the next 3 years on the Western Front, although 6 the 12th was stationed briefly in Italy in January 1918, but recalled in March to France against the German advance in March.

In May the 13th was reduced to a training cadre as it had suffered such heavy losses and it is likely that John was then with the 12th. At that time the 12th was part of the 5th Division which took part in the Battles of the Lys. On 28th June 1918 the Division took part in an action known as La Becque and this is when John was seriously injured.

A newspaper report described his traumatic experience as follows:

“The parents of Private John E Allington, Gloucestershire Regiment, received official news that he has been seriously wounded in France during an attack in the early morning of June 28th. He was wounded in the left arm and one of his knees, which was smashed by a splinter from an enemy shell. He remained in a shell hole for 12 hours until picked up by some stretcher-bearers who were in charge of some German prisoners. He is at present in hospital in France, and it is sincerely hoped by all his friends that he will make a good and quick recovery.”

We know no more as to when he recovered, but he was not discharged until February 1919 and a Silver War Badge was issued in June that year.

In 1929 John and Ella were living in Stonehouse.

John died in Gloucester in 1970.

Private William Henry (Harry) Allington Born: 1877 Chedworth Parents: William George Fry Allington and Amelia Emma Mustoe Married: Mary Annie Fletcher 1911 Swindon Died 1958 Cirencester District 111147 Royal Army Medical Corps Enlisted: 29th November 1915 and mobilised 10 April 1917 Discharged: 6 March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 Harry was living in Chedworth but later that year he married and at sometime moved to The Garrick Head, Andoversford, working there as a carter in 1915. By 1917 Harry had also worked in the local munitions factory at Quedgley.

Harry had volunteered to join the army under the Derby scheme and on his mobilisation he was drafted into the RAMC and was trained on sanitary work at Blackpool and Chelsea. Posted to France (56 Gen Hospital Etaples) on 1 October 1917 he remained on its strength until 6 March 1919. Harry transferred to the reserves on 9 March 1919 and returned to live in Queen Street, Chedworth. Although Harry returned safely, the family suffered the loss of his wife’s brother, a Cpl Fletcher who died in France on 28 August 1918 whilst serving with the 2ND Division, Canadian Expeditionary Force.

After the war Harry Allington worked as a “strapper” (one that did part time jobs, often on farms) and was later as a post man. Someone who knew Harry recalled that he always played the side drum in the Silver Band (shown in the photograph) and had the special gift that, when out in company, he could stand up and recite amusing pieces one after another without a break. In 1939 Harry and Mary were living in Rosedale, Chedworth (near Seven Tuns Inn).

Harry died in 1958.

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Albert and the Bass that went to France Harry Allington

Horace and Cissie Arthurs Horace, Rhoda and Roland Arthurs

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Sapper Horace Patrick Arthurs Born: 1893 Enstone, Oxfordshire Parents: John Frank Arthurs & Rhoda Soden Married: Elizabeth Lucina Hanks (Cissie) (1918) Died: 1965 (Swindon) 49593 Royal Engineers Enlisted: unknown but before September 1914 Discharged: unknown but before 18th May 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Horace was a farm worker living with his parents and siblings in the Harts Hill area of Chedworth. Both Horace and his brother Roland responded immediately to the call to enlist in Lord Kitchener's Army.

Note: On August 7th 1914, Kitchener made his first appeal for 100,000 volunteers, and adverts were replaced by Alfred Leete's legendary poster that showed Kitchener pointing at the reader with "Your Country Needs You".

Horace and Roland were on the first list of Chedworth volunteers published in September and whilst Roland joined the Glosters, Horace was enlisted into the Royal Engineers.

Sadly we know little about Horace's service as his military records were destroyed. However, his army medal award records have survived which indicate that he was first deployed to France 23rd August 1915 and survived the war to be discharged on l8th May 1919. We know that he immediately obtained work as the same month he was registered as a member of the National Union of Railwaymen. He is described on their Register as a Platelayer working on the Midland and South West Railway, the line that ran from Cheltenham to Southampton via Chedworth and Swindon.

Horace and Elizabeth were living in the Cricklade/Wooton Bassett area in 1939.

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Above – Roland Arthurs (front 2nd from right) recuperating at 5 North General Hospital

Below – Gladys Arthurs (2nd row left) and “Canary Girl” pals and Pte Roland Arthurs

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Private Roland Arthurs Born: 1891 Enstone, Oxfordshire Parents: John Frank Arthurs and Rhoda Soden Married: Gladys Maud Louise Tilling 1917 Died: 1975 (New Forest area) 11974 8th, 10th & 11th Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment 186850 3rd Labour Btln, Labour Corps 186850 303 Reserve Labour Coy, Labour Corps 186850 648 & 651 Agricultural Coys, Labour Corps Enlisted: 31st August 1914 Discharged: 8th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Roland Arthurs, a 23 year old gardener at Stowell Park, lived at Hart's Hill, Chedworth with his siblings and parents; John, (a wheelwright also working at Stowell) and his mother, Rhoda. Roland joined the 8th Bn Gloucesters (part of the 57th Brigade/19th Division) on 31 August 1914. Formed in Bristol, it moved to Perham Down and, in March 1915, deployed to Tidworth. The Division moved to France on 16 July 1915 and subsequently fought on the Somme.

Roland returned to England on 1 March 1916, being posted to the regimental depot and then to the 11th Bn (Reserves) at Seaford. He returned to France on 16 July 1916 and on the following day he was transferred to the 10th Bn Gloucesters (1st Brigade/1st Division), so he was fighting on the Somme again.

Roland was wounded on 9 September 1916 during the heavy fighting at High Wood. He was lucky to have survived and was evacuated back to England the following week. A newspaper report printed 23 September 1916 reads thus:

"News has been received by the parents of Private Roland Arthurs, of the Gloucestershire Regiment, that he has been severely wounded in the recent heavy fighting on the Somme. He received a bullet wound in the back and right shoulder, and is now lying in the 5th North General Hospital, at Leicester, where he is going on well at present. All his friends wish him a quick recovery.”

Although his wounds healed there were health complications and he remained in the hospital until 7 April 1917. His medical status was downgraded and on 6 May 1917 he was transferred to the 5th Bn of the Labour Corps serving in the 383, 303, 651 and 648 companies until his discharge from the Army in March 1919.

On 29th December 1917 Roland married Gladys Tilling of Long Newnton at Matson, Gloucestershire and shortly afterwards his address is recorded as 2 Rushbrook Villas, Saintsbridge, Gloucester. Later, there were happier times for the Arthurs Family as the local paper recorded the wedding of Myrtle, the youngest of Roland’s three sisters, on 22nd June 1918 in St. Andrews Church. “ … the contracting parties being Corporal Harold Barnes, Gloucester Regiment, and Miss Myrtle Arthurs, third daughter of Mr and Mrs Frank Arthurs, of Harts Hill, Chedworth. The bridegroom is the youngest son of Mr Jesse Barnes, of Winson, and joined the colours in 1914. He has seen much active service and has been wounded. He is now in England helping to drill new recruits. The bride has been energetically working in some Gloucestershire munition works for over two years. "Munitions work" is a reference to the women of the village playing a vital part in the war effort. In 1915 the Government built one of its 16 munitions factories at Quedgeley, near Gloucester, and there was a need for women workers drawn from the local area - dangerous, dirty work filling shell cases.

Both Gladys and Myrtle were munitions workers and in the records there is also a reference to Harry Allington of Chedworth working on munitions. Those handling TNT were sometimes poisoned by 11 prolonged exposure to the chemicals and their skin took on a yellow hue — leading to their nickname of "Canary Girls."

After the War Roland and Gladys moved out of Gloucester and by 1920 were living at Stowell Mill later moving to Stowell Park Gardens.

Gunner Charles Alfred Beames Born: 1883 Naunton Parents: William Beames & Eliza Higgins Married: Alice Lock 1925 Died: 1951 (Birmingham) 301776 Royal Garrison Artillery 126225 Royal Garrison Artillery Enlisted: 27th November 1915 Discharged: 28th January 1920 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Charles Alfred Beames (known as Alfred) lived with his aunt and uncle (brother and sister) Martin and Christina Beames in Lower Chedworth prior to WW1 and before his Army service he is recorded as working as a shepherd. Recruited into the Royal Garrison Artillery under the Derby scheme Alfred was attested on 27th November 1915 but it wasn't until 31st October 1916 that he was mobilised and allocated to the 4th Highland Mountain Battery Brigade and then transferred to the 5th Reserve Brigade Artillery (Territorial Force) on 3rd January 1917.

On the 23rd January 1917 Alfred was posted to Salonika, arriving there on 3 February 1917. Although he suffered from an attack of scabies soon after his arrival, he was fit enough after a couple of weeks to serve with his new unit, a Mountain Battery of the RGA. Nothing appears on his documents about his service until the 6th October 1918 when he was transferred to hospital suffering with malaria. He returned to his unit on the 7th December.

Alfred continued to serve in Salonika until March 1919 when he extended his army service and received a special retention bonus of 10s6d per week. This decision also resulted in his being posted with his Brigade to India on the 28th March, where he arrived in Bombay on 16th April 1919.On the 27th May 1919 Alfred was posted to No 5 Mountain Battery at Jutogh, protecting the hill town of Simla on the North West Frontier where his medical record shows that in July he had another period of hospitalisation of some three weeks, this time suffering from neuralgia. His service in India was short-lived as he returned to the UK from Bombay on the 20th December 1919 on the SS Caledonia, a P & 0 vessel used as a troop transport.

Alfred Beames was demobilised at Fovant in Wiltshire on the 28th January 1920. He lived in Hill Close, Chedworth until 1925 when he married and moved to the Bleakmoor area of Middle Chedworth.

Sapper Frederick James Blackwell Born: 1884 Chedworth Parents: John Blackwell and Sarah Ann Meadows Married: Ethel Miller 1908 Died: 1974 WR 340353 192 Coy, Royal Engineers (Inland Waterways and Docks) 202346 Norfolk Regiment Enlisted: 10 August 1917 Discharged: 25 January 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

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A mason by trade, Frederick Blackwell lived in Woodbine Cottage and then at Smuggs Barn, Chedworth with his wife Ethel and 3 children. Frederick volunteered to join the army under the Derby scheme on 15 November 1915 and was originally allocated to the Norfolk Regiment but, upon mobilisation on 10 August 1917, he was sent to the Royal Engineers Waterways and Docks unit at Bristol, probably because men of his trade were needed. He appears to have had an uneventful and unblemished army career employed as a sapper and was demobilised on 25 January 1919. His service is recorded on the Roll of Honour in St Andrews.

Private Ralph John Blackwell Born: 1900 Chedworth Parents: William Blackwell & and Henrietta Bizeley (Rookery) Married: Elizabeth Charity Seward (1935 Westminster) Died: 1968 SN unknown Devonshire Regiment Enlisted: Unknown Discharged: Unknown Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Unknown

The only evidence of Ralph's service in the military is the St Andrews Porch Roll of Honour listing those who served with the colours. It is unlikely that he saw any fighting as he was only 18 in 1918.

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Private Arthur Charles Boulton Born: 1873 Icomb, Gloucestershire Parents: William Boulton & Emily Parsons Married: Annie Maria Williams (1913 Rendcomb) 3286 4th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 3838 5th Reserve Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 490301 621 Agricultural Coy, Labour Corps 99330 Royal Field Artillery 33052 258 Protection Coy, Royal Defence Corps Enlisted: 12th September 1893 Discharged: 22rd February 1919 Died: 1934 Stow on the Wold District Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Unknown

Nineteen year old civilian Arthur Boulton worked as a groom. However, he briefly joined the Gloucester Militia in 1893 and later that year transferred to the Royal Field Artillery and in 1896 signed on for a 12 year engagement, earning a bounty of 150 rupees! He eventually served with that Regiment from 1893 to 1896 with the 75th Field Artillery in India.

In 1913 Arthur remarried and settled down in Chedworth Laines. Despite his age (43) Arthur rejoined the colours in 1915 as a member of the National Reserve, a register of volunteers maintained by Territorial Force (TF) County Associations. In October 1914 the National Reserve was formed into Protection Companies, which were attached to existing TF battalions to guard railways and other vulnerable points in Britain.

In March 1915, when Arthur signed on, the Protection Companies were redesignated as Supernumerary Companies TF which eventually formed into the Royal Defence Corps. Arthur was typical of many of those who served in the Royal Defence Corps whose battalions were composed of soldiers either too old or medically unfit for active front-line service. Records of the Royal Defence Corps are particularly sketchy, although 258 Company is shown as part of Southern Command. In 1917 Arthur was serving with 621 Agricultural Coy and was finally demobilised in 1919.

Chedworth’s Roll of Honour records Arthur as having served in the National Reserve.

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Lieutenant Frederick Charles Brain Born: 1883 Rendcombe Parents: Giles Henry Brain & Hannah Maria Smith Married: Ethel Margaret Beauchamp Beecham (1911 Cirencester) Died: 1953 Swindon area 1327 Gloucester Yeomanry 235007 Gloucester Hussars Enlisted: Unknown but before September 1914 Discharged: Unknown — still serving in 1932 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In the 1911 Census Frederick Brain was recorded as working as a salesman in Chippenham. His parents were then running the Fossbridge Hotel, and his eldest brother continued to run the establishment after their fathers death in 1914. It is not clear from his limited records as to when Frederick joined the Royal Gloucester Hussars (also known as the Yeomanry), but he and his brother Harry were both listed as sergeants in a list of officers and men of the Royal Gloucester Hussars printed in the Gloucester journal on 12th September 1914.

The Gloucestershire Yeomanry owed its existence to the reserve units that were originally created to counter the threat from France during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and were part- time cavalry units organised on a county basis. In 1908, with the creation of the Territorial Force (later the Territorial Army), the position of the yeomanry was regularised. Territorial Force units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) and Frederick volunteered for overseas.

The Gloucestershire Yeomanry was mobilised on 4 August 1914 and assigned to the 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade. The first line of the Regiment, referred to as the 1/1st The Gloucestershire Yeomanry, moved with the Brigade to the Bury St Edmunds area in the 1st Mounted Division. At the end of August it moved with brigade to Newbury and was assigned to the 2nd Mounted Division and in November 1914 was moved to the Kings Lynn area. In April 1915 the regiment was despatched to Egypt, landing at Alexandria on 24 April.

Frederick's records show him serving initially as a QMS (Quartermaster Sergeant) and he was later promoted to Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant. He appeared as such in the local paper report in September 1914 when he made a formal presentation on behalf of his comrades in the Hussars to their RSM on the eve of the King's review of the Division near Newbury before they left for the front. In August 1915 the RGH was deployed to Gallipoli with the 2nd Mounted Division, but dismounted, and took part in trench warfare, suffering heavy battle casualties and losses due to sickness.

In December 1915 the RGH returned to Egypt where they took part in many of the battles that formed the Palestine Campaign, including the Battle of Quatia. During this time Frederick was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on quartermaster duties on 12th September 1916 serving until the end of WW1 and beyond. Due to the lack of detailed records we know little about his further service in the army, but he clearly served more time overseas, being issued with the General Service Medal with the Kurdistan Clasp in 1932.

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Driver (Sgt in Hussars) Harry John Brain Born: 1878 Rendcombe Parents: Giles Henry Brain and Hannah Maria Smith Married: Unknown Death: 1966 (Cheltenham area) T-356158 Army Service Corps (Remounts) 1327 Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Enlisted: Unknown but before September 1914 Discharged: Unknown Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

As with his brother there are no detailed military records extant for Harry Brain. There is, however, a newspaper cutting of April 1915 which records him being attested into the Regular Army from the Gloucestershire Hussars. Possibly because of his experience of working on his father's farm he was recruited into the Army Service Corps Remounts Service. Harry appears to have been a Sergeant whilst serving in the Hussars (as was his brother) but is recorded as an ordinary driver in the ASC in his medal documentation written at the end of the war. Like all of the belligerent armies on the Western Front, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France and Belgium depended extensively on the horse for the transport of men and materials, along with large numbers of mules as purely draught and pack animals.

Such was the demand of the BEF for new and replacement mounts, draught horses and mules — the attrition figures on the Western Front were enormous— that an entire organisation (the ASC Remounts Service) was created. It sourced these animals from the UK and far flung locations overseas. A total of around 800,000 horses and mules served the British and Empire troops on the Western Front of which over half died either died from wounds or diseases acquired on active service. Chedworth and the surrounding districts were subject to the demand as early as August 1914 as the local newspaper reported:

"On Wednesday morning a party of officers and men from the 18th Hussars arrived at Cirencester with instructions to procure 72 horses at once. We understand the horses were obtained during the day, many of the hunting men of the district and other owners readily placing their horses at the disposal of the Government. Between 70 and 80 horses of various stamps and all exceedingly serviceable were marshalled into the yard of the Kings Head Hotel on Wednesday evening, and after being branded and labelled were taken by the soldiers in charge to Salisbury Plain."

Private Henry Bridges Born: 1878 Coln St. Dennis Parents: Levi Bridges and Elizabeth Tuffley Married: Elizabeth Agnes Graham 1909 Died: 1952 Chedworth Unknown SN Durham Regiment Enlisted: not known Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: not known

Henry Bridges is recorded as living in the Fossbridge area of Chedworth in 1911 with his father in law, brother in law, wife and young daughter. By 1918 he had moved to the Laines area. We have failed to find any service records for Henry – the only evidence that he served being his inclusion on the Chedworth Roll of Honour. Henry died at Hillview, Chedworth on 15th March 1952.

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Private Albert George Broad Born: 1895 Chedworth Parents: William Trotman Broad & Clara Eliza Hicks Married: Eliza Daisy Bartlett 1918 Died: 1924 Chedworth 017172 9th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: 1st December 1914 Discharged: 12th January 1918 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory Silver War Badge 221439 issued 12th January 1918

Albert George Broad joined Kitchener's Third New Army, just a few months after the outbreak of the Great War. Those recruited into the New Army were used to form complete Battalions under existing British Army Regiments. These new battalions had titles of the form "xxth (Service) Battalion”, and then the Regiment's name.

Albert and his friends Bert Day and Reg Lawrence from Chedworth joined the 9th (Service) Battalion, of the Gloucestershire Regiment in December 1914.The Battalion was raised at Bristol in September 1914 and formed part of the 78th Brigade, 26th Division. All five of the full army groups (meaning a group of divisions similar in size to an army, not a group of armies) were made up of such volunteer recruits, and included the famous Pals Battalions. Albert, together with Bert Day and Reg Lawrence are recorded on the second volunteer list of Chedworth men to join the colours published in April 1915.

The diary of Albert Broad has been treasured by his family in Chedworth for almost one hundred years. We are indebted to David Broad, the grandson of Albert, for allowing us to transcribe and publish this unique insight into a soldier's experience of his war. Because of its length and special interest it forms a separate chapter of this history.

Like so many of his fellow soldiers who served in Salonika, Albert suffered from malaria and was returned to the UK via Malta in 1917. However, he never fully recovered and was declared medically unfit for further service on 12 January 1918.

Tragically, his ill health continued and he died, still a young man, in Chedworth in 1924. His service is recorded, together with that of 2 of his brothers on the Roll of Honour panels in the porch of St Andrews.

Their other brother Arthur Charles, who died whilst serving in 1916, is remembered on the main war memorial inside the Church and on the memorial outside the former Congregational Chapel in Lower Chedworth.

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Corporal Arthur Charles Broad Born: 1893 Chedworth Parents: William Trotman Broad & Clara Eliza Hicks Married: Unmarried at time of death Died: Died of wounds 24th April 1916 37313 102 Company, Royal Garrison Artillery Enlisted: Unknown but before September 1914 Memorials: Chedworth Church, Chedworth Chapel Buried: Guilford (Stoke) Old Cemetery Surrey G379 Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Arthur Broad was recorded in the 1911 census living in Chedworth with his parents and 4 brothers employed as a farm labourer. Arthur probably joined the army sometime in 1912-1 913 as we have found a newspaper dated 31 January 1914 containing a photograph of him and nine other "Gloucestershire lads" serving in the RGA on Malta.

His service records are not available, but his Medal Card shows him serving as a Bombardier in the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) in France early in June 1915. He was obviously a good soldier as he received early promotion to Bombardier Corporal. Tragically, he was injured by a shell in January 1916 and the report in the Wiltshire Standard of 6th May tells the story:

"With great regret we record the death of Bombardier Corporal Arthur Broad RGA of Chedworth at the age of 23. In January last, in one of the front trenches in France, he was severely injured by a shell and was admitted to the General Hospital at Boulogne, where he remained until February 12. He was then sent to the Royal Surrey County Hospital, at Guildford and was making excellent progress. On April 24 he underwent an operation for paralysis of the legs, but unfortunately succumbed. He leaves a father, mother and many brothers to mourn his loss. He was an exemplary patient and a model soldier. A full military funeral was accorded the deceased at Guildford on Friday afternoon last, his father, a brother, and many comrades being present."

His was not the only death that month as Chedworth was also mourning the loss of Corporal Walter Day, a fellow bandsman of the Chedworth Brass Band. On 18th May a joint Memorial Service was held for both men in the Congregational Church and attended by the Brass Band who played at the service.

Arthur Broad's grave is marked by a CWGC headstone and maintained by them in the Guildford (Stoke) Old Cemetery (G.379) and his sacrifice is remembered on the War Memorial in St Andrews Church and on the War Memorial outside the former Congregational Chapel in Lower Chedworth

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Arthur Broad (sitting 2nd from right) in Malta and (below) his gravestone

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Airman Frederick Broad Born: 1901 Chedworth Parents: William Trotman Broad & Clara Eliza Hicks Married: Unmarried at time of death in 1925 Died: 1925 (suspected suicide) 167230 Royal Air Force Enlisted: 14th May 1918 Discharged: 21st December 1919 Medals: BWM,Victory

The youngest of the Broad brothers, Frederick Broad was called up a month after his eighteenth birthday to join the Royal Air Force, formed on 1 April 1918 from the RFC and RNAS. This newly independent Service needed recruits for a wide variety of trades and Frederick was enlisted as a Cook. His records are sparse, but they show him working at a Mechanical Transport Repair Depot (MTRD) for most of his time.

However, there is an indication that he served in France and, more interestingly, that he was detached to the USA from 24 July to 26 November 1918. From 1917 the RFC, and subsequently the RAF, supported a flying training scheme in Canada and the USA. Nothing on Frederick's record indicates why Frederick went there, in particular as to whether he was to be a flying trainee.

The detachment appears to have coincided with the ending of hostilities in Europe and Frederick served the remainder of his time in the UK until he was demobilised a year later in December 1919. Frederick Broad's Service is recorded with that of his surviving brothers on the Roll of Honour panels in St Andrew's church porch.

Corporal Joseph James Broad Born: 1895 Chedworth Parents: William Trotman Broad & Clara Eliza Hicks Married: Elsie May Griffin 1920 Died: 1949 4/2304 3rd, 11th & 16th Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment 5/5125 5th & 18th Btlns Kings Royal Rifle Corps Enlisted: 18th August 1914 Discharged: 16th August 1920 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

A baker by trade, Joseph Broad is listed on the first (September 1914) list of Chedworth men serving with the colours together with his brother Arthur. At only 17 years and 2 months when he was attested on 18 August 1914, Arthur signed on initially as a 6 Year Reservist in the Glosters and was a lance corporal in their band. On the 20th April 1917 he had become a Marksman with additional pay and this may explain his transfer to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) on 1 November with the substantive rank of corporal.

The records then show him being drafted to the 5th Training Battalion of the KRRC at Sheerness early that month and within weeks he was listed as serving "in the Field." Although they indicate that he travelled to France on 12 December his journey continued to join his new Battalion (the 18th) in Italy where he stayed for 3 months. The 41st Division of which he was a part then returned to France to face the German spring offensive. His parents had previously suffered the loss of Alfred in 1916 and the illness and discharge of Arthur earlier in 1918, so they probably expected the worst when Joseph was posted missing after an engagement at Vaulx between 24 and 28 March.

However, they had better news by mid-May when the local paper announced that he had been captured

20 and was a prisoner of war. Joseph had been transported to the huge prisoner of war camp at Parchim, near Mecklenburg in Hesse. Built on an old cavalry training ground in a pine forest the camp housed over 50,000 prisoners from Britain, France, Belgium and Russia and other nations. Some 5,200 were British, the second largest contingent to Russia (40,000). The camp was a transit camp for many, but there is no evidence of Joseph being moved to another work camp until his eventual release and repatriation after the cessation of hostilities.

These were the basic camps, made up of wooden barracks 10 m wide and 50 m long, covered with tar on the outside. Each of these barracks kept around 250 prisoners. On the inside, a central corridor provided access on each side to straw or sawdust beds stacked two high. Furniture was kept to a minimum: a table, chairs or benches and a stove. Camps also featured barracks for guards, a Kantine (cafeteria) where prisoners could sometimes buy little objects and additional food, a barrack for packages, a guardhouse and kitchens. Each camp had its own particular structures, notably sanitary facilities or cultural places like a library, a theatre hall or a worship space. All around the camp, there was barbed wire three metres high; the wires were spaced fifteen centimeters apart, a wooden post every three metres, and across other barbed wires every fifty centimeters, forming a mesh.

Although conditions were undoubtedly difficult at Parchim, the following report by the Red Cross in 1916 suggests that the prisoners were treated properly and by 1918 the reports from prisoners suggested this continued:

"REPORT ON UNANNOUNCED VISIT BY RED CROSS INSPECTION TEAM TO PARCHIM PoW CAMP 25 SEPTEMBER 1916 Sir, We have the honour to submit to you a report of a visit of inspection made by us on the 25th September, 1916, at the camp at Parchim, where British prisoners are detained. Number of Prisoners of War: This camp has 46,000 prisoners on its books, and there are in all 1,900 prisoners of war in the camp proper, of whom 40 are British. 39,000 of the prisoners of war from this camp are employed at agriculture work, and 5,000 at industrial work.

Of the prisoners in working camps there are 490 British and 130 of these are at the camp at Wasbeck. Previous Inspection; This camp was visited by Mr Jackson on the 9th June 1915, and by Drs. Taylor and McCarthy on the 12th May 1916. Description of Camp; As this camp has been described before it will be unnecessary to make a more detailed report. Barracks; The barracks are the same as when inspected by Drs. Taylor and McCarthy, with the exception that 4,000 bunks have recently been ordered and made, and we saw these being carried in at the time of our visit. Clothes; All the prisoners had sufficient clothing, underclothing, and shoes. Latrines, Baths, and Washing Facilities; There has been no material change in this regard since the last visit of inspection. Kitchen; There are at present three main kitchens, one for Russians, one for Jews, and one for the French, Serbians and British. In the latter kitchen French prisoners of war were employed. The menu for the day, which was written on a blackboard, was as follows; Breakfast; Coffee and milk. Dinner; Potatoes, smoked beef, carrots, meat extract. Supper; Consommé, potatoes.

We tasted some of the midday meal, which was being prepared at the time, and found it to be very palatable and nutritious. Later the prisoners were seen passing out from the kitchen with bowls about 8 inches in diameter nearly filled with this food. On questioning the British it was stated that all the men took the midday meal. They also stated that the food had improved considerably since the visit of Drs. Taylor and McCarthy in May. There is a large bakery where the camp bread is prepared, the ration being 300 grammes per day. The bread now contains no potato. The menu for the week, as determined by

21 the Kriegsministerium, is appended to this report.

Medical Attention; There were no British in the camp Lazaret. This camp has a remarkable record of never having had a death among the British. A British prisoner, who was walking about with a cane, stated that he had undergone two operations for appendicitis. He said that the physicians advised him to have a third operation performed, but that he had refused. He stated that the wound was healed over but that he had "lumps" underneath the surface, which was suggested to us induration of the wound. Packages; It was stated by the men that the packages arrived in good condition and regularly. Mail; Recently the letters had been arriving irregularly. Complaints; The British were lined up for inspection, and an opportunity given to register complaints. We were allowed to speak to the prisoners freely, and without ear or eye witnesses. Complaints were made of the delay in arrival of letters. It was stated that this had occurred only recently, and was synchronous with the installation of a new interpreter in the censoring department. The men regarded him as being very slack in his work. This was taken up with the commandant, and he promised immediate investigation of the matter and definite correction. Some of the men under the class 4 list (the classification being formed in regard to health and ability to work about the camp) stated that being in this class they should be exempt from fatigue work, but that on the morning of our visit they had been ordered to perform this work. When this matter was taken up with the commandant he stated that this was undoubtedly an error, and that it would immediately be rectified. Remarks; It was stated that one prisoner had been found to be temporarily mentally unbalanced and had been sent to the camp at Sachsenberg, where it was heard that he was improving. The prisoners were told of the proposed new arrangements for packages, whereby one committee was to handle all packages, and they were given a chance to make suggestions as to the contents. The prisoners wished to have a cake of soap included, and the Scotchmen desired a tin of fish each week. lt was stated that there were a sufficient number of footballs in the camp, but they would like to have football shoes of mixed sizes, and eleven this jerseys of one colour and eleven of another together with football knickers. The four civilians, of whom mention was made in the earlier report are still at this camp, and prefer to remain here. Our visit to the camp was unannounced. We believe that especial commendation should be given to the commandant, Oberst Kothe, for the spirit in which he governs the camp, and for the way in which he does everything in his power for the welfare of the prisoners, and for the promotion of a cordial relationship between the men and those in charge.

We have etc. A E Taylor Jerome Pierce Webster”

Joseph continued to serve until the completion of his 6 year engagement, leaving the Army in 1920 and returning to live in the area of Lower Chedworth.

Corporal Cecil Walter Coates, Born: Chedworth 1893 Married: Isabel May Lawrence 1916 (Mansfield) Died: 1931 Parents: Thomas Coates & Emily Iles M2/150230 46 Div, MT Coy, Army Service Corps Enlisted: 22 November 1915 Discharged: 24 February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In the 1911 census Cecil was enumerated as being a 17 year old baker living with his parents in Chedworth. By 1916 he was a chauffeur and had worked for Jack Lawrence of Chedworth for nearly 2 years. Cecil was attested and joined the Army Service Corps on 22 Nov 1915. Amongst the documents accompanying his attestation is a commendation from Jack Lawrence which states that Cecil had driven

22 a Peugeot 16-20 with a ”gate change” and that he was “a careful steady driver who had never had any accident”. An interesting personal footnote adds that Cecil was “a life-long abstainer”.

Cecil served initially in the UK and married Isabel Lawrence (a cousin of Cecil’s previous employer) at Mansfield on 14 Feb 1916. However, he went to France on 3rd March 1917 where his records show him with the 896 Coy, ASC as part of the 42nd Divisional Supply Column. Cecil served in France and Belgium for almost 2 years and during that time was promoted to Corporal 13 Mar 1918. As with so many men at that time Cecil fell ill of the influenza epidemic in December 1918 and was demobilised on the 24th February 1919.

Gunner? Ernest Frank Coates Born: Chedworth 1887 Married: Elizabeth Coates 1912 Died: 1949 (Gloucester District) Parents: Henry Coates and Lenora Jane Rogers Unknown Royal Garrison Artillery Enlisted: unknown Discharged: unknown Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Unknown

In the 1911 Census Ernest Coates is recorded as living with his parents in "The Laurels" (now known as Laurieston), off Cheap Street, Chedworth working as a general labourer and in the following year he married Elizabeth Coates at Yanworth. Unfortunately there are no military records for him and the only record we have is his inclusion on the Roll of Honour panels in the porch of St. Andrews Church as a man who served with the colours during the Great War in the Royal Garrison Artillery.

Ernest is listed in the Polling Register for Chedworth as resident near Cheap St. through 1930.

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Cecil and Isabel Coates Jack Lawrence describes Cecil as a sober driver

Cecil and father Tom Coates Homer Coates

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Private Homer Frank Coates, Born: Chedworth 1899 Married: Isobel Susan Arthurs 1925 Died: 1967 Parents: Philip Coates and Diana Lawrence F25419 Army Service Corps (Fodder Coy) 137896 37 Btln, Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: 4th March 1916 Discharged: 16th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Homer joined the ASC in 1916 and served almost a year collecting and transporting horse fodder for the army, a vital task, often overlooked by historians. During the war horses were used for logistical support as they were better than mechanized vehicles at travelling through deep mud and over rough terrain. Horses were also used for reconnaissance and for carrying messengers, as well as pulling artillery, ambulances, and supply wagons. The value of horses, and the increasing difficulty of replacing them, was such that by 1917 some troops were even told that the loss of a horse was of greater tactical concern than the loss of a human soldier. One estimate puts the number of horses that served in World War I at around six million.

Homer was released just before he was 18 to join the Machine Gun Corps on 10th March 1917 with whom he served until March 1919, although he may briefly have also served in the Rifle Brigade. His family recall the only thing that Homer ever said about his service in France was that he was frightened most of the time and that the food was awful.

Homer was demobilised and returned to Chedworth in March 1919 where he became a keen member of the Chedworth branch of the British Legion and regularly played cricket for the local team. He lived at “Sunnyside”, near Adams Pool.

Major Henry Anstey Coookson, Born: 1886 Malvern Parents: Henry Cookson & Alice May Anstey Married: Elizabeth Georgina Mackie 1915 Died: 1949 Toronto, Canada (whilst visiting sons) SN Unknown 1/6th London Field Ambulance RAMC SN Unknown 12th & 55th General Hospitals RAMC Date of Enlistment: Unknown but not later than June 1915 Date of Discharge: Unknown but during 1919 Roll of Honour: University of Edinburgh, Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Major Henry Cookson is one of several men listed on the wooden memorial panels in St Andrews whose Chedworth connection could not immediately be established through birth or census records. Born in Malvern in 1886, he left school to study medicine at Edinburgh University and following qualification in 1910 he worked initially in Sunderland before joining his father (an ex-Indian Army doctor) at his father’s practice in Cheltenham in 1913.

His alma mater records at Edinburgh refer not only to his excellent qualifications but also to his prowess as a sportsman. He had gained a “Blue” at both hockey and cricket and was a hockey international. Henry had joined the Army as a Territorial and in 1915 was working in the Cambridge Military Hospital and by July that year held the rank of Captain. He studied for further qualifications of DPH (Diploma in Public Health) at Cambridge and was married in early October. His connection with Chedworth finally became clear as he married Elizabeth Georgina, the daughter of the Chedworth vicar, the Reverend

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George Mackie in October 1915.

The local paper tells the story of a truly village wedding in St Andrews with some 200 guests and a large crowd of villagers present. The officiating clergy were the bride’s uncle and elder brother and her father, the Reverend George Mackie, gave her away and her sister Marjory was a witness. The photographs show the family wedding group outside what is now the old vicarage where that afternoon all members of the parish above school age were invited to tea and entertained by both Chedworth bands. There is, however, a clear reference in the paper to the pressures of the war as there was to be an extremely short honeymoon in Weston Super Mare before Henry was due to report back to his duties on the Monday.

Perhaps Henry knew by then that he was soon to leave his new wife as in December he was serving with the 1/6th Field Ambulance in France. His arrival coincided with the aftermath of the first use of gas in World War 1 and in the first months of 1916 he would have been dealing with casualties on the Ypres Salient. Doctors like Henry Cookson with a Field Ambulance worked extremely close to the front line in Advanced Dressing and Casualty Clearing Stations. There he would have been exposed to all the horrors of battle injuries and sometimes have to perform life-saving surgery whilst working in primitive conditions.

As the RAMC records are sparse, it is unknown when Henry was transferred to a hospital appointment, but we know that he was to serve later in the 12th and 55th General Hospitals, being promoted to Major in April 1917. The British scheme of evacuation was based chiefly on Rouen, to which casualties were conveyed mostly by train or ambulance, but also by barges down the Somme and by char-à-bancs. About 15 hospitals were based in the town and Number 12 Hospital with its tents and huts was sited on Rouen Racecourse. In June 1917 the US Army took over the hospital and we can safely assume that by then Henry Cookson was serving at the 55th General Hospital at Wimereux in the Nord Pas de Calais region. He served there until the end of the war, being discharged in 1919.

Doctor Henry Cookson returned to the North East of England and had a distinguished career as a pathologist in Sunderland, being awarded the CBE for his services in 1947. He died whilst visiting his sons in Canada in May 1949.

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Cookson-Mackie wedding Chedworth 1915

55 General Hospital, Wimereux operating theatre & main entrance

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Lieutenant Edward Thomas Cosslett Born: 1893 Glamorgan Parents: Edgar William Cosslett & Annie Williams Married: Helena Agnes Diaper 1920 Died: 1946 Lancashire 2111 1st Armoured Motor Battery Machine Gun Corps 2111 15th Armoured Motor Battery Machine Gun Corps 26739 31 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps/RAF 267473 Royal Air Force Enlisted: 4th August 1915 Discharged: 9th June 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The eldest of 5 sons of Edgar Cosslett, Lord Eldon’s Clerk of Works, Edward was living with his parents and siblings at the Roman Villa at the time of the 1911 Census. Prior to the outbreak of war he was a schoolmaster, having earlier studied at the Cirencester Grammar School. However, on 4th August 1915, Edgar enlisted in the Machine Gun Corps and within months he was posted to East Africa.

His records show him sailing on His Majesty’s Transport “Huntsgreen” from Devonport in February 1916 and disembarking at Kalindini on the 16th March. Edgar was to serve with a Light Armoured Motor Battery in Both East Africa and Egypt, to where he moved later in June 1917. Motorcycle despatch riders and armoured cars were used from the earliest days of the war. Although not so useful on the Western Front, in Egypt, Palestine, East Africa and Mesopotamia the mobility of the units was of great value and they saw considerable action in these theatres. A battery included 18 cycle/sidecar combinations, carrying 6 Vickers machine guns with ammunition and spare equipment; 8 motorcycles without sidecars; 2 or 3 wagons or cars; and a sidecar combination for the officer commanding.

Major Sir John Willoughby acted as the Officer Commanding for the onboard contingent of troops on the “Huntsgreen.” Willoughby, who had become infamous some years previously for his involvement in the Jameson Raids into Matabeleland, was to command No. 1 (Willoughby’s) Armoured Motor Battery (AMB). This unit had been formed privately in February 1915, and apart from the motorcycles it was equipped with four Leyland armoured cars. Clearly Edgar crossed Major Willoughby’s path early on as on 22nd May his Conduct Sheet shows him “Hesitating to obey an order and acting in a manner detrimental to Government equipment.” For this heinous offence (whatever the equipment was!) Edgar received an official Admonition from Major Willoughby. Edgar’s medical records also show him suffering from several bouts of malaria.

His arrival in Egypt at Alexandria in June 1917 saw him admitted to hospital suffering from the disease and it was around this time that he must have made up his mind to leave the Machine Gun Corps and apply for a commission in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). His appointment to a commission was gazetted on 1 December 1917. As the RFC had expanded it had opened flying training schools abroad Edgar was able to be trained at Aboukir in Egypt. Having learnt to fly (his record states that he had flown the Maurice Farman, Avro BE2b, 2c and Re8), he passed out “High” (perhaps not surprisingly given his time in the MGC) at the School of Aerial Gunnery, also in Egypt. In March 1918 he was posted to join 31 Squadron in India.

The role of the Squadron with its BE2c aircraft was Army cooperation, providing reconnaissance, artillery observation and bombing support to the Army on the North West Frontier. Conditions were often very dangerous; operating fairly primitive flying machines in hot and high conditions from simple landing grounds. The threat from hostile tribesmen was also very real and Ransom Notes were carried by pilots, promising considerable monetary rewards for the return of airmen to the nearest British outpost, providing they were returned intact! The Squadron was congratulated for its work in Waziristan and

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Baluchistan that year and although the war ended in Europe, the occurrence of hostile acts by rebel tribesmen continued into 1919 and the return of (now RAF) Lieutenant Edgar Cosslett to England.

Edgar was discharged to civilian life on 9th June 1919, one of only 4 Chedworth men to serve in the RFC and the newly formed Royal Air Force in World War1.

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Sergeant Stuart Lloyd Cosslett Born: 1897 Glamorgan Parents: Edgar William Cosslett & Annie Williams Married: Frances Olive Mary Philips 1924 Died: 25th August 1973, Southbourne, Bournemouth 8763 Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: Unknown Discharged: 3rd March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Four years younger than his brother Edward, Stuart Lloyd Cosslett is recorded on the 1911 Census living with the rest of his family at the Roman Villa. He attended the Cirencester Grammar School and played cricket for the local Yanworth team.

On 2 September 1915 a definite proposal had been made to the War Office for the formation of a single specialist Machine Gun Company per infantry brigade, by withdrawing the Vickers guns and gun teams from the battalions and replacing them with lighter and easier to carry Lewis guns in the infantry units. The MGC would eventually consist of infantry Machine Gun Companies, cavalry Machine Gun Squadrons and Motor Machine Gun Batteries (in which his brother Edward served in East Africa and Egypt).

Stuart Cosslett followed his brother into this Corps, and we assume it was no earlier than 1915, i.e. sometime after his 18th birthday. Which element of the Corps he joined is impossible to tell as records of the Corps were almost entirely destroyed in World War 2. We do have some statistics, however and the casualty records of the Corps make grim reading: a total of 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC, of which 62,049 were killed, wounded or missing. All we know of Stuart Cosslett is his name on the St Andrews memorial panels and that he served with sufficient professionalism to attain the rank of Sergeant before he was discharged on 3rd March 1919.

In 1922-1923 Stuart lived with his parents at 55 Dyer Street, Cirencester prior to marrying Frances at Bibury in 1924. At the time his address was in St. Albans and telephone directory entries indicate that he remained in that area through 1960.

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Corporal Cyril Frederick Wallis Danford Born: 1899 Down Ampney Parents: Robert Wallace Danford and Helen Humphrey Married: Melba Victoria Hanneysee 1929 (Queensland) Died: 1972 (New South Wales, Australia) 15195 Gloucestershire Regiment 635575 Labour Corps Enlisted: Unknown but by April 1915 (second list) Discharged: 15 March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Cyril Danford appeared in the 1911 census as the eldest of 4 children of gamekeeper Robert and his wife Helen, then living at Postcombe, Chedworth. (Postcombe is on the north border of the parish of Chedworth.) He also attended the village school and appeared in the local newspaper as a double prizewinner at the 1912 Chedworth Horticultural Society’s Annual Show. (First prizes in the Boys Drawing and Illustrated Essay competitions.)

Cyril served with the 9th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment and with the Labour Corps (Service numbers 15195 and 635575 respectively). He was also included on the Second List of Chedworth Servicemen published in the local paper. (On the list are others from the village who joined the 9th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, such as Albert Allington, Albert Broad, Cecil Greenwood and Reg Lawrence.)

He enlisted underage in 1915 (he was born in 1899) for joining the Army. Official government policy was that one had to be 18 to sign up and 19 to fight overseas. In the early twentieth century most people didn’t have birth certificates, so it was easy to lie about one’s age. Furthermore, recruitment officers were paid two shillings and sixpence (about £6 in today’s money) for each new recruit, and would often turn a blind eye to any concern they had about age.

The recruitment process included medical checks to make sure a potential recruit was fit enough to fight, rather than if he was old enough. The minimum height requirement was five feet, three inches, with a minimum chest size of 34 inches, so a strapping 16 year-old, particularly a young man such as Cyril who was brought up in a country environment, was very likely to meet these simple criteria. If he was a willing, fit volunteer, he would certainly have found it easy to join the total of 250,000 ‘Boy Soldiers’ who were thought to have been recruited and to have fought in World War One.

Cyril was posted to France 20 Sep 1915 and probably discharged about 20 March 1919. We have no detailed records of his service. However, the Battalion landed in France on 21 September 1915 and moved to Salonika in November 1915, (see the record for Albert Broad), returning to France in July 1918 where they were attached to the 198th Brigade in the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. On 22 September 1918 they became a Pioneer Battalion to same Division. Possibly at this stage Cyril was transferred to the Labour Corps, surviving the war to be discharged on 15th March 1919 and to return to Chedworth.

However, Cyril’s story of his life in uniform does not end there as we have evidence of him responding to a call for volunteers to join the Shanghai Police force. Responsible for policing in the International Settlement area of the city, the Shanghai Municipal Police was in desperate need for volunteers in 1918/9 and recruits were sought in Britain just as World War 1 came to an end. Cyril sailed to Shanghai on the SS Laertes on 14 October 1919 from Liverpool with 49 other recruits on a 50-day voyage. The story of the Shanghai Military Police around the time of Cyril’s arrival saw the beginning of tempestuous times. It is therefore no surprise to note that within 10 years he had left Shanghai to settle and to marry in Australia where he died in 1972. 31

Private Bertine Isaac Norman Day Born: 1891 Chedworth Parents: George Day and Amelia Jane Norman Married: Ivy Mabberley 1919 Died: 1960 17173 9th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: 1st December 1914 Discharged: 15 September 1915 (because of an illness, nfi) Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Unknown Silver War Badge: 156881 issued 10th April 1917

Known to his friends as Bert Day, we have the story of Bert’s enlistment as it is recorded in Albert Broad’s diary that, together with Reg Lawrence, the three jointly agreed to go to Cheltenham to enlist. Having failed to enlist in the Royal Engineers, they signed on in the 9th Battalion of the Glosters as Bandsmen on 1st December 1914 and trained together in the local area until April 1915. During this time they played with the Battalion on route marches, and clearly the War must have been having an impact on the Cheltenham community as the diary also records that they played at several funerals.

In April the Battalion moved to Fovant in Wiltshire for Brigade and later for Divisional training. Bert Day’s military records have not survived, but it is clear that during this period he fell ill. In fact his illness was such that he was discharged from the Army as unfit for service on 15 September. The authority for his discharge was a standard one used in such circumstances, namely King’s Regulations 392 xv1 “Being no longer physically fit for war service.” This decision came just a few days before his friends and the Battalion as a whole sailed for France on 21 September.

Life must have been difficult for Bert now that his friends and other men from Chedworth were at war and he may have derived some comfort when he was issued with the Silver War Badge on 10th April 1917. The Silver War Badge was issued to service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness and was sometimes known as the Discharge Badge, Wound Badge or Services Rendered Badge. It was first issued in September 1916, along with an official certificate of entitlement. It had been the practice of some women to present white feathers as a sign of cowardice to apparently able-bodied young men who were not wearing the King's uniform and this was certainly a factor behind its issue.

Bert Day became a tiler and plasterer, married Ivy Mabberley on 1st November 1919 (with his brother Vic as a witness) and lived in Lower Chedworth and then Cheap Street through 1930.

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Private Enos Day Born: 1887 Eastington Parents: John Day and Mary Eliza Hewer Married: Emily Margaret Stepney 1909 Died: 1955 12665 2nd Btln Grenadier Guards WR 300338 Royal Engineers (Inland Waterways and Transport) Enlisted: 26 April 1906 Discharged: 31 October 1918 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory Silver War Badge 31 October 1918 (B36792)

In the 1901 Census Enos Day was living with his parents and siblings in Yanworth. His father was a local shepherd and 14 year-old Enos was registered as a farm worker. Some 5 years later he enlisted in the Grenadier Guards on a 3 year engagement, serving on the Home establishment until being placed on the B Reserve on 2nd April 1909. On return to civilian life (and marriage) Enos found employment with the Great Western Railway as a “Horsekeeper” and in 1911 was living in Paddington.

After 3 years active service his period on the B Reserve would have normally been for 9 years or on General Mobilisation. It was therefore inevitable that Enos would serve again and he appears on the first Chedworth Soldiers List dated September 1914. On 5th August 1916 his records show him deploying with the Grenadier Guards to France and on 20th September, less than 2 months later, he was wounded, probably at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.

Between 15- 22 September 1916 a renewal of the offensive finally broke through the area that had proved to be so difficult since 14 July. Using a small number of tanks for the first time in history, the British Army finally captured High Wood and pressed on through Flers and up the Bapaume road to Courcelette. Medical records show that Enos had suffered a gunshot wound to his right arm. It was considered serious enough for him to be evacuated to the UK on the hospital ship “Asturius” and he spent some time in the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport. After his discharge he was eventually transferred to the Royal Engineers Inland Waterways and Transport Section.

Whatever his role with them, Enos had suffered enough physically to be unable to continue in service in the Royal Engineers as he was discharged as unfit on 31 October 1918 before the cessation of hostilities. He was issued with a Silver War Badge on 31 October 1918 and died locally in 1955.

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Sapper Ernest Albert Day Born: 1881 Chedworth Parents: George Day and Amelia Jane Norman Married: Francis Elizabeth Langdale 1915 Died: unknown 228797 Royal Engineers (Inland Water & Transport) WR 504811 Royal Engineers (Inland Water & Transport) Enlisted: 9th December 1915 (placed in Reserves) Mobilised: 13 January 1917 Discharged: 9th May 1919 Roll of Honour Chedworth (New panel) Medals: BWM, Victory

On the 1901 Census Ernest appears as the eldest (by some 6 years) of the 4 Day brothers. It is not too surprising, therefore, that by 1911 he had left home and his name was not included on the memorial panels with his brothers when the panels were installed in St Andrews in 1921. However, being Chedworth born and of a longstanding Chedworth family Ernest Day’s name is now recorded the new memorial panel in the porch of St Andrews erected in November 2014 to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.

Ernest was working as a carpenter and joiner in Swindon when he enlisted under the Derby scheme in the Royal Engineers on 9th December 1915. As a 34 year-old he does not seem to have been required as he was then placed on the Reserves. He received notice to “Rejoin the Colours” in December 1916 and on 13th January 1917 he was mobilised and joined the Royal Engineers Inland Waterways and Transport Section. The Royal Engineers lost little time in pressing him into active service as his records show him embarked for France on the 25th February. His professional expertise as a carpenter/joiner was noted on his documents, and the Royal Engineers obviously found his civilian trade very useful as by October 1917 his records show that he was earning a “Very Superior Rate of Engineer Pay.”

The Royal Engineers Inland Waterways and Transport Section provided a vital transport service on the network of French and Belgian canals. In particular, wounded were often transported on ambulance barges as transportation by this method was particularly suited to those suffering from head or chest wounds and gunshot fractures of the thigh, minimizing the jolting usually experienced by any other means of transport.

About the size of a Thames lighter, the ambulance barges were roofed in and fitted out as a ward with 30 beds and an operating table. In the bow of the barge was a kitchen and store-room, and there were bunks for the staff in the stern. Each vessel was staffed by a medical officer two nursing sisters, nine R.A.M.C. orderlies and three Royal Engineers (RE) from the Inland Water Transport unit. Our researches have uncovered a description by one soldier transported in this way:

"It was almost as if one had died and literally wakened in heaven. The peace, the silence, were unbelievable. One had glimpses of lovely country, and the scent of it drifted in. The nights moored up were so still - though sometimes one heard the distant gun-fire, but it didn’t matter anymore - it seemed so far away."

Ernest survived the war and was discharged on 9th May 1919. In 1939 Albert and Francis Day were living in the Birmingham area.

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Private Victor Oliver Day Born: 1888 Chedworth Parents: George Day and Amelia Jane Norman Married: Delaretha Lawrence 1913 Died: 1974 (Cheltenham) S4/065052 Army Service Corps 38202 1/5th Somerset Light Infantry Enlisted: Unknown but not later than April 1915 Discharged: 17 July 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Only medal allocation documents relating to Victor (Vic) Day have survived. However, we know that he must have enlisted soon after the outbreak of war as he appears with his brothers Bert and Walter on the second list of Chedworth volunteers published in April 1915. By that time he was trained and serving as a private in the Army Service Corps (ASC) and was deployed to Egypt on 10th April. He was probably specially enlisted for his trade as a baker, i.e. he came from civilian employment in a trade that was of direct value to work in the Supply section. S4 indicates that he was enlisted into the Fourth New Army.

Vic’s arrival in Egypt coincided with the start of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign and his entries on the Medal Roll indicate that he also saw service there. The ASC played an important support role throughout the campaign which ended in March 1916 and he was transferred back to serve again in Egypt. We know nothing of his employment with the ASC in Egypt, but at some stage after their arrival on 11 May 1917, Vic was transferred to join the 1/5th Bn Somerset Light Infantry, being given a new service number with that regiment. Vic Day ended his war in Egypt and was discharged on 17th July 1919.

Long term Chedworth resident Peter Juggins recalled being told that whilst Vic was in Egypt he decided to buy Tom Coates’ bakery business and arranged for his family to buy it for him. (In 1911 Vic was listed as working as a “Baker Confectioner”.) We have a copy of his father George Day’s announcement regarding the “Hygienic Bakery and Stores” and the safe return of Vic from the war which was published in the local paper.

Vic ran the bakery business for many years and provided local deliveries within the village and the surrounding area. Vic lived at Pike Corner aka “Pie Corner”, was onetime Secretary of the newly formed Branch of the British Legion and an enthusiastic member of the Chedworth Band.

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Top left –Bert Day in 1910.

Top right Enos Day

Bottom – Private V.O. Day and Vic with his post-war delivery van

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Lance Corporal Walter George Day Born 1886 Chedworth Parents: George Day and Amelia Jane Norman Married Clara Tye 1911 Died: 7 April 1916 (killed in action) 17799 8th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 17799 11th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Unknown but before April 1915 Memorials: Both Chedworth Church and Chapel Buried: Rue-Du-Bacquerot No1 Military Cemetery, Laventie, France, Plot II F 20 Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

The eldest of the three Day boys still at home in 1911, the census shows Walter employed on the Stowell Estate as a tiler and plasterer. Like his brothers Victor and Bert, Walter enlisted before April 1915 and appears on the second list of Chedworth men to do so. Walter joined the 8th (Service) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment.

The Battalion was raised at Bristol in September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Second New Army and joined 57th Brigade in 19th (Western) Division. They trained at Perham Down and in March 1915 moved to Tidworth for final training. Walter proceeded to France with the Battalion on 4th August 1915, the division concentrating near St Omer. Over the next few months Walter obviously showed his worth as he was promoted to Lance Corporal. On 19th October 1915 Walter was serving with the 11th Battalion of the Gloucestershire and wrote a field will leaving everything to his wife Clare who whose address was Blakemoor Bottom, Chedworth. Tragically, Walter was killed on the 7th April 1916 whilst serving in the 8th Battalion. The local newspaper records the background as follows:

“CHEDWORTH SOLDIER KILLED It is with great regret that we announce the death in France of Lance Corpl W A Day of the Gloucesters. On April 7 (1916) he was shot through the head by a sniper and died almost immediately His commanding officer writes "He was a general favourite and a trustworthy and capable man". He is the first of the 63 Chedworth soldiers to give his life for his King and country. A muffled peal was rung at the Parish Church on Sunday, and the Dead March in "Saul" was played, as a token of respect. He will be greatly missed in Chedworth, as the conductor of the brass band and a man of sterling character. He leaves a widow and three little children.”

(Although the local newspaper stated in their article at the time that Walter Day was the first Chedworth man to be lost, it is incorrect. Sadly, Charles Marston was the first (see story) as he was killed in October 1914, but not surprising that he was overlooked as he had been absent from the village for some time.) However, the village soon had to face another tragedy as on 24th April, Arthur Broad (see earlier entry) died in the Royal County Hospital, Guildford of wounds received in France. A joint memorial service was held in St Andrews on the 18th May. Walter Day is buried in the CWGC Cemetery at Laventie in France. His sacrifice is remembered on the War Memorials in St Andrews and outside the former Congregational Chapel.

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Walter George Day 1886-1916 Ernest Albert Day

Rue du Bacquerot No 1 Military Cemetry, Laventie, France where Walter is buried

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Sergeant Leonard Thomas C. Dayment Born: 1895 Tuxford, Nottinghamshire Married: Beatrice D.M. Phillips 1925 Axbridge District Died: 1987 Weston Super Mare Parents: Henry Dayment and Edith Mary Cazer 267743 Royal Warwickshire Rgt 267846 2/7th Btn Royal Warwickshire Rgt Enlisted: 11 December 1915 Discharged: 8th October 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory SWB: Issued 8th October 1919 (317402)

Leonard Dayment was first admitted to the Chedworth School 27 April 1903. The 1901 Census shows the family living in Cirencester; presumably his family had moved to Chedworth from Cirencester about that time. The School Log has provided a number of clues as to Leonard’s progress, which started with a 1904 entry which states simply “L Dayment and I Minchin caned”. However, there is no statement as to their crimes! His father was a foreman on the railway and both he and Leonard’s mother held strong Nonconformist views - evidenced by the Log recording them writing to the school to request Leonard be permitted to be excused learning the catechism. In 1906 the local paper has the story of the opening of the New Congregational Sunday School in its new annexe to the Chapel in Lower Chedworth and Leonard’s mother was amongst those prominent at the ceremony. (Not surprisingly, Leonard later attended the Sunday School.) He was obviously a bright young man, as in 1908 and 1909 he featured on the school prize lists. In 1910 he was Top Boy and his parents had by then kept him at school beyond the usual leaving age of 14 years old.

Evidence as to Leonard Dayment’s service is available only through his Medal Card which shows that he enlisted on 11th December 1915 in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and at one time was in the 2/7th battalion headquarters signal section. The battalion formed part of the 182nd Brigade of the 2nd South Midland Division which landed in France in May 1916 and over the next 2 years the Division was involved in several major battles on the Western Front, including the 3rd Battle of Ypres and Cambrai. In mid- May 1918 Henry and Edith Dayment received the message that Leonard was missing. The local newspaper reported:

“Official news has been received by Mr. and Mrs. Dayment of Bleakmoor, that their son, Private Leonard Dayment, Headquarter’s Signal Section, Royal Warwicks, is missing since March 22nd on the Western front. He has been on active service about two years. It is hoped that his relatives and friends will hear good news of him.”

This story tallies with the record of the 61st Division at that time. On 21 March 1918, the enemy launched what was intended to be a decisive offensive, attacking the British Fifth and Third Armies on the Somme in overwhelming strength. The 61st (2nd South Midland) Division was holding the forward zone of defences in the area northwest of Saint Quentin in the area of Ham and lost many men as it fought a chaotic but ultimately successful withdrawal back over the Somme crossings over the next ten days. In the initial clash, the South Midland faced three enemy Divisions and only began to retire on the afternoon of 22 March, when ordered to do so in consequence of the enemy's progress at other parts of the line. It is almost certain that Leonard went missing during this withdrawal.

The news must have been a huge shock to the Dayments, particularly as Leonard would by then have

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been missing for over six weeks. However, a month later they received the good news that Leonard was a prisoner of war in Germany. (At the same time other Chedworth families, the Broads and the Mackies, had just heard that their sons, previously reported missing, were also now prisoners of war.)

Leonard wrote a letter on 25th December 1918 to Eileen Bliss, received about 13th January 1919, telling her that he would be in “Blighty” before she got the letter and she later discovered that he was in King George’s Hospital, London. Leonard had not been treated well as a prisoner. He with others were left for three days without food or removal thus receiving “cruel treatment and very bad food and little of it”. His leg was never set and was a constant source of pain. On 29th January 1919 Leonard was transferred to the Royal Infirmary, Bristol where he was visited by Eileen Bliss and sister Nora the following day. Leonard (on right) with nurse and colleague In early March 1919 the doctors considered using electrical massage to strengthen Leornard’s leg prior to operating to remove shrapnel and in May 1919 his lower back and legs were encased in plaster of Paris for two months. He was allowed home to Chedworth on 18th July to enjoy the Peace Celebrations on the 19th returning to hospital on 21 July 1919. Leonard had permanently returned to Chedworth by October 29th 1919 after being issued a Silver War Badge and demobilisation from the army.

There was also local controversy some time later over a reduction in his pension. This was brought up in the Local Parish Notes of March 1920 reported in the local newspaper as follows:

“The Chairman then brought forward a matter which had the greatest sympathy of the meeting, great indignation being expressed at the unjust treatment meted out by the Pensions Committee to Mr Leonard Dayment, a discharged wounded soldier, in reducing his pension from 24s to 8s per week without any just cause. Much correspondence was brought forward to show that great efforts had been made by the wronged soldier to get justice done. As his case is before the Appeal Board, the meeting thought it wise to await its decision before taking any action. Some of the Councillors thought that a strong protest from the Parish should be sent to the Ministry of Pensions.”

Sadly, we do not know if the appeal was successful, but we do know that Leonard lived with his parents at Bleakmoor between 1919 and 1923 and that he had a further operation on his leg in November 1920. Leonard and his wife Beatrice were living in the Swindon area in 1939.

Leonard (on left) recuperating with unknown patient

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Lance Corporal Walter George Dodwell Born: 1876 Cheltenham Parents: Joseph Dodwell and Eliza Deakin Married: Annie Moulton 1911 Died: 1956 (Cheltenham) 3386 4th Btn Somerset Light Infantry 2590 4th Btn Gloucester Regiment SR 2462 2nd & 3rd Btn Royal Fusilier Rgt 4010 8th Btn London (Post Office) Rifles 289387 625 Coy, Labour Corps Enlisted: 22 February 1893 Discharged: 11 December 1917 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory Silver War Badge issued: 11 Dec 1917 (302933)

Prior to the outbreak of the Great War Walter Dodwell had already signed up for the 4th Btn Somerset Light Infantry but, for some reason, re-enlisted in the 4th Btn Gloucestershire Regiment for 6 years on 16th August 1893. After leaving the army he became a postman in Cheltenham in 1908, transferring to Chedworth a year later, in 1909. The 1911 census records him lodging with Andrew and Elizabeth Fry in Queen Street before he was married later that year. He volunteered to re-join the colours in 1914 and was deployed to France in May 1915.

Walter served in the 8th Battalion of the London (Post Office) Rifles and this recruiting poster shows that there were clear incentives for those who enlisted. The Post Office Rifles served with distinction in the Great War and although unique in its composition, the experiences of the PORs were entirely representative of life on the Western Front. By the end of the war, 1800 men from the Post Office Rifles would be dead and 4500 more would be wounded and between them the three battalions of the Post Office Rifles earned 19 battle honours. Walter’s battalion fought at Loos in 1915 and in the battles of the Somme in 1916. In April 1917 they fought in the Battle of the Scarpe and later in the Battle of Arras. At the Battle of Wurst Farm Ridge, in September 1917, the 2/8th (Walter’s battalion) lost over half its fighting strength, dead or wounded, but its men were awarded a total of 40 gallantry medals.

Early in 1917 Walter suffered from trench feet, and was briefly admitted to hospital. However, later that year he was subjected to the horrors of gassing and also suffered from facial injuries and, too badly injured to return to the front line after hospitalisation, he was transferred to the Labour Corps. However, he was finally declared unfit for service and discharged on 11 December 1917. He returned to Chedworth and lived with his wife Annie in Queen Street and later in Court’s Close until 1925. They then moved to Northleach and eventually settled in Cheltenham where he died in 1956..

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Ordinary Seaman William John Edwards Born: 01.01.1900 Chedworth Parents: John Henry Edwards and Ann Pinchin (Pancake Hill) Married: Rosina D. Farmer 1925 Died: 1977 (Mendip) 206101 HMS Vivid Royal Navy 206101 HMS Argus Royal Navy Enlisted: 5 February 1918 Discharged: 5 February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Born in Chedworth in 1900, William Edwards was recorded on the 1911 Census living with his parents and sister on Pancake Hill. He attended Chedworth school (“The National School”) and he is recorded in the School Log in 1913 as having joined the scouts. Around the time of his 18th birthday he enlisted in the Royal Navy and his record shows him drafted initially onto HMS Vivid, the name given to the RN training base at Plymouth/Devonport.

After some 7 months, William was drafted to HMS Argus, one of the Royal Navy’s first aircraft carriers and was one of the first of the ship’s complement to join after Argus was commissioned on the 16th September. The first aircraft landing on the ship was made on the 1st October 1918 by a Sopwith Ship Strutter. The same month the ship was used in trials to evaluate the effects which an island superstructure would have on flying operations, with a canvas-and-wood dummy island being installed with a smoke box to simulate funnel gases. By the 19th December 36 successful landings had been made by Ship Strutters and Sopwith Pups. Too late to participate in World War I Argus then went into a refit and this period saw William demobilized on the 5th February 1919.

He returned to Chedworth and was living in the village in 1923, but by 1925 the family had moved away. In 1939 William (a bricklayer), Rosina and sons George and Ronald were living in Wells, Somerset.

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HMSA Argus and early experiments to launch aircraft

from ships

Postcard with picture of Frank Ford Walter Dodwell, Chedworth Postman

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Private Francis (Frank) Ford Born: 1880 Hinton Parva, Wiltshire Parents: George Ford and Fanny Loveday Married: Mary Victoria Kelly 1907 Died: Not known T14896 Army Service Corps Enlisted: 29 May 1899 Discharged: 28 May 1920 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

By the outbreak of the Great War Frank Ford had already served twice in South Africa with the Army Service Corps (ASC) as a driver and may also have served in Ireland at some time before the end of his engagement in 1907. He had reserve liability from 1907 to 1911, during which time he married (1907) and one of his children, Dorothy Alice, was born in Chedworth in 1908. His marriage certificate refers to him as a retired Army driver. On 6 August 1914 he was mobilized and was immediately sent to France and Frank was initially based at Le Havre to assist with the buildup of the BEF on the opening of hostilities.

In the Great War, there was a vast effort in supplying the army on many fronts. Using horsed and motor vehicles, railways and waterways, the ASC performed prodigious feats of logistics and were one of the great strengths of organisation by which the war was won. Frank served almost continuously in France throughout the war, with only a 4 month period of service in England in 1916. His records indicate that whilst he served as a Driver, he was also closely linked with Horse Transport units; his discharge certificate describing him as being “Of Exemplary Character” and “A good horseman and accustomed to the care and management of animals.” Frank finally left France in August 1919, but was not discharged until May 1920.

Private Cyril Fry Born: 1897 Chedworth Parents: Sydney Harry Fry and Annie Bedwell Married: Sarah Gertrude Haddrell 1922 Died: 1940 (Cheltenham air raid) 122266 Machine Gun Corps 24699 Gloucester Regiment Enlisted: Not known Discharged: 18 June 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Born into a Chedworth family of farm labourers who lived near the Waggon and Horses., Cyril Fry left Chedworth School on the 6th May 1910. Very little is known of his service in the Great War, except that he was in both the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Machine Gun Corps and survived to be discharged on 18th June 1919.

He returned to Chedworth and was living with his parents in 1920, but he then moved away. Having survived the Great War, Cyril and his wife plus a nephew and niece were tragically killed in Stoneville Street, Cheltenham during the town’s first air raid of World War 2 on 2 December 1940.

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Lance Corporal Francis Fry Born: 1883 Chedworth Parent: Mary Ann Fry Married: Fanny Pinchin 1912 Died: 19 January 1925 16977 2nd & 5th Btlns Royal Berkshire Regiment Enlisted: Not known but before April 1915 Discharged: 19 February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Francis Fry appears on the second list of Chedworth volunteers to enlist, (published in April 1915), with several of his relatives from the Lawrence family. Frank was well known in the prewar village community as Captain of The Cricket team, Conductor of the Bellringers and the Honorary Secretary of the Unionist Club. Francis initially joined the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment and on 30th June 1915 disembarked in France as part of Kitchener’s First New Army. It was not long before the Royal Berkshires were fully involved as they took part in the first mass engagement of New Army units, the Battle of Loos.

The Battle of Loos was the largest British offensive mounted in 1915 on the Western Front and the first time the British used poison gas. The British offensive was part of the attempt by the French to break through the German defences in Artois and Champagne and restore a war of movement. Despite improved methods, more ammunition and better equipment the Franco-British attacks were contained by the German armies, except for local losses of ground. Casualties in the battle were high on both sides and Francis Fry was lucky to escape with his life, as the local paper reported:

“A Chedworth Man’s Providential Escape. At the battle of Loos, on September 25th last, Lance-Corporal Francis Fry, of the Royal Berks, had a narrow escape from death. His division was engaged on the left at Bois Grenier, where it encountered the Prussian Guards. In the charge made against the latter, a huge Prussian made two lunges at the Corporal with his bayonet, and half pierced a book entitled the Soldiers Pocket Companion, which the Corporal was wearing in his breast pocket. The book was given to him by the Rev, G.E. Mackie, the Vicar of Chedworth, in July last. It will be kept as a souvenir. The Corporal’s assailant was immediately despatched by him.”

The 2nd Btln’s attack at Bois Grenier on the 25th September 1915 was simultaneous to the battle of Loos, aimed at preventing the enemy from moving reserves down and jeopardising any breakthrough. The War Diary entry for the Battalion that day lists the long list of their casualties: Officers Killed: 7, Wounded: 5. Other Ranks: Killed 32, Missing 143, Wounded 216.

Francis was clearly lucky to survive and he was injured on a total of 3 occasions during the War, including a gunshot wound to his right shoulder which severely affected his long-term health. One assumes it affected his bellringing later, but he was fit enough when at home in December 1917 as the local paper recorded him taking part in the Christmas Day peal. His relatives certainly remember that “he was never the same after the war”.

Frank died at “Sunnyside” in 1925 and this extract from the newspaper report of his funeral is a moving tribute to a remarkable villager and soldier:

“ CHEDWORTH DEATH AND FUNERAL OF MR FRANCIS FRY. It is sad to record that Chedworth sustained a great loss by the death Mr Francis Fry, who died at his residence Monday night, the l9th inst., at the age 42. Deceased had been very ill for some 18 months with severe lung trouble, and for seven months he was an in-patient of the Standish House Sanatorium. There is no doubt that the cause of the lung trouble was from the effects of a gun-shot wound in the right shoulder which he received on active service during the Great War, to which he eventually

45 succumbed. He was one of the first married men in the Village to enlist in the Army, joining the Royal Berks Regiment early in 1915. He saw much active service in France, was wounded three times, and had enteric fever once.

Deceased was a native of Chedworth, and by occupation was a forester, working for many years in Chedworth Woods, and latterly at Marsden. He was one of the most useful members of the community of the village, his activities in the social life of the place being numerous. For many years he was a boy chorister at the Parish Church.

He was a keen cricketer, being captain of the Chedworth cricket team for a long period. He was also a very enthusiastic bellringer, being conductor the Parish Church bellringers for many years. Amongst other useful work, he was hon. secretary the Horticultural Society, secretary of the local branch of the Conservative Benefit Society, and secretary the Unionist Club before the war. He also helped to found the Medical Club in the village with Dr Sanger, which is still in existence. He was greatly respected, and will be greatly missed by a large circle of relatives and friends. He leaves a widow and three children to mourn his loss.

The funeral took place at the Parish Church on Thursday afternoon the 22nd instant, the Rev G. E. Mackie conducting the service with much impressiveness. There was a large gathering of relatives and friends present. On Sunday evening last the Vicar, in the course of his sermon, paid a glowing tribute to the many sterling qualities possessed by Francis Fry, and of the great use he made of them.”

Note: There is a newspaper photograph of Francis Fry on page 74 of this book.

Private George Edward Fry Born: 1889 Chedworth Parents: Sydney Harry Fry and Annie Bedwell Married: Not known Died: 1970 (Gloucester) 57658 Devonshire Regiment 102784 Labour Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Older brother to Cyril, George Fry was a farm labourer living with his parents and siblings in Chedworth at the time of the 1911 Census. Nothing is known of his military service, except that he served in the Devon Regiment and then the Labour Corps. He appears on the Roll of Honour in St Andrews porch and lived in the village with his parents after the war from 1920 to 1925.

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Acting Corporal Austin Gardiner, Born: 1888 Chedworth Parents: Thomas Gardiner and Mary Ann Hale (1884) Married: Lily May Bowerman 1916 (Cheltenham) Died: 1964 Oxford District M2 264242 Army Service Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The younger of two brothers born in Chedworth, Austin Gardiner was a chauffeur boarding with a family in Swindon at the time of the 1911 Census. Other than his Medal Records there are no details of his military service. However, we know that he served in the Army Service Corps and he used his civilian experience as his service number prefix (M2) is that of a Driver.

Private Thomas Gardner Born: 1889 Chedworth Parents: Joseph William Gardner and Sarah Elizabeth Morse Married: Martha Ann Townsend Died: 1974 Chedworth 24726 10th Btln Gloucestershire Regimen 39384 2/4 & 8th Btlns Royal Berkshire Regiment Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known but probably 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 Thomas was a farm carter living in the Chedworth Laines area with his parents and older brother. The date of his enlistment is not known, but he certainly served in both the Gloucestershire and Royal Berkshire Regiments. In May 1918 the local paper carried the following story:

“Since March 22 no news has been received of Private T Gardner, Royal Berks Regiment. He has been on active service for about 18 months, and some months ago as wounded. After his recovery he returned to France. His parents and others will be very glad to have their anxiety relieved.”

From the records it is certain that Thomas was then serving with the Royal Berkshire Regiment as the 10th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment was disbanded the month before, on 14th February 1918. It was most likely that after his recovery from his wounding he had been drafted into the Royal Berkshires and was serving with the 2nd Battalion on 22nd March. Their 8th Battalion was in billets, (ie behind the lines) but the 2nd was engaged on the front line and their War Diary for that date records:

“The morning was very misty. At 10.30am the enemy put down a heavy barrage, which was followed by infantry attacks in great force. "B" and "C" Coys moved up to a position between ELLIS REDOUBT and VILLECHOLES. These positions were held and very heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy, until the order was received to withdraw to the line in front of BEAUVOIS at 12.30pm. This manoeuvre was carried out in good order and without loss. During the fighting Capt E K NOTT was killed, Capt G HINCHLIFFE and 2/Lieuts G W de St LEGIER MC and J LAWRENCE were missing, and Lieuts H F F COGGIN and K P SMITH and 2/Lieuts W A COZENS and J TULLETT wounded.”

Perhaps it was here that Thomas went missing, but we do not know if he was captured or made a prisoner of war. However, at some stage his parents had the good news that he had survived and he returned to Chedworth at some stage after the Armistice. He and Martha lived in Chedworth for many years and are buried in St Andrews churchyard.

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Air Mechanic Frank Alfred Glover Born: 1897 Chedworth Parents: Philip William Glover and Amelia Jane Massey Married: Angela M Johnson in 1968 (Cheltenham) Died: 1979 (Cheltenham) 17160 Royal Flying Corps 17160 Royal Air Force Enlisted: 4th January 1916 Discharged: 30th April 1920 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

In 1911 Frank was a schoolboy living with his grandmother, father and an uncle at Clifden Cottage in Chedworth. A carpenter and joiner by trade in civilian life, he was an ideal recruit for the Royal Flying Corps when he enlisted on the 4th January 1916. Frank trained at the Hendon airfield to became a Rigger, initially in the RFC rank of Air Mechanic 2nd Class, earning 2 shillings per day. His duties would be prop swinging, handling aircraft movements, fuelling and assisting senior mechanics. In that age of early aviation, aircraft were manufactured primarily from wood and wings and control surfaces were aligned and controlled by wire cables and, as he gained experience and skill, Frank would probably have graduated to such tasks (ie “rigging”) the airframes.

On the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1st April 1918 Frank was automatically enrolled into the new air arm from the RFC. He retained his service number and was given the new RAF trade designation of Rigger (Aero) and the new rank of Air Mechanic 3rd Class and continued to serve at Hendon airfield. Hendon was a busy place with involvement in the earliest days of aviation (and, appropriately, is now the home of the RAF Museum). The airfield housed several flying schools, including the famous Grahame- White's school, contracted to train pilots for the Royal Flying Corps including such famous names as Mannock, Ball and Warneford.

Frank Glover was assigned to the No 2 Aircraft Acceptance Park which, as its title suggests, accepted newly built aircraft from manufacturers and tested them before taking them into military service with front line squadrons. Frank’s records show him being later assigned to the RAF’s newly-formed No 1 Communications Squadron, also based at Hendon, which, from its convenient position in the London suburbs, ferried government and military officials around the UK and to France. Most notably the squadron’s aircraft ferried officials and documents to and from Paris for the Paris Peace Conference in January 1919. Frank Glover served a further year until his discharge on 30th April 1920 and returned briefly to live at Clifden Cottage that year.

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Private Cecil Henry Greenwood Born: 1891 Chedworth Parents: Robert Greenwood and Adelaide Fry Married: Not married at time of death: Died: 20 October 1918 (whilst POW) 3298 1/5th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 241094 1/5th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not known but before April 1915 Memorials Chedworth Church and Chapel Buried: Hamburg Cemetery, Germany VI.H.3 Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Cecil Greenwood was one of twelve children of widow Adelaide Greenwood of Church Row, Chedworth who was a well-known and respected midwife. Cecil, a farm carter, and three of his brothers, joined the Army – George RE, Victor ASC, William RAMC and Cecil joined C Company of the 1/5th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment (a Territorial unit).

The 1/5th were deployed to France at the end of March 1915 where they formed part of the 144th Brigade of the 48th Division in trenches in the Cassel area. On the 27th May Cecil suffered a gunshot wound to his right shoulder and was transferred on the 28th on a “sick convoy” of ambulances and by an ambulance train to hospital. We do not know how long Cecil received treatment, but it was successful enough for him to eventually return to frontline duty with the Battalion. During 1916 the 5th Battalion earned many battle honours including Albert, Bazentin Ridge, Poziers Ridge, Ancre Heights and the Battle of Ancre. Cecil was reported to be missing in action on 21 July 1916 (part of the Battle of the Somme) but a report on 7 October 1916 in the Cheltenham Chronicle reads as follows:

“Remarkable Experience of a Chedworth Soldier- Reported Killed but now a Prisoner of War” Good news has been received of Pte Cecil H Greenwood of the Gloucesters who was reported killed at the commencement of the “Big Push”. On Friday last his mother, who lives in Chedworth, received a postcard from her son, who is wounded and a prisoner of war at Munster (Westfalen), Germany. Part of scalp was blown away, and he was unconscious for several days, but a German doctor successfully grafted part of another man’s scalp (German) on to the wounded man’s head, and he is doing well. The vicar made feeling reference to the good news on Friday evening last at the Intercession Service and remarked that all rejoiced to know that Pte. Greenwood’s life has been spared.”

Tragically, the euphoria was not to last as Cecil died just before the war ended at the age of 27 on 20 October 1918. He is buried at Hamburg Military Cemetery (Plot V1.H.3) and his sacrifice is commemorated on both of the Chedworth war memorials.

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Above and right -Cecil Greenwood

Hamburg CWGC Cemetery where Cecil Greenwood is buried

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Sapper George Thomas Greenwood Born: 1886 Chedworth Parents: Robert Greenwood and Adelaide Fry Married: Beatrice Ellen Tye (1908) Died: 1934 (motor cycle accident) 138610 Royal Engineers WR 253561 Royal Engineers (Inland Waterways & Docks) Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 George Greenwood was a shepherd living with wife and 3 young children in the Harts Hill area of Chedworth. However, as there is only a Medal Record Card for him, there is little one can determine about his service in the Great War. As with some other Chedworth men he served as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers Inland Waterways and Docks Section, although unlike Ernest Day it appears that he did not serve overseas. The prefix WR before his service number indicates that he worked in the Transportation Organisation in which the Royal Engineers provided specialist transportation units for men and munitions. When his photograph appeared with his brothers he was at Longmoor Camp, the Royal Engineers training centre. However, once he joined the Inland Waterways and Docks unit he is most likely to have served at Richborough Port in Kent, a specially built port by the banks of the River Stour.

Over 2 years the Engineers constructed a branch railway from the main line, dredged the river mouth and created a huge new port of embarkation. Three camps were constructed in the marshlands on both sides of the river, housing some 20,000 men. The men of the Inland Waterways and Docks ran the port which eased the pressure on Dover. From 1917 much of the equipment and arms for France and Flanders were sent across from Richborough Port, using sea- going barges and the very first roll-on roll-off ferries.

George Greenwood returned to Chedworth (Adams Pool) after the war and the inquest into his tragic death in a motorcycle accident in 1937 refers to him then living at Sunnyside Cottage, next to Smuggs Barn.

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Newspaper photographs of the “Patriotic William and Eva Greenwood Chedworth Family” of Mrs. Greenwood Left William Greenwood RAMC Top Victor Greenwood ASC Right George Greenwood RE Lower Cecil Greenwood Gloucester Rgt

George and Beatrice Greenwood Bill Greenwood in band uniform

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Corporal Victor Frederick Greenwood Born: 1889 Chedworth Parents: Robert Greenwood and Adelaide Fry Married: Daisy Irene Mabberley (1929 Died: 1962 (Gloucester) S4 044619 Army Service Corps (Baker) 69334 Royal Fusiliers M 404888 Army Service Corps (Driver) Enlisted: 9th January 1915 Discharged: 14th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Prior to the onset of war Victor Greenwood was a baker working for George Day and it is unsurprising that he was drafted into the ASC as a baker on his enlistment in January 1915. His army records rated him professionally as “Fair” after his training, but nevertheless promoted him at an early stage to corporal. After some months serving at Aldershot he was posted to France, joining the Supply Depot at Le Havre on 7 July 1915 and from there he went nearer to the front line, joining No 16 Field Bakery at Calais in September 1916.

Here he would have worked under 2 officers and with some 255 other NCOs and men providing bread for some 20000 men. However, in December, Victor was suffering from the pressure of his responsibilities as he formally requested that he be demoted to the rank of private. His request was approved and he continued in that rank and as a baker in the ASC through 1917. At the end of that year there was a general “combing out” of the support arms for able-bodied men to make up for front line losses and Victor joined them, being compulsorily transferred to the Royal Fusileers in December 1917.

Through no fault of his own Victor was unable to make any meaningful contribution to the Fusileers as he suffered from a fall in a trench and was hospitalised with a compound fracture to his hand. His rehabilitation took some 4 months and a subsequent effort to train him with the Military Foot Police in Ireland appears to have failed due to his continuing disability. To see out his service until the war ended, the Army transferred him back to the ASC in November 1918 to train as a driver and he remained with the Corps until his discharge on 14th March 1919. Victor’s disablement was reviewed by a Medical Board and was deemed to be 20 % and he was awarded a Medical Gratuity of £25 as well as a Service Gratuity when he left the army.

Happily, his injury did not involve serious disablement as he was able to return to play cricket once again and to captain the Chedworth team. An announcement in the Standard of 10th May 1919 reads as follows:

“CHEDWORTH; Cricket Club. At a meeting recently held it was unanimously decided to revive the cricket club. The following were elected as officers and committee; Messrs Reg Lawrence (Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, Victor Greenwood (Captain), Arnold Lawrence (Vice Captain), Bert Lawrence , David Bliss, Francis Fry and Frank Harvey. By the kindness of Mr and Mrs T A Deane, a meadow called Whipp’s Piece has been placed at the disposal of the club for their practices and matches. It is satisfactory to hear that over 30 members have already been enrolled and the subscriptions and donations are flowing in.”

After the war Victor lived in Church Row, later moved to Woodlands Farm and then to Stowell, near Yanworth Mill Cottage, and married in 1929.

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Private William John Greenwood Born: 1881 Chedworth Parents: Robert Greenwood and Adelaide Fry Married: Eva Jane Holland 1913 Died: 1961 Chedworth 57147 Royal Army Medical Corps Enlisted: 1st March 1915 Discharged: 7th May 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The eldest of the four Greenwood brothers who were brought up by their widowed mother Adelaide in Church Row, William Greenwood was an Under-Gamekeeper at Stowell Park before he enlisted in March 1915. Married in 1913 to Eva Holland, they lived together at Holywell Cottage before he left for the war.

William joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and, although his records are sparse, we know that he found himself serving in Salonika alongside his brother Reg, Bert Day and Albert Broad. However, he fell ill and, like Albert Broad, William had to be evacuated to The All Saints Hospital in Malta. William Mills, also from the village, and a fellow patient, recorded in his family history how he met William there:

“I went to the postroom where I found a postal packet addressed to a Corporal W Greenwood RAMC which bore the Chedworth postmark.I quickly followed this up and found Willie desperately ill in the ward above my own. It was Willies mother who was midwife to my wife when giving birth to my daughter. Willie was in a very bad way and I visited him frequently. He was ultimately invalided home. Later in life and on my retirement from the Army I was closely associated with him in the administration of the local branch of the Royal British Legion of which he was Hon Secretary and I a Vice President.”

William Mills history also relates how he met others and of the camaraderie of Chedworth men so far from home:

“This was my second time meeting with Chedworth boys. I met a few of them – Albert Allington, Reg Lawrence, Bert Broad and a few others (whose names evade me for the moment), but I remember taking up half a dozen bottles of beer to them the night they arrived at Lembert Camp in Salonica.”

As William Mills records, William Greenwood failed to recover in Malta and had to be evacuated to England. There is no evidence of further overseas service and William continued to serve in the RAMC until his discharge in May 1919.

He returned to live at Holywell Cottage and became the Head Forester at Stowell Park. William also played a significant part in the post-war life of the village. As William Mills recorded earlier he was Secretary of the Chedworth Branch of the British Legion, a chorister at St Andrews and Clerk to St Andrews PCC. He is also remembered as having offered local advice on medical issues. (These were the days long before the NHS!)

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Trooper Thomas Harvey Born: 1873 Burleigh near Stroud Parents : Joseph Harvey and Sarah Pitsworth Married: Cordelia Broad (1896) Died: Not known ------Gloucestershire Yeomanry Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

In 1901 Thomas, an iron founder, and Cordelia were living in East Molesey, Epsom but by 1911 had moved to Chedworth (Cordelia’s birth place).

The only evidence of Thomas Harvey’s military service is his name on the Roll of Honour where he is recorded as having served in the Gloucester Yeomanry. It is possible that Thomas did not see active service as he would have been 41 years old at the outbreak of war. He is not included in the list of officers and men of the Gloucester Hussars (Yeomanry) printed on 12th September 1914 in the Gloucester Journal.

Thomas lived at Silverspring (next to the Congregational Chapel) and was listed there in 1918 through 1930.

Sergeant Arthur George Head Born: 1877 Barnsley, Glos. Parents: William Head and Jane Thomas Married: Emily Margaret Newman (1905) Died: Not known 4751 1st Oxfordshire Light Infantry 116470 5th Labour Btln, Royal Engineers 291937 112th Chinese Company Labour Corps Enlisted: 20th August 1915 Discharged: 30th August 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Arthur was living in Merstham, Surrey working as a gamekeeper and moved to Chedworth about 1913.

Arthur Head had served with the Oxfordshire Light Infantry for three years from 1894 to 1897 and was discharged as unfit whilst serving in Dublin. However, he was accepted into the Royal Engineers as a 38 year-old in August 1915 and given the rank of corporal in their 5th Labour Battalion and quickly deployed to France. (The Royal Engineers raised 11 Labour Battalions consisting of navvies, tradesmen and semi- skilled men who could be released from munitions production work for use in construction of rear lines of defence and other works.) Arthur joined one of the first of these units and served with them until he was transferred to the newly formed Labour Corps in early 1917.

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This new organisation was created to make more efficient use of manpower, and the labour units expanded hugely and became increasingly well-organised but there were still serious deficiencies. Despite adding large numbers of men from India, Egypt, China and elsewhere, there was never enough manpower to do all the labouring work required. (The total number of men engaged on labouring work in France and Flanders alone approximated 700,000 at the end of the war.) By the end of 1917 some 50,000 were Chinese, formed into Chinese Labour Companies (CLCs). They were employed in ports to unload/load cargoes, repair roads, lay railway lines, to build huts and aerodromes. Others maintained the artillery and serviced tanks.In some areas the labourers were eventually running their own truck repair shop, smith's shop, paint shop and motor-cycle repair shop.

The CLCs were commanded by British officers and SNCOs and on 2nd January 1918 Arthur was promoted to Sergeant and posted to join number 112 CLC. Despite the end of hostilities the work of the CLCs continued well beyond the Armistice, clearing battlefields of wire and ordnance and on the sensitive task of recovering bodies for formal burial. As a SNCO with a CLC Arthur was no exception, not returning to Chedworth until August 1919 to live in his pre-war home at Bleakmoor.

Private Charles William Herbert Born: 1886 Compton Abdale Parents: John Henry Herbert and Sarah Mourby Married: Annie Broad 1916 by license in Chedworth Died: 1955 (Withington) RTS 10572 Army Service Corps (Shoeing Smith Field Remount Stn) Enlisted: 17th February 1915 Discharged: 28th July 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Charles Herbert was living in Compton Abdale and working as a blacksmith. It was therefore a natural selection for him to join the Army Service Corps (ASC) to work as a Shoeing Smith when he enlisted in February 1915 age 29 years 2 months. (The prefix to his service number RTS denotes the Remounts Service) There was an enormous requirement for horses and mules to work at the front (see also Harry Brain and Homer Coates’ stories) and several Base Remount Depots were created for their training and supply. Charles was sent initially to one of these at Shirehampton, near Bristol and was paid a special rate of 5 shillings per day. However, Charles was soon needed at the front and joined the 19th Field Remount Squadron at Number 5 Remount L to R Frank, Thomas & Charles Hertbert Base Depot at Saint Germer in March 1915. Here he worked Only Charles lived in Chedworth with some 200 other soldiers on his squadron, coping with the requirements of up to 500 horses at any one time. Nevertheless he was granted leave in June 1916 during which time he returned to Chedworth to marry Annie Broad at St Andrews on the 17th. (Annie had previously lived at Nelson Cottage and following their marriage moved to Melrose Cottage, also in Cheap Street.)

Charles served 2 years 8 months in France, but also worked in Italy for a further year and 5 months. In May 1919 he was hospitalised in St. Luke’s War Hospital, Halifax for a hernia operation and later in Huddersfield, spending a total of 50 days in hospital before being discharged from the army on the 28th July 1919. He returned to set up home with Annie in Withington where he died in 1955.

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Driver Thomas Henry Hewer Born: 1892 Eastington Parents: David Hewer and Sarah Carpenter Married: Not known Died: 1960 (Cirencester District) 58437 Royal Field Artillery Enlisted: Not known but before September 1915 Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Thomas Hewer was a general labourer living with his widowed father and his sister in Chedworth. Only his medal records survive, but they show that he joined as an early volunteer and was deployed to France as a Driver with the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) on 25 September 1915.

The RFA was the most numerous arm of the artillery; the horse-drawn RFA being responsible for the medium calibre guns and howitzers deployed close to the front line and was reasonably mobile. Thomas Hewer would have trained in the management and use of horses. The six horses drawing the gun, or wagon, were driven by three drivers, all on the nearside horses, and much training was required before drivers would be rated as competent. The drivers also looked after the horses and the management, condition and state of health of these animals was regarded as one of the most important functions in the battery.

When the guns were in action, the drivers remained at the wagon lines, and assisted in the supply of ammunition. They were also available to replace casualties, so Thomas would have had to have a grounding in gun drill and duties of the various gun numbers. Whilst in the wagon lines they were under the direct control of their gun coverer, who in turn was under control of the Battery Sergeant Major. During WW1 Drivers (of whatever classification) were often simply referred to as Drivers

Thomas Hewer survived the war and was back in the village in 1920, but moved away the following year.

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Corporal Herbert John (Bert)Heyden Born: 1898 Painswick Parents: Edward Walter Heyden and Julia Agg Married: Marjorie Louisa Messenger 1921 (Tirley) Died: 1971 (Cheltenham District) 11693 8th & 12th Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment, 68350 1st Btln Cheshire Regiment Enlisted: Not known Discharged: 18th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth and Stowell Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

The parents of Herbert, Edward and Julia Heyden, moved from Eastleach to Middle Chedworth about 1917. Edward worked for the Stowell Estate as a groom and gardener and Bert was one of their four eldest sons to join the Army during the Great War.

Bert served initially with the 8th Bn Gloucesters, deploying to France on 19 July 1915. The few surviving army records show that he also served with the 12th Battalion of the Gloucesters, and later with the 1st Cheshires, rising to the rank of corporal.

Bert was demobilised 18 March 1919 and his war service is recorded on the Rolls of Honour in both St Andrews, Chedworth and in St Leonard’s, Stowell. He married in Tirley in 1921 and was at the time a fish monger. He died in Guiting Power 1971

Private Reginald Allick Heyden Born: 1894 Painswick Married: Clarissa Smith 1920 (Isle of Wight) Died: 1925 Parents: Edward Walter Heyden and Julia Agg 10244 Royal Berkshire Regiment 108106 Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: 10th August 1914 Discharged: 13th March 1919 (second time) Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: 43054 issued 14 December 1914

The eldest of the Heyden brothers, Reginald was also the first to enlist as early as the10th August 1914 in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. However, within 4 months he was declared medically unfit by a medical board and discharged with the award of a Silver War Badge on the 14th December 1914. Nevertheless, he was clearly determined to serve and made a second attempt to enlist on the 16th November1916. He was yet again rejected and had his Silver War Badge entitlement reconfirmed. Nevertheless, he was later allowed to enlist as he appeared in a newspaper article of 14th July 1917 as the best man at his brother Wilfred’s wedding and was then serving as a Private in the Royal Berkshire Regiment.

Reginald was transferred at some later stage to the Machine Gun Corps in which he served until his eventual discharge on the 13th March 1919. After the war he moved to the Isle of Wight in an effort to improve his health and where he also married. However, his ill-health continued and he died there in 1925, aged only 31. Curiously, his war service is only recorded on the Roll of Honour in St Andrew’s, Chedworth porch and not in St Leonard’s, Stowell, like his three brothers.

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Leading Bombardier Wilfred Walter Heyden Born: 1892 Cirencester Parents: Edward Walter Heyden and Julia Agg Married: Ada Mary Florence Strawford 1917 (Stowell) Died: 1968 40873 35th Heavy Battery Royal Garrison Artillery 40873 4th RGA Officer Training School Enlisted: 18th May 1910 Discharged: 24th May 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth and Stowell Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory Silver War Badge B213382 authorised 28th May 1919

At the outbreak of war Wilfred Heyden was already serving in the Royal Garrison Artillery. This arm of the Royal Artillery had developed from fortress-based artillery located on British coasts. From 1914 when the army possessed very little heavy artillery it grew into a very large component of the British forces. It was armed with heavy, large calibre guns and howitzers that were positioned some way behind the front line and had immense destructive power.

The 35th Heavy Battery RGA, of which Wilfred was a member, arrived in France on 16th August 1914 and was immediately thrown into the first battle of the war at Mons. Indeed, it is on record that Wilfred had the distinction of having helped to fire the first shell at Mons at the outbreak of the Great War.

The fighting at Mons was followed by a lengthy retreat and on arrival in the area the Staff Football Team No 4 Officer Cadet Training Battery formed part of the defences in the School (Wilf front left) first Battle of Ypres. Despite heavy artillery being normally positioned some way behind the front, the front line at Ypres was ever-changing and static trench warfare had yet to evolve. The Unit Records of the 35th relate that they were directly involved in a critical stage of the battle when, on the 11th November, they were attacked by the Prussian Guards and several spare men from the Battery were deployed to fight with the local infantry to beat off the attack.

On 30th June 1917 Wilfred was at home in Stowell on leave to marry Ada Strawford in St Leonard’s church and the event was covered in the Cheltenham Chronicle. (Ada’s brother Arthur Strawford had enlisted into the Gloucestershire Regiment with William Heyden.) His brother Reginald was his best man and Herbert had also returned on leave to be there. However, the wedding must have. been a less than happy occasion as his brother William had tragically been killed in action on the 8th May, only weeks before.

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Wilfred and Ada Heyden

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At some stage Wilfred was transferred to work as an instructor at Number 4 Officer Cadet Training School of the RGA which formed at Weymouth in February 1917 and later moved to the Fort at Golden Hill at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. Wilfred and Ada were living at Freshwater in 1918 and it was here that their first child was born.

By the time Wilfred was medically discharged on the 24th May 1919 he had been wounded at least 3 times and had shrapnel embedded in his head which initially could not be removed. Nevertheless, Wilfred lived to the age of 76 and died in Croydon in 1968.

Private William Thomas Heyden Born: 1896 Painswick Parents: Edward Walter Heyden and Julia Agg Married: Not married at time of death 21469 10th & 12th Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not known but about August 1914 Died: 8th May 1917 Roll of Honour: Stowell and Bay 6 Arras Memorial, France Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 William Heyden was a 15 year old farm labourer living with parents and siblings in East Leach. Although his records are limited we know that he deployed to France on 12th December 1915. There is, however, a photograph of him taken with his friend Arthur Strawford whose sister Ada was later to marry William’s brother Wilfred. At some stage before February 1917 William was transferred from the 10th to the 12th Battalion of the Gloucesters, both of which were engaged in major battles on the Western Front throughout 1916. However, he was serving with the 12th Battalion when he was treated for pyrexia in the 14th Field Ambulance 12-15 February 1917 and when he was killed in action. The report in the Chronicle of the 9th June 1917 reads thus:

“CHEDWORTH MAN KILLED Mr & Mrs. Heyden of Stowell Park, Chedworth, have been informed of the death of their third son, Private William Thomas Heyden, Gloucestershire Regiment, who was recently killed in action in France. Private Heyden, who was 21 years of age, enlisted at Tetbury, and, after training at Gravesend, was sent to France early in December, 1915. After being a successful sniper and machine gunner, he was, at the time of his death a Lewis gunner, facts which would appear to indicate that the Bosches owe him much. He had been previously wounded. Besides the official messages from Their Majesties the King and Queen and from the Army Council, Mr. and Mrs. Heyden have received many messages of sympathy in their bereavement, for Private Heyden was a well liked comrade.” The engagement in which he lost his life was the Battle of Fresnoy, part of the wider Battle of Arras during which the 12th Battalion suffered huge losses. During the battle Lewis Gunners such as William played a major part in initially stemming the German attack on the village which seems to be reflected in the newspaper commentary “facts which would appear to indicate that the Bosches owe him much”. The story of that day taken from official records is as follows.

The genesis of the second Battle of Fresnoy began on 5 May 1917. Fresnoy and the surrounding wooded area was an integral piece of the Oppy-Mericourt defence line and after the successful capture of the village, the British and Canadians were in possession of a minor salient that had the potential to breach the Hindenburg Line. The German High Command knew that in a worst case scenario, if the defence network was overcome, then the allies might have an opportunity to change the nature of the conflict from trenches to a war of mobile warfare. It was clear to them that Fresnoy had to be recaptured and, starting on May 6th, the Germans began to shell the vicinity around that objective. In a span of two days, German artillery fired over 100,000 shells into the British and Canadian sector.

The 12th Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment occupied the shelled-out remains of the town of Fresnoy where they had constructed gun pits, dugouts, and 2 lines of trenches. The landscape of the

62 village had changed drastically in the previous month as the town had been shelled. continuously since mid-April.

At 3:45 am, on the 8th May the German attack began. German artillery launched a terrific final bombardment on the town, and then began gassing all nearby road junctions. The rain and mist that night made for very limited visibility for the defenders. The Bavarian 7th, 19th, and 21st Regiments launched their attack primarily on the British lines and were able to infiltrate the Battalion trenches on the north east section of the line.

Despite the efforts of the Lewis Gunners, in particular, who wreaked havoc on the attackers, the Germans poured down the trenches. By mid-day it was obvious that Fresnoy was lost and the 12th Battalion alone had lost 288 men. Tragically, William Heyden was one of them.

His sacrifice on that day is commemorated on the Roll of Honour in St Leonard’s Stowell and on Bay 6 of the Arras Memorial in France.

Private Albert Holland Born: 1894 Chedworth Parents: Willoughby Holland and Mary Ann Scott Married: Francis Maria Trigg 1916 (Brentford District) Died: 1955 T4 141914 Army Service Corps Enlisted: Not Known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

At the time of the 1911 Census Albert Holland was a bakers apprentice living in Chedworth with his parents and siblings. The whole family had been born in Chedworth and his father was a labourer on the railway.

Whilst we only have his Medal Card and do not have precise dates for his enlistment and discharge, we know him to have served in the ASC. There are also clues in his service number: T indicates service in Auxiliary Horse Transport and the numeral 4, indicating a soldier who was recruited into Kitchener’s 4th New Army which was formed in November 1914. Perhaps he was encouraged to enlist by one of Kitchener’s recruiting posters of 1914. It is interesting to note its underlying suggestion that recruits would be likely to face a short war, probably lasting no longer than 3 years and there would be an option to leave at that point!

We know little more about Albert Holland except that he was married in Brentford and had a child in Hackney in 1916 and that he returned safely to them at the end of the war. His connection with London certainly continued as he died, age 61, in Acton in 1955.

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Above - William Thomas Heyden 1896-1917 and brother Reginald Allick Heyden

Below – Arras Memorial, France where William is commemorated in Bay 6.

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Private Edwin John Holland Born: 1876 Corfe Castle, Dorset Parents: George Holland & Alice Marsh Married Kate Greenwood 1904 in Chedworth Died: 1966 unknown Gloucestershire Regiment Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 Edwin Holland was a gamekeeper living at Keepers Cottage, New Road, Chedworth with his wife and 2 sons. It has proved impossible to positively identify army records associated with Edwin. The only certain record of his service is the Roll of Honour in St. Andrew’s Church, Chedworth. Edwin Holland had returned to Chedworth by 1918 and later moved to Yanworth Mill. He eventually became the head gamekeeper at Stowell Park where he is remembered as having taught the children how to shoot.

Edwin Holland married Kate Greenwood 1904

Private Ernest Holland Born: 1864 Chedworth Parents: Mark Holland and Eliza Grinnell Married: Melissa Jane Hayward (1895) Died: 1920 (Pneumonia & Influenza) 50697 (probable) 9th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 66402 (probable) 4th Btln Worcestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The Roll of Honour in St. Andrew’s church records that Ernest Holland served with the Gloucestershire Regiment during the Great War but exhaustive research has only enabled us to annotate the above service numbers with the caveat of “probable”.

Ernest was 40 years old at the outbreak of the war and there is no evidence that he volunteered for service in the first rush of enthusiasm and yet, by 1917 he would have been too old to be conscripted so we can only guess that he volunteered during late 1916 under the Derby scheme. The 1918 Chedworth Poll Register indicates that Ernest was resident at Pinkwell Farm and the service numbers indicate that he was mobilised for training with the Worcester Regiment June/July 1918 and transferred to the 9th Gloucesters March 1919 which, by that time, had been converted to a pioneer unit. Ernest and his son Francis died from influenza and pneumonia within days of each other during April 1920 at Pinkwell Farm.

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Private Ernest John Holland Born: 1896 Chedworth Parents Ernest Holland & Melissa Jane Hayward Married: Not married at time of death Died: 1922 24700 1st, 1/5th, 1/6th, 8th, 10th Btlns Gloucestershire Regt Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The 1911 census records Ernest John living and working on Pinkwell Farm with his parents and two younger brothers. The military records on Ernest are sparse but it would appear, from close service numbers, that Ernest John Holland(24700), John Scotford (24702) and Cyril Fry (24699) joined the Glosters about the same time, probably during 1916 (suggesting that Ernest was a conscript or had volunteered under the Derby scheme and his mobilisation had been delayed). Scotford and Fry had previously served in the MGC which was formed in October 1915. Why Ernest served in so many battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment is not known and unusual. The 1918 Chedworth Poll Register of Electors indicates that Ernest John was serving in the military but by 1920 he had returned to Pinkwell Farm. Tragedy struck the Holland family in 1920 when Ernest’s father and a brother died of influenza and Ernest also died in 1922 leaving his surviving brother Reginald to execute his will.

Sapper? Louis (Lewis) Holland Born: 1883 Chedworth Parents: Mark Holland and Eliza Grinnell Married: Kate Pinchin 1907 Died: 1950 (Chedworth) Unknown # Royal Engineer Labour Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known (but a civilian March 1919) Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

Louis Holland is yet another Chedworth man who is on the Roll of Honour in St Andrews, yet for whom there are no detailed records of war service.

We do know, however, that he returned to Chedworth and in 1919 resumed running the 7 Tuns Inn and, from 17 March 1919, ran a carrier business twice weekly to and from the Red Lion in Cirencester. He was also a member of the Royal British Legion which held meetings in the Club Room of the pub. In 1932 Louis was working as a stone mason.

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Private Reginald Joseph Holland Born: 1898 Chedworth Parents: Ernest Holland and Melissa Hayward Married: Sarah Pizzey 1921 (Ampney St Peter) Died: 1960 238332 Royal Field Artillery Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The Chedworth School Log records Joseph Holland as leaving on 4 August 1911 at age 14. Although recorded on the Roll of Honour as a member of the Royal Garrison Artillery, Reginald Joseph Holland, better known as Joe, appears from his limited records to have served in the Royal Field Artillery. He was probably conscripted on his 18th birthday in 1916. There are no further clues to his service.

The Poll Lists of 1920-1930 record him residing at Pinkwell in Chedworth again. Tragedy struck when his father and his brother Francis both died in the influenza epidemic in 1920, his other brother, Ernest John, died in 1922 and his mother died in 1927. He is remembered working as a shepherd and later lived at Denfurlong Cottage and in Gilgal.

Private Wilfred Holland Born: 1899 Chedworth Parents: Willoughby Holland and Mary Ann Scott (The Rookery) Married: Not married at time of death Death: 17th April 1918 7/2667 Territorial Reserve Btln 37449 1/5th Btln Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry Regiment Enlisted: Not known – probably 18th birthday = 1917 Memorials: Loos Memorial, France, Chedworth Church Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 Wilfred Holland was a schoolboy living with parents and siblings in Chedworth. (Wilfred was some 5 years younger than his brother Albert who enlisted at the outset of the Great War.) Wilfred is recorded as having worked as a village postman and, together with his parents, was an active member of the Congregational Church. Although the date is uncertain, it is likely that Wilfred was conscripted on his 18th birthday in 1917. He was given a Reserve Battalion Number and was eventually drafted into the 1/5th Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (DCLI).

Earlier in the War the practice had been to conscript men within a month after their 18th birthday and then to train them for about a year before sending them to the Front. However, in the spring of 1918 a massive German assault pushed the British 3rd and 5th Armies on the Somme back more than 30 miles in places, tragically demonstrating the weakness of the British defences. Lloyd George had been refusing to commit more men to the Western Front, but, in the face of near defeat, he was forced to reverse his decision and send every available man to France.

The 1st/5th Battalion DCLI was a pioneer battalion with the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division. Pioneers were the labourers of the Division, trained infantry, but there to dig, carry and otherwise support the fighting troops, but would not normally fight unless things were really desperate. In late March 1918 things were extremely desperate and according to the regimental history these pioneers “downed tools, took to the rifle and their places in the firing-line and put up a splendid show, gaining high honour for the Regiment.”

This Division had been badly mauled in the first hours of the German assault when it was holding a 67 section of the forward line – the first to be hit by the Germans. Unlike some units the 61st Division held together and fought hard, only retiring from their forward positions when their flanks were exposed by the collapse of the units on either side. For several days they fought a series of actions as they retreated, always making the Germans pay for the territory they were capturing. Eventually he German offense ran out of steam; although close to breaking the 3rd and 5th Armies had managed to stem the tide.

Having taken heavy casualties in the fighting the 61st Division was withdrawn from the line on the Somme and moved north towards a quieter part of the line, immediately south of the Belgian border. The idea was that the Division would spend some time in a quiet sector where they could reorganize and absorb their new reinforcements. Even before the Division arrived at their new billets the Germans struck again – right where the 61st Division was arriving. The 1/5 DCLI was the first battalion into action – as Pioneers they may even have been sent ahead to prepare positions for the fighting troops.

The Regimental history (The History of the Duke Of Cornwall's Light Infantry 1914-1919 by Everard Wyrall) tells the story:

The new recruits acquitted themselves well and their experience was described in the regimental history: the whole of the draft were youths without any experience of real warfare and the change practically from the barrack-square to the firing-line against a well-trained, war-bitten enemy was a terrible experience. Nevertheless, these youngsters did very well, playing their part nobly in holding up the advance of the enemy and helping to rob him of victory.

The 1st/5th Battalion "debussed" at Calonne and at once began digging in on a line from the fork-roads near Bouzateaux Farm to Meurillon, though the work of organizing the line was extremely difficult. From Paradis, L'Epinette and woods west of Lestrem machine-gun fire impeded progress. Moreover, there was a constant stream of stragglers, mostly Portuguese, through the Battalion line. At about 6 p.m. the left of the line, i.e. from Bouzateaux Farm northwards to the Lys Canal, was strongly attacked and the Pioneers were compelled to withdraw, but touch with troops south of the Canal could not be obtained. The timely arrival of C Company, however, enabled the left to be extended to the Ancienne-Lys River, immediately west of Grand Pacout. Throughout the night of the 11th/12th this line was held although troops on either flank withdrew. At 7.30 a.m. the next morning the whole line was again attacked and, having worked round the right flank of the Battalion at Vertbois Farm, the enemy penetrated the line at several points, entered Pacout and raked the Pioneers from both flanks with machine-gun fire.

A line was then taken up in front of Calonne, but again the right flank came under severe fire from the direction of L'Etang Farm and, after putting up a resistance for an hour and a half, the Pioneers fell back. Successive stands were now made along the railway south-east of La Hennerie and on the banks of the Lys Canal south of Le Sart, but by this time the enemy had got through Calonne in considerable strength and, working forward, had penetrated the junction of the forward companies of the 5th Gordons and 9thRoyal Scots (both of the 51st Division) with the result that the Gordons and the 1/5th D.C.L.I. had to fall back across the Canal.

The crossing was effected under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire and casualties were heavy. A line was then taken up west of Le Sart and held up to midnight when, under orders, the Pioneers withdrew to rejoin the 61st Division. On the 13th the 1/5th D.C.L.I. billeted along the road running west from St. Venant and just west of that village. The Pioneers had put up a splendid fight, but their losses were again very heavy. No less than sixteen officers and 467 other ranks had been killed, wounded or were missing.”

This was the 1/5 DCLI's involvement in the Battle of the Lys (Battle of Estaires) where their almost 500 killed, wounded or missing included Wilfred Holland. In fact his parents had heard first that he was only missing and the local published the story as late as the 8th June under the headline “Chedworth Soldier Missing” which reads as follows:

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“News has been officially received by Mr and Mrs Willoughby Holland that their son, Private Wilfred Holland, of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry is missing since about the middle of April last. He went to the front soon after Easter, and was soon in the middle of the fighting. Before joining up he was one of the village postmen and greatly respected.”

Later his parents, then living at the Rookery, received the dreaded news that their 19 year-old son had, in fact, been killed. Wilfred Holland has no known grave but is commemorated on the CWGC Loos Memorial on Panel 68 and on both Chedworth War Memorials.

The Loos Memorial where Wilfred Holland is commemorated

Lieutenant Harold Thomas Jackson Born: 1897 Dowdeswell Parents: Thomas Jackson and Alice Eliza Grantham Married: Aimee Elizabeth Roche 1921 Charlton Kings Died: 1991 Rugby ------British Red Cross Society ------Gloucestershire Regiment R 33906 2nd Btln Kings Royal Rifle Corps ------Royal Field Artillery & Royal Horse Artillery Enlisted: 11th December 1915 Discharged: 7th July 1926 Roll of Honour Chedworth Medals 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Son of farmer Thomas Jackson of Rossley Farm, Dowdeswell (later of Woodlands Farm, Chedworth), Harold Jackson volunteered at about the time of his 18th birthday to serve in the British Red Cross Society (BRCS) as an orderly. Records of those who served in the BRCS have yet to be made publicly available, but it is clear from his Medal Record that Harold served in France with the Red Cross from 19

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May 1915 to 21 October 1915.

However, on 11 December 1915 he enlisted as a soldier, initially in the Gloucestershire Regiment and later in the 2nd Battalion, the Kings Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) and would certainly have seen active service in some of the most violent battles of 1916 and 1917. Harold was selected for officer training and transferred to the Royal Field Artillery and Royal Horse Artillery to become a 2nd Lieutenant in the RFA on the 1st July 1918. He transferred to the Royal Engineers on 31st March 1921, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1923 and assigned to the Royal Engineer Reserves in 1926. His time in the Royal Engineers also appears to have led to his postwar qualification as an architect. Harold also served in the Royal Engineers during World War 2.

Private Walter John Jackson Born: 1899 Dowdeswell Parents: Thomas Jackson and Alice Eliza Grantham Married: Vera Maude Clifford 1929 Died: not known 51764 Gloucestershire Regiment 050076 Royal Army Ordinance Corps Enlisted 25th May 1918 Discharged: 5th November 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The younger of the 2 Jackson brothers, the service number of 51764 indicates that Walter Jackson enlisted or was mobilised on 25th May 1918 and was posted to the 4th (Reserve) Btln, Glosters in Northumberland for training on that date. Most of this draft was posted to the Western Front to join 1/5th Glosters, but a few others were destined for the 2/5th Glosters. Where the records survive, those of this draft who were posted to 2/5th had their destinations changed when they arrived at the Infantry Base Depot at Rouen and were posted to other units, although it is not certain if any went directly to the RAOC.

Whether Walter saw actual service with 1/5th Glosters and was subsequently transferred to the RAOC, or whether he was one of the minority who, although destined for 2/5th Glosters were transferred to another unit after their arrival in France it is now impossible to confirm. However, he is not likely to have gone overseas until late September 1918. Walter survived the few remaining months of the war and was discharged a year later, on the 5th November 1919. The following year he was living with his parents at Woodlands Farm, Chedworth he married and moved to Welton, near Daventry in 1929.

Private Arthur Gerald Keen Born: 1896 Chedworth Parents: Philip Keen and Elizabeth Smith (Reybrook Lane) Marriage: Florence Gertrude Burris 1938 Cinderford Died: 1965 129982 Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: 21st November 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In the 1911 Census Arthur Keen was registered as aged 15 years and living with his parents in the Fossbridge area (Reybrook Lane). His father was a gamekeeper and Arthur was already working as a domestic gardener.

As his medals record is the only source available, apart from the memorial panels in St Andrews, we

70 know only that he served in the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) and was not discharged until November 1919. The Machine Gun Companies were distributed amongst the Divisions and tracing his service is impossible. However, suffice it to note that he was a lucky survivor to return safely to Chedworth as the statistics for the Corps show that of 170,500 who served, some 62,000 were killed, wounded or missing by the end of the war.

Arthur Keen returned to live initially in the Reybrook Lane area and by 1938 was married and living at Longfurlong. He later lived at Hill View Cottage, Fossebridge and worked for Bridges the builders. Still living locally to Chedworth during WW2 Arthur clearly had a musical bent as he played the violin in the Chedworth panto of 1945 and outlived his younger brother to die in 1965.

Lance Corporal Wilfred Allen Keen Born: 1898 Chedworth Parents: Philip Keen and Elizabeth Smith (Reybrook Lane) Marriage Constance Mary Fowles 1933 at Coaley Died: 1960 Cirencester District F/23881 Army Service Corps (Fodder Dept) M2/081298 Army Service Corps 58777 8th Btln West Yorkshire Regt Date of Enlistment: 18 December1915 Date of Discharge: unknown but in Chedworth 1920 (Poll list) Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Military Medal, BWM and Victory Medal

The younger of the two Keen brothers, Wilfred was too young for active service at the outbreak of war. However, he signed up for the Army Service Corps (ASC) in December 1915 (at age 17) and initially served as a Baling Hand in an ASC Forage Company. The forage companies worked in teams of 12 and would move from farm to farm baling the hay purchased by the army, and transporting it to railway depots. The work was physically demanding, repetitive and had to be carried out in all weathers. On a good day a team could bale as much as 10 tons of hay.

Those enlisted in a Forage Company were subject to the Army Discipline Act, yet received none of the benefits of regular soldiers, such as military allowances, army medical treatment or a military pension entitlement. For his work Wilfred was entitled to a daily rate of 2/6 per day with a bonus of 3d per ton baled, money which at that stage of the war was not paid from Army Funds. At some stage his record shows that he was absorbed into a more interesting role in a Mechanical Transport section of the ASC. Nevertheless, it is no surprise that on reaching his 18th birthday in September 1916 he was discharged to enable him, like his brother, to join a fighting unit.

Wilfred was enlisted into the West Yorkshire regiment and by January 1917 was serving with them in France in the West Riding Division which was involved continuously in major battles on the Western Front throughout 1917 and 1918. By 1918 Wilfred was serving in the 8th Battalion as a lance corporal and on 29th August his parents received the news that he had been awarded the Military Medal “for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during a battle on the Western Front, between Soissons and Rheims”. Sadly, we do not have the citation for this act of gallantry or details of the battle in which he earned the honour. However, given the timescale it is probable that it was during the Battle of the Marne in July in which the 62nd West Riding Division played a conspicuous part.

Wilfred survived the war and returned to Fossebridge. There is a mention of him working locally in Northleach as the local newspaper records him in 1928 as having a serious accident whilst travelling there on his motorbike and suffering a fractured skull. Nevertheless, he recovered and is remembered as working at Stowell and living later near Dowdeswell until his death in 1960.

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Private (Driver) Henry Kirkland Born: 1873 Cheltenham Parents: William Kirkland and Phoebe Crook Married: Kate Champion 1901 Died: 1945 T 425478 661 Coy Royal Army Service Corps Enlisted: 6th July 1918 Discharged: 31st August 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 Henry Kirkland was a groom living with two children and wife in the Well Hill area. Already 40 years of age at the outbreak of war, he was not called up until the 5th June 1918. Enlisted into the Army Service Corps, (which was to earn the Royal prefix later that year), he was deployed to France as a Horse Driver in the last few days of the war, disembarking at Le Havre on the 5th November. Nevertheless, it was over a year before he was formally discharged on the 31st August 1919 and returned to wife and family in Chedworth.

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Private Archie Lawrence Born: 1898 Chedworth Parents: Cornelius Lawrence and Ellen Fry Married: Mabel Yates 1923 Mansfield Died: 1969 (Mansfield) 3984 Royal Gloucestershire Hussars 94957 Machine Gun Corps 94957 17th Btln, Tank Corps Enlisted: 27th May 1916 Discharged: 17th October 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

One of 7 sons of Cornelius and Ellen Lawrence to serve their King and country in World War 1, Archie served in the Machine Gun Corps and later in the newly-formed Tank Corps. Quick to join as soon as possible at age 18 and to follow his brothers into the Army, he initially enlisted with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars in May 1916, but transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) in September that year. After training with the MGC at Bovington Camp he joined the BEF in France in June 1917.

From his basic record it could be assumed that Archie was part of a machine gun team, typical of the MGC. However, closer examination shows that he was part of the Heavy Branch of the MGC and thus destined to be a member of the Tank Corps. (Which explains why he was trained at Bovington, rather than Belton Park near Grantham.) Tanks were first used in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme and at that time the six tank companies (as they were a new military development) were grouped together as the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps. In November 1916 the eight companies then in existence were each expanded to form battalions and designated the Heavy Branch MGC; another seven battalions, were formed by January 1918. On 28 July 1917 the Heavy Branch was separated from the MGC by Royal Warrant and given official status as the Tank Corps.

Archie was a member of Number 2 Salvage Company whose role was to recover damaged tanks for repair and to recover parts for spares. Every company going into action detailed a special tank equipment salvage party to work under the direction of the company equipment officer. This party, which was provided with horses and wagons, began its work immediately the attack was launched. When a tank was reported out of action and unable to return to its rallying point, the party proceeded to the machine and removed all such parts as were not necessary for the actual salvage of the tank.

On 14 September 1918 Archie was appointed to the rank of Tank Mechanic Second Class and remained with the Salvage Company until he returned to the Tank Corps Depot in UK on 13 February 1919 after suffering facial burns whilst starting up a tank. Luckily the burns were not overly serious and, after treatment for 6 weeks in the Southern General Hospital in Birmingham, he is recorded as having leave at home with his parents at “Creeper Villa” in Cheap Street.

Following his return to duty he was appointed to the 17th Battalion which was based in Dublin and operated Austin Armoured Cars as well as light and medium tanks. The 17th took part in the Victory Parade in the city on 19th July 1919. (Victory parades were held in many of the Allied copuntries on this date following the Treaty of Veraiilkles). Archie was discharged from the Army in Dublin and returned home from there to Chedworth in October 1919 and later to move to Mansfield (as did his brother Cecil).

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Gunner Arnold Lawrence Born: 1891 Chedworth Parents: Cornelius Lawrence and Ellen Fry Married: Elsie Georgina Glover 1919 Died: 1974 119099 90th Battery Royal Field Artillery Enlisted: 24th November 1915 Discharged: Not known but home by 1920 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Although Arnold served in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) from November 1915, he was in fact the first, in the family to volunteer for service and initially applied to the Army Service Corps together with his cousin Jack Lawrence. His (badly damaged) records show that he was attested into the Army Service Corps on 10th August 1914, only days after the outbreak of war. Originally declared fully fit in all respects for service he was surprisingly rejected only 10 days later, on the 20th, as “unfit for service”. There is no explanation given and one can only surmise that he may have been surplus to requirements, given the high levels of recruitment at the time and the political thinking that the war would be over by Christmas!

Thus it was not until the 24th November 1915 that Arnold was accepted into the Army, this time into the RFA, as a gunner. Arnold went for training to Hilsea Barracks just outside Portsmouth and remained there until he was posted to 90 Battery, 4th Brigade on 23rd August 1916. Here his records run out, although the newspaper article about the Lawrence family reports him as “serving abroad” where he would have operated as part of a gun team on medium calibre guns and howitzers.

Arnold survived the war, returned to Chedworth and married Elsie Glover in 1919.

Splendid Chedworth Soldier Family of Cornelius Lawrence of Creeper Villa

1. Bert Lawrence 2. Cecil Lawrence 3. Cecil Coates (son in law) 4. Reg Lawrence 5. Gilbert Lawrence 6. Arnold Lawrence 7. Archie Lawrence 8. Oliver Lawrence (Police) 9. Francis Fry (nephew)

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Sapper Bertie George Lawrence Born: 1880 Chedworth Parents: Cornelius Lawrence and Ellen Fry Married: Lillian Eliza Massey 1912 Died: 1966 162584 Royal Engineers WR 255897 Royal Engineers Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The eldest of the seven Lawrence brothers to serve, Bertie (Bert) was already married, working as a carpenter and living off Cheap Street by the outbreak of the Great War. His date of enlistment is unknown, but he joined the Royal Engineers as a Sapper and his service appears to be similar to that of Ernest Day who was also an older Chedworth recruit into the Royal Engineers. Both men have the prefix WR to their service numbers and, as explained in Ernest Day’s earlier story, this would indicate Bert also served in the Inland Waterways Section. The newspaper article also records that he served abroad.

We do not know Bert’s discharge date, but he returned safely from the war in 1918 and by 1920 he was licensee of Smuggs Barn, then a “Beer House” and one of several drinking establishments in the village. Owned by the Cirencester Brewery the license was revoked under the Licensing (Consolidation) Act of 1910. (Under the Act licensing magistrates could refuse to renew a pub’s license if it was considered that the pub was unnecessary to provide for the needs of the public.)

Bert Lawrence lived on in Chedworth and died in 1966, at “Cartref “ in Queen Street.

Corporal Cecil Harry Lawrence Born: 1884 Chedworth Parents: Cornelius Lawrence and Ellen Fry Married: Anne Louise Tucker 1924 Chedworth Died: 1961 S4 093391 Army Service Corps Enlisted: Not known but before April 1915 Discharged: 8th May 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In the 1911 census Cecil Lawrence was recorded as working as a Journeyman Baker in Glamorgan. Although his service records are non-existent his Medal Card indicates that he would have joined before April 1915 and is on the second Chedworth volunteer list. There are further clues in his service number prefix “S4”which indicates that he was in the Supply section of the ASC and in Kitchener’s 4th New Army raised in late 1914.

The Supply Section of the ASC provided support to the front line in the form of bakers and butchers, so it could be safe to assume that Cecil served in his prewar capacity and this led to his eventual rank of corporal. We know nothing further about his war experiences, other than that he served abroad and was eventually discharged on 8th May 1919. After the war Cecil worked as a platelayer on the railways and lived at Mansfield but returned to Chedworth some years later and lived in Ballingers Row.

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Staff Sergeant (Mech) Frederick John (Jack) Lawrence Born: 1886 Chedworth Parents: Robert Lawrence and Hannah Morse Married: Gertrude Louise Preston 1914 Died: 1964 MS 1927 Army Service Corps Enlisted: 10th August 1914 Discharged: 14th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

Jack Lawrence was born in Chedworth on 26th November 1886 – the only son of six children to Robert and Hannah (nee Morse) Lawrence of Laurel Cottage.

After leaving school at the age of 11 Jack became an “odd job boy” for the Reverend Hewetson for a year. He then became a carpenter’s apprentice to his father working at Stowell Park but 3 years later ran away and gained employment for 2 weeks with the MJSW as a railway engine cleaner in Cheltenham. Next he worked for Bridges of Fossebridge and then for Fred Minchin a Chedworth carpenter, wheelwright and undertaker. In 1912, at the age of 25, Jack changed career again working as a motor mechanic in Cheltenham.

Jack and his cousin Arnold Lawrence were attested into the Army Service Corps (ASC) at Cirencester on 10 August 1914 and reported to Reading 2 days later. Arnold’s ASC career was short lived as he was declared unfit – and as described in his own story later went on to serve in the RFA. However, Jack was to serve as MS 1927 (a Mechanical Special tradesman) in the ASC until his demobilisation on 14 March 1919.

Jack married Gertrude Preston of Cheltenham on 28th August 1914 at Farnham, Surrey and only 3 weeks later was posted to France and played a part in the First Battle of Ypres (19 Oct -22 Nov 1914). It is not recorded when Jack returned to England but he appears to have served the majority of the War in 274 ASC Motor Transport Company at Woolwich which was formed in February 1915 and whose primary duty was driver training. He was promoted to Corporal in May 1916, to Sergeant in April 1917 and to Staff Sergeant in March 1918.

On 25 March 1919 Jack was listed in The Times as a man who had been brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for War (Winston Churchill) for “valuable services rendered in connection with the war”, a form of Mention in Dispatches.

Jack was denied a war pension although he suffered from rheumatic problems with one of his legs which affected him for the rest of his life. He started his own business when he purchased a bus and started regular services to Cirencester and Cheltenham which, after 7 years, he sold to Ralph Harvey. He was briefly a builder and then took over from his old employer Fred Minchin as the local undertaker.

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Jack with new wife Gertrude

Jack Lawrence memorial seat

Mr. Jack Lawrence

Only a few volunteers such as Jack were awarded the 1914 Star Medal

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After WW1 Jack was to play prominent roles in Chedworth life, being the first Silver Band Bandmaster (1936-1976), Parish Councillor, Primitive Methodist, British Legion chairman and Red Triangle Club committee member. For many years Jack lived at Adam’s Pool where he installed a generator and was the first in Chedworth to have electricity. He died at his home, Fields Cottage (uphill from Ballingers Row) on 28th May 1967 and is buried in Chedworth churchyard.

Jack is featured seated on the steam engine on the village sign and his lifetime service to Chedworth was recognised by his fellow villagers by a memorial bench which still stands on Tuns Hill.

Private Gilbert Fry Lawrence Born: 1896 Chedworth Parents: Cornelius Lawrence and Ellen Fry Married: not known Died: 1976 (Nottingham) 23055 1/5th Btln South Staffordshire Regiment 162480 Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: 20th January 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In the 1911 Census Gilbert is listed as already working as a 14 year-old farm worker. He does not appear on either of the lists of Chedworth men serving in September 1914 or April 1915, so he would have enlisted in the South Staffordshire Regiment after those dates and after his elder brothers. The 5th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment was a territorial unit based in Walsall serving with the Staffordshire Brigade in North Midland Division when war broke out in August 1914 and first saw action at Ypres in April 1915.

If Gilbert served with the Battalion during 1915 he would certainly have been in action, as they were involved in both the German “liquid fire” attack at Hooge and the attack at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in October that year. At some stage (his detailed records are not available), and like several other Chedworth men, he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps where he served until his discharge in January 1919.

Gilbert briefly returned to Chedworth in 1920 but had left the village by the following year.

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Private Reginald Lawrence Born: 1893 Chedworth Parents: Cornelius Lawrence and Ellen Fry Married: Ellen May Claridge 1921 Cheltenham Died: 1971 17174 9th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 388638 816th Employment Coy, Labour Corps Enlisted: 1st December 1914 Discharged: 29th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Reginald (Reg) Lawrence was an 18 year-old farm worker living in Chedworth with his parents and siblings. However, by 1914 he had developed a trade as a carpenter and was listed with his brother Cecil on the second list (April 1915) of Chedworth men to serve with the colours. In fact, the story of Reg’s enlistment is related in Albert Broad’s diary when he, together with Bert Day and Reg, cycled down to Cheltenham on 1 December 1914 to enlist as Bandsmen in the 9th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.

The diary is included as a separate annex to the overall stories of the Chedworth men. It gives a detailed account of Reg Lawrence and Albert Broad’s training and subsequent service on the Western Front in France in 1915 and their deployment via Egypt in November to Salonika where they arrived on the 20th November 1915. Albert Broad fell ill with malaria in August 1916 and was evacuated to the UK and less than a year later Reg Lawrence fell ill with the same disease which eventually struck some 162,517 of his fellow soldiers in that theatre of war. His problems with malaria were further exacerbated by bouts of rheumatism, his records stating blandly “he gets rheumatism in wet weather.”

Reg spent several periods in and out of the General Hospital in 1917 and this eventually led to him being medically downgraded and transferred to the 816th Employment Company of the Labour Corps. Unlike Albert Broad, he remained in Salonika with the Labour Corps until the end of the war, eventually returning to the UK for demobilisation in January and discharge in March 1919. Later that year his illness attributed to his war service was recognised in the form of a disability pension and Silver War Badge.

After the war Reginald returned to Chedworth where he lived off Cheap Street and was buried in St Andrews churchyard in 1971.

Gunner Ethelbert Leech Born: 1887 Chedworth Parents: Walter Leech and Ellen Coates Married: Annie Margetts Fisher 1915 Died: 1955 (Harrow District) 3278 145th Royal Field Artillery (Territorial) 826276 78th Brigade Royal Field Artillery Enlisted: 16th February 1915 Discharged: 9th November 1918 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: B38854 authorised 15 November 1918

Ethelbert (Bert) Leech was the eldest son of Walter and Ellen Leech. As with so many WW1 records which were destroyed or damaged in WW2, his are in poor condition with some sections badly damaged. However, they show that he originally enlisted in the Territorial Force - 3rd Wessex Brigade Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner on 16th February 1915 at Swindon and married Annie Margett Fisher (Spinster) on the 23rd June 1915 at West Bromwich.

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Later he was embodied in the Regulars and on 1st March 1916 Bert was with the 48th Division and serving in the South Midland Brigade RFA. It appears from what remains of his service record that he was in France from the 24th March 1916 and during this time the 48th Division took part in various phases of the Battles of the Somme.

At some stage Bert suffered severe “gunshot” wounds (probably shrapnel from enemy artillery) and was returned home on 24th Feb 1917. After Initial hospitalisation he was sent to recover at the Queen Mary’s convalescent hospital in Roehampton – a 900 bed hospital specialising in limbless casualties. Clearly, he was unable to fully recover as his wounds caused his left arm to be limp and he was ‘discharged physically unfit’ on 9th November 1918 giving his address as Railway Cottage, Queen Street, Chedworth but he shortly moved away from the village.

Because of his disability he was awarded a weekly pension of 22 shillings for life.

Guardsman Joseph Young Leech Born: 1879 Chedworth Parents: John Leech and Esther Hopkins Married: Not married at time of death Died: 10/12 September 1916 (killed in action) 21097 1st Btln Grenadier Guards Enlisted: Not known but before April 1915 Memorials: Chedworth Church and Chapel, Thiepval Memorial, Medals: BWM, Victory

The 1911 census records show that Joseph (a plasterer) and his elder brother Bill (a mason’s labourer) were living with their widowed mother Esther in Springfield Cottage, Chedworth. It is probably no surprise that Joseph followed his elder brother into the Army after Bill’s mobilisation in August 1914. However, few records remain regarding Joseph’s military service but his service number indicates this would have been in late November/early December 1914.

Joseph enlisted in the Grenadier Guards (Private, No 21097) at Cirencester and was assigned to the 1st Battalion. The Battalion came under the command of the 20th Brigade, 7 Division which had landed at Zeebrugge on 7th October 1914. At the First Battle of Ypres the Battalion had suffered catastrophic losses with only 4 officers and 200 men remaining of its original strength and Joseph was trained as a replacement and was to eventually join the Battalion in France. (It would, of course, be at around the time of his arrival that his brother Bill was injured and evacuated to England.)

In August 1915, the Guards Division was formed in France, bringing together many of the Guards units that had been with other Divisions. The 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, came under command of the 3rd Guards Brigade on 4th Aug 1915. The Battalion War Diary shows that Joseph fought at the Battle of Loos in September, then fought in trench warfare around Ypres (Laventie and Poperinghe, in particular) for the whole of the following year.

However, on 16 August 1916 the Battalion moved by train to Mericourt on the Somme to take part in those bloody battles which cost so many British lives. Tragically, Joseph was killed in the action known as the Battle of Ginchy between 10 and 12 September. The Battalion War Diary describes attacks on a strong point and being within 100 yards of the enemy under shell fire, and it is probable that Joseph fell there.

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Joseph Leech’s sacrifice is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial (Pier and Face 8 D), the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. This memorial bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated, including Joseph Leech, died between July and November 1916.

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Private Leslie Harold Leech Born: 1897 Chedworth Parents: Walter Leech and Ellen Coates Married: May Morgan 1928 Swindon Died: 1963 Swindon F 25417 Army Service Corps (Forage Dept) 21395 16th Btln Cheshire Regiment 115967 Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: 7th December 1914 Discharged: 23rd August 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Leslie Leech was clearly a young man of some character as newspaper cuttings of 1911 showed him participating in a boxing bout with Cyril Danford in a Boy Scout event and in a village concert. The third son of Walter and Ellen Leech, Leslie managed to enlist in the Cheshire Regiment on the 7th December 1914 despite being both underage and, at 5 feet two inches, below the minimum size for enlistment.

However, at the outset of the war the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead, Alfred Bigland, had pressed the War Office for permission to form a battalion of men to be known as the Bantam Corps who were under regulation size but otherwise fit for service. Within a few days, some 3,000 men had volunteered, many of whom had previously been rejected as being under height. The original men, such as Leslie Leech were formed into the 1st and 2nd Birkenhead Battalions of the Cheshire Regiment. Nevertheless, in March 1915 he was declared medically unfit and discharged.

In 1916 Leslie succeeded in being reenlisted, this time in the ASC Forage Corps and served with them from March to September before being discharged to join the Machine Gun Corps. It would appear that the MGC were not so fussy about his size! His limited records give no details of his service, but as a member of the MGC he would certainly have been involved in major battles through to the end of the war. Several other Chedworth men served with the MGC and the work of the Corps is summarised here by former machine gunner George Coppard in his epic autobiography “With a Machine Gun to Cambrai” :

"No military pomp attended its birth or decease. It was not a famous regiment with glamour and whatnot, but a great fighting corps, born for war only and not for parades. From the moment of its formation it was kicking. It was with much sadness that I recall its disbandment in 1922; like old soldiers it simply faded away". Leslie Leech was finally discharged in August 1919 and on his marriage in 1928, used the spelling Leach.

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Lance Corporal Wilfred Walter Leech Born: 1892 Chedworth Parents: Walter Leech and Ellen Coates Married: Elsie May Offer 1920 Tetbury Died: 1928 Cirencester 5236 1/6th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 266903 3/6th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment 351376 Inland Waterways & Docks Royal Engineers WR 312775 1st Coy Inland Waterways & Docks Royal Engineers Enlisted: 23rd March 1916 Discharged: 14th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The second of three sons of Walter and Ellen Leech, Wilfred was a pre-war grocers assistant and railway porter and lived with his parents at Railway Cottage in Queen Street. His enlistment in March 1916 in the 1/6th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment led to his deployment to the Battle of the Somme where his elder brother was also fighting with the Royal Field Artillery.

As with so many others, Wilfred’s records are in poor condition and some sections badly damaged. However, his arrival coincided with several of the Somme battles involving the Gloucesters in the 144th Brigade, South Midland Division. In particular, his Battalion was heavily involved in fighting at Ovilliers- La-Boisselle in the second Phase of the Somme in late July, and it was at Ovilliers that Wilfred was seriously injured on 21 August.

In September the local paper carried the story: “News has been received that Private Wilfred W Leech, of the Gloucesters, has been seriously wounded, and that he is now in the Military Hospital at Edmonton, North London. He was wounded on August 21st at Ovilliers, France, when fetching bombs to supply a raiding party. His own party consisted of six privates and a sergeant, and after delivering the first lot of bombs safely, they were returning along a communications trench, when a shell from the enemy plumped in amongst them, killing four and wounding two, the sergeant escaping unhurt. Private Leech’s wounds consist of the back of the hand badly torn and shell splinters in the back. We are glad to learn that he is progressing favourably.”

After lengthy hospitalisation, Wilfred was transferred to the 3/6th Battalion of the Regiment, its depot/training element, presumably because of his unfitness for return to frontline duty. By late1917 it was clear that his health was below the standards required for an infantry regiment as he was transferred to the Royal Engineers as a Sapper and joined their Inland Waterways and Docks Number1 Company at Richborough Depot in Kent in December.

Initially employed as a clerk to work as a checker on railway and dock movements, Wilfred served only briefly in England before being sent to Taranto in Italy on similar duties, arriving there in February 1918. Despite several spells in hospital over the next few months he became fit enough to be remustered in August to the trade of Stevedore and to earn the enhanced rate of pay of 2 shillings per day. In early 1919 he returned to Richborough and was demobilised and discharged from there on 14th March 1919.

After the war Wilfred became a railway signalman – a trade that he pursued until his untimely death in 1928 at the age of 35. He is buried in Cirencester cemetery.

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Private William Frederick (Bill) Leech Born: 1877 Chedworth Parents: John Leech and Esther Hopkins Married: Lucy Taylor 1939 Died: 1954 5427 1st & 2nd Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: 11th October 1898 Discharged: 10th October 1915 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: 153883 issued 29th March 1917

Bill Leech was born in Chedworth in 1877 to John (a carpenter) and Esther Leech living at Rose Cottage, the house which was later taken to USA by Henry Ford. As a 21 year-old he volunteered and joined the Gloucestershire Infantry Regiment on 11 October 1898 and was originally assigned to the 2nd Battalion with whom he served in South Africa between 1 February 1900 and 11 November 1902. Following his 2 years in South Africa he was transferred to the 1st Battalion and from 12 November 1902 to 11 January 1907 served with them in India. By this time Bill had completed his agreed 10 year term in the army so he was transferred to the reserves and returned to civilian life in England. During both overseas postings he received good conduct badges and on discharge his character was assessed as very good.

The 1911 census records that Bill, now a mason’s labourer, was living with his widowed mother Esther and his brother Joseph at Springfield Cottage. At the outbreak of the Great War Bill was immediately mobilised (on 6 August 1914) and joined the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Gloucesters, was transferred on 20 January 1915 to the 2nd Battalion and was deployed to France. At this time 2nd Btln Gloucesters formed part of the 81st Infantry Brigade/27th Division which took part in the 2nd Battle of Ypres (remembered for the first use of gas by the German Army) and the earlier actions at St Eloi (renowned for the huge mine craters there today).

The 2nd Battalion was specially recognised for their part in the Second Battle of Ypres (15 April-25 May) when they were at Sanctuary Wood. In his 8th Despatch the Commander in Chief, Field Marshal Sir John French wrote:

“On the 9th the Germans again repeated their bombardment. Very heavy shell fire was concentrated for two hours on the trenches of the 2nd Gloucestershire Regiment and 2nd Cameron Highlanders, followed by an infantry attack which was successfully repulsed. The Germans again bombarded the salient, and a further attack in the afternoon succeeded in occupying 150 yards of trench.

The Gloucesters counter-attacked, but suffered heavily, and the attack failed. The salient being very exposed to shell fire from both flanks, as well as in front, it was deemed advisable not to attempt to retake the trench at night, and a retrenchment was therefore dug across it. “

Perhaps it is more fitting to record some words from Field Marshal French’s speech to the 2nd Battalion as the 81st Brigade (and with them the 2nd Battalion) was paraded at the end of the Battle on the 21st:

“In this, the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans tried by every means within their power to get possession of that unfortunate town. They concentrated large forces of troops and artillery and further than that they had recourse to that dastardly practice hitherto unheard of in civilised warfare, namely the use of asphyxiating gas.You have performed the most difficult, arduous and terrific task of withstanding a stupendous bombardment by heavy artillery, probably the fiercest artillery barrage ever directed against troops and warded off the enemy’s attacks with magnificent bravery. By your steadiness and devotion the German plans were frustrated and he was unable to get possession of Ypres.....” Bill was clearly in the thick of it all, receiving a wound to his left hand on 13 May and a gun-shot wound to his face on the 2nd June 1915. Within days Bill was evacuated to a base hospital and later back to

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England. The local newspaper printed on 12 June 1915 recorded the story in typically bland terms as follows:

“Private William Leech, age 37, 2nd Gloucestershire Regiment, wounded in the face in France recently. Previously wounded in the hand, now at a base hospital in France but will soon be removed to England.”

Bill was discharged from the Army on 10 October 1915 having completed 17 years of service. However, the Army were initially confused about the reason for Bill’s discharge – thinking that he had time expired and were reluctant to issue him with a Silver War Badge (SWB). Finally, after three medical examinations between December 1915 and February 1917 and awards of disability pensions (initially 6 months at 10s 6d a week raised to 12s 6d a week) it was agreed that Bill had been discharged because he was no longer fit and his SWB was issued on 29th March 1917. Bill married Lucy Taylor in 1939 and continued to live in Chedworth for many years. He died in 1954 and was buried in St Andrews churchyard.

Bill acknowledged receipt of his long overdue SWB

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Above - Good friends Fred Minchin (left) and Bill Leech

Below – left Wilfred (Fred) Leech and right Leslie Leech

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Private Allen Percy (Percy) Mabberley Born: 1891 Chedworth Parents: Charles Mabberley and Minnie Holland Married: Mary Hannah Hewer 1915 Hilda V. Loveday 1938 Cheltenham Died: 1969 Cheltenham 339 (probable) Labour Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not recorded

Percy was enrolled into the Chedworth National School in May 1898. Before the outbreak of war Percy lived in Chedworth with his parents and two younger sisters and, in 1911, was a horseman on a local farm. Although he was not recorded on either of the first 2 Chedworth military volunteer lists, he probably had an early Labour Corps service number which suggests that he was conscripted early on.

There is little else to draw from his Record Card, but he was shown on the local Poll List as absent on military service in 1918. He appears later on the 1920-25 Poll Lists, but probably living with his parents, possibly at Jane’s Cottage in Middle Chedworth.

After the death of his first wife in 1937 Percy moved to Cheltenham and is recorded as being a postman there.

Captain Lewis Gordon Mackie Born: 1885 Malvern Parents: George Edward Mackie (Vicar) and Helen Grace Rowley Married: Joan Brammall 1925 Died: 1959 Bath 475423 4th Btln Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry 9th Btln Kings Royal Rifle Corps 20th Btln Kings Royal Rifle Corps Enlisted: 10th October 1915 in Canada Demobilised: 30 March 1920 given ticket back to Toronto

Lewis Gordon Mackie was born whilst his father (who later became vicar of Chedworth) was teaching at Malvern College. In 1903 Lewis Mackie left England to join his uncle to farm in Canada.

On 10 October 1915 Lewis volunteered to join the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) part of the Canadian Second Contingent to join the war. In January 1916 he was recommended for a commission by Lt Col Purvis of Calmsden (near Chedworth) and supported by W Stokes the then headmaster of Dean Close School which both Lewis and his brother Rupert had attended.

Lewis saw action in France with the PPCLI from April 1916 and on 2nd November 1916 was promoted to Lance Corporal. He finally entered training at the Officer Cadet Battalion at Newton Ferrers in January 1917 and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the 9th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps on 26th April. As an officer in the KRRC Lewis again saw action in France of which we have few details. However, we have a report written by him describing in graphic terms his experience of trench warfare. During an attack on 21st March 1918 on the HQ Unit of the 9th KRRC, Lewis’s position was overrun and he was captured by the enemy and made a prisoner of war. In order to identify those who may have surrendered too easily and shown what was called “Lack of Moral Fibre” in the face of the enemy, captured officers were required by the War Office to write a report of the circumstances to a Standing Committee of Inquiry. The following report was written by Lewis after his repatriation from PoW camp in December 1918. It reads as follows:

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2nd Lieutenant LEWIS GORDON MACKIE Date of capture at Urvilliers nr St Quentin 21 March 1918; unwounded. Repatriated on 12 Dec 1918. Date of arrival in England 11 Dec 1918; Address: Chedworth Vicarage, Gloucestershire

As Lewis Gun Officer I was attached to Battalion Headquarters situated in EXCELLENT S.P. just west of St Quentin Road, 1000 yards in rear of posts held by front companies. At 4.45 am March 21st enemy opened heavy bombardment, using much gas. At 10.15 am word came from front companies that enemy were attacking everywhere. Owing to thick mist it was impossible to see further than 30 yards. Enemy were first observed by us at about 11.30 am attackingon our flanks and shortly afterwards a Lewis Gun, having been put out of action by a shell, they penetrated into west end of Strong Point and occupied the Regimental Aid Post. They were bombed back as far as possible and a block established in trench. About noon a German officer was captured and his papers were sent by runner to Brigade. At 1.30 the mist rising, enemy guns and transport were observed on high ground east of St. Quentin Road. These were brought under Lewis Gun fire.

Enemy infantry were now attacking us from rear and flanks. Machine Guns were brought to bear on our parapets from all sides and low flying Enemy Aircraft fired into our trenches. After hand to hand fighting the garrison of Strong Point was driven into small piece of trench outside H.Q. dugout, where resistance was carried on until 3.20 pm, when enemy rushed our trench with the bayonet.

By this time about half the garrison were casualties – the remainder were disarmed and sent back under escort. Some 40,000 rounds of Small Arms Ammunition were expended in defence of Strong Point, besides many boxes of bombs and Rifle Grenades. All men coming under my observation, particularly the Lewis Gunners, showed very fine spirit. (Signed) L. Gordon Mackie, 2nd Lieutenant K.R.R.C.”

It must have been a relief when nearly 5 months later, on 27 May 1919, Lewis received the following letter from the War Office exonerating him from any blame or misdemeanour:

“The Secretary of the War Office presents his compliments to 2nd Lieutenant L.G. Mackie, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps and begs to state that he is commanded by the Army Council to inform him that his statement regarding the circumstances of his capture by the enemy having been investigated, the Council considers that no blame attaches to him in the matter”

Lewis returned to Canada in 1920 and then travelled to Java where he later met his wife. He was also a planter in Malaya before later returning to live in Bromley, Kent. He died in the Lansdown Nursing Home in Bath on 23 January 1959.

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Nurse Marjory Hannah Mackie Born: 1879 Tiverton, Devon Parents: George Edward Mackie (Vicar) and Helen Grace Rowley Married: died a spinster Died: 1946 Gloucester 24992 Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps and VAD Recruited: 11th February 1918 Demobilised: 16th July 1918 Roll of Honour Chedworth (new panel) Medals: BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: 266964 (1916) and 380087 (18 July 1918)

The eldest of the 3 Mackie sisters, Marjory was born in Tiverton where her father was then a schoolmaster. In 1901 she was working in a teaching capacity at the Derby High School and in 1911 she is recorded visiting relatives in London. Presumably after the outbreak of war Marjory joined a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment). On 9th October 1915 she was a witness at her sister Elizabeth’s wedding to Captain Henry Cookson RAMC at Chedworth.A Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary unit providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. By the summer of 1914 there were over 2,500 Voluntary Aid Detachments in Britain and of the 74,000 VAD members in 1914, two-thirds were women and girls. Sadly, there is no detailed record of Marjory Mackie’s overall VAD service – where she served, and for how long. However, there is a clue in her award of a Silver War Badge in 1916. This record lists her as a “Nurse” amongst senior nursing sisters who also received the SWB and she was then domiciled at 20, Drummond Place, Edinburgh.

Nevertheless, her service to King and Country did not end with her VAD service as she later enlisted, together with her younger sister Vesta, in the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) on 11th February 1918.

Announced by the War Office in February 1917 and established a month later as a part of the British Army, the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was to be made up of volunteers of whom eventually 57,000 were employed. The first WAACs moved to France on 31 March 1917 and by early 1918, some 6,000 WAACs were there. It was officially renamed the QMAAC in April 1918. The women were largely employed on unglamorous tasks on the lines of communication: cooking and catering, storekeeping, clerical work, telephony and administration, printing, motor vehicle maintenance.

Although there are no detailed records of her service in this new organisation, Marjory clearly undertook different work from her time as a VAD and served in France. Sadly, she appears to have suffered from her experiences as she was discharged from the QMAAC as unfit after some 3 months on 29th May 1918. She was demobilised on the 16th July 1918, having earned the BWM and Victory medals. Her second SWB was issued on 28 July 1918.

After the war Marjory settled locally in the Gloucester area and in the 1920s and 1930s advertised her services as a piano and violin teacher. She died at Barnwood in 1946 and is buried in St Andrews churchyard, Chedworth, near her mother and father.

It was disappointing to find that this brave woman who served her country in uniform and earned war medals was not properly recognised by her inclusion on the St Andrews Roll of Honour. This may have been deliberate or purely an oversight, but since the vicar, her father, led the project to establish the memorial this is unlikely. Her service is, however, now recorded on the new panel dedicated on Remembrance Sunday 2014.

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Top left Vesta Mackie Top right Lewis Gordon Mackie with his daughter Bottom left Marjory Mackie Bottom right KRRC cap badge

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Master Mariner Rupert William Edward Mackie Born: 1887 Epsom, Surrey Parents: George Edward Mackie (Vicar) and Helen Grace Rowley Married: Katharine Laura Ballard 1925 (Richmond, Surrey) Died: 3rd December 1960, Russell House, Plymstock, Devon ID Cert 31581 Merchant Marine Qualified: 23rd April 1909 (1st Mate) Roll of Honour: Chedworth (HMHS Morea) Medals: Mercantile Marine Medal, BWM

After being educated at Dean Close School Rupert Mackie joined the Merchant Navy, qualifying as a First Mate in 1909. Merchant Navy records of 1914 show him serving with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P & O) on their vessel the SS Maloja, a 12,500 ton passenger liner working a regular route between Britain and India. Soon after the outbreak of the war Rupert sailed on her to Australia via Bombay on 10 November to Tilbury, returning there on 21 February 1915 with troops and supplies as well as regular passengers. A second voyage on 6th March followed with Rupert being “signed off” from the “Maloja” at Tilbury on the 15th June 1915.

These voyages were no sinecure as there was now a serious U Boat threat and there were German commerce raiders along the route. Despite this, P and O continued to advertise for passengers although their adverts carried the ominous warning: “All sailings are liable to cancellations or deviations without notice due to the war”. The warning proved only too true when in February 1916 “Maloja” was sunk off Dover by a mine released by the German submarine UC6 with the loss of 122 lives. Luckily, Rupert had joined another company ship on 26th June 1915, the “Morea” as a Supernumerary 3rd Mate.

After her next voyage “Morea” was taken up by the War Office and brought the Australian 9th Light Horse Regiment, 3rd Light Horse Brigade reinforcements from Adelaide to Europe. A new role followed when, on the 8th October 1915, she was formally redesignated the “HMHS” (His Majesty’s Hospital Ship) “Morea” and sailed to Salonika with a complement of doctors and nurses. (Her passenger quarters were now converted to support up to 750 casualties.) Until the 28th March 1916 Morea served as a floating hospital between Salonika and Malta, before being returned to P&O for three return journeys between the UK and Australia, during which time she carried reinforcements for the 8th, 9th and 10th Light Horse Regiments.

We have no detailed record of Rupert Mackie’s service throughout this time, or after May 1917, when the “Morea” was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as an armed merchant cruiser with 6-inch guns on convoy escort duties on the UK/West Africa route. However, inside his prayer book, is a record of the ships on which he served during the Great War (see picture).

Rupert continued in the Merchant Navy postwar and eventually became a Master Mariner. On the outbreak of WW2 he was again called upon to serve his country in war, this time as a Lieutenant Commander in the RNR, finally being released from Royal Naval service in July 1946.

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Rupert Mackie and his prayer book listing the ships he sailed in during the War

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Commander Thomas Oscar Mackie Born: 1882 Malvern Parents: George Edward Mackie and Helen Grace Rowley Married: Did not marry Died: 1948 Royal Navy Enlisted: 15 July 1900 Retired: 19th July 1922 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

The second eldest of the Mackie boys, Thomas enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1900 as a Clerk in its Paymaster (Accounting) Branch and his early career saw him serving in numerous shore establishments and ships afloat. On the outbreak of WW1 he was serving on HMS “Algerine” on the west coast of America and Canada. In August 1914 Captain Corbett wrote of him “Would make a good secretary. Is hard working, willing and tactful”.

On the 15th August 1914 the crew of “Algerine”, including Thomas Mackie were transferred to serve with the embryonic Royal Canadian Navy on HMCS (His Majesty’s Canadian Ship) “Niobe”. On 6 October 1914, with Thomas as its Acting Paymaster, she joined the Royal Navy's 4th Cruiser Squadron. The Squadron operated on the North America and West Indies Station where until July 1915 “Niobe” was engaged in intercepting German ships along the American coast. During this period she was involved in chasing the German commerce raider, SS “Prinz Eitel Friedrich” into Newport News, Virginia, which opted to be interned by the Americans instead of coming out to face the cruiser once it had refuelled. “Niobe’s” final patrol was 4-17 July 1915, after which she returned to Halifax. Thomas’s records show him returning to the RN to serve on Submarine Depot Ships, firstly on HMS “Titania” at Blyth and later on the “St George”, a larger vessel which saw service in the Aegean. He continued to serve after the end of WW1, on HMS “Danae”, retiring with the rank of Paymaster Commander on 19th July 1922.

However, before his retirement he played a prominent role in the December 1920 Dinner for ex- Servicemen held in the Red Triangle Hut (the previous Village Hall) in Chedworth. Organised by a committee chaired by his father the vicar and attended by some 70-80 Chedworth ex-servicemen, Thomas Mackie responded to the toast “to the Royal Navy” and took the opportunity to include in the toast “those of the Mercantile Marine” in which, of course, his brother Rupert continued to serve. (This dinner, attended by so many, reflected the concerted efforts of the village to remember those who had served and took place in the year that the fundraising and preparatory work was completed for the War Memorial in St Andrews Church.)

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Thomas Mackie, HMCS Niobe (above), HMS Danae & HMS St. George (bottom)

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Worker Vesta Grace Mackie Born: 1890 Tiverton Parents: George Edward Mackie (Vicar) and Helen Grace Rowley Married: Walter Williams 1924 Ontario Died: 1983 24992 Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps Recruited: 28th February 1918 Demobilised: 10th August 1919 Roll of Honour Chedworth (new panel) Medals: BWM, Victory

Vesta Mackie appeared in occasional local Chedworth prewar news reports supporting her father in organising village events at Chedworth vicarage. However, it seems she was attracted to joining her brother (Lewis Gordon) and other relatives for a more adventurous life in Canada and sailed there in 1913. Following Lewis’s enlistment the previous year, she returned to England sailing on the “Ascania”, arriving in Falmouth on 5th October 1916.

It would be difficult not to assume that she would have continued to play her part in supporting her father and the village in those difficult times. Nevertheless, she clearly wanted to play a more direct role in the war effort and she and her sister Marjory enlisted together in the QMAAC on 28th February 1918. Although Marjory was discharged with a SWB in July, Vesta served through to the Armistice and beyond, not being demobilised until August 1919. Her QMAAC medals record shows that she served on the Western Front and earned the BWM and Victory medals.

Vesta sailed back to join her relatives in Ontario in 1922, working initially as a nurse, then as a teacher. She married a headmaster Walter Williams in Frontenac, Ontario on 22nd July 1924.

Like her sister Marjory, Vesta was not included on the memorial panels in St Andrews porch despite having served on the Western Front in uniform and having earned the British War Medal and Victory Medal. Whether this was an oversight, or a deliberate decision, we shall never know. However, the oversight was rectified in 2014 with the dedication of a new Memorial Panel on which her service is now recorded.

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Private Charles John Edward Marston Born: 1888 Norton, Radnorshire Parents: John Marston and Olivia Trotman Married: not married at time of death Died: 19th October 1914 9989 1st Btln Royal Welsh Fusiliers Enlisted: Pre-war professional soldier Roll of Honour Harlebeke new British Cemetery, Belgium XIII.B.18, Memorial Chedworth Church Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

Tragically, Charles Marston was the first Chedworth man to die in the Great War. His mother was Chedworth born and in 1901, as a 12 year-old, Charles was living on Calves Hill in Chedworth with his cousin John Stone, an agricultural labourer. However, by the 1911 Census Charles was serving in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. His service number suggests that he enlisted in 1908 and by 1914 he was serving in Malta.

When war broke out in August 1914 the Battalion was recalled to England, landing at Southampton on the 3rd of September 1914 and immediately joined the 22nd Brigade, 7th Division, who were concentrating in the New Forest, Hampshire. The Division landed at Zeebrugge on the 7th of October 1914, to assist in the defence of Antwerp. However, they arrived too late to prevent the fall of the city and took up defensive positions at important bridges and junctions to aid in the retreat of the Belgian army.

The 7th Division then assumed defensive positions close to Ypres. A report from the ensuing battle reads:

“The 1st RWF were already hotly engaged with the enemy and the battalion had suffered considerable casualties before it managed to extricate itself.”

It is certain that during one of these critical engagements that Charles Marston was killed on 19th October 1914; only 13 days after setting foot in Belgium. Charles is buried in the CWGC New British Cemetery at Harlebeke in Belgium (Plot X111.B.18) and his sacrifice is remembered each year at the annual Remembrance Service in St Andrews Church.

Note: Although the local newspaper stated in their article at the time that Walter Day was the first Chedworth man to be lost, it is incorrect, but not surprising, that Charles Marston was overlooked as he had been absent from the village for some time.

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Above – Harlebeke CWGC Cemetry in which Charles Marston is buried.

Left – Charles Marston headstone with cross laid in 2014 by Chedworth visitors

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Squadron Leader Norman MacDonald Martin Born: 1889 Cheltenham Parents: Colonel Cunliffe Martin and Frances Mary Colledge Married: Ella Todd McCormack (nee Warnock) 1919 Dublin Died: not known Commissioned: 20 January 1909 (Indian Army) Retired: 10th September 1924 (RAF) Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: CBE, BWM, Victory

Norman was the second of two sons of Colonel Cunliffe Martin CB, a distinguished Indian Army officer, who lived in Cheltenham and on Calves’ Hill, Chedworth. Educated at Rossall School, he was an all-round sportsman and his education included courses in French and German (and later learning Hindustani and Pashtun). Commissioned via Sandhurst in January 1909, he joined the 19th Punjabis of the Indian Army, and later served with the KG Own Central India Horse which his father had commanded until his retirement in 1888.

On the outbreak of war Norman was an officer of B (Sikh) Squadron when the 38th Central India Horse departed for France in November 1914, a small element of the 138,000 Indian troops who were to fight in Belgium and France in WW1.

By Christmas 1914 Norman was serving in the trenches near Ypres during that foul winter and became an early casualty in late January 1915 and was evacuated to England. His recuperation took some time and clearly he had second thoughts about returning to the misery of the trenches as he responded to the call for expansion of the Royal Flying Corps. In May that year Norman attended the Central Flying School at Upavon, where he luckily survived the appalling death rate of 60% of RFC pilots in training and obtained his Royal Aero Club Flying Certificate (1327) on the Maurice Farman Biplane .

Following his initial flying training he was attached to the Central Flying School at Brooklands for further instruction and qualified fully as an RFC flying officer pilot on 14th August 1915. (During the First World War ‘Flying Officer’ was the basic employment grade of a qualified RFC pilot and carried the rank of Second Lieutenant which equated to Norman’s Indian Army rank.)

Within weeks he was posted to No. 7 Squadron at St Omer to fly the clumsy 2-seat RE5 on hazardous long-range reconnaissance and bombing missions. (Only a few weeks earlier 7 Squadron had earned its first VC, Captain Liddell, flying one of these missions over Ostend.) Photographic reconnaissance with glass-plate cameras required aircraft to fly a steady profile over enemy trenches at a fixed speed and height.

Armed with a Lewis machine-gun firing rearwards from the rear cockpit to avoid the propeller, and often carrying a rifle and pistol as well, the pilot and observer on the RE5 were an easy target for the higher- performance German fighters, with their forward-firing machine-guns.

The average life-expectancy of a new pilot was around 3 weeks. Were they to be hit, there was nothing to be done to escape if the aircraft was a “flamer”, as they had no parachutes and faced an appalling end.

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Norman flew such dangerous missions with the Squadron for 2 months, until he again became a casualty on 30 October 1915, having suffered severe damage to his right hand, and was invalided to England for the second time in less than a year. His injury was obviously serious as it was 4 months before he returned to duty in March 1916, this time as a flying instructor with numbers 2 and 4 Reserve Squadrons. (This appointment came with the RFC grade of Flight Commander on 2 April 1916 with the Army rank of Temporary Captain “whilst so employed.”)

At this stage someone in high places did some lateral thinking as he was posted out to Army HQ in India in December 1916 with the rank of Major. Here he used his background knowledge in the Indian Army to develop cooperative operations with the Army on the North West Frontier where the RFC had just sent its first squadron (No 31) that January. With his overall interest in 31 Squadron operations he is almost certain to have met the other Chedworth pilot in the RFC, Lt Edward Cosslett, whose story is told elsewhere.

For Norman Martin it was a continuing story as from April 1918 he was designated as a Squadron Leader Staff Officer in the newly formed Royal Air Force and later that year returned from India to work at the new Air Ministry and later in Ireland at HQ 11(Irish) Group. On 1 August 1919, he resigned from the Indian Army on appointment to a permanent commission in the RAF. His ongoing career included a significant role with Z Force in January and February 1920 in Somaliland, the first of the RAF’s Small Wars in which the RAF was instrumental in defeating the Mullah. For his part in the operation Norman Martin earned both a Mention in Dispatches and a CBE.

Norman Martin’s career lasted another 4 years, including command of Number 100 Squadron and ending with his retirement in September 1924, that of a very brave soldier and airman from Chedworth who played a part in the early development of military aviation.

The words on the St Omer Memorial read “The St Omer Memorial to the 50,000 men of the RFC, RNAS and RAF who served on the Western Front, including the 2 VCs (Liddell and Mannock) who both flew from here. The memorial marks the sacrifice of over 4,700 aircrew who died, of whom over 1,000 are listed on the memorial to the missing at Arras”.

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Top – early photograph reconnaissance equipment Middle – Maurice Farman trainer as flown by Norman Martin Bottom – RE 5

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Private Ernest Albert Massey Born: 1887 Chedworth Parents: Raymond Massey and Eliza Mustoe Married: Selina Leech 1913 (Stowell) Died: 1970 126301 1st Company Royal Garrison Artillery Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM

In 1911 Ernest Massey was a self-employed Fishmonger living with his widowed mother and sister at Smuggs Barn in Chedworth. On his 1913 wedding certificate he records his profession as house decorator. He does not appear on either of the first 2 lists of Chedworth men to volunteer so one assumes he was conscripted.

His medal record card carries no details as to his dates of enlistment or discharge although there is a reference to his being a member of Number 1 Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery. This unit provided coastal defence in Malta, but there is no cross-reference on his medal card to his serving overseas.

Unusually Ernest was only awarded the British War Medal and not the Victory medal as well. Notwithstanding this paucity of information Ernest clearly served his country and was properly listed with his Chedworth comrades on the St Andrews Great War Roll of Honour..

Private/Sapper Ernest Maurice McTier Born: 1891 Hungerford, Berks Parents: Walter McTier and Anna Maria Giles Married: No evidence of marriage Died: 1947 (Cirencester District) 234557 Labour Corps 66728 Royal Welsh Fusilier Regiment E.M. McTier 81188 The King’s Liverpool Rifle Regiment 65232 Training Reserve Battalion WR 208353 Royal Engineer Corps (Railways) Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Ernest McTier is yet another Chedworth man for whom the only record of his service in the Great War is his Medal Record Card. This gives no enlistment or discharge dates, although it shows transfers between several Regiments and final service in the Royal Engineers (Waterways and Railways). (It is worth noting that there is no record of his serving with the RAMC, despite this being recorded against his name on the panel in St Andrews porch.)

There is no indication of overseas service, so he may well have served out his time with the Royal Engineers at Richborough, like George Greenwood. Ernest returned to Chedworth and in 1920 was living in Queen Street with his mother, who was then remarried to Frederick Whiting, whose 3 sons had also served in the Great War.

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Private Wilfred Charles (Bill) Messenger Born: 1886 Driffield Parents: Not known Married: Ada Matilda Morse 1912 Died: 1974 317541 J and E Companies Tank Corps Enlisted: 27th September 1918 Discharged: 25th February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: No evidence that medals were awarded

A baker by trade and a married man, Wilfred Messenger (known as Bill) was living in Chedworth at the outbreak of the war at “The Chestnuts”, a house near the “Waggon and Horses”. However, he did not enlist immediately and was not liable for service until the introduction of the Military Service Bill. In January 1916 this provided for conscription of single men aged 18 to 41, and in May 1916 this was extended to married men, such as Bill Messenger.

Within the Military Service Bill men, and their employers, had the right to appeal against their conscription. Tribunals were established to consider appeals for exemption which could be made on the grounds of work of national importance, business or domestic hardship, medical unfitness, and conscientious objection. Most men were given some kind of exemption, usually temporary (between a few weeks and six months) or conditional on their situation at work or home remaining serious enough to warrant their retention at home.

Bill Messenger was granted such an exemption although he was officially enlisted under the Military Service Bill in June 1916. A local newspaper records that his exemption was reviewed by a local Tribunal in Northleach on 12th May 1917, the decision being made for the original conditional deferment to continue. It was presumably a shock when the exemption was withdrawn another year later as there are documents showing Bill being ordered into the custody of Chedworth’s police constable on 25th September 1918 and taken the next day under military escort to the Horsfield Barracks in Bristol.

On 27th September Bill was drafted into the Tank Corps and became a Bandsman. With the Armistice less than 2 months later he served only at the Corps Depot at Wareham, before being discharged on 25th February 1919. Bill Messenger returned to live at the Chestnuts and was there through the 1930s.

Gunner Frederick George Miles Born: 1896 Yanworth Parents: Edwin Miles and Julia Ellen Keen Married: Maud Bond 1960 Died: 1985 Cirencester District 110888 328th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery 110888 RGA N.C. Sig. Sch. (from swb) Enlisted: 18th May 1916 Discharged: 20th September 1918 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: B5445 issued 18th September 1918

Frederick Miles is recorded as a 15 year-old “Garden Boy” on the 1911 Census living at Colesbourne where his father was a shepherd. He enlisted in 1916 (probably conscripted under the Military Service Act) and after training joined the 328th Siege Battery of the Garrison Artillery (RGA).

Siege Batteries RGA were equipped with heavy howitzers, sending large calibre high explosive shells in high trajectory, plunging fire.The usual armaments were 6 inch, 8 inch and 9.2 inch howitzers, although

103 some had huge railway- or road-mounted 12 inch howitzers. As British artillery tactics developed, the Siege Batteries were most often employed in destroying or neutralising the enemy artillery, as well as putting destructive fire down on strongpoints, dumps, store, roads and railways behind enemy lines.

The 328th was equipped with 6.6 inch howitzers and from the time of Frederick’s enlistment in May 1916 took part in most major battles on the Western Front. At some stage in 1918, probably in one of the second Battles of the Somme, Frederick was injured badly enough to require his discharge from the Army and he was issued with a Silver War Badge on 18th September 1918. A family member remembers that he had a pronounced limp.

Captain (WWII) Herbert Cornelius Miles Born: 1888 Horton, Gloucestershire Parents: Edwin Miles and Julia Ellen Keen Married: Ada Fry 1916 Died: 1954 10070 Welsh Regiment 3448 28th Division Cycle Corps 111939 Tank Corps 7868379 Tank Corps (1919) Enlisted: 8th February 1909 Discharged: 1946 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Herbert’s father was a shepherd and had moved from job to job in the general Cirencester area. His mother was born in Chedworth and in 1911 his parents and siblings were living in Colesborne. Chedworth poll registers indicate that Edwin and Julia Miles were living at Newports farm 1914-1920 and Hart’s Hill 1921-1925 and it was probably through their residency that Herbert became listed in the Chedworth Great War Roll of Honour.

Herbert Miles enlisted in the Welsh Regiment in 1909 and in 1911 he was serving with the Regiment in Egypt as a Lance Corporal at the Abbasia Barracks in Cairo. By 1914 he had been promoted to Sergeant and that year went to join the 28th Division of the British Expeditionary Force in France with the Divisional Cycle Corps. (As regular units from the further garrisons of the Empire arrived back in England, they were formed up into three Divisions, numbered 27th to 29th.)

The 28th was formed at Hursley, Pitt Hill and Magdalen Hill Camps near Winchester in December 1914 - January 1915 and was rushed as a much-needed reinforcement to France. The bicycle had been adopted by several Territorial Army formations prior to the outbreak of war in 1914. It was seen as a means of increasing their mobility without any great expense. When the Territorial battalions went to war, their bicycles went as well. Although the Western Front was not a theatre where mobility was uppermost, cyclists of the Army Cycle Corps carried out reconnaissance and carried messages between command posts. During the next months the Division took part in the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Loos.

Although disease, and malaria in particular, had a major effect in Salonika, it was also present on the Western Front, albeit to a much lesser degree. Herbert was infected in September 1915 and was evacuated from the front line by a sick convoy, field ambulance and by train. We have no record of the length of his treatment or recovery, but by 1916 he had transferred to the newly formed Tank Corps and in the same year married Ada Fry, the sister of George and Cyril of Chedworth.

Records of his service are sparse, and there is no trace of him as Tank Crew, but based on his subsequent career he is likely to have been a Quartermaster. In 1919 he re-engaged in the Corps to complete 21 104

years service with the colours. In the 1920s Herbert served in India, based near Delhi and was discharged in February 1930 with the rank of Regimental Quartermaster.

However, in June 1939 at the outbreak of World War2, Herbert re-enlisted in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars with an Army Emergency Commission as a Lieutenant Quartermaster. Throughout the war he served in a Training Battalion in the UK mainly based at Barnard Castle. His outstanding service was recognised on his retirement as a Captain Quartermaster in 1946 with the award of the MBE, presented by HM Queen Mary. In his retirement he lived at 11, Moorend Road, Cheltenham, where he died in 1954.

Private Thomas George Millard Born: 1900 Ogbourne St. George, Wiltshire Parents: Francis Millard and Sarah Miles Married: Nellie Trice 1933 Surrey Died: 1958 Newbury area ------53rd Reserve Btln, Hampshire Regiment 5176065 1st and 2nd Btlns, Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: 22nd April 1918 Discharged: 11th December 1928 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: no record of Great War medals issued or received

About 1911 Thomas and his family moved to Chedworth where his father was employed as a railway signalman. At the age of 18 Thomas was conscripted into the 53rd Training Reserve Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, based at Rolleston in April 1918.Thomas served with them until 13th February 1920 and then transferred to the army reserve. On the 4th August 1921 Thomas enlisted into the Gloucester Regiment serving in India and China between November 1922 and November 1928.

His final assessment of conduct and character on leaving the Gloucesters reads;-

“Military Conduct, Very Good Testimonial, During his seven years service with the Regt he has shown himself to be honest, sober, reliable and hardworking. Was employed as a motor driver before enlistment. Has done a mechanical course of motor engineering at Calcutta. Tom Millard 1933 Signed R L Beasley Lieut-Colonel Commander: 2nd Bn The Gloucester Regt 21/10/1928”

On the 11th December1928 on the expiration of his period of service he was again transferred to the Army Reserve serving a total of 4 years 235 days, finally being discharge at Warwick on the 3rd August 1933. Total Service 12 years

On leaving the Army Thomas gained employment in Kensington Palace Gardens as a Footman where he met his wife Nellie Trice. They married in Chelsham, Surrey in 1933.

The Millard family eventually moved to Brimpton, Berkshire to work for Victor Gollancz the Book Publisher, as a gardener/handyman and Nellie as cook. Both are mentioned in Victor Gollancz book Memoirs of Affection based on his time at Brimpton.

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Above – Herbert Miles MBE with Ada 1946

Top right – Stan Holland & Fred Miles (R)

Middle – Tom Millard 1918

Bottom – Wilf Messenger and an order for Military escort to take Wilf from Northleach prison to Horsfield Barracks

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During the Second World War Thomas was a Sergeant in the Brimpton Home Guard.

On leaving Gollancz employment Thomas became a farm labourer then in 1950 worked for British Railways as a Porter based at Newbury Station until his death in 1958.

Rank not known Edward Miller Born: 1884 Chedworth Parents: Edward Miller and Louisa Curtis Married: Not known Died: Not known Roll of Honour Chedworth No details of military service have been established

Edward Miller came from a family of wheelwrights and lived in the Chedworth Laines area. His family background was tragic - he lost his father in 1908 and his mother in 1913. Although we know that he worked as a labourer pre-war on Manor Farm, it has proved impossible to find any military records for him. However, he certainly served his country and is listed on the Roll of Honour in St Andrews porch.

Private Oliver Pryce Miller Born: 1897 Crickhowell, Breconshire Parents: Oliver John Miller and Mary Jane Jones Married: Ada Croughton 1922 Died: 1975 (Warrington district) 39132 Royal Army Medical Corps Enlisted: Not known but before September 1914 Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Oliver Miller’s father died in 1897 and he came to live in Chedworth with an uncle and grandparents. He was enrolled in the school in 1903 and was on the first list of Chedworth men to enlist at the outbreak of war.

Oliver joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as a private and although we have only his Medal Card, we have some personal memorabilia of his experiences. There is a photograph of him with fellow recruits during initial training, probably at the RAMC Centre in Eastbourne. The photo was accompanied by a letter addressed to his friend Harry Day at Hill Farm, dated 14 October 1914. It reads: Just sending you a photo we had took a week ago after we had been on a long march. Am keeping well. Hope you are. We are going on as normal here having grand weather. Please give kind regards to all. From Oliver

On 8th July 1915 Oliver moved to France where amongst his other duties he served on the front line as a stretcher bearer. Casualties were transferred between Collecting Posts [CPs] and Relay Posts [RPs] to avoid congestion. This required teams of RAMC stretcher bearers, strung out over miles of ground unpassable by motor or horsed transport, that shuttled between the posts and passing the wounded on to the next team. A "carry" could be anything up to 4 miles over muddy or shell-pocked ground, either in trenches or above ground.

This work was highly dangerous and Oliver himself became a casualty, a report appearing in the local newspaper of 19th May 1917. (This would clearly have been a difficult time for Chedworth families as the same newspaper also reported the recent deaths of William Peachey and James Whiting and an injury to Harry Seats, also of the RAMC.) Oliver’s story reads as follows:

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Above – Card sent from Oliver Miller (middle row far right) to his friend Harry Day

Below – A Christmas card with RAMC badge from Oliver Miller serving in Ireland

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On April 12th, Private Oliver P Miller, RAMC was wounded in the foot whilst on duty as a stretcher bearer somewhere in France. He enlisted at the outbreak of the war, and has seen much service. His friends are glad to hear that he is making a good recovery. He is now in Whitecross Hospital, Warrington.

After hospitalisation Oliver was sent to Northern Ireland where he served at Abercorn Barracks, Ballykinlar from where his family received a Christmas card in 1917. We do not know when Oliver was discharged at the end of hostilities. He does not appear to have returned to Chedworth and was married at Runcorn in Cheshire in 1922 and was living in the Warrington area in 1939.

Major William Charles Mills Born: 1889 Cheltenham Parents: Thomas Mills and Annie Whellan Married: Marion Minchin 1914 Died: 1977 15795 Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry 15795 1st British West Indies Regiment 5429448 8th Btln Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry Enlisted: 7th September 1914 Retired: 1947 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

William started his working life at 151/2, as a Solicitors Clerk with Rickerby & Co of Cheltenham and later with Nalder & Son in Truro. It was probably this connection with Cornwall that led him to enlist in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (DCLI) and on 7th September 1914 he became one of Kitchener’s “First ‘Hundred Thousand’, for “3 years or the duration of the war”. Soon after, on 24th October 1914, William married Marion Lydia Minchin (born in 1892 in Chedworth),at Chedworth Independent Chapel.

William joined the 8th Service Battalion of the DCLI which became part of the 26th Infantry Division and in 1915 was in France as a platoon sergeant. The Division transferred to Salonica that year and it was there that he met up with several Chedworth men. Many years later he wrote of these meetings in his autobiography, now in the DCLI Museum in Bodmin:

“On another occasion I went to the post room, where I found a postal packet addressed to a Corporal W Greenwood, RAMC and which bore the Chedworth postmark. I quickly followed this up and found Willie desperately ill, in the ward above my own. (It was Willie’s mother who was midwife to my wife when giving birth to my daughter.) Willie was in a very bad way and I visited him frequently. It was no surprise to me when he told me in hospital that he was being invalided home.

Later in life, and on my retirement from the Army, I was closely associated with him in the administration of the local branch of the British Legion, of which he was Hon Secretary and I a Vice-President. He never tired of relating to his colleagues of the Legion how, through the little comfort I was able to give him in All Saints’ Hospital when he was so ill, he was able to regain his reason and pull through.”

This was my second meeting with Chedworth boys. I met a few of them – Albert Allington, Reg Lawrence, Bert Broad and a few others, whose names evade me for the moment, but I remember taking up half a dozen bottles of beer to them the night they arrived in Lembert Camp in Salonica.”

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William’s autobiography also describes the dreadful conditions of the Turkish soldiers who were fighting in the Salonika theatre:

“Very soon walking wounded and prisoners began to trickle into Battalion Headquarters, now established on the road. The prisoners were extremely dirty and stank to high heaven, most of them were just a bundle of rags, unshod, and all seem to be suffering from malnutrition – ulcers, boils, bad teeth and gums. They seemed relieved that for them, at least, the war was all over. One of them with a bad bayonet wound asked me for water, which I gave him. I also gave him a “hard-tack” biscuit, but he couldn’t make much of it for lack of teeth.

I lit a cigarette and gave it to him, for which he made signs that he was grateful. He then rummaged through his pathetic belongings carried in a sandbag and produced a pair of beautifully hand-made Turkish slippers, nicely ornamented. (Note: When I arrived home after the war I presented these slippers to the Chedworth School Museum.) Although these prisoners looked like a lot of flotsam and jetsam washed up by the war, their fighting qualities were undoubted.”

In 1916 William joined the Regimental Depot of the British West Indies Regiment (BWI) at Alexandria, later being seconded to its 1st Battalion in the Suez Canal Zone as a sergeant instructor. In the same year he was promoted to Company Quartermaster Sergeant and served in the Sinai Peninsula in the campaign against the German-led Ottoman Army. In 1917 he was promoted to WO2, appointed Company Sergeant Major and served throughout the Palestine campaign. His service in the BWI was recognised by selection to represent it at the Victory parade at Jerusalem in 1918 and by his promotion to acting Regimental Sergeant Major for his last 8 months with the Regiment.

His return to England in 1919 marked his completion of his Colonial Government tour with the BWI and his decision to reenlist with the DCLI as a regular soldier. His postwar service included active service in Iraq and postings in India, Germany and the UK (often accompanied by Marion) and appointment to a commission in 1930. On retirement in 1947 with the rank of Major and after 33 years’ service, William and Marion settled into the family home in Chedworth where they lived for many years and William served as a Vice President of the Royal British Legion.

Lt William Mills circa 1930 & with wife and daughter circa 1916

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Leading Stoker Frederick Chapman Minchin Born: 1879 Chedworth Parents: Frederick Minchin and Lydia Chapman Married: No record of marriage Died: 1925 288525 Royal Navy Enlisted: 18th May 1898 Discharged: 3rd October 1921 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

Frederick Chapman Minchin was the eldest son of Frederick Minchin of Glebe House – builder, carpenter, undertaker and councillor. Born on 1 November 1879 in Chedworth he ran away to join the Royal Navy on 18 May 1898 and on enlistment gave his trade as a painter and signed up for a 12 year engagement as a stoker.

Frederick served on a number of warships including HMS’s King Alfred, Blenheim, Andromeda and Calliope. His RN reports mostly give him a very good rating and he appears to have avoided trouble. Fred was discharged from the Navy on 8 July 1910 and briefly joined the Royal Fleet Reserve between 9 July 1910 and 25 July 1911. It was during this period that he returned to Glebe House and during the census of that year declared Fred Minchin himself to be an RN pensioner.

Fred joined the regular Navy again on 26 July 1911 as a Stoker 1st Class and served throughout the Great War. The highlight of his career was probably the Battle of Jutland (31 May 1916) whilst onboard the new Dreadnought HMS Canada on which he served between August 1915 – February 1920. He was promoted to Leading Stoker during this period. A report written by “Canada’s” captain of her part in the battle reads as follows: “H.M.S. Canada” dated 2nd June 1916. IN compliance with your signal 1835 of 1st instant, I have the honour to report as follows:— On 31st May at 5.10 p.m., the Fleet steaming S.E. by S. in organization 5 disposed to Starboard, the signal was made for Light Cruisers to take up position for approach. At 6.6 p.m. the Fleet altered course to S.E., the Battle Cruisers being then before the Starboard beam engaging the enemy heavily. At 6.10 the signal was made to 3rd and 8th Flotillas: "Take up position for approach."

At 6.15 formed Line of Battle, S.E. by E., speed being then 18 knots. At 6.22 three Armoured Cruisers, probably 2nd Cruiser Squadron, were abaft our starboard beam, steaming in a N.N.W. direction, when one of them blew up. At 6.38 "Canada" fired two salvoes at German Ship, which had apparently suffered heavily, and was much obscured by smoke and the splash of other ships' fire. Object extremely indistinct. Neither of these salvoes were seen to fall for certain. At 6.45 ceased firing. About 7.15 engaged destroyers about a point before the beam. These turned away, using smoke screen. At 7.20 fired four salvoes at battleship or battle-cruiser on starboard beam, very indistinct, probably "Kaiser" class. Range of first salvo was 13,000 yards, which was very short. Third and fourth salvoes appeared to straddle, but conditions were such as to make it impossible to be certain. This ship then disappeared in dense smoke, probably a smoke screen. At 7.25 signal was made to turn 2 points away from enemy, followed 2 minutes later by a second 2 points. At 7.25 engaged destroyers attacking abaft starboard beam with our 6-inch. Broadside was divided between left-hand or leading boat and the right-hand boat. At 7.30 fired three salvoes of 14-in. on leading attacking destroyer abaft starboard beam. Third salvo appeared to hit. This destroyer vanished

111 in smoke and is believed to have sunk. The right-hand destroyer was also straddled by 6-in. and was lost sight of. From 7.20 to 7.25 "Canada" appeared (from direction) to be fired at by a battleship of "Kaiser" Class, or the "Derfflinger," on starboard quarter. Shots fell a long way short. 7.35, ceased firing. 7.40, signal was made: "Single Line ahead, course S.W." H.M.S. "Canada" was not struck during the action, and there are, therefore, no casualties to report. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant,

W. C. M. NICHOLSON, Captain

Fred was discharged from the Navy on 3 October 1921. His last ship was HMS Victory 2. Fred is listed in the Chedworth Poll Register of 1925 at Glebe House living with his father but he died at the age of 45 on 25 December 1925 in Eastington.

Fred (on left) with shipmates in Malta

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Lance Corporal Ira John Minchin Born: 1895 Chedworth Parents: Frederick Minchin and Lydia Chapman Married: Ethel May Hoggard 1947 Died: 1965 20664 1st and 8th Btlns King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Enlisted: 15th December 1914 Discharged: 5th June 1917 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: 199426 issued 26th June 1917

Ira Minchin enlisted into the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) in December 1914 and is on Chedworth’s Second List of volunteers to serve with the Colours. The Battalion sailed to France in January 1915 and Frederick joined them on 7th April in time for the 2nd Battle of Ypres. Within just a few days Ira had been injured, the local newspaper reporting his injury and a catalogue of recent injuries to other Chedworth men:

“ Chedworth Men Wounded

News has been received that the following men of this village have been wounded at the front: Private Ira John Minchin, age 19, Yorkshire Light Infantry, wounded by shrapnel in the back at Ypres on May 1st. He is progressing favourably in Netley Hospital, and will soon return home for a time. Private Cecil Greenwood, aged 23, 5th Gloucestershire Regiment, wounded by a sniper somewhere in France. He is at present in Fishponds Hospital, Bristol, and going on well. Private William Leech, age 37, 2nd Gloucestershire Regiment, wounded in the face in France recently. Previously wounded in the hand, now at a Base Hospital in France, but will soon be removed to England. Others previously wounded are: Private Frederick Rooke, Grenadier Guards, wounded at the Battle of Mons, now returned to the front, and Private Richard Whiting RE.”

A month later Ira’s injury was also reported blandly in the School Log; “One of our old scholars, named Ira Minchin, has been wounded in France.” Ira recovered sufficiently to be returned to duty and it may be that this is when he transferred to the 8th Battalion. Although Ira Minchin detailed records of Ira’s service do not exist, the 8th Battalion was serving in France and it is probable that he returned to active service with this Battalion on the Western Front.

However, at some stage he fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis which led to his discharge on 5th June 1917 and the issue of a Silver War Badge on 26th June. Unlike his brother, Ira did not return to live in Chedworth and died in Yorkshire in 1965.

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Gunner Albert Daniel Morse Born: 1888 Chedworth Parents: Lambert Morse and Clara Juggins Married: Effie Ada Winifred May 1919 Croydon Died: 1976 Cheltenham 119064 Royal Horse Artillery/Royal Field Artillery Enlisted: 13th November 1915 Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The son of farmer Lambert and Clara Morse of Pinkwell, Albert enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) in November 1915. The most numerous arm of the artillery, the horse-drawn RFA was responsible for the medium calibre guns and howitzers deployed close to the front line and was reasonably mobile. It was organised in brigades.

We know that Albert was serving in D Battery (howitzers) in the 256th RFA Brigade deployed in the Cambrai area when he received a wound on 19th April 1917. He was treated by the 2/1st Highland Field Ambulance and conveyed by No.12 Ambulance Train to a hospital ship and was probably returned to the UK to recover.

A newspaper report indicates that Albert was wounded again in a battle at Givenchy on the 18th April 1918:

“Mr and Mrs L Morse of Pinkwell received the news that their son, Gunner Albert Morse, was badly gassed and burnt on April 18th in a battle near Givenchy in France. He was in a battery of the RFA 55th Division, and had been on active service for over two years. All his relatives and friends will be glad to hear that he is making good progress in the War Hospital, High Barnet.”

The battle was known as the Battle of the Lys where the 55th Division defended some 5 miles of the front against an all-out attack by 3 German divisions. During the battle British casualties were heavy, amounting to 163 officers and 2,956 other ranks, killed, wounded and missing. Whilst the rest of the Division was withdrawn for a brief rest, the Field Artillery and Trench Mortar Batteries remained to assist the 1st Division, and earned the gratitude of the Corps Commander, which was most freely expressed as follows:- “From Lieut.-General Sir A. Holland, K.C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O., Commanding 1 Corps 21/4/18. The Corps Commander wishes to place on record his high appreciation of the work done by the Trench Artillery of the 55th Division during the attack on Givenchy on the 18th April. The detachments, by their heroic stand, assisted materially in the retention of the Givenchy position, and have added another page to the glorious history of the Royal Regiments of Artillery.”

Albert returned to live at the Rookery in 1920 and 1921. In 1939 Albert and Effie were living in Bibury.

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War diary of 256 RFA Bde recording Albert Morse’s wound 19041917

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Private Ernest Charles Morse Born: 1891 Cirencester Parents: James Thomas Morse and Ellen Day Married: Violet Munden 1919 Died: 1974 017653 8th and 9th Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment 017653 7th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Enlisted: Approx November 1914 (list 2) Discharged: 14th February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Ernest Morse was a farm labourer and later a postman, living in Chedworth with his parents. He enlisted into the 8th Battalion of the Gloucesters together with his brother Harry, whose service number is only one digit apart and both appear on the Second List of Chedworth men serving with the colours, published in April 1915.

The Battalion, which at some stage also included his elder brother George, Walter Day and Roland Arthurs, trained at Perham Down and in March 1915 moved to Tidworth for final training. Ernest proceeded to France with the Battalion on 4th August 1915, his Division concentrating near St Omer and saw action soon after, in September, at the Battle of Loos. Although there are no service records for him as such, there is a hospital record showing that he suffered a gunshot wound to his right shoulder and being transferred to the Hospital Ship St Patrick on 20th April 1916. Described as having a “simple flesh contusion or wound” Ernest was probably evacuated on the St Patrick (previously a cross-channel ferry) on one of her regular trips from Rouen to Portsmouth and thence to a UK hospital.

At some time later that summer Ernest appears to have been transferred from the 8th Battalion to join the 9th Gloucesters who were embarked for Salonika in November 1916 with the 26th Division. Within a month he was hospitalised again (on 10 December), this time suffering from myalgia, chronic muscular pain, often associated with trench conditions. The hospital record shows him admitted as a member of the 7th (Service) Battalion of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, yet with his original 8th Gloucesters service number (17653). (The two Battalions were part of the same Division and regularly relieving each other in the same trenches and this could explain Ernest’s apparent, yet unlikely, transfer to another Regiment.) Yet another hospital record of 28th December 1916 indicates that he was in C Coy 9th Glosters being treated for lumbago at No.1 Convalescent Depot.

Ernest continued to serve in the Salonika Theatre through 1917, but was again hospitalised on 6th March 1918, falling victim to malaria . He was still serving in C Coy 9th Glosters. Ernest was discharged from the army in February 1919, returning to live in Cheap Street and married local girl, Violet Munden, sister to Cecil and Reginald.

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above – 1st Eastern War Hospital (Trinity College) left - Gunner Albert Morse bottom left – Private Ernest Morse bottom right – Private George Morse

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Private George John Morse Born: 1882 Cirencester Parents: James Thomas Morse and Ellen Day Married: Florence Julia Arthurs 1913 Chedworth Died: 1953 Swindon # unknown 8th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

In 1901 George was a navvy working on the railway at Chedworth and between 1905 and 1909 George worked for the Great Western Railway as a porter at Swindon and then, briefly, at Swansea.

In the 1911 Census George Morse is registered as a journeyman baker and a newspaper report states that pre-war he was a postman (like his brother Ernest). In 1913 George (at the time a Labourer) married Florence Arthurs in Chedworth (sister of future soldier brothers Horace and Roland). It is probable that George and his wife returned to Swindon. A brief newspaper item reports him serving in the Gloucestershire Regiment and being wounded :

“Pte. G. Morse 8th Gloucesters Regt, wounded in action in France on October 14th (1915) in the right lung & arm and now in 1st E G Hospital, Cambridge. Son of Mr and Mrs Morse, Chedworth. He was a postman at Chedworth until the outbreak of war.”

Despite the typically bland footnote to the photograph, George’s injury to his lung was clearly very serious and he was probably lucky to survive his evacuation from France to the First Eastern General Hospital (EG) at Cambridge. The War Office had planned for rapid expansion and building of hospitals including the 1st EG and whilst the building of the hospital was underway on a former cricket field belonging to King's and Clare Colleges, patients being repatriated from the Front were housed in the Leys School and Trinity College.

The completed hospital, a series of pre-fabricated wooden huts, had up to 1,700 beds, operating theatres and ancillary buildings, a Post Office, shop, cinema and other recreational facilities. Its open air wards and its curative use of direct sunlight and saline baths in the treatment of war wounds attracted a great deal of public attention. Professional and volunteer nurses were billeted in empty college rooms, and officers dined at high table.

For five years the tranquil Backs – where several University colleges back onto the River Cam – were transformed by a relentless stream of horse-drawn and motorised ambulances transporting patients to and from the railway station, deliveries of food, coal, medical supplies and laundry, and for those who could afford it, taxis ferrying thousands of visitors.

There is no record of George’s discharge from hospital, but it would be safe to assume that he needed considerable treatment and convalescence before being invalided out of the Army. In 1939 George was living in Swindon where he died in 1953, at the age of 72.

Possibly because George did not return to live in Chedworth after the Great War his name was omitted from the Roll of Honour in the church porch. However, the Chedworth Remembers the Great War Project have rectified this omission by adding his name to the new panel which was dedicated in November 2014.

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Private Harry Lawson Morse Born: 1893 Cirencester Parents: James Thomas Morse and Ellen Day Married: Not married at time of death Died: 7th June 1917 on active service 17655 8th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not known but before April 1915 (list 2) Discharged: 7th June 1917 died in service Memorials: Chedworth & Wytschaete Cemetery, Belgium IF8 Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

The youngest of the 3 Morse brothers to enlist in the Gloucestershire Regiment, we assume from his service number that he signed up with his brother Ernest and went to France with him in August 1915. Their brother George possibly joined a little later, but by October 1915 all three were serving in the 8th Battalion of the Gloucesters at the time of George’s wounding and evacuation to hospital in Cambridge. The Battalion fought at Ypres and at La Boisselle on the Somme in 1916 and at Messines in June 1917.

It has been argued that the Battle of Messines was the most successful local operation of the war, certainly of the Western Front. Carried out by General Herbert Plumer's Second Army, it was launched on 7 June 1917 with the detonation of 19 underground mines underneath the German lines. The target of the offensive was the Messines Ridge, a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres, and a small German salient since late 1914. The attack was also a precursor to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele.

In preparing for the Messines battle 8000 metres of mine tunnels were dug underneath German lines all along the ridge. The plan was to detonate 19 of them at zero hour at 03:10 on 7 June 1917, to be followed by infantry attacks so as to secure the ridge from the presumably dazed German defenders, the infantry being heavily supported by the use of artillery bombardments, tanks and the use of gas. The invariable loss of surprise in the use of a preliminary bombardment was entirely offset by the effect of the mines, which blew the crest off the Messines-Wytschaete ridge. In its wake nine divisions of infantry, including the 19th Division and with it the 8th Battalion of the Gloucesters, advanced under protection of a creeping artillery barrage, tanks and gas attacks. All initial objectives were taken within three hours.

Tragically, Harry Morse was killed the next day and a newspaper report reads as follows:

“Chedworth Soldier Killed in Action

It is with great regret that we announce the death of Private Harry Lawson Morse of the Gloucestershire Regiment who was killed in action in France on June 8th after two years faithful and loyal service in the army, at the age of 24 years. A very sympathetic letter has been received by Mr. J.T. Morse from the Captain of his son’s Company, which stated that deceased was killed by an enemy sniper while helping in a wounded comrade. Private Morse was very popular amongst his comrades, always worked hard in the trenches, and took a keen interest in the special training for attack. The letter adds: I hope it will be some consolation for you to know that he did his duty so bravely right to the end”.

The report also captures something of the loss that both the family and the village must have felt as the report continued:

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“Much sympathy is felt in the village for the parents in their sad bereavement. On Sunday, during the course of his sermon, the Vicar alluded in feeling terms to the deceased. The Dead March in Saul was played by the organist and a muffled peal was rung on the bells as a token of respect and esteem for the brave young soldier who gave up his life for his friend.”

This had been a bad year for Chedworth, with Harry Morse being the fifth man from the village to die in the service of the country. Harry is buried in the CWGC Wytschaete Military Cemetery and is commemorated on both the Lower Chedworth and St Andrew’s War Memorials.

Mr. Harry Morse Harry Morse Gravestone with Poppy Cross laid by Chedworth Remembers Project in 2014

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Private Thomas William Morse Born: 1888 Cirencester Parents: James Thomas Morse and Ellen Day Married: Minnie Beatrice Wyndow 1924 Died: 1933 Ashby de la Zouch # not known Notts & Derby Regiment Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

Sadly the only record we have of Thomas Morse’s service is his name and regiment on the St Andrews’ Roll of Honour panels. Unlike his 3 brothers who served in the Gloucestershire Regiment, Thomas served in the Sherwood Foresters – the Notts and Derby Regiment. We have a photograph of him in uniform with his brother Ernest, so it is likely that this was taken before Ernest left for France in August 1915. However, although the Sherwood Foresters served in France, we have no more clues as to his time with the Regiment.

Thomas returned safely to Chedworth after his discharge and he appears on the Poll Records living with his parents on Cheap Street until 1923. He was married in the Cirencester district in 1924 and died in Ashby de La Zouch in 1933.

Thomas Morse Thomas and brother Ernest Morse

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Sapper Cecil George Edgar Munden Born: 1895 Elkstone Parents: George Munden and Sarah Pearce Married: Elizabeth Maria Lawrence 1922 Oxford Alice M Hawker 1969 Cheltenham Died: 1971 Cheltenham 49595 Royal Engineers Enlisted: Not known but before September 1914 Discharged: 29th June 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

The 1911 census shows Cecil Munden living at Newport, Chedworth with his parents and siblings and employed as a plasterers labourer. He was amongst the first Chedworth men to enlist, appearing on the village list of September 1914. He joined the Royal Engineers and from the service number sequence, appears to have joined up at the same time as Horace Arthurs. However, whilst Horace went to France, Cecil’s medal card shows that he was sent to Egypt where he arrived on 24th July 1915.

We know nothing of Cecil’s war record, except that he was discharged in June 1919, suggesting he returned from Egypt for that purpose. Cecil was living with his parents in Queen Street in 1920, but there is no record of him or his family living in the village after 1921 – he probably moved to Stratton and then Cheltenham (there in 1939 and is listed as a plasterer in the 1951 Cheltenham telephone directory). He died in Cheltenham in 1971.

Gunner Reginald Wilfred Munden Born: 1898 Elkstone Parents: George Munden and Sarah Ann Pearce Married: Emily Tryphena Lay 1926 Cirencester district Died: 1942 Cirencester district 194638 252nd Siege Battery, 53rd Brigade, RGA 208965 Buckinghamshire Hussars Enlisted: 21st March 1917 Discharged: 2nd February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The younger of the two Munden brothers to enlist, Reginald was a 12 year-old schoolboy in 1911. On leaving school he became a carpenter’s labourer and lived at Newports and then in Queen Street with his parents and siblings. Because of his age Reginald did not follow his brother into the Army until March 1917, when it appears that he very briefly served with the Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, before being transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA).

His record shows that he was under training at Derby and Catterick before going overseas in March 1918 to join the 252nd Siege Battery in France. (It would appear that Reginald went as a replacement as the Battery had been in France since the previous February.) Siege Batteries RGA were equipped with heavy howitzers, using large calibre high explosive shells. As British artillery tactics developed, the Siege Batteries were most often employed in destroying or neutralising the enemy artillery, as well as putting destructive fire down on strong points, dumps, stores, roads and railways behind enemy lines.

There are mentions of the involvement of the 252nd in various battles during 1918 and there were several losses of men. However, Reginald survived to be discharged and to return to Chedworth in February 1919, some time before his brother.

Reginald left Chedworth by 1921, became a policeman in Cinderford and was living in Tetbury in 1939.

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Private Francis Frederick (Frank) Mustoe Born: 1897 Sapperton Parents: Frederick Mustoe & Elizabeth King Married: Daisy Gladys Lane 1923 Bath Died: 1973 Bath ------Coldstream Guards Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

Born in Sapperton in 1897, by 1911 Francis (Frank) Mustoe was a farm labourer living with his parents and his young cousin in the Ballingers Hill area. We have only the listing of Frank Mustoe on the Roll of Honour in St Andrews porch as evidence of his service in the Coldstream Guards, as no military records survive for him. Frank served his country and had returned to live with his parents on Ballinger’s Row, Chedworth in 1921 but appears to have married and moved to Bath in 1923.

Private? Henry Sutton Newman Born: 1880 Chedworth Parents: Edmund Newman and Catherine Sutton Married: Dora Sunnucks 1914 Died: Not known # not known Regiment or Corps not known Enlisted: not known Discharged: before 1920 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

In 1911 Henry Newman was a coal merchant living with his widowed mother and sister at Longfurlong. He also appeared in a story in a newspaper article on the annual St Andrews Vestry Meeting of 1912 in which both he and his brother are thanked for their contributions as church wardens. Henry was not amongst the earliest Chedworth men to enlist, and as a married man would not have been required to serve until after the Military Service Act of 1916. However at some stage, serve he did, and he is listed on the Roll of Honour.

We know rather more of his life after the Great War as he was again living at Longfurlong with his mother and in 1923 he was occupying “the Gables” with his wife. By this time he had returned to his prewar occupation as a coal merchant and was working with his brother William at Fosse Cross. In the 1950s he was still living at Longfurlong.

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Private Cyril Gilbert Norman Born: 1892 Chedworth Parents: Richard Thomas Norman and Elizabeth Day Married: Emma Peart 1915 Died: 25th April 1917 17739 1st, 7th & 9th Btlns Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not known Memorials: Doiran Military Cemetery, Chedworth Chapel Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Cyril Norman was living with his parents, his wife and their 5 months old son at Yanworth Common. Although he did not appear on the first Chedworth lists he enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment sometime in 1915 in time to be trained and, according to his Medal Card, to join a Theatre of War on 11 September that year. (Although a handwritten annotation on the card suggests that he was enlisted into the 7th Battalion of the Regiment, they had arrived in Gallipoli in July and it is therefore unlikely that he served with them.)

The 9th Battalion, in which several Chedworth men were serving, arrived in France in September and was transferred to Salonika in November, and this accurately matches the date of his arrival in a Theatre of War as per his Medal Card. The appalling conditions and health problems of Salonika have been highlighted in the stories of other Chedworth men, and Cyril fought with the Battalion through 1916 when they were engaged in the Battle of Horseshoe Hill and into 1917.

After spending some time preparing the defences of the 'birdcage' around Salonika the Battalion had moved up to the mountainous front line by April that year. From here the British were to assault the Bulgarian defences west of Lake Doiran. On the 24th April, advancing across steep ravines against an opponent well dug in behind concrete bunkers, the British managed to gain a number of toeholds, but Bulgarian counter attacks forced them back. Superior enemy artillery, searchlights and difficult terrain confounded any attempts at bringing up reinforcements and the battle ended up as a costly defeat for the allies.

Somewhere in this battle, later to be known as the First Battle of Doiran, Chedworth lost yet another soldier, Cyril Gilbert Norman, age 24. Cyril is buried in the Doiran Military Cemetery, a gift of the Greek people and maintained by the CWGC. His sacrifice is commemorated on the Lower Chedworth Chapel Memorial.

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Doiran Military Cemetry where Cyril Norman is buried

Cyril Norman’s headstone with cross laid by Chedworth visitors in 2014

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Private? William Norman Born: 1897 Chedworth Parents: Jesse Norman and Henrietta Leech Married: Ellen Maud Bye 1924 (Northleach) Died: Not known not known Royal Garrison Artillery Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: not known

Living in Chedworth in 1911, William Norman was a farm labourer prior to the Great War. Although he was one of several Chedworth man to enlist in the Royal Garrison Artillery, we do not know when he joined, or have any details of his service other than his inclusion on the Roll of Honour. William returned to Chedworth after the war and lived in Church Row with his parents until 1924.

Stoker 1st Class William Norman Born: 1884 Chedworth Parents: Richard Thomas Norman and Elizabeth Day Married: Not married at time of death Died: 1919 K/1223 Royal Navy Enlisted: 15th August 1908 Demise: 6th May 1919 Memorials: Chedworth, Yanworth & Mont Fleuri Cemetery, Seychelles Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

William Norman, the elder son of Richard and Elizabeth joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker in 1908. He served in several ships prior to 1911 and from 1911 to 1914 on HMS Cambrian, a cruiser on the Australian Station, returning on her to England in January 1914. William served briefly on two further ships on the Home Fleet through the outbreak of war until being posted to HMS President on the 3rd April 1915.

HMS President, based in London, provided administrative support for RN personnel who were serving in overseas shore establishments. In April 1915 William Norman was placed on the administrative strength of HMS President for service at the RN Wireless Telegraph (W/T) Station in the Seychelles. The islands, and the deep natural harbour at Port Victoria, made it an ideal place for refuelling Royal Navy ships operating in the Indian Ocean and as part of a worldwide chain of wireless stations.

Tragically, William died on 6th May 1919 aged 35, just 2 years after his younger brother Cyril, whilst still serving in the Seychelles, probably from the flu pandemic. He is buried in the CWGC Plot at the Mont Fleuri Cemetery outside the capital, Victoria.

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William Norman’s headstone in Mount Fleuri Cemetry, Seychelles located in a section maintained by the CWGC

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Rifleman William John Peachey Born: 1895 Ashton Keynes Parents: Phillip Peachey and Mary Ann Fanny Evans Married: Amy Naomi Preston 1916 Cirencester Cong. Chapel Died: 27th April 1917 24701 11th Btln Gloucestershire Regiment S 28469 9th Btln, Rifle Brigade Enlisted: 8th November 1915 Died: 27th April 1917 (killed in action) Memorial: Chedworth Church & Chapel, Arras Memorial, France Medals: BWM, Victory

William Peachey was an Old Church Choir boy and a member of the Chedworth Unionist Band before the war. He enlisted into the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment as a 20 year-old in November 1915 and on 5th January 1916 married Amy Preston before going to France.

During the same year the 11th Battalion had been absorbed into a larger training organisation in which trainees could now be drafted to other regiments and William Peachey was transferred to the BEF on the 3rd December 1916 to join the 9th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. He was one of a draft of 82 soldiers joining at Ambrines, west of Arras on 12th December. The men had two days to settle in before the unit marched to Dainville and became the Divisional Reserve before going into the front line on the 22nd December.

In March 1917 the 14th (Light) Division were holding the line to the south east of Arras and on the 14th March 1917 the German forces began a withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. On 20th March 1917 William’s Battalion received orders that they were to move into the old German front line the following day and on the 21st they moved up to Galway Trench, to relieve the 5th Bn King’s Shropshire Light Infantry.

William’s first action was on the 9th April when the Battalion took part in an attack at Telegraph Hill, now remembered as the First Battle of the Scarpe. After being relieved from the front line on 12th April the Battalion spent time in training, but on 23rd April they began their march back to the battlefield, moving into newly captured positions between Guémappe and Chérisy on the evening of the 24th.

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The war diary records constant shellfire for this entire period; on one day alone an officer and a further sixteen Other Ranks were wounded. Tragically, this same shelling of the 9th Battalion’s trenches resulted in the death of William Peachey on 27th April.

In early May 1917 the local newspapers carried the story of the deaths of William Peachey and another Chedworth soldier, James Whiting MM. Clearly the deaths of village men had a serious impact on the morale of the village as the report of their memorial service conveys:

“Both men were held in great respect and the news of these deaths caused quite a gloom over the village. Last Sunday, as a token of regard for the deceased, and as a mark of sympathy with the relatives, the church bells were muffled, and many friends attended divine service to honour their memory.

The Vicar feelingly alluded to the great sacrifice which the brave young men had made, and the organist played the Dead March in “Saul” both morning and evening, the congregation standing. On Monday last at the day school the Union Jack was flown at half-mast as a token of respect for the deceased, both of whom were old scholars.”

It is clear that at that time the village had yet to receive of the death of Cyril Norman on the 25th April in Salonika, the third Chedworth man to die that month. One can only imagine the devastating effect that yet another loss would have had on local friends and families.

Having no known grave, William’s sacrifice is remembered on Bay 9 of the Arras Memorial and because of his connection with both churches he is also commemorated on the St Andrews and Chapel Memorials in Chedworth. His widow was given a pension of just 13s 9d a week and married Garnet Burton in Holbeach, Lincolnshire in 1919.

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Private Albert Mortimer Perrry Born: 1894 Chedworth Parents: Mortimer Perry and Rosa A Cocksedge Married: Louisa Frances Smith 1927 Birmingham Died: 1974 767312 1/28th (Artists) London Rifles 48424 Kings Royal Rifle Corps Enlisted: Not known probably 1917 Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Albert was the son of Mortimer Perry who for many years (both prewar and postwar) ran Perry’s Stores at Mount Pleasant, now known as Hawks Lane House. Albert joined the 28th Battalion of the Artists Rifles, probably in 1917. In Jun 1917 the battalion was part of 190th Brigade, 63rd Division and ended the war in the same formation at Marmignies, south of Mons, Belgium. There are no service records for Albert, but we know that he was injured in a gas attack as the local paper recorded:

“Private Albert Perry, Artists’ Rifles, was gassed in the great German “push” in France towards the end of March (1918). He is now progressing splendidly towards recovery in Camberley Military Hospital, Surrey. He is the son of Mr and Mrs. Perry, and was only on active service a few weeks before he received his “baptism of gas”. All are glad to hear of his recovery.”

The fighting was undoubtedly part of Operation Michael, the German attack known as the Spring Offensive which aimed to cut through Allied lines to the Channel ports. Albert recovered and his hospitalisation probably led to his subsequent transfer to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He survived the rest of the war and returned to marry and live in the Birmingham area where he had been with his maternal grandfather in 1911. In 1939 he was living in Leamington Spa.

Albert Perry with parents and sister

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Private Ernest Pinchin Born: 1886 Bibury Parents: William Pinchin and Eliza Culimore Married: Rosetta Allington 1921 Chedworth Died: 1967 57933 Devonshire Regiment 103532 Labour Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 Ernest Pinchin was a 24 year old farm labourer living with his parents and younger brother in Queen Street. Unfortunately he is one of many men for whom no military records survive, apart from his Medal Card. However, we know that Ernest served in the Devonshire Regiment and at some stage was transferred to the Labour Corps.

By 1921 he had been discharged and returned to live in Queen Street and to marry Rosetta Allington whose brothers also served with the colours. He had by then joined his father working as a butcher and for several years lived in Ballingers Row. He was a member of both the Chedworth Ernest Pinchin wearing Silver Band and the British Legion. Chedworth Band Uniform

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Private/Sapper Alfred John Robins Born: 1890 Chedworth Parents: Alfred Robins and Elizabeth Ann Merchant Married: Constance Isabelle Peachey 1931 Died: 1953 TR/7/4881 93rd Training Reserve Btln 60085 25th Btln Royal Welsh Fusiliers WR 286096 Royal Engineer Corps (Railways) Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 census John Robins was recorded as a 20 year old farm labourer living with his parents and sister in the Calves Hill area of Chedworth. He is recorded on the Roll of Honour as having served with both the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the Royal Engineers and, although we have no record of his service, his Medal Record shows that he entered training with the 93rd Training Reserve Battalion.

A considerable reorganisation of the reserve infantry battalions took place on 1 September 1916 and a new structure was put into place: the Training Reserve (TR). The local nature of recruitment for infantry regiments was abandoned and the entire system centralised. Men who were posted to the TR battalions were not allocated to any particular regiment and this gives an earliest date when John might have enlisted.

His transfer to the 25th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers would have been in time for its formation in Egypt in March 1917 and the Battalion was attached to the 231st Brigade as part of the overall task of driving the Turks out of the Sinai and Palestine. In April the Battalion took part in the Second Battle of Gaza and on 31 October John was wounded at the 3rd battle of the same name at which a fellow soldier won the VC. The local paper records:

“News has been received by Mr and Mrs Alfred Robins that on October 31st last, during the victorious advance of the British against the Turks in Palestine, their son, Private A J Robins, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, received a gunshot wound in the left hand. He was admitted to the 36th Stationary Hospital at Cairo, and we are glad to hear that he has made good progress towards recovery”

The Battalion went on to capture Jerusalem in December and was there until May 1918 when it was transferred to France. It is possible that John had by then been transferred to the Royal Engineer Corps Railways organisation, perhaps because of his injury. However, there is no way of knowing where he served, or when he was discharged, but by 1920 he had returned to live with his parents on Calves Hill where he was still living until his wedding to Constance Peachey in 1931.

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Private Arthur George Rooke Born: 1893 Chedworth Parents: George Rooke and Ellen Selina Darter (died 1897) Married: Not known Died: 1976 Thornbury 16192 10th Btln Hampshire Regiment 16192 1/8th Btln Hampshire Regiment 56292 1st Btln Devonshire Regiment 495549 12th Btln Somerset Light Infantry 361447 808th Coy Labour Corps 56292 Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: before April 1915 Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory

A farm labourer prior to the outbreak of war, Arthur lived with his parents at Melrose Cottage and appeared on the April 1915 list of Chedworth men to join the colours. He enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment and served in both the1/8th and 10th Battalions in Salonika, having arrived there on 24th August 1915. From there it is impossible to trace his service accurately, but the medal roll shows him serving with the 1st Devonshires, the 12th Somerset Light Infantry, the 8th Gloucesterhire Regiment and the Labour Corps. All served in France, so he probably saw service at some stage on the Western Front. A newspaper report of 1923 states that Arthur had served in India for 3 years.

It appears that he had continued to serve after the Armistice as the Poll Registers record him as “absent with the forces” in 1920-1921, but present again in 1923-1925 when he was again living at Melrose Cottage. He was not registered in Chedworth 1930 and was living in Gloucester in 1939.

Private? Francis Rooke Born: 1895 Chedworth Parents: George Rooke and Ellen Selina Darter (died 1897) Married: Not known Died: 1969 (probable) # not known unit not known Enlisted: about September 1914 Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Not known

A pre-war farm labourer, Francis (and his brother Frederick) are on the First List of Chedworth men to enlist, published in September 1914. Both had responded to Lord Kitchener’s “call to arms” of the 11th August 1914 and Francis is recorded on the Chedworth list as being in Kitchener’s New Army. However, whilst the memorial panels carry his name, they give no information as to which regiment he joined and sadly there are no military records or medal records extant to help with details of his service. He thus remains as yet another brave Chedworth man who served King and Country, but for whom no story can be told, particularly as there is no evidence at all of his return to the village between 1920 and 1930.

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Guardsman Frederick John Rooke Born: 1889 Chedworth Parents: George Rooke and Ellen Selina Darter (died 1897) Married: Martha J. Warwick 1915 (Kensington area) Died: 1917 (died of wounds) 15290 2nd and 4th Btlns Grenadier Guards Enlisted: August or September 1914 Discharged: 11th October 1917 (died of wounds) Roll of Honour: Chedworth, Dozinghem Military Cemetery IX H 1 Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

The eldest of the Rooke boys, Frederick had left Chedworth by 1911 and was then working as a railway platelayer in Swansea. However, around that time he enlisted in the Grenadier Guards for 3 years and was in the Reserve forces at the outbreak of war. He was rapidly called up and his Battalion, the 2nd Grenadier Guards, was rushed to the front where they took part in the Battle of Mons and various actions in the “Race to the Sea”. However, during the Battle of the Marne in early September Frederick was wounded seriously enough to be evacuated to England where he spent over 10 weeks in Manchester Hospital. Early in 1915 he married Martha Warwick and in December they had a son.

At some stage he had recuperated sufficiently for him to rejoin his Regiment on active service, although he was reassigned to the 4th Battalion, part of the 3rd Guards Brigade which fought in a number of significant battles over the next 2 years. On 6th September 1916, whilst in the field, he wrote a brief will leaving everything to his wife who was living at 13 Campana Road, Fulham, London. On 27th October 1917 the local newspaper carried the following story:

“Chedworth Soldier Killed. The sad news has been received by Mr. George Rooke of the death of his son, Private Frederick John Rooke, of the Grenadier Guards, while on active service in France. Deceased was severely wounded in the chest in one of the recent actions in which the Guards were engaged, and died on October 11th. For the last 12 months was employed as one of the cooks in the officers mess at headquarters. Many of the officers have written words of praise concerning his devotion to duty. He was 28 years of age and a native of Chedworth. Much sympathy is felt for his wife and all his relatives in their sad loss.”

Frederick is buried in the CWGC Dozinghem Military Cemetery in Plot IX H 1 and his sacrifice is remembered on the St Andrews War Memorial.

Private Henry (Harry) Ruck Born: 1889 Aldsworth Parents: James Ruck and Martha Kezia Packer (1884) Married: Ivy Wilcox 1925 Winifred Millard 1931 Died: 1946 Cheltenham Not known Not known Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: not known

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Top - CWGC headstone for Fred Rooke remembered in 2014

Bottom – Dozingham Military Cemetry where Fred is buried

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The 1911 census records that Harry, the only child of James and Martha Ruck, was living at Woodside with his parents and that he was employed as a groom.

Although Harry Ruck is named on the Chedworth Roll Of Honour, there is no record of the regiment or corps in which he served. Despite extensive research the military trail ends there. Nevertheless, Harry served his King and Country and returned safely from the war to be listed in Chedworth Poll Records living at Woodside Cottage again from 1920 to 1923 and later at Bleakmoor.

Staff QM Sergeant George Brunnell Rudman Born: 1877 Birmingham Parents: Nathaniel Rudman and Henrietta Milsom Married: Annie Russell 1900 Died: 1945 Bristol S4 122310 59 Field Bakery, Army Service Corps (Supply) Enlisted: 12th June 1915 Discharged: 9th July 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Born in Birmingham George Rudman worked as a baker in Chippenham in the early 1900s, and by the 1911 census he had his own bakery business run from his home in Queens St. His expertise as a Master Baker was of considerable value to the Army Service Corps in which he enlisted in June 1915 and by August he was posted to the Western Front with the 59th Field Bakery as an Acting Staff Sergeant. There is an old adage that an army marches on its stomach, and in 1914 there was one Field Bakery in every infantry division. Staffed by one officer and ninety-two men from the ASC it could produce enough bread for more than 20,000 men.

Because of the nature of their work they did not set up these bakeries near the front, and many in 1914/15 were based in locations like Rouen and Abbeville, and a little nearer the front in St Omer and Hazebrouck. However, by 1917 George Rudman was overseas serving in the Palestine Campaign and was promoted to Staff Quartermaster Sergeant (SQMS) in February 1918.

Towards the end of his service he was badly injured in an accident and on discharge received a pension. However, he returned to Chedworth in 1919 where he was able to resume his business as a baker before moving with his family to Bristol in 1922.

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George Rudman, with his baking squad (top right) and with officers and NCOs (below)

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Private Hector William Scotford Born: 1898 Chedworth Parents: Walter Reuben Scotford and Mary Ann Turner Married: did not marry prior to emigration Died: 1957 (Perth Australia) 31538 1st Btln Dorsetshire Regiment 45028 1st Btln Kings Royal Rifle Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: Military Medal, BWM, Victory

In 1911 Hector Scotford was a 12 year-old living with his parents and siblings in the Bleakmoor area of Chedworth. We do not have the date of his conscription, but it is likely to have been late in 1916, as by April 1917 he was serving in France as this newspaper article of November 1917 makes clear:

“Mr and Mrs R Scotford, Chedworth, have received the welcome news that their son Private Hector Scotford, MGC, who was gassed in France on April 12th last, has now quite recovered.”

The article (and record on the Roll of Honour) also refers to him serving in the Machine Gun Corps (MGC), rather than the Dorset Regiment in which he originally enlisted, according to his Medal Card. Certainly many machine gun teams were transferred to the Corps from their regiments, but Hector retained his Dorsets number (31538) until his eventual transfer to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC).There are no details as to the date but Hector was one of several men transferred at the same time to the 1st KRRC from the 1st Dorsets .

In 1918 Hector was awarded the Military Medal for bravery whilst serving with the KRRC. The following newspaper item printed on 13th July describes his heroic action:

“The Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty has been awarded to Rifleman Hector W Scotford, KRRC. On the night of the 24th June, in France, he was out on a fighting patrol which was attacked by a big patrol of Uhlans, who cut their force up terribly. Scotford succeeded in getting back to headquarters with very valuable information, though seriously wounded in the left shoulder. He is at present an inmate of the VAD Hospital at Wadhurst in Sussex and it is feared that he will lose his arm. He is a son of Mr and Mrs Reuben Scotford.”

Hector luckily recovered without the loss of his arm and by 1920 had been discharged and returned to live in Chedworth and briefly moved to Coln St. Dennis in 1923.

On 23 February 1924 Hector sailed from London on the SS Beltana to start a new life in Australia.

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Hector William Scotford (left) and John Herbert Scotford (right) with unknown lady centre

Hector Scotford. Awarded the Military Medal for bravery in 1918. Photographed in Australian Army uniform in which he served in WW2

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Private John Herbert Scotford Born: 1896 Chedworth Parents: Walter Reuben Scotford and Mary Ann Turner Married: Mary Morris in 1922 (divorced 1932) Married: Lily Debley 1933 Died: 1953 Sellindge, Kent 24702 Gloucestershire Regiment 12231 Machine Gun Corps Enlisted: Not known Discharged: 22nd March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The elder of the two Scotford brothers (they had seven sisters), John was a farm labourer in 1911 living with his parents and siblings in the Bleakmoor area. The date of his enlistment into the Gloucestershire Regiment is not known but, along with Cyril Fry and a few other “Glosters” he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps which was formed in October 1915. His family think that he was a horse driver in the MGC which would account for the bandolier he is wearing in the photograph (page 140). There are no further clues to his military career.

John Scotford and Cyril Fry had numerically similar service numbers in bothe the “Glosters” and the MGC which suggests that they served together at one time.

John was discharged in 1919 and returned to the Bleakmoor area where he is briefly recorded on the Poll List of 1920. John, a head gardener, was living in Sellindge, Kent in 1939.

Private John Lloyd (Jack) Scotford Born: 1887 Chedworth Parents: Andrew Lloyd Scotford and Amelia Collett Married: Alice Emma Tye 1910 Chedworth (died 1924) Edith Mary Morris 1926 Highnam (died 1935) Annie Benfield 1936 Chipping Norton Died: 1976 Chedworth # not known 13th Btln Devonshire Regiment 142524 Labour Corps Enlisted: 15th December 1915 Discharged: 12th June 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: presume BWM, Victory (no record survives) Silver War Badge: B229734 authorised 19 June 1919

John (Jack) Scotford lived in Chedworth all his life, for many years on Pancake Hill. He married Emma Tye in 1910, sister to Clara who married Walter Day a year later. Jack enlisted in the Devon Regiment in December 1915. On its formation at Saltash in June 1916 he joined its 13th (Works) Battalion and probably stayed with the Battalion until it became the 3rd Labour Battalion in April 1917. However, at some stage he was transferred to the Labour Corps from which he was discharged with a Silver War Badge in June 1919.

Jack returned to Chedworth to live in the Laines and later moved to Jude Amphlett on Pancake Hill.

Corporal Henry Clement (Harry) Seates 141

Born: 1897 Chedworth Parents: Clement Arthur Seates and Kate Holyoake Married: Not married at time of demise Death: 1919 8595 14th Stat Hospital Royal Army Medical Corps Enlisted: 17 October 1914 Discharged: 29th January 1919 (fatal accident) Memorials: Muranga Church, Kenya, Chedworth Church & Chapel Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

Harry Seates is recorded in the 1911 census living with his parents in Cheap Street. His father was working as a carpenter and joiner and 14 year old Harry had already started work as a farm labourer on Manor Farm and later worked as a gardener at Dean Close School.

Harry was amongst the first to enlist from the village on the outbreak of war and by October 1914, and then only 17 or 18 years old, he was serving in France with the Royal Army Medical Corps as an orderly at the 14th Stationary Hospital at Wimereux, near Boulogne.

It is difficult to imagine the impact the transition from Chedworth to a war hospital might have had on Harry, but the following notes from a nurse’s diary written about her arrival at the same Hospital that month might help:

Number 14 Stationary hospital was found to be in a large hotel on the sea-front at Wimereux. The Officer Commanding was in the hall receiving patients: he directed us to the top floor, where the nurses had their quarters. Every place was packed with sick and wounded lying on the floor; you stepped between them, and over them, to get along. As soon as we could get into our indoor uniform we went straight into the wards. I relieved the matron in the theatre, where she was busily working. Operations went on unceasingly. As fast as one patient could be taken off the operating table, another was placed on – and so on all through the night: the surgeons had been at it the whole day. As I went to bed in the morning I met the orderlies carrying patients down the stairs for evacuation by boat to England, while the doctors were helping to carry in another convoy which had just arrived. We rested until midday, then went to relieve other nurses who had not yet had a rest. Reveille was being sounded the following morning as I got into bed.”

We know no details of Harry’s service in France, but it is clear that at some stage he was working as a stretcher-bearer on the front line as the following entry from the local paper of May 1917 relates:

“In April Private H Seats, RAMC,was wounded in the foot while stretcher-bearing somewhere in France. He enlisted at the outbreak of the war and has had much experience. He has just been discharged fit from the 1st Sectional Hospital, Devonport, and his friends are pleased to hear the news.” (The same article headed “Chedworth Soldiers Wounded” also carried the news of Oliver Miller who received a similar injury that month whilst stretcher-bearing)

Harry was given sick leave to recover from his injury and whilst at home was drafted to serve in East Africa. Although the Germans surrendered in November 1918 Harry remained in East Africa until tragedy struck on the 29th January 1919. The graphic details were related in the local paper: “Mr. and Mrs. Seates, of Chedworth, have lately received official news of the death of their son, Acting Corporal Harry Seates, RAMC, from accidental shooting while examining a revolver with a friend in British East Africa on January 29 last. A letter from Capt. G. V. Allen, RAMC, says the young soldier was shot through the brain and became unconscious immediately. Three doctors attended to him at once, but he passed away in half an hour. Deceased was attached to an ambulance convoy running between Thika and Fort Hall in British East Africa and he and a friend (Pte Brown) were examining two revolvers. Brown’s firearm was accidently discharged, and the bullet passed through his companions head. The

142 two were great friends, and, says Capt. Allen, “Brown is heartbroken now. He is under arrest, awaiting a full investigation”. The funeral took place with full military honours in Fort Hall Cemetery,. His death was a terrible shock to all the company, for he was liked by all and a splendid soldier.”

Harry Seates is buried in what is now known as at Muranga St. James and all Martyrs churchyard in Kenya, maintained by the CWGC, and is remembered on both of the Chedworth memorials.

Harry Seates headstone and newspaper image of him printed in 1919

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Harry Stanley Smith 1894-1944

Chedworth’s most decorated hero

Awarded the Croix de Guerre after the Battle of Loos in October 1915 and the DCM in March 1916

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Private Harry Stanley Smith Born: 1894 London (St Clement Danes) Parents: Edwin Smith and mother not known Married: Maud Bradbury in Luton 1913 Died: 1944 (Luton) 3328 1/5 th Btln, Lincolnshire Regiment Enlisted: Not known but probably 1914 Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth (new panel) Medals: Croix de Guerre, DCM, 15 Star, BWM, Victory Silver War Badge: 8 June 1916 (422890)

Harry Smith attended Chedworth School in 1899 and was mentioned in the School Log in 1903 when it is recorded that he rarely attended, probably because of his difficult family back ground. (He had lost his father at an early age and in 1901 was being brought up by his grandfather at Hill Close.) However, his attendance must have improved as in 1907 he and others were congratulated in the School Log for passing their “Excellent Exam” and receiving certificates from the Diocesan Inspector.

By the outbreak of war Harry had moved to Luton where he had found work and was already married with a baby daughter. Nevertheless, he had enlisted by the end of 1914 as on the 1st March 1915 he was deployed to France with the 1st/5th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment.

In early April the Battalion was ready for action and on the 8th joined the line in the Kemmel Sector, near Ypres. The Battalion history records the situation:

“The position held was an unfavourable one, facing the Messines-Wychaete Ridge, the German trenches being on higher ground, and to a great extent commanding a view over our own. The "trenches" here were really breastworks only, built of sandbags with very little depth of excavated trench—sometimes with none. The one communication trench was shallow, practically undrained, very wet and only used by day, as by night ration parties and reliefs preferred to move direct to the front line over the open to struggling along a communication trench knee-deep in mud and water.”

The Battalion fought in the trenches in the Ypres Salient throughout that summer until it was withdrawn and moved in early October to trenches near Bethune to prepare for the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The Battalion was virtually decimated during the Hohenzollern Redoubt action - of 23 officers who went into action, 11 were killed and 11 wounded, of whom one subsequently died of wounds; 285 other ranks were reported killed or missing, and 175 wounded.

The Commanding Officer was wounded, the Adjutant, the 2nd-in-Command, and three Company Commanders killed, and the other Company Commander wounded, and every Officer, with the exception of the Machine Gun Officer, became a casualty and it would be many weeks before the Battalion would be restored to fighting strength. During this period, known as the Battle of Loos, Harry was both wounded (but not for the first time) and gassed as the local paper reported:

“FRENCH WAR MEDAL FOR A CHEDWORTH SOLDIER Private Harry S. Smith, of the 5th Lincolnshire Regiment, is lying gassed and wounded in hospital at Woburn, Bedfordshire. This is the first time he has seen the inside of a hospital in this country, though minor wounds earlier in the war confined him for short periods to hospitals in France. The other day he had the job of receiving from the major of his battalion a letter enclosing the Croix de Guerre awarded to him by the French Government for his gallantry in action, presumably at Loos, where he was shot in the shoulder on October 7th.”

The Croix de Guerre citation in the London Gazette stated. “The President of the French Republic has bestowed the decoration "Croix de Guerre" on this non-commissioned officer, in recognition of his distinguished service during the campaign.”

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On the 11th March 1916 the London Gazette announced that Harry had also earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal, (considered second only to the Victoria Cross) for his bravery in the face of the enemy . The Citation provides a little more of his action and reads:

“3328 Pte H.S.SMITH 1st/5th Bn. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion when acting as a stretcher bearer. He brought in a man who had been wounded in rear of the trench, and later another wounded man, on this occasion being himself wounded. He returned to have his wound dressed, and then went out again to bring in another man.”

It is most probable that Harry did not return to active service after his hospitalisation and he was awarded a Silver War Badge on 26 June 1918. In 1939 Harry was a full time air raid warden living with his family at 92 Dallow Road, Luton where he died in 1944.

Note: Harry Smith was omitted from the Chedworth Roll of Honour panels in 1921, but this has been corrected by his addition to the new panel created to mark the Great War centenary in 2014.

Gunner William Spencer Born: 1892 Stowell Parents: William Spencer and Mary Ann Mander Married: Lillian Emily Curtis on 20th October 1913 at Baunton Died: not known 152098 421st Siege Battery, RGA Enlisted: 31st March 1917 (attested 8th Dec 1915) Discharged: 18th March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

At the outbreak of war William Spencer was working as a carter and ploughman on the Stowell Estate. A married man, William was called up under the Derby Scheme in December 1915, but placed on the reserve until he was enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) in March 1917.

After training at the RGA Depot William joined the 421 Siege Battery and on 23rd August 1917 was shipped to Alexandria for service with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force at Sidi Bishr where the Battery with its 6 inch howitzers were part of the 75th Division. The Force's role evolved from a defense of Egypt to the invasion of Palestine and Allenby's successful campaign of 1918, resulting in the defeat of the Turks at Megiddo, and the capture of Damascus, Beirut, and Aleppo.

William survived to return to England to be discharged in March 1919 and in 1920 he was living with his family at Bleakmoor and by 1923 at Ashwell Cottages.

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Driver Charles Tee Born: 1878 Derby Parents: Thomas Tee and Martha Gillett Married: Emily Morris 1904 Died: 1965 in Cheltenham age 87 192333 Royal Field Artillery Enlisted: not known Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Charles Tee was a 36 year-old married man and a groom at the outbreak of war. There are very few details as to his service, and in particular, as to whether he served overseas with the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). However, serve he did, and his name and regiment is recorded on the Roll of Honour. Charles returned to his family to live at Fossebridge immediately after the war.

Lieutenant Vernon Edward Towlson Born: 10th September 1890 in Pentrich, Derbyshire Parents: Arthur John Towlson and Eliza Ann Haworth Married: Gertrude Verna Cowley 1928 Died: 1953 Gloucester 19381 4th Btln Grenadier Guards 109607 3rd, 11th and 16th Btlns Durham Light Infantry Enlisted: 19th September 1914 Cirencester Discharged: 20th February 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Although listed on the Roll of Honour, it has not been possible to find specific details of Vernon Towlson’s Chedworth connections, but we do know that he enlisted locally in Cirencester for service with the Grenadier Guards as early as September 1914. Curiously he is not listed among the Chedworth volunteers. However, within a few months he had been accepted for a commission as a second lieutenant, initially in the 16th (Service) Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. The 16th probably provided Vernon with training and experience, as the Battalion remained UK based, but he was transferred to join the 11th (Pioneer) Battalion in France in January 1917.

The records of 34 Casualty Clearing Station (located near Peronne) indicate that Vernon was treated for scabies between 28 February-20 March 1917. At the time he was serving in D Company, 11th Durham Light Infantry.

During the next 4 months the 11th were involved in the Somme campaigns and Vernon took part in their next major action, the Battle of Langemarck (remembered for the atrocious conditions and huge losses) from 16-18 August. On 12th September, with the 11th again in trenches, Vernon Towlson was injured by a shell splinter and was returned to England for treatment and medical boarding as to his future fitness. Although the initial reports suggest his wound was not serious, it was not until January 1918 that he was finally declared fit. However, he was by then on the strength of the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, in which he served until his discharge in February 1919. After the war Vernon worked again as a Land Valuer in the Civil Service, living and being married in Cirencester in 1928 and living in Gloucester in 1939.

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Private? Arthur Henry Townsend Born: 1875 Chedworth Parents: John Townsend and Mary (maiden name unknown) Married: not married at time of death Died: 29 Oct 1928 Chedworth not known Military unit(s) not known Enlisted: not known Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: not known

In 1911 Arthur was a farm labourer living with his widowed mother in Chedworth Laines. Although he is listed on the Chedworth Roll of Honour no unit is recorded for him and his military records cannot be identified. Clearly, he did serve King and Country and the 1918 Polling List confirms that he was absent with the military. He returned to live in the Laines in 1920 and remained there until his death in 1928.

Private? John Christopher Trotman Born: 1900 Chedworth Parents: William Samuel Trotman and Miriam Ann Bartlett Married: Annie E Bishop on 26 May 1929 at Hampnett & Stowell Died: 1969 Cirencester District # not known Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: not known Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: not known

In 1911 John Trotman was an 11 year-old scholar living with his parents on the northern edge of Chedworth (Hutnage). Although his name is recorded on the Roll of Honour as having served in the Gloucestershire Regiment, his military records cannot be identified. He was probably too young to see active service, but he was absent from the Poll List as being on military service from 1918 through to 1920.

By 1921 he had returned to Hutnage, Chedworth, was living in Stowell 1925 and moved to Caudle Green 1936-1939.

Able Seaman William Frederick Trotman Born: 29 April 1895 Chedworth Parents: William Samuel Trotman and Miriam Ann Bartlett Married: not known Died: not known Wales Z/3917 Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Enlisted: 13 February 1917 Discharged: 08 March 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

The elder of the two Trotman sons, William was a farm labourer living with his parents at Hutnage in 1911. However, he later joined the Great Western Railway as a shunter and at some stage joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in its Wales Division. He was called up for “hostilities only” in February 1917 as an Able Seaman and trained at Portsmouth and Plymouth until July that year when he was posted to HMS Morea.

HMS Morea was the ship on which Thomas Mackie had served from 1915 to 1917 when she had then

148 been requisitioned as a hospital ship and as a troopship. She was now converted to serve as an armed merchant cruiser with 6-inch guns on convoy escort duties on the UK/West Africa route. Between July 1917 and January 1918 William Trotman served on HMS Morea on 4 return voyages between Plymouth and Sierra Leone, then returned to shore duties at Plymouth and HMS President until his discharge in March 1919.

Unlike his brother, there is no record of him having returned to Hutnage after the war.

Private? Frederick (Fred) Tucker Born: 1880 Pewsey, Wiltshire Parents: Isaac Tanner Tucker and Emma Jane Bromham 1873 Married: not known Died: 1971 Cirencester District Not known Royal Engineers (Signals) Enlisted: not known Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: not known

Fred Tucker is listed on the Roll of Honour panels and was Chedworth’s stationmaster before the war. The panel entry states that he was a signaller in the Royal Engineers, but it has proved impossible to identify associated records and thus details of his military service.

Prior to the formation of the British Army's Corps of Signals in 1920, communications were the responsibility of the Royal Engineers' 'Signal Service'. At the outbreak of the Great War there were fewer than 6ooo men in the Royal Engineer Signals Service – providing mainly a telegraph service. By the end of WW1 there were some 70000 signallers and the telephone had largely replaced the telegraph as the preferred means of communication, with wireless and dispatch riders playing ever-important roles.

Frederick does not appear to have returned to Chedworth after the war, but his widowed mother was in Ballingers Row in 1925 and died in 1926. Fred Tucker

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Private William Victor Tucker Born: 1887 Ludershall, Wiltshire Parents: Isaac Tanner Tucker and Emma Jane Bromham Married: Lilly Jane McGill on 17th October 1916 at Northleach RO Died: 1950 Basingstoke MS1962 Royal Army Service Corps Enlisted: 10th August 1914 at Cirencester Discharged: 19th April 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory

The younger of the two Tucker brothers, William also lived with their widowed mother on Ballingers Hill. Previous to the war he worked as a plumbers labourer, fitter and as a driver for George Craig, landowner at Coates. He was amongst the first group of Chedworth men to enlist, being attested together with the Lawrence brothers in the Army Service Corps (ASC) on the 10th August 1914.

The ASC number prefix MS meant that the man was specially enlisted for his trade: in other words, he came from civilian employment in a trade that was of direct value to work in the Mechanical Transport section; in William’s case he was already a driver with mechanical experience. He went to France as early as the 23rd September 1914 and served there almost continuously in numerous units supporting the front line until the 20th July 1918. Nevertheless, he returned to Chedworth on furlough to marry Lilly McGill, (also of Ballingers Hill), on the 17th October 1916.

In August 1918 he was posted to the RASC Heavy Repair Shop in Italy and remained there until shortly before his discharge in April 1919. William’s records show he had no disciplinary problems there apart from a deduction of 3 day’s pay for ”Driving a Heavy Lorry against the arrows contrary to Traffic Orders.” More serious was his hospitalisation in February 1919 as a result of the flu epidemic which caused the loss of so many lives at that time. However, he recovered fully and returned to the UK, but not to live in Chedworth.

In 1939 William and Lillian were living in the area of Kingsclere and Whitchurch, Hampshire.

Private Raymond Alfred Vizor Born: 1895 Kings Heath, Birmingham Parents: Alfred Vizor and Elizabeth Ann Norman Married: Nellie Violet Ault 1923 at Kings Norton Died: 22 Feb 1987 St. Albans, Herts 2293 Gloucestershire Hussars 235260 Corps of Hussars Enlisted: September 1914 Discharged: not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

Raymond Vizor is listed on the Chedworth Roll of Honour as serving in the Gloucestershire Hussars and a newspaper printed on 19 September 1914 lists Raymond as one of many volunteers to join the Hussars. Unfortunately, as there are no service records other than a Medal Card, it is almost impossible to establish details of Raymond Vizor’s war service.

There is no annotation on the card as to overseas service and that would tally with his being a member of the Hussars, a Territorial Force (TF) unit whose members, in accordance with the Territorial Forces Act could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, as so many men volunteered for overseas service in August and September 1914, TF units were split into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. It is likely

150 that Raymond was a member of the 2nd Line.

In 1917 the TF was renumbered and the Gloucestershire Hussars were listed in the Corps of Hussars, thus explaining Raymond’s new number and his service in that Corps. According to his medal roll entry he was still serving in the Hussars January 1920

Although there are no specifics as to when or if Raymond lived in Chedworth, his parents were the licensees of the Wagon and Horses Inn from 1918 through the 1920s and had strong links with Chedworth families. However, Raymond does not appear on the Chedworth Poll Lists postwar and was living in the Birmingham area (in which he was born and was married) 1925 through 1955.

Sergeant Alfred (aka Richard) Whiting Born: 1888 Chedworth Parents: Frederick Henry Whiting and Mary Anne Day Queen St.) Married: Mildred Annie Leech 11 May 1918 in Chedworth Died: 1955 Bristol 13970 3rd and 5th Battalions South Wales Border Regiment Enlisted: 1 September 1914 Discharged: 15 January 1919 Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: 15 Star, BWM, Victory Silver War Badge 452640 awarded 15 Jan 1919

Born in Chedworth in 1888, Alfred was the second of three Whiting boys and he had four sisters. By 1911 Alfred had moved to South Wales, was living with sisters Ellen and Annie and employed as a bricklayer at a local colliery in Ystradgynlais Lower, Glamorgan. However, at the outbreak of war he was amongst the first list of Chedworth volunteers, enlisting at Brecon on the 1st September 1914 into the South Wales Border Regiment.

Alfred joined the 5th Battalion and his leadership qualities were clearly obvious as that December he was promoted to Corporal. They proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre on the 16th of July 1915 as part of the 38th Brigade of the 19th (Western) Division concentrated near St Omer. The 5th became the Divisional Pioneer Battalion and as such combined the duties of trench digging and mining with bombing and hard fighting. Their first action was in September at Pietre, a diversionary action supporting the Battle of Loos and during this period Alfred was wounded, but apparently not seriously.

During that winter the Battalion was kept busy repairing roads, constructing tramways, improving trenches and in mining in close proximity to the enemy. The Battalion War Diary records that: “For this type of work the men of South Wales are unequalled”. One example was the digging and wiring of a new front line750 yards in length and 150 yards out into No Man’s Land in a single night, without attracting the notice of the enemy.

Alfred must have continued to impress over the period as on 31st January 1916 he was promoted to Sergeant. That year the 5th were in action during the Battle of the Somme, capturing La Boisselle and being involved in the attacks on High Wood, the Battles of Pozieres Ridge, the Ancre Heights and the Ancre. In 1917 they were in action in the Battle of Messines when the Battalion were heavily involved fighting as infantrymen and again in the Third Battles of Ypres.

In January 1918 Alfred was hospitalised at Rouen with a fever, his illness being sufficiently serious for him to be evacuated to hospital in Newcastle on Tyne in March. In May he was fit enough to marry Mildred Leech at Chedworth but he was downgraded to the reserves at Shrewsbury 4th October 1918 and finally discharged on the 15th January 1919. He returned to live at Railway Cottage and later at Oakridge Cottage but had moved out of Chedworth by 1925. In 1939 Alfred and Mildred were living in the Bristol area.

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Lance Corporal James George Whiting Born: 1887 Chedworth Parents: Frederick Whiting and May Ann Day (Queen Street) Married: Not married at time of death 7080 1st Btln Wiltshire Regiment Enlisted: 7th September 1904 Died: 9th April 1917 Memorials: Chedworth Church & Chapel and at Ystradgynlais, Buried: Wancourt British Cemetry, France VI.E.24 Medals: 14 Star, BWM, Victory & Military Medal

James Whiting was born in Chedworth in 1887 and lived with his parents Frederick and Mary and 6 siblings on Queen Street. By 1901 he was a tool carrier on the railways but decided to become a professional soldier and enlisted with the Wiltshire Infantry Regiment on 29th October 1904, being assigned to D Company of the 1st Battalion. In 1911 he is enumerated at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa and he also served in India. After serving in the Army and becoming a Reservist James lived in Gamlas Cottage, Abercrave with his brother Alfred in the Swansea Valley working at the local Gwaunclawdd colliery. Two of his sisters lived nearby in “The Old Shop” and James is recorded in a local newspaper as being both a scout instructor and a member of the Abercrave Athletic Association.

James was mobilised in early August 1914 and on the 28th James crossed the English Channel, to join the 1st battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment on 6th September in France. The 1st Wiltshires were heavily involved in the Battle of Mons and subsequent fighting withdrawal (aka The Great Retreat), but despite heavy losses the battalion remained intact and ended the retreat on the outskirts of Paris.

Once the line stabilized they took part in the First Battle of Ypres (19 October to 22 November). The local paper of 21 November recorded on 21 November that since his arrival in France James was wounded twice:

“News has at last come to hand respecting Pte. James Whiting, who is serving at the front with his regiment: one of the Wiltshire Battalions. No message had been received from him for some time, but last week-end it came stating that he had been twice wounded in the fighting, the first time not seriously, but the second time, we regret to say, badly, and he is now being treated in hospital. We hope he may have a speedy recovery.”

On 12th November 1914 James was transferred to the 2nd battalion Wiltshires and on 25th September the following year he was wounded again, probably during an attack in the area of Cite St Elie, where the battalion suffered heavy losses. James was evacuated to England but recovered and returned to the 2nd Wiltshires in the trenches at Le Quesnoy with 26 other reinforcements on 26 November 1915. Two days later the Germans welcomed him by exploding a small mine 10 yards short of the Wiltshires line and 3 further mines on the following day without causing any significant damage or casualties. It was during the fighting on 8 July 1916 that James was recognised for bravery for his part in the fighting in Trones Wood and Malltz Horn Farm. The battalion war diary records the following:

…..we moved A & D coys to Bricqueterie and assembled for the attack, our part being to follow the Yorks through Berrfay and Trones Woods and spring from the SE corner of the latter and attack Maltz Horn Trench with two companies and gain connection with the French who are attacking on our right.....a re- bombardment of Trones Wood followed at 1pm by the assault by C & D Companies which succeeded in taking the Southern half of the wood clearing it of Germans, taking many prisoners and establishing a line on the South half of the Eastern face of the wood”.

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..

James Whiting’s gravestone

CWGC Wancourt cemetery Pas de Calais where James is buried

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The citation for James’s Military Medal has not survived but it is believed to have been given for rescuing a wounded officer under heavy fire. He was presented with the medal by Major General J.S. Shea on 14 January 1917.

On 9 April 1917, the Battalion took part in two disastrous attacks on the Hindenburg Line. The main advance was between 2000 and 2500 yards under intense shelling and machine gun fire. Before the attackers came in sight of the objective there were heavy casualties and on reaching the wire it was found to be damaged but not cut sufficiently to allow the Wiltshires to enter the trenches and they were forced to retire.

James Whiting, by then a Lance Corporal in D company, was one of 328 other ranks casualties suffered by the 2nd Wiltshires. James is buried in Wancourt British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France, Plot 6, Row E, grave 24. He was reported as being “a daring bomber and sniper who had been twice wounded”. He is listed amongst the fallen on the St Andrews memorial, on the memorial in Lower Chedworth and at Ystradgynlais close to the colliery where he once worked.

Private John Bernard Whiting Born: 1898 Chedworth Parents: Frederick Henry Whiting and Mary Anne Day Married: Ivy McTier 1926 Witney Died: 1950 Swindon 34893 1/4 Btln Gloucestershire Regiment Enlisted: Not Known Discharged: Not known Roll of Honour: Chedworth Medals: BWM, Victory

In 1911 John Whiting was a 13 year-old schoolboy and the youngest of the three Whiting brothers. At the time he was living with his father, stepmother and his future wife Ivy McTier in Queen Street. His elder brothers were by then living and working in South Wales.

The only record of his service is his Medal Card which states that he served in the 4th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. Given his age it is unlikely that he served until 1916 at which time the Battalion was fighting at the Battle of the Somme and the following year was transferred to Italy.

John returned to Chedworth and was living in Queen Street in 1920 through to 1926 when he married Ivy.

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The Diary of Private Albert G. Broad of the 9th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment 1914-1918

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BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

The diary of Albert Broad has been treasured by his family, in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, for almost one hundred years. We are indebted to David Broad, the grandson of Albert, for allowing us to transcribe and publish this unique insight into a soldier’s experience of his war.

Albert George Broad joined Kitchener’s Third New Army, just a few months after the outbreak of the Great War. Albert and his friends Bert Day and Reg Lawrence joined the 9th (Service) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment in December 1914. The Battalion was raised at Bristol in September 1914 and formed part of the 78th Brigade, 26th Division.

The official records show that the 9th Battalion trained at Codford St Mary, spending the winter in billets in Cheltenham. In April 1915 they moved to Longbridge Deverill in Wiltshire for final training and proceeded to France on the 21st of September. After 2 months on the Western Front they moved to Salonika travelling via Marseilles in November 1915.

The story of the war in Salonika is much less well known than that on the Western Front. However, there were several major actions and significant losses. Anglo-French forces began landing at the Greek port of Salonika (now Thessaloniki) on 5 October 1915. The troops were sent to provide military assistance to the Serbs who had recently been attacked by combined German, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian armies. The intervention came too late to save Serbia and after a brief winter campaign in severe weather conditions on the Serbian frontier, the Anglo-French forces found themselves back at Salonika.

After preparing the port of Salonika for defence, the troops moved up country. During 1916, further Allied contingents of Serbian, Italian and Russian troops arrived and offensive operations began. These culminated in the fall of Monastir to Franco-Serb forces during November. A second offensive during the spring of 1917, the British part of which was the First Battle of Doiran (24-25 April and 8-9 May 1917), made little impression on the Bulgarian defences. The front-line remained more or less static until September 1918, when a third offensive was launched. During this the British attacked at Doiran for a second time (18-19 September 1918). The campaign concluded with the surrender of Bulgaria on 30 September 1918.

Malaria proved to be a serious drain on manpower during the campaign. In total the British forces suffered 162,517 cases of the disease and in total 505,024 non-battle casualties. With the campaign being a low priority for the War Office the assistance rendered by voluntary medical organisations, such as the Scottish Women's Hospitals, proved invaluable.

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THE DIARY

On a Sunday night (November 28th) I stood talking outside Chedworth Railway Station to a gang of chaps about the war and I suggested that we should all go in a gang to try to enlist, after a little talk I and Bert Day and Reg Lawrence agreed to cycle down to Cheltenham to offer ourselves to the military enlisting Sergeant so we agreed to go on the following Tuesday morning December 1st we all kept our word and cycled down there going through Colesbourne on our way.

We went straight to the enlisting office and we tried for the Royal Engineers but were told that it was full up then, so we agreed to go in the Glosters on conditions we should be together. While we were having our papers signed the man in the office started talking about the 9th Gloster Band so we asked about the Band and they asked us if we were Bandsmen and we said we were and they said we were just they wanted and they asked us if we could bring an Instrument each which we said we could do and that we would join them on the Friday.

After we had passed the Doctor we went to the 9th Glosters Headquarters at Queens Parade and took the Oath and received our first pay which was 1/9 and were told to report to B Coy at No 1 Bayshill Lawn at 1 o'clock on the Friday which we did, and brought our Instruments. We did little that day except get fitted out with our bed and blankets the next day we received our kit bag and small kit. On Sunday 6th Dec we marched to Christ Church with the Band, on the following day we paraded with the recruits and marched just outside Cheltenham to a field for drill which we did every morning for the rest of the time until we went on Christmas leave and each afternoon attended Band practice at Malvern Rd.

After Christmas leave we started Battalion Training going to Seven Springs most days for this purpose but every Wednesday we did a route march to the places round about, among the places visited being Gloster, Tewkesbury, Birdlip, Elkstone, Shipton and Winchcombe.I might say we received our first army suit the Sunday before Christmas and it was a blue suit and a Glengarry cap and it caused such fun to see one another in them for a start.Just after Christmas we were given haversacks and waterbottles but just before leaving Chelt we received our Active Service equipment which seemed a very big lot to carry at first.

Whilst at Cheltenham our chief work was playing the Battalion about the streets and on route Marches, but whilst at Chelt we played at several funerals one at Bushley and three in Chelt and we also went to Gloucester Theatre to play the music for a play "The Royal Divorce" and were loudly cheered when we got on the stage and enchored "Carry On" was the given. It was rather a big thing for a young band especially as it was at very short notice as we only had the music about four days before.

On April the 6th the Batt moved to Fovant Camp, Wilts for Brigade Training and it was a big day in Chelt when we moved. We played two companies off at a time and there was a good crowd to see us off and all of us were sorry to leave as we had got to like Cheltenham very much. Whilst at Fovant we had a very hard training doing attacks over the hills most of them being in full marching order. We found Fovant very dull after Chelt and the dust on the roads round about was very bad which made it very bad for us on marches.

On July 17th the Battalion moved to Longbridge Deverill for Divisional Training it being about 16 miles from Fovant the Battalion marched there but we had been vaccinated and were sent with the sick party by train. Whilst at Fovant we band chaps all had a months instruction in First Aid but did very little band work, but when we were at Longbridge we had orders that we could practise afternoons and whilst we were there we had a fortnights training in Stretcherwork under a RAMC Sergeant, and most days we had "First Aid" work mornings and Band Practice afternoons, and we went to Officers Mess to play about twice a week.

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On Sept 21st we marched to Warminster en route for France, we got to Warminster about two o'clock and when by train to Folkestone which we reached about eight o'clock there we found the "Sea Queen" ready for us and we reached Boulogne about twelve o'clock where we stayed for the night in a rest camp on the border of the town.Next morning we were marched through the town to the Railway Station, we played through the streets which greatly pleased the French people, we got on the train about 10 o'clock and travelled till about 4 o'clock when we got out at a small station not many miles from Amiens and we marched from the station to a place called Ferrieres where we stayed a week and this was where we first heard the guns and also the first German aeroplane being bombarded.

Our next move was to Fouilloy a village on the border of Corbie after a few days there we left and marched to Chipelly where we stayed the night. Next morning we started for the trenches but owing to some cause or other we only got as far as Bray, a village four or five miles behind and we had orders to go back to Chipelly which we did and stopped until towards night when we set out once more for the trenches going through Bray again. That night we first heard the rifle and machine gun fire and we thought what a picture to see all the flares going up in all directions. We reached the reserve trenches about ten o'clock after a lot of rough travelling, our party Stretcher bearers, with Major Bishop lost connection with the Battalion and we began to wonder where we were getting to but at last we caught them up again.

We were shown to our dug out, the Stretcher bearers of the Queen Victoria Rifles and we soon made ourselves comfortable round their fire. We found it very close sleeping quarters that night but we slept well as it had been a hard day before and we were tired and we took very little notice of the noise of the guns. The next day we saw the first bit of the German's shelling some of the shells coming within about fifty yards of our dug out, after four days in the reserve we shifted up into the firing line trench but we found things much quieter than we expected and we SB's had quite a holiday as we never had a single casualty .After four days we shifted back into some more reserve dug outs in a wood.

Whilst in the trenches our greatest difficulty was to get water to wash or to drink and we were glad to get back to Chipelly where we could get a better wash. After a night at Chipelly we left for Fouilloy (Corbie) where we had a pleasant but short stay we all marched to a place in Corbie where we had a nice warm bath which was badly wanted. Just then and during our stay we played a few tunes in the square and we also went one afternoon to a hospital to play to wounded soldiers.

Our next move was to Mariecourt where the Battalion helped make some reserve trenches. After a week there we were returned to Fouilloy once more and next day we moved on and passed Amiens on our left and made for Montervilliers a small village about twelve miles from Amiens.During our stay there we were fitted out with winter clothing and we had a lot of training in field work there. While we were there we played at the Sunday services and at Headquarters about twice a week. After three weeks there we had orders to pack up and that we were leaving the country. We started from Montervilliers about ten o'clock on November 9th 1915 and we marched to Amiens where we entrained, we were put in cattle trucks, there being about thirty two in ours. We moved off about four o'clock and we travelled night and day. We had several halts at stations to get water to make tea and at one station we found some ladies waiting with milk and coffee for us which we enjoyed very much. We travelled in these trucks two nights and two days and we reached Marseilles about six o'clock at night November 11th,1915 and we marched through the town to the pier where we were told off in messes and put on board HMS Mars and we stayed in the harbour that night.

I might say that our billets in France were mostly old stables and cowsheds, things were cleaner there than in England and at several places we found rather a shortage of water. We always kept on good terms with the French people and we always had a good reception while passing through the towns and villages. Our stay in France altogether was about seven weeks. On November 12th we set sail but where for we did not know.

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The first day there was a good deal of seasickness on board, but after we got used to it we thought it was quite a holiday. After we had been on the sea about three days we were told we were bound for Egypt and we found each day that it got warmer and we found it was lovely to lie up on deck as it was very hot down under. We sailed into the harbour at Alexandria Nov18th about midday and we disembarked and marched about half a mile to a camp on the sands close to the main road and tramway we thought the Egyptian people very strange and we got rather mixed up with their money at first.

Our stay there was very short for on the 20th Nov we reembarked on the “Mars” being only two days there and next day we again set sail, place again unknown. The third day we had it rather rough, the water washing right up on top deck and nearly all felt sea-sick again. On the fourth day (Nov 25th) we found ourselves sailing into Salonica harbour and we were taken ashore in a small pleasure vessel. As we marched through Salonica to a camp near Lembit, about 4 miles from the Harbour, where we found the rest of our Division.

On Dec 15th we had orders to move farther up country and we moved to a place called Lianna and camped and each day marched about five mile to trench digging. This was the hardest time experienced by me in the army so far as we were only getting biscuits and bully and the march to work was an hard one. After a week of this we were shifted to a camp closer to our work at a small place called Stanavan, where we had about a month doing trench work and making paths over the mountains, our rations being biscuits most every day.

On January 19th 1916 we shifted into bivouacs in the hills close by so as to be unnoticeable by aircraft. In these we stayed until March 24th, our work having been trenching almost the whole of the time. On the 26th March we shifted about three miles nearer Salonica to a camp, which the 10th Devons had left and a week later our Company shifted again about two miles away to work on some outlying forts, where we stayed until April 22nd, when we again joined the Battalion. On May 2nd the Battalion went with the rest of the Brigade on eight days manoeuvring passing Lianna and Langaza the first day and resting in the first range of hills north of Lake Langaza and the next six we did attacking over the hills running parallel with the Lake.

Whilst on this work we saw many things of interest. Whilst going through Langaza we saw the native market in full swing. We also saw several Turkish villages, the poorer classes houses were very poor structure, there only being a small shutterhole to let in light. Windows were few and far between. Large numbers of hawkers followed us on the road with donkey loads of oranges, biscuits, lemons and eggs and they were frequently mobbed as they were charging very dear. We got back on May 9th the last days march being very trying it being so hot and very little air moving. We had another three weeks in our old camp and then on May 29th we marched to the foot of the hills north of Langaza Village and did six days manoeuvres, returning on the 3rd of June to old camp near Gulajik. On the 7th we shifted to Surarner Hill Camp Lembit, where we had a very nice camp in huts with wash houses and water laid on and bath house. Our Batt supplied Divisional Guard while staying here

159 and also Divisional fatigues.

On June 13th we marched through Salonica to a camp about half a mile south of the town and within the same distance of the Sea and we had a fine time here bathing in the sea every day we also saw several seaplanes. It was the first I had saw. We were kept fairly busy here doing guards in the town, (See list below) our Regiment supplying all the principal guards such as Army Headquarters and GOC’s house etc, but it was a pleasant change to us from being on the hills. At 5 pm on July 11th we formed up ready to move to a camp on the hills about twenty miles from Salonica. Before we moved off our Colonel said a few words to us. He said the Army Commander was very pleased with our smartness and the way we behaved ourself during our stay in Salonica. We marched about 11 miles and bivouacked on the roadside about three miles from Lembit and marched on again at seven oclock next day. We found marching very trying on account of the heat. We reached our camping ground near Dremiclava about 11 oclock that night.

After about a fortnights stay here (on July 25th) we again moved, at night as usual. We marched about eight miles and camped for the night just close to the village of Amberkoj. Whilst marching to this place I saw the first train I had ever seen in Greece. Next day (at 8 pm) we again moved on doing about 12 mile and camping near a village called (name omitted). Next night we moved on again, doing about 12 more miles and camped close to a river within sight of the trenches and frontier. After a couple of days here we moved on about three miles farther and within range of shell fire.

On Tuesday 1st of August we had a very hard day, work on a fort near the frontier starting at 8 am and getting back about 5.30 and it was a very hot day. A regiment next on our right was shelled heavily whilst we were here. On August 2nd we made some gun emplacements for the RGA and at night helped to put them in position and cover them up so as not to be observed by airmen. On August 19th we again moved forward and took up a position in the front line known as “Horseshoe Hill”, which we held until August 26th, when we were relieved by the Berks. We were very pleased to get back and get a good wash and clean clothes.

On August 29th we again moved up into the reserves where we were until September 25th, when I was sent to Hospital with Malaria. I went first to the 79th Field Ambulance at five oclock that night we were took in mule vans to a place called Janis to the 31st Casualty Clearing Station, where we slept the night and we were took next morning in motors to the station at Janis and put in a Red Cross Train. We were delayed here about six hours as our driver was taken ill and we had not got many miles on our journey when we were stuck once more as one of the engines had used all its water and it had to go forward and get water. We were very pleased to get to the end of the journey at a station a short distance from Salonica. We were then put in motor ambulances again and landed at the 5th Canadian Hospital about 10 oclock at night (27 September), where I was until October 10th, when I was taken with others in an ambulance car and were put on a ship (“Dunluce Castle”).

We set sail about 7 oclock next morning and on October 14th we found ourselves in Malta (Valetta) landing about four oclock in the afternoon. We had lovely weather and the sea was very calm on our voyage. We were taken from the harbour to St Davids Hospital in a Motor Ambulance. On March 12th (1917) I was transferred as a convalescent patient at St Davids and did police duty, but was sent back in hospital on the 11th of April with DAH and was transferred to St Georges on April 27th on account of St Davids closing down.

On July 11th I was with others sent by Ambulance to the docks and were put on the “Koeber”, a transport ship, and we set sail next morning 12th July and arrived at Marseilles on the 15th July. But we remained on the ship until the 17th, when we were placed in an hospital train and started for Le Havre about 1 am on the 18th and reached there about midnight on the 19th We went aboard the “Carisbrooke Castle” on the 20th and landed at Southampton on the morning of the 21st July and were put straight in an Hospital Train and sent to Cardiff to the 3rd Western General, Albany Road, where I was sent on sick leave and had a jolly fine holiday.

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I returned to Buttevant Camp, County Cork, Ireland, starting on the 13th and going via Fishguard and Rosslare and reached there on the morning of the 14th August and stayed there until August 18th, when I was sent on to Ballyforan Camp, where I was recommended for a Board and was passed C3 Category and sent to the 3rd Battalion of the Glosters at Milstead Camp, near Sittingbourne on the 5th of October. On the 31st we moved into billets in Maidstone and on the 6th November I was put before a Medical Board and they decided to put me in the Barracks Hospital for further treatment.”

(The Diary ends here. After a final Medical Board Albert was declared medically unfit for further Service and discharged on the 12th January 1918)

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SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES IN THE DIARY

1915 BATTALION TRAINING FOVANT & DIVISIONAL TRAINING LONGBRIDGE DEVERILL July 6th Went for route march – Fovant, Teffont, Dinton, Compton Chamberlayne and back to camp – distance 10 miles – back 12.30 July 7th Ambulance Lecture 9 till 12.30 July 8th Ambulance Lecture 9-12 July 9th Brigade Day ¼ to 8 – ½ past 2 July 10th Vaccinated, kit inspection 11 July 11th Church Parade 9 oclock and 10 July 12th Ambulance Lecture 9-12 oclock July 13th Light Duty July 14th Light Duty ambulance July 15th Light Duty Ambulance 9-12 July 16th Packing up to shift, very wet day July 17th Removed to Longbridge Deverill, by train from Dinton to Warminster July 18th Sunday Went to Warminster July 19th Stretcherwork 9-12.30 July 19th Stretcherwork 2-4 July 20th Stretcherwork 9-12.30 July 21st Stretcherwork 9-12.30 July 22nd Stretcherwork 8-10.30 July 23rd Duty, after vaccination July 24th Stretcherwork 8-10.30 July 25th Church Parade 9.30 July 26th Stretcherwork 8-10.30 July 27th General Inspection 9-12 July 28th Stretcherwork 8-10.30 July 29th Division Day, billeting at Westbury July 30th Stretcherwork 8-10.30. Went into trenches at Sutton Veny at 2 oclock and stopped until 6 oclock am July 31st July 31st Cleaning equipment August 1st Church Parade. Heard “Chalk Farm” Salvation Army Band at Sutton Veny August 2nd First Aid 8-10.30 August 3rd Stretcherwork 8.30-12 August 4th 8.30-12 August 5th Division Day – marched to Hindon August 6th Had new rifles and bayonets August 7th Played 8th Berk to Warminister August 8th Played 10 Gosters to Warminister August 9th Firing 7am-4pm August 10th Firing 7am-7pm August 11th Stretcherwork 10-12 August 12th Out at Warminister August 13th Firing 5.30 am-8 am August 14th Cleaning up August 15th Church 11-12 August 16th Firing 5-11 oclock August 17th Firing 11-2 August 18th Stretcherwork 10-12 August 19th Firing August 20th Band Inspection August 21st Firing 162

August 22nd Church Parade 9-11 August 23rd Firing 8-11 August 24th Stretcherwork August 25th In trenches 8.30 till 26th 1 am August 26th ¼ to 8 Stacking flour at Warminster 8-5 August 27th Route March 9-2 August 28th Hay Loading at Warminster 7 till 5.30 August 29th Church Parade August 30th Home on Leave August 31st “ “ “ September 1st “ “ “ September 2nd “ “ “ September 3rd “ “ “ September 4th Got back 10-15 September 5th Church Parade 9.15 September 6th Stretcherwork September 7th Stretcherwork September 8th Stretcherwork September 9th Route March September 10th Dinner Cooking in Woods September 11th Cleaning equipment September 12th Church Parade 9-11 September 13th Stretcherwork September 14th Route March 6-12 September 15th Stretcherwork September 16th Stretcherwork September 17th Trenches at Sutton Veny September 18th Cleaning up September 19th Cleaning up September 20th Preparing to shift September 21st Played to Warminster by train to Folkestone September 22nd Arrived in France

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1. GUARD DUTIES AT SALONICA JUNE 1916

1st Guard GOC 15 June 2nd Guard DMS 17 June 3rd Guard Garage Guard 19 June 4th Guard DMS 21 June 5th Guard GCL 23 June 6th Guard Command Pay 27 June 7th Guard Quarter Guard 29 June 9th Guard Hospital 3 July Orderly Room Orderly 5th July 10th Guard Orderly Command Pay July 11th Guard GOC night 9 July

2. ROUTE MARSEILLES TO CARDIFF (Hospital) 1917

Marseilles 1 am Wednesday Orange 8 am Wednesday Valence Lyons 4 pm Wednesday Moulins 5 am Thursday Juvisy 2-30 pm Thursday Valences 4 Thursday Rouen 8 pm Thursday Le Havre 12 oclock midnight Southampton 9 am Saturday Salisbury-Warminster-Bath-Bristol-Newport Cardiff 3 pm Saturday 21st July

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CAPTAIN GEORGE REGINALD ELLIS RAMC

The Great War veteran interred in St Andrews churchyard

Soldiers’ graves generally remain near where they fell and are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It was, therefore, a surprise for the Chedworth Remembers team to find that the St Andrews churchyard contains the grave and a memorial to a soldier from WW1. This is the last resting place of Captain George Ellis RAMC, born 21 March 1885 at Bishop Auckland in County Durham and educated at Sherborne where he was a fine sportsman and represented the school at rugby.

George Ellis qualified as a doctor at Durham University in 1907, became a local GP and was an honorary surgeon at the Lady Eden Hospital in Bishop Auckland. In May 1909 he was gazetted as a lieutenant in the 1/2nd Northumbrian Field Ambulance (later the 86th Field Ambulance) and on 3rd December 1912 he was made a Captain. The 86th FA deployed to France on 19th January 1915 with the 28th Division. Ellis worked in the Ypres area, between Bailleul and Hazebrouck where he would have worked extremely close to the front line in Advanced Dressing and Casualty Clearing Stations. Here he would have been exposed to all the horrors of battle injuries and frequently have to perform life-saving surgery. Records show that he served at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 when he would also have had to deal with the effects of poison gas.

On 4 January 1916 he followed the Division to Salonika (where a number of Chedworth men also served) travelling in the SS Nessian via Alexandria (from where he wrote postcards to his mother and sister). Sadly, he contracted enteritis and dysentery in May 1916, and became one of the 500,000 non-battle casualties on that Front in WW1. On the 31st May he was evacuated to Malta on HMHS Oxfordshire and on 19th June 1916 he was invalided to England and spent some 6 months up to January 1917 in the 3rd Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.

Having been declared fit and, at the request of his C.O. Lt Col Fisher, he returned to Salonika via Marseilles on the 13th February to rejoin his old unit. However, he had clearly not recovered, for as soon as the 18th March he was admitted to 42 General Hospital with symptoms of diabetes mellitus. He was transported to Malta (St. Andrews Hospital) on 24 March 1917 in HMHS Valdivia and repatriated again to England, arriving back in Folkstone on the 6th May 1917 having travelled through Italy and France. He relinquished his commission with 86th Field Ambulance, due to ill health, on the 14th June 1917.

How did he come to be in Chedworth? The vicar at that time was his cousin, the Reverend George Mackie, and Captain Ellis, his mother, sister and a nurse came to stay at the Chedworth Vicarage whilst George continued to be assessed by Army Medical Boards. At that time the prognosis for diabetes was extremely poor and it is therefore no surprise to note that a Board held at Chisledon on 16 May 1918 recorded a worsening of his condition, with weakness, rapid weight loss and the presence of a persistent cough. It was discovered that he had tuberculosis in the right lung and he died at the Vicarage on the 28th June 1918 as a result of acute pulmonary tuberculosis, aged only 33 years.

Due to Railway restrictions applying at the time, his body could not be sent to Bishop Auckland by train. He was therefore buried in St Andrews churchyard by his cousins, the Reverends George Mackie and Ellis Mackie of Bristol, with his mother, brother and sister in attendance. There was also a memorial service in Bishop Auckland. A headstone was erected by the family.

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In the WW1 centenary year 2014 Captain George Ellis’s life and service was specially commemorated at a graveside service held on Remembrance Sunday. The vicar presided with a standard party from the RBL (Chedworth Branch) and wreaths were laid. In future years the Legion will place a wreath or a cross at Remembrance time.

Laying wreath 9th November 2014

Dr. G.R. Ellis (below left and right)

166

ROYAL FLYING CORPS RENDCOMB AIRFIELD

A close relationship with the village of Chedworth and the war in the air

By 1916 the Royal Flying Corps was losing so many pilots on the Western Front that new training airfields had to be opened to train replacement aircrew. Rendcomb airfield was opened in early 1916 to meet this demand and an aircraft and engine repair facility was added in September 1916.

Relationships between Chedworth and RFC Rendcomb personnel were close and newspapers reported Rendcomb men taking part in sports and social events at Chedworth and many trainee pilots and their instructors were billeted in the village. In February 1918 the Chedworth Parish Council requested that public call telephones be installed at Chedworth, RFC Rendcomb and North Cerney. There is a particularly poignant story of one lady who offered accommodation in her home, but ceased doing so after the third death occurred to “her” young men in training at Rendcomb. Local papers recorded inquests into fatalities amongst Rendcomb trainee pilots and reports such as this from June 1917 were common:

“Fatal Accident at the Aerodrome; Inquest at Cirencester On Monday afternoon an inquest was held at the Cirencester police court by Deputy Coroner RH Smith and a jury of whom Mr W Croome was foreman on the body of William Charles Turner, age 26, a sergeant in the Royal Flying Corps, who met with a fatal flying accident at the Aerodrome early the previous morning.

Second Lieutenant Arthur Rivers stated that the deceased came to the Aerodrome on 10th May, having previously learnt to fly the elementary machine. Since coming to the Aerodrome he had received further tuition, and on Sunday morning, the 3rd witness sent him on a flight at 6.20. He flew satisfactorily for a time, and then, in attempting to land, he overshot the mark and turned on the engine again. He mounted to an altitude of 1000 feet, and then appeared to be in difficulties. The machine made a spinning nose dive to the ground in a field adjoining the Aerodrome. The witness concluded that the deceased must have been killed at the moment the machine hit the ground...... ”

Sergeant Turner’s accident was just one of around 8000 deaths out of 14000, ie 60% of all trainees in flying training in WW1. Instructors had little training for their task and were often drawn from those needing a rest from the Front. One such was Lt. William Leefe Robinson VC, who in September 1916 was first to shoot down a German Zeppelin. After a gruelling tour of PR around the UK after this feat he apparently succumbed to the pressure and was declared unfit for service, yet whilst still on sick leave he was posted to 48 Squadron at Rendcomb. Another pilot who served at Rendcomb was Keith Park, later to become Air Marshal Park, who commanded 11 Fighter Group during the Battle of Britain.

Despite these issues, aircrew training and the workup of new squadrons at Rendcomb was successful as illustrated by the departure of 48 Squadron with its BE 12 aircraft to the Western Front on 8 March 1917. Their 18 aircraft flew to Lympne where they refuelled, crossed the Channel arrived at Bertangles Aerodrome, 5 miles north of Amiens the same morning all apparently fully serviceable. This so impressed the RFC hierarchy that Major General Trenchard, the RFC Commander reported to the War Office:

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48 Squadron officers before departure from Rendcomb for France (Captain Leefe Robinson VC seated 3rd from left.)

“I would like to point out that No 48 Squadron arrived out here with 18 machines intact all on the same day before noon. This is the first squadron to arrive like this, and it was undoubtedly due to the excellent arrangements made and to the training of the Squadron.”

Other Squadrons were to train at Rendcomb over the next 2 years before they went to war in France and the airfield in 1918 was larger than it is today, extending south towards the Calmsden road. The airfield was sold into private ownership in 1920. The original hangars which lay along the Whiteway are now demolished, but the wooden workshop/power house and another domestic building, now a private house, remain, as do the gun butts, squash court and the original regimental institute/reception building close to the modern hangars.

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Left –RFC/RAF Rendcombe personnel regularly took part in Chedworth events

Middle – Birdseye view of RFC Rendcombe

Bottom – RFC Rendcombe aircraft on parade

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Flying was a dangerous occupation. Aircraft wrecks at Rendcomb

170

BRAVERY AWARDS TO CHEDWORTH MEN

Four Chedworth men won medals for bravery during the Great War:

Harry Stanley Smith DCM and Croix de Guerre 1916 Wilfred Allen Keen MM 1918 Hector William Scotford MM 1918 James George Whiting MM 1916

Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) Instituted in 1854 (Crimean War), the DCM was awarded to soldiers (not officers) for "distinguished, gallant and good conduct in the field". It was the second highest award for gallantry in action after the "Victoria Cross".

Military Medal (MM) During the First World War concern was expressed that the large and increasing number of medals being awarded would devalue the prestige of those DCMs already earned. The "Military Medal" for bravery in battle on land was therefore instituted on 25 March 1916, as an alternative award to the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The lesser Military Medal was usually awarded for bravery from this date and the Distinguished Conduct Medal was reserved for "exceptional acts of bravery." Around 25,000 Distinguished Conduct Medals were awarded during the Great War.

Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) The French created this medal in 1915. It could either be awarded to individuals or as a unit award to those soldiers who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with an enemy. The French frequently bestowed the Croix de Guerre on Allied soldiers.

DCM Croix de Guerre MM

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SILVER WAR BADGE (SWB) AWARDS

The Silver War Badge was awarded from September 1916 to men and a few women who were honourably discharged and unfit for military duty. It was also awarded to men who met the criteria but had been discharged earlier in the war. It was only to be worn on civilian clothes to indicate that the individual had served their country (and therefore should not be given “white feathers”). All badges were individually numbered and were usually accompanied by a certificate, as with Wilfred Heyden’s below.

The following Chedworthians (including 2 awards to Marjory Mackie) were issued Silver War Badges. Unsurprisingly the majority had served in infantry units:

John E. Allington 214631 18061919 Albert G. Broad 221439 12011918 Bertie I.N. Day 156881 10041917 Enos Day B36792 31101918 Leonard T. Dayment B317402 08101919 Walter G. Dodwell 30933 11121917 Reginald A. Heyden 43054 17011917 Wilfred W. Heyden B213382 28051919 Ethelbert Leech B38354 15111918 William F. Leech 153883 29031917 Marjory H. Mackie 266964 xxxx1916 Marjory H. Mackie 380087 18071918 Frederick G. Miles B5445 18091918 Ira J. Michin 199426 26061917 John L. Scotford B229734 19061919 Harry S. Smith 422896 26061918 Richard A. Whiting 452640 15011919

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RECRUITMENT AND CONSCRIPTION

At the outbreak of the Great War all British Forces personnel were volunteers and this was to continue until early 1916. If a man was fit, over 5’3” tall and declared himself to be between 18 and 38 (45 if he had previous military experience), he could enlist into the armed forces and express a preference for the arm of service that he joined.

In the first months of the war local newspapers proudly printed lists of volunteers and men were exhorted to swell the ranks. Two such lists of Chedworth volunteers have survived which were initially printed in local newspapers and then, we believe, framed and displayed in the church. The September 1914 list included men who were members of the forces well before the war started or were in the reserves.

In September 1914 it was reported that Col. Cunliffe Martin (Retd), a summer resident of Chedworth, organised an open-air meeting near the Chedworth Railway Station “to arouse and educate the neighbourhood as to the cause and justice of the war”. The meeting was promoted by the Boy Scouts and attended by the County High Sheriff, the brass band, and a choir. A short service was held by Revs Mackie and Morgan but after rousing speeches and singing a verse of the National Anthem only one recruit came forward, (Leonard Dayment), but it was noted that Chedworth had already made a good response.

In November 1914 a lantern lecture was held at Chedworth School under the auspices of the Joint Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. Pictures of the German devastation of Belgium, Britsh armed forces and rulers of the Allies evoked loud applause and a patriotic resolution was declared at the end of the meeting. Apparently three young men volunteered to enlist during that evening.

By the Spring of 1915 the number of volunteers was not sufficient to meet demand and so the government passed the National Registration Act on 15 July 1915 to establish how many men between 15 and 65 years of age were engaged in each trade. All men, except those already in the forces, were to register. 173

In October 1915 a recruiting effort known as the “Derby Scheme” informed men between 18 and 40 that they could enlist voluntarily or attest with an obligation to report for duty if called up later. The War Office announced that voluntary enlistment was to cease after 15 December 1915. Several Chedworth men applied under this scheme and were duly allowed to return home and carry on their trade until called up. Not all men willing to join up were accepted. In November 1915 it was reported that 49 men presented themselves at the Northleach prison for examination and attestation but only 17 were accepted – the remainder being rejected as medically unfit.

The Derby Scheme did not result in the numbers of men needed and conscription was introduced by the Military Service Act on 27 January 1916, making every British male between 19 and 41 years of age who was not married or a widower with children liable to military service unless they could claim exemption. Bill Messenger was an example of one such man but even he was eventually forced into the army with a police escort in 1918.

Obviously the above concerns men, but there were also vigorous campaigns to encourage women to work in factories, to join the Land Army, to become nurses or to join auxiliary forces such as the QMAAC, as did Marjory and Vesta Mackie. Chedworth ladies like Myrtle Arthurs (later Barnes) and Gladys Arthurs worked in munitions factories in Gloucester and, although it was dangerous work it was considered well paid.

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CHEDWORTH AND THE HOME FRONT Life in a wartime village community by Nikki Jones

Prior to the Great War Chedworth was a predominantly agricultural community, with many men working as agricultural labourers on small farms or on the 3rd Earl of Eldon’s Estate. The Estate also provided employment for men as wheelwrights, gamekeepers, grooms, carpenters, shepherds, slaters and plasterers, and owned many of the cottages in which they lived. 1

Living conditions were very basic. Women and girls carried the greatest burden of domestic responsibilities, increased when they were widowed, or when the men were away at the front. The most intimate account we have of daily life in Chedworth is a diary written just after the War.2 It details the arduous household routine that existed before, and that was exacerbated by, the War. Collecting wood to supplement expensive coal, the only means of cooking and heating the home, regularly took women around the parish. Washing was done by hand, and one was lucky if one had a rainless, windy day to dry it on the washing line. The wells were often empty by the end of August, and the only water available was the “soft” rain water, or water from the stream. Getting the outside lavatories and cesspits cleaned out and chimneys swept were recurrent jobs. Winter was a particularly challenging time, and keeping out the cold, day and night, a major preoccupation. Sacks stopped the wind from under the door, and flat irons and bricks warmed the beds. Digging gardens, growing and preserving food for the family took up a lot of time in spring and summer.

Although many villagers were poor, Chedworth was a vibrant and self reliant community with trades and services that we do not have today. The village boasted two post offices, a police constable, three stores, three bakeries, two butchers, two fishmongers, boot makers, blacksmiths, a corn and coal merchant, a tailor, and several carpenters and stonemasons. Local hauliers and carriers transported your goods to and from town. The railway could get one easily to Cirencester or Cheltenham for shopping and to visit family and friends. It also provided many local jobs,3 and increased the mobility of young people for work and leisure.

The Congregational Chapel, the Primitive Methodist Chapel, and St Andrew’s Church were at the centre of community life and, depending on where you lived in the village and your religious convictions, events clustered around them. Sunday school gave children religious knowledge, while Harvest Festival was a major occasion for celebration and fundraising. The Congregational Chapel preached self improvement and education, and attracted many speakers from the surrounding area. Church activities just before the War included a Sunday School Outing that took advantage of the railway to travel as far as the Bristol International Exhibition.

1 In 1923, when Lord Eldon sold his estate, many bought their cottages. 2 Diary written by King, Betsy King Collett, Gilgal, Chedworth 1919-1921. 3 1911 Census of Chedworth. Railway foremen, stationmaster, packers, engineman, signalmen, platelayers, quarrymen, and general labourers. 175

Wartime Haymaking: Miss Hamilton and staff circa 1915

Betsy King was a widow living in Gilgal (Lower Chedworth) during the war. Her niece was friendly with Leonard Dayment who had been a prisoner of war in Germany.

L to R Martha, Delaretha and Gertrude (new wife of Jack) Lawrence

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Whilst men’s occupations are well documented in the 1911 Census of Chedworth, the economic contribution of married women to farming is scarcely registered. Some single girls and young women, one as young as 13 years, worked as domestic servants in the bigger houses. Older single women, 4 several of them from outside Chedworth, occupied roles as housekeepers. The Census does point us to the role that Chedworth women played in inn keeping and beer retailing. Five establishments had a woman at the helm. Mildred Bridges a beer retailer and haulier at the Seven Tuns was already a widow at 45, with two teenage daughters. Eliza Massey, a widow who had raised eleven children (eight surviving) was the beer retailer at Smuggs Barn. Unmarried daughters and nieces were pressed into service to help in these businesses.5

At the Waggon and Horses, Reuben and Ann Sly, childless after 41 years of marriage, relied on outside help when Reuben became bedridden. Ann, depressed and living with the after-effects of a stroke, suffered a sudden and “peculiar” death in early 1914. A bottle of Pettifer’s green oil, for external use on cattle, was found under Ann Sly’s bolster6. At the Fosse Bridge, Hannah Marie Brain, the mother of ten children (six surviving) was left to manage the business when her husband died.

Local shops depended heavily on women, who often carried these responsibilities into late in life. Mary Ann Broad, a widow and a shopkeeper was still running the business at 82 years.7 Elizabeth Hicks, aged 81, had been married to her shopkeeper husband John for 54 years, while also raising nine children.

At least two Chedworth women, Gladys Arthurs (nee Tilling) and Myrtle Arthurs, went to work at the Gloucester National Shell Filling Factory at Quedgeley when it opened in 1915. The work was dirty and dangerous. Repeated exposure to trinitrotoluene (TNT) brought on toxic jaundice that caused hair and skin to turn yellow, earning women the name of “canary girls.” Gladys, Myrtle and their workmates brought a personal touch of home to the men on the frontline, by writing them messages that they put in the boxes of ammunition.

In this setting, Chedworth men and women married and raised their children. In 1911, the average age at marriage for women was just over 25 years. Babies were born at home, mostly delivered by a village midwife. Adelaide Greenwood, a widow and the mother of thirteen children was one of these midwives. Her life must have been a busy one. The average number of children among women who had finished childbearing was almost seven. Ellen Morse holds the record, with seventeen children. Married at 19 years to James, a farm labourer, Ellen died in October 1918, aged only 55 years old.

4 1911 Census. Average age of domestic servants was 22 years, and of housekeepers 47 years. 5 At the Hare & Hound, Fosse Bridge, and the Seven Tuns 6 Report of Inquiry by Mr A.J Morton, Coroner, into the death of Ann Sly 1914 7 Kelly’s Directory 1923 177

The outbreak of War also encouraged some early marriages. Amy Preston married William John Peachey in January 1916, a few weeks after he had joined up, aged just 20 years.

Health Chedworth School Logs record frequent child illness, including outbreaks of measles, mumps, chicken pox, and influenza. Overcrowded living conditions facilitated the spread of head lice, ring worm, and skin eruptions. More serious illnesses - diphtheria, small pox and scarlet fever - led to children’s exclusion from school, and a stay in Northleach isolation hospital.

Families often experienced the trauma of child death. More than a fifth of all the children born to women by the 1911 Census did not survive, with the children of women with ten or more live births accounting for almost a third of these deaths. Nurse Gemmell, employed by Chedworth Nursing Association, gave invaluable service. In one year,8 she carried out 2,347 visits and attended 107 cases, including 62 surgical, 36 medical and 9 midwifery ones. Her services must have been especially welcome for villagers who could not afford a doctor’s visit.

Many Chedworth men returned from the War were sick and wounded, some with life-threatening and life-shortening illness and disabilities. Women found themselves with a wounded husband or son who needed continuous care and attention or, in the worst case, as widows.

8 Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard Chedworth Nursing Association Report Dec.1913-November 1914

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On the right Arthur Ford and left Philip Peachey. On the Post Office wall a recruiting poster for the Army Cavalry

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Education

Before and during the War, the Chedworth National School provided girls and boys with schooling, usually up to thirteen years. Boys received lessons in drawing, measuring, and modelling. Practical lessons were geared to rural life - rearing chickens, cultivating potatoes, haymaking, gardening, pruning fruit trees, and using agricultural tools.

The school prepared girls for their domestic role, with knitting, dressmaking and needlework. In January 1913, there were innovations in girls’ schooling, when the Head Teacher drew up a “new experimental timetable” that allowed older girls to join the boy’s drawing and modelling lessons once a week. Senior girls received health lectures, and, in May 1914, showed exemplary attendance at a domestic science and home management course.

The demands of family and farming led to school absenteeism, especially at haymaking, potato picking, and harvest time. The War Increased the demands for children’s labour and, in 1917 and 1918, an extra week’s holiday was give for farm work. An education order for children not to leave school before 13 years was not always observed. Special permission was given to certain boys to leave school early9. Girls could also apply for exemption certificates, but were readmitted to school when they could not find a situation.10

In wartime winters, when coal was scarce, school hours were reduced and holidays extended. In a cold spell in January 1919, children went along with the Head Teacher’s proposal “to have a good run along the road round the school premises during the interval for recreation.” On 16 October 1919, with extreme cold and no heating, 39 girls and boys finally “struck”, an event probably unique in the school’s history.

The 1918 Education Act raised the school leaving age to fourteen years and Chedworth School made plans for evening classes and further teacher training. In May 1920, five children sat exams for free places to Cirencester Grammar School, with girls doing outstandingly well. 11

9 Chedworth School Log 1914 Charles Poulton at 12 years to work at Home Farm. Ernest Robins and Gilbert Holland also applied to leave before 13 years 10 Ibid .Belinda Scotford and Carrie Robins were readmitted in these circumstances. 11 Ibid May 3 & May 8, 1918. Patience Keen, Edith Dunstan, Mabel Lawrence, Vincent Carmen, and Gilbert Peachey. Two girls got over 98 per cent in preliminary tests. 180

Food Shortages

Food scarcity during the War was exacerbated by the country’s heavy dependence on imported food. 12 Mr Tombs, Head Teacher at Chedworth School, illustrated this in a lesson on the ingredients of the Christmas pudding, and where they came from.13

Chedworth Parish Council meetings were preoccupied with increasing food production to support the War effort. Questions were raised as to why only two of the twelve acres of land at the Laines Allotments were cultivated , while the rest were neglected and ”a disgrace to the village”. 14 The allotment issue proved a difficult one to resolve, as the allotments were quite far from the village, especially from Lower Chedworth, making it difficult to get manure to them, and cultivating them would come on top of already heavy workloads. The size of the allotments would call for 48 tenants, but no register of tenants could be found. The proposal to provide advice and help to manage the serving soldiers’ own gardens in the village was probably a more realistic solution.

Women were called on to exercise restraint in feeding their families. In April 1917, it was estimated that the country’s wheat supply would last only six weeks, and a Royal Proclamation was read in churches.15 In Chedworth, The Reverend Mackie exhorted his congregation “to eat less, especially wheaten bread”.16 He also wrote to the Editor of The Times, calling for recipes to make bread out of oats, barley, maize, rice and potatoes...”17

By the end of 1917, a new Food Controller had countered government reluctance and introduced rationing of sugar, and then meat. Preserving fruit was an important way to boost the food supply. As sugar restrictions made this difficult, the Chedworth Parish Clerk was tasked to apply for an extra allowance. The Local Food Control Committee decreed that “in no case will the amount of sugar allowed for jam making for home consumption exceed 10 lb. per head of household”.18 Women were encouraged to try recipes that appeared in the local paper for “patriotic puddings”. Sugar was still being rationed to 6 oz per person per week in September 1919.

By May 1918, three out of four weekly meat coupons could no longer be exchanged for butcher’s meat, but only for bacon, sausages, poultry, rabbits – although more bacon might be made available for “people doing heavy work and growing boys”. In Chedworth, this meat allowance was probably supplemented by the killing of the family pig, raising chickens, shooting, and ferreting for rabbits.

12 Paxman ibid p.212 “Before the war four-fifths of the cereals it ate and almost all of its sugar was imported” 13 Chedworth School Log December 1913 14 Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard 27 February 1917 15 Paxman ibid p 214 16 Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard 19 May 1917 17 The Times 12 April 1917 18 Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard 23 February 1918 181

Above – Lower Chedworth circa 1920

Below – Goods train passing over Queen Street bridge. The railway line through Chedworth played an important role conveying ammunition and troops during the war.

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Supporting the War Effort

Chedworth girls and women played a key role in community life during the War years, with their charitable and fund raising activities geared directly to the War cause. In 1916, a house to house collection by women and a social evening raised the considerable sum of £32 5s 4d.19 The school was central to supporting the War effort. While boys were doing military drawing, girls were knitting mittens and socks for men and boys at the front. Proceeds from schoolgirls’ needlework contributed to the French Children’s Fund, Belgian refugees, Dr Barnado’s Homes, and the Red Cross. After the War, the School continued to raise funds for returning soldiers, with the sale of garments sewn by girls, and a concert for blinded soldiers and sailors.20 The National Volunteer Corps held drills at the school. It was the site of Red Cross socials, Church Missionary Society meetings, Parish Council meetings, and packaging parcels for Chedworth soldiers.

At the 1916 Boxing Night Social and Dance, Chedworth women figured prominently in organising, providing refreshments and entertainment, with Miss Tombs, the headmaster’s daughter, and Miss Cosslett singing and playing the piano. £7 was raised for “the starving children in Belgium”.

A fete held in August 1917 for prisoners of war of the Highland Light Infantry attracted a large gathering, and was proof that Chedworth had by now developed “many effective means of extracting money from the pockets of visitors” to support the war. Side shows, games, competitions, concerts, fruit and flower sales, refreshments, pony rides and a shooting range, together with individual contributions raised more than £35. The event is an inspiring example of how the war brought Chedworth together, including the Chedworth Brass Band, the Chedworth Boy Scouts, wounded soldiers, and the indefatigable group of women (and some men) who organised the event, provided the refreshments, music, songs, recitations and “duologues”. 21

19 Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard 2 December 1916 20 Ibid 28 February 1919 21 Ibid 19 August,1917

183

REVEREND GEORGE E MACKIE VICAR of CHEDWORTH 1907-1925

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George Mackie arrived as the new vicar of Chedworth parish in 1907 after a successful career as a teacher in several public schools, including Blundells, Clifton and Malvern College and lastly becoming headmaster of Godolphin School, Hammersmith in 1903. He was a national examiner in Scripture History and a noted fly-fisherman, later to become the President of the Fly Fishers’ Club.

On his arrival in Chedworth two of his four sons had already left home and a third was to leave to join the Royal Navy soon after. George Mackie’s three daughters joined him initially at the Vicarage and the stories of the family members are recorded elsewhere in this book. Although Chedworth was then a relatively populous parish, the new vicar of St Andrew’s would probably have expected to enjoy a fairly comfortable country living and routine life in 1907. However, the outset of the Great War changed everything and with it George Mackie became a central pillar of the village’s wartime community.

Within days of the outbreak of war men from Chedworth had been called up or had chosen to enlist and their families were left behind to fend as well as they could without the support of their main breadwinner. From then onwards the Chedworth community pulled together in mutual support through many organisations, prominent amongst which were the Parish Council, the Nursing Association, the National School and the churches. It is clear from news articles that George Mackie took a leadership role in these, and many other activities throughout the war.

His wife Helen and their daughters also played a prominent role in fund-raising activities such as fetes and dances to raise funds for good causes such as the Red Cross and soldiers’ charities. The vicarage was often used as a venue and the Mackies’ made a point of inviting all the adult villagers to join them there on the day of their daughter Elizabeth’s wedding to Henry Cookson in October 1915.

What is not documented is the significant contribution George Mackie must have made to the overall morale of his parishioners during a time of enormous personal stresses. There were the deaths and injuries to the men of the village and the stories of men missing in action to be dealt with at a personal level and many memorial services and special services were held at St Andrews. A small hint of his personal interest in the Chedworth men’s welfare was his gift of a Pocket Book to Francis Fry which later saved the man’s life.

Against this background it is, perhaps, easy to forget that there were similar pressures on his own family. In 1917 George and Helen Mackie provided a home at the vicarage for Captain George Ellis before his death (see story) in June 1917 and tragically, his wife Helen died that October.

By early 1918 3 of his sons and the 2 unmarried daughters were in uniform, including Lewis who was initially reported missing and later surviving as a prisoner of war.

On the anniversary of the conflict in August 1918 George Mackie and his colleague at the Congregational Church took steps to ensure that the service and sacrifice of Chedworth men were not forgotten by starting the funding of war memorials to their memory at the 2 churches and towards erecting the Roll of Honour panels in St Andrews. (See separate story). Later, George Mackie led the many victory celebrations and, in particular, chaired the dinner for ex-servicemen in 1920.

On his death in 1925 after some 17 years service to the village it was no surprise to find a fulsome obituary headed aptly “A beloved vicar”, including this reference to his wartime role:

“Chedworth will long remember the Vicar it has just lost and he will be sorely missed for his solicitude for the welfare of all his parishioners knew no bounds. His was a sympathetic ear for all troubles and his kindliness of heart made him self-sacrificing in his efforts to help the sick and the needy. During the war he actually wrote every Christmas to every Chedworth man who was serving with the colours. His, too, was the guiding hand that helped many a soldier and many a wife to secure a due and proper pension.”

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It is certain that George Mackie’s correspondence formed the basis of the Roll of Honour which was the key to the research for the Chedworth Remembers Project. The village ensured that he should not be forgotten by presenting St Andrews in 1927 with an oak Lectern and a Credence Table which bear the following inscription:

“In memory of George Edward Mackie, MA, vicar of Chedworth 1908-25. The lectern and Credence Table in this Church were given by his family, parishioners and friends. RIP.”

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PEACE CELEBRATIONS

The village celebrates and a local memory from Armistice Day

One local memory relating to Rendcomb airfield at the end of the Great War has been given us by local resident Tony Floyd relating to his aunt Miss Ruth Morse:

As a 16 year old in November 1918 she was with her Mother in fields just above Pinkwell harvesting animal fodder, when their attention was drawn to the sound of the Silver Band playing accompanied by School children waving flags and banners. Her mother exclaimed “ the war must be over and we shouldn’t be here” (They had no access to radio or receive newspapers at that time and their information was normally acquired via the Journeyman)

Ruth and her mother returned to Pinkwell Farm where they were met by a Pilot Officer based at Rendcomb Airfield. He was a regular visitor to the Farm to buy eggs for his wife and had very recently earned his Wings. In particular they remembered his uniform, especially the leather belt and shoulder strap.

When they asked him if the war was over he said quite irately, “Yes it is - and now I will not be able to fight the Hun.” With that he removed his cap, threw his gloves into it and said “I shall emigrate to Canada...... !”

There is also a newspaper report of the reaction to the news in the village:

“On Monday morning great excitement was caused in the village when it became known that the Armistice had been signed. The Schoolchildren and teachers assembled round the Union Jack which had been hoisted on the flagstaff, and after a few words from the Vicar, who explained the wonderful news , all present heartily sang the National Anthem. The Headmaster then called for cheers for the King, peace, liberty and freedom, which were vociferously given. A holiday was granted for the rest of the day.

A procession of men and boys beating drums, playing cornets, melodeons and other instruments paraded the village, amid the waving of flags and shouts of joy. Many houses were decorated with Union Jacks and Allied flags.

On Tuesday evening a thanksgiving service was held at the Parish Church, which was attended by a large gathering. The Vicar, the Reverend GE Mackie officiated, and gave a very impressive address on the words of the psalmist “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name, give the praise” The Te Deum, special psalms and hymns were very feelingly sung by the choir and congregation, Miss EL Cook presiding at the organ, and Miss Mackie assisting with the violin. The service ended appropriately by the singing of the National Anthem. At the close the bells were merrily pealed, and later the united brass bands mustered at the Tuns Hill and played lively and patriotic airs”.

NATIONAL AND LOCAL REJOICING FOR THE COMING OF PEACE JULY 1919

Earlier that year The Rt. Hon. Bonar Law (Chancellor of the Exchequer) announced in the House of Commons that Saturday July 19 th 1919 had been fixed by the Government as the day of national rejoicing for the coming of peace. The local newspaper reported Chedworth’s celebrations:

“The Peace celebration was arranged and carried out with customary thoroughness by a strong committee on Saturday last and was heralded in the early morn by a muffled peal on the Church bells to the “glorious dead,” a peal of victory following. Rain sadly marred the festivities, and the sports and dancing which had been arranged had to be postponed until the following Monday. A cricket match

187 between married and single men took place in the morning and was decidedly in favour of the latter.

At 1 o’clock, the Chedworth Brass Band (Mr. J. Lawrence conductor) headed a procession from Blakemoor to the Parish Church, where a short but appropriate service was conducted by the Vicar the Rev. G.E. Mackie. The procession comprising many adults and children bearing banners and flags, with the band playing gaily, then proceeded to the Manor Farm grounds, kindly lent for the festivities by Mr. Mitchell. Much amusement was caused to the spectators by Mr. Minchin, who capitally impersonated the “ex-Kaiser” being conveyed to the Tower. “Little Willie” impersonated by Edgar Wakefield, rode on horseback behind the conveyance. Much excitement was caused amongst the youngsters when the “ex- Kaiser” escaped and was pursued by the “enraged” multitude until captured.

In the afternoon a capital meat tea was provided for all (including about 60 ex-soldiers), in the Beech Walk Barn, the children being regaled first by many willing helpers. The huge piles of sandwiches and cake, and the jugs of delicious tea, disappeared as if by magic; the partakers showing by their smiling faces and expressions of delight their evident enjoyment. Each child received a present of a packet of sweets, and each ex-soldier a packet of cigarettes from a gentleman who wished to remain anonymous. During the afternoon and evening the band played excellent music, and received much applause for their efforts. An impromptu concert was held by several volunteer singers, who gave great enjoyment to the assembled company. Before the company dispersed Mr. Jackson (Woodlands) proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the committee and especially the ladies for the admirable way in which the proceedings had been arranged and managed. This was carried by acclamation. Mr. T. Coates, the chairman, suitably responded on behalf of himself, the Hon Secretary, Mr J.D. Tombs, and Mr. A.H. Scotford, assistant secretary, and the rest of the Committee. Hearty cheers were given for Mr. Mitchell for the use of his barn and grounds and also the band for their excellent services.

At 9.30 “God Save the King” was played and the company dispersed. It may be mentioned that the bounteous repast and sports etc, were provided by public subscription, the collectors being Miss E.L. Cook, Mrs. W. Blackwell, Mrs. Dayment, Miss Pinchin, Miss D. Day and Mr. F. Harvey, each of whom worked hard to get the money necessary. Gifts in kind were kindly made by the following: Mr R.E. Rose (a sheep), Mr. R. Andrews (a sheep), Mr. Mitchell, Mrs. Dunstan, Mrs. J. Day and Mrs. Pinchin (milk), Mrs. T. Coates (tea) and Mrs. G Day (sugar). The old and infirm were not forgotten “on the day,” a basket of provisions being sent to each by the committee.

On Monday evening last, the festivities were continued; the weather being ideal. The children were again regaled with sandwiches, lemonade, etc., the older people also coming in for a share. There was a large company of of parishioners present, who greatly enjoyed the sports and dancing provided. The band kindly gave their services for the evening, their playing giving great satisfaction, and “God save the King” was played at 11p.m. The Sports Committee, with Mr. Reg. Lawrence as honorary secretary assisted by Mr. F. Fry, arranged an excellent programme. The sports were under the directions of the following:- Rev. D. Morgan, Messrs. R. Lawrence, F Fry, A. Lawrence, V. Greenwood, B, Lawrence, J.D. Tombs, D. Bliss and A. Harvey. Money prizes to the value of £1 10s were given to the winners.

1920: VILLAGE GIVES A “SLAP UP DINNER” FOR THE RETURNED VETERANS

By the end of 1920 all of the surviving men, except for the few who had decided to become professional soldiers, had returned to the UK. Many drifted to larger towns in search of work, a few were seriously injured and would face premature deaths and some had married outside the village and lived elsewhere but many men returned to their families and resumed a civilian life in the village.

The people of Chedworth had decided to give their returning men a dinner and this is the report of that meal printed in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Chronicle on Saturday 11 December 1920:

“Dinner to Ex-Servicemen in Chedworth:

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The long anticipated dinner to the Chedworth ex-Service men who so nobly did their part in the Great War was given in the National Schoolroom on Friday evening last when between 70 and 80 men attended at the invitation of a committee representing the parish. There were also present a few ex-Service men who are not natives of Chedworth but who now resided in or near the parish, and had been kindly invited to join their “comrades in arms” amongst them being Major Cookson , Captain Bell and Mr. Lait.

The committee responsible for the arrangements for the dinner, which was provided by public subscriptions, consisted of Messrs. T. Jackson, R.E. Rose, V. Pinchin, M. Perry and F. Harvey. This committee was well backed up by a strong ladies’ committee, who worked hard in obtaining and preparing the requisite provisions and who were assiduous in attending to the wants of “the inner man” at the dinner. The tables were prettily decked with vases of chrysanthemums and the room was adorned with flags – a large one bearing the words, “Well done, Chedworth.” On the wall of the northern end of the room was a black plaque, surrounded by a wreath of laurel, bearing the words, “To our fallen comrades”. The vicar (the Rev. G.E. Mackie) presided, the Rev. D. Morgan filling the position of vice- chairman.

The men thoroughly enjoyed the excellent menu provided and then the “toasts” commenced with that of ”The King” given by the chairman. This having been duly honoured, the Vice-Chairman proposed the toast of “His Majesty’s Forces” coupled with the names of Paymaster Mackie and Captain Bell. Paymaster Mackie, on behalf of the Navy, thanked all for the honour accorded him, and said that in addition to the Navy he should like to include in the toast that of the Mercantile Marine , which had had such difficult and dangerous work to do in the Great War. Captain Bell, on behalf of the Army, thanked all for the way the toast had been received and honoured.

Then followed that of “Our fallen comrades” by the chairman who very impressively referred to them as “the men who had given their lives for us” . The toast was honoured by all standing and facing the plaque and keeping silence for two minutes. After a slight interval Mr. Jackson proposed the toast of “The ex-Service men,” coupled with the names of Mr. Francis Fry and Mr. W Dodwell . He alluded to them as the men who went forth to fight the battle of civilisation and liberty, and said no one could realise at present the great work they had helped to do. Mr. Francis Fry, in response, remarked how very much obliged they all were to the parishioners and the promoters of the dinner, and that the ex- Service men thoroughly appreciated their kindness. Mr. Dodwell also responded in much the same terms and incidentally mentioned the fact that an association of ex-Service men had been formed for mutual help, and good fellowship and comradeship.

The last toast; that of “The host, ladies, chairman and vice-chairman” was in the capable hands of Mr. T. Coates, who referred to the host as the parish, which had responded so well in subscribing to the dinner. The ladies’ committee received well deserved praise for their strenuous work. The chairman responded in cheerful vein and referred to the dinner given as “the welcome of the whole parish.”

The happy time round the festive board being ended, a move was made to the Red Triangle Hut, where a capital entertainment (organised by Mr. Dick Rose) was given. There was nearly a “full house,” who much enjoyed the fare provided. The comic element was well sustained by Messrs Dick Rose and Vin Webb, and two pianoforte solos were well played by Miss Cust who also assisted Mr. V. Webb in two humorous duets. Some good songs were sung by Messrs. Woodgate, J Lawrence, Wilfred Webb and V. Pinchin and a comic recitation by Miss Hodges caused much amusement. Mr. W. Dodwell gave a clever display of Indian club swinging. At the conclusion Mr. W. Greenwood, on behalf of the ex-soldiers, thanked Mr. Rose and the other performers for providing such a good concert. Musical honours were then accorded the performers and “God Save the King” brought an eventful evening to a close.”

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THE CHEDWORTH WAR MEMORIALS

Chedworth has two Great War memorials and one Roll of Honour.

The first memorial is mounted on the north wall inside the Church of St. Andrew’s and the other is today outside the former Congregational Chapel in Lower Chedworth but was originally within the chapel grounds. The Roll of Honour to those who served and survived is in the porch of St. Andrew’s Church.

The names of the fallen on the two memorials almost duplicate one another but are not quite the same and we do not know why. It does not appear to reflect former congregation membership or date of demise. Church Chapel Killed Memorial Memorial BROAD Arthur Charles Royal Garrison Artillery 24/04/1916 X X DAY Walter George 8th Gloucestershire Regt 07/04/1916 X X GREENWOOD Cecil Henry 1/5 Bn (Territorial) Gloucestershire Regt 20/10/1918 X X HEYDEN William Thomas 12th Bn Gloucestershire Regt 08/05/1917 Stowell HOLLAND Wilfred 1/5th Bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry 17/04/1918 X LEECH Joseph Young 1st Grenadier Guards 10/09/1916 X X MARSTON Charles 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers 19/10/1914 X MORSE Harry Lawson 8th Gloucestershire Regt 07/06/1917 X X NORMAN Cyril Gilbert 9th (Service) Bn Gloucestershire Rgt 25/04/1917 X NORMAN William WT Station Seychelles (HMS President) 06/05/1919 X X PEACHEY William John 9th Bn Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 27/04/1917 X X ROOKE Frederick John 4th Grenadier Guards 11/10/1917 X X SEATES Henry Clement 14th Stat Hosp Royal Army Medical Corps 29/01/1919 X X WHITING MM James George 2nd Bn Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regt) 09/04/1917 X X

Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of both war memorials is why William Heyden is not listed on either but that he is on the Stowell memorial plaque22and yet his three brothers are listed on the Chedworth Roll of Honour and two of his brothers at Stowell.

At a 1918 meeting held in the school chaired by Rev David Morgan and attended by Rev George Mackie, it was unanimously agreed that a war memorial should be erected within the parish and £4 9s 3d was transferred to the war memorial fund from the Christmas Parcels Fund. It is not recorded as to when or why the two congregations decided to fund their own war memorials but it is probably relevant that there is over a mile between the two centres of worship and no obvious village focal point to erect a memorial that both parties could agree as acceptable.

On 4 August 1918, during a service to mark four years of war, Rev. Mackie read a list of all of the men of the village who had joined the colours23 and the collection was given to the war memorial fund.

On 20 August 1918 a well attended open air service was held at Well Hill and the proceeds of the collections were divided equally between Church and Chapel war memorials funds.

22 The Heyden family moved to Chedworth from Eastleach about 1915 and are recorded in the Chedworth Poll list of 1918 as living in Middle Chedworth.The father, Walter Heyden, was employed on the Stowell estate. 23 This list was later used by Rev Mackie to create the roll of honour. 190

Lower Chedworth Chapel Memorial

The Congregational community wasted little time in commissioning their war memorial. The following is a report in the Cheltenham Chronicle of 10 July 1920:

“The dark lowering clouds, which threatened formed fitting accompaniment for solemn occasion on Sunday afternoon last, the Congregational Church War Memorial in honour of the brave Chedworth men who fell in the Great War was unveiled in the presence of a large gathering of relatives and friends, many being old soldiers and comrades of the valiant.

The Chedworth Brass Band, conducted by Bandmaster J. Lawrence was present, and rendered appropriate music. The simple, but impressive service was conducted by the Pastor, the Rev. D. Morgan, and began by the singing of the hymn, " O God, our help in ages past." The Pastor then read a suitable portion of Scripture from Revelation vii. and offered a touching prayer. He then thanked all who had so kindly helped in any way towards the memorial, viz., Messrs. H. Dayment, W Keen, J. Peachey, and J. Hayward for giving their time and labour in erecting the memorial; also Messrs. J. Durstan and J. Bassett for hauling the necessary materials gratis; the Band for giving their services that day; and all the subscribers. Another hymn, "Book of Ages," was then feelingly sung by those present, accompanied by Mr. Lawrence on the cornet.

A collection was made, which realised £3 19s. 6d., be devoted to expenses incurred in connection with the memorial, the balance, if any, to handed over to the church funds. The memorial, consisting of Cornish granite cross, fixed three tiers of native stone and a bed of concrete, and facing the road in front of the church, was then unveiled by Mrs. Morgan, wife of the Pastor. It bears the inscription: "The Great War, 1914-18: in grateful memory of A. Broad, W. Day, C. Greenwood, W. Holland, J Leech, H. Morse, C. Norman. W. Norman, W. Peachey, F. Rooke, Hy. Seats, and J. Whiting."

Many beautiful wreaths were deposited at the foot of cross from relatives and friends. Before the unveiling ceremony, the Rev. H. Towl, of Stroud, in the course of a stirring address, paid a splendid tribute those men of the village who had fallen in the war. These men were not dead, but were living life that is fuller and freer than when on earth. "To die is gain, not loss," said St. Paul. These men had finished their work on earth; it was for the men who had returned and for all us, to carry on the work which they had begun. By this means they would honour the men who had made the supreme sacrifice for their fellows. The Dead March in "Saul," played the band, and the " Last Post," sounded by the Bandmaster, formed a fitting climax to the ceremony. “

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St Andrew’s Church Memorial

The church memorial and Roll of Honour cost a little over £120 to manufacture and install - the money being raised by individual donations (including £25 from Lord Eldon) and from collections. A record of the unveiling and dedication is in the Cheltenham Chronicle of 2 July 1921

“Dedication of Church War Memorial at Chedworth

At the venerable Parish Church of St. Andrew’s, on Friday last, the unveiling and dedication of the Church War Memorial took place in the presence of a large congregation, amongst whom were many ex-service men and their relatives. Prior to the service a muffled peal was rung on the bells, a hymn was played by the Chedworth Brass Band, and a voluntary, “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” was played by Miss E. L. Cook (the organist). The service was conducted by the vicar (the Rev. G. E. Mackie), and commenced with the hymn “Let Saints on Earth,” followed by the special Lesson from Wisdom iii, 1-6.

The memorial tablet was then unveiled by Brigadier-General Painter, C.M.G., assisted by Lieut-Col. Purvis, D.S.O, the dedication by the Bishop of Gloucester immediately following. Special prayers, with intervals of silence, were then read by the Vicar, who also read the Roll of the Dead as follows: Arthur Charles Broad, Walter George Day, Cecil, Henry Greenwood, William Holland, Joseph Young Leech, Charles Marston, Harry Lawson Morse, William Norman, William John Peachey, Frederick John Rooke, Harry Clement Seates, James George Whiting.

The Dead March in “Saul” was then impressively played by the Chedworth Brass Band, after which the hymn “God of the Living” was sung by the choir and congregation. An inspiring address was then given by the Bishop of Gloucester based on the words from St. John xii, 24. The grand old hymn “O God our Help” was then sung in unison, followed by the final prayer and Benediction pronounced by the Bishop. The strains of the “Last Post” were then heard, succeeded by the “Reveille,” both played by bandmaster John Lawrence. The National Anthem concluded a memorable and touching service. A muffled peal was again rung, the ringers who took part in the peals beings Messrs. Clem Seates, Chris Lawrence, F. Norman, O. Bartlett, F. Fry, W. Peachey, B. Lawrence and W.J. Greenwood.The arrangements for seating were in the hands of Mr. E. F. Cook (churchwarden) and Messrs. P. Glover and H. Flippance (sidesmen). The surpliced choir was present, conducted by Mr. J.D. Tombs (choirmaster). Many beautiful floral tributes from relatives and friends, including the schoolchildren were placed near the memorial, a splendid wreath being contributed by the ex-service men in memory of their dead comrades. The memorial tablet is fixed on the north wall of the interior of the church nearly opposite the entrance, and is constructed from a massive slab of Cotswold stone. Above the names of the twelve honoured dead are inscribed the following words:-

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“In proud memory of the Chedworth men who gave their lives for their country in the Great War, 1914- 1919.” Beneath the names are the following anonymous lines:-“True love by life, no less than death, is tried: Live thou for England, we for England died,” The architect is Mr. F. L. Griggs of Chipping Campden.

The report in the Chronicle of 1921 concludes:

“In the church porch an additional memorial War Memorial St. Andrew's Chedworth was placed to Chedworth men who served with the Forces during the Great War. It consists of a framework of old oak which originally came from the belfry, and contains six oak panels, on which are inscribed the names of the men.”

Roll of Honour

The original Roll of Honour panels erected in the church porch in 1921 were supplied by Mr Fred Minchin for £18. They proved to be the single most valuable source of information for the Chedworth Remembers Project as it was the bedrock of their research into which men served with the colours and with which units. However, not all of the men had their units recorded and it is not obvious why.

Exhaustive research revealed that the names of Ernest A Day, Ethelbert Leech and George Morse should be added to this enduring record. Thus, in time for the centenary Remembrance Sunday In 2014, the Chedworth Remembers Project commissioned a 7th wooden panel using funds provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and village charities and for the original panels to be refurbished. The panel work was carried out by Jared Gilbey and Malcolm Fisk.

During 2015 further research established that Harry Smith MM, who was partially brought up in Chedworth by his grandfather had been wrongly overlooked and should be added to the new panel. Research into the Mackie family established that Marjory and Vesta had also served in uniform on the Western Front and their service could not be ignored. The panel was accordingly amended in 2016.

Combined Roll of Honour and War Memorial in St. Leonard's, Stowell

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Refurbished Roll of Honour 2016 and new panel with the six additional names

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The Chedworth Roll of Honour

SURNAME – FORENAMES REGIMENT OR CORPS SERVED IN

Allington, Albert E. 9th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Allington, John Ernest 13th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Allington, Wm (Harry) Royal Army Medical Corps Arthurs, Horace Patrick Royal Engineers Arthurs, Roland 8th & 10th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Beames, Charles Alfred Royal Garrison Artillery Blackwell, Frederick James Royal Engineers Blackwell, Ralph John Devonshire Regiment Boulton, Arthur Charles Royal Garrison Artillery Brain, Frederick Charles Gloucestershire Hussars Brain, Harry J. Royal Army Service Corps Bridges, Henry Durham Regiment Broad, Albert George 9th Bn Gloucesterhire Regiment Broad, Arthur Charles Royal Garrison Artillery Broad, Frederick Royal Air Force Broad, Joseph James Glos Reg/18th Bn KRRC/S.Reserves Coates, Cecil Walter Royal Army Service Corps Coates, Ernest Frank Royal Garrison Artillery Coates, Homer Frank Machine Gun Corps Cookson, Henry Anstey Royal Army Medical Corps (Doctor) Cosslett, Edward Thomas Motorised Machine Gun S/RFC/RAF Cosslett, Stuart L Machine Gun Corps Danford, Cyril F Gloucestershire Regt and Labour Corps Day, Bertie Isaac Norman 9th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Day, Enos Grenadier Guards & Royal Engineers Day, Ernest Albert Royal Engineers (IW&D) Day, Victor Oliver Royal Army Service Corps & Somerset LI Day, Walter George 8th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Dayment, Leonard Thomas 2/7th Bn Royal Warwickshire Regiment Dodwell, Walter George 8th Bn London (Post Office) Rifles Edwards William Royal Navy Ford, Francis Royal Army Service Corps Fry, Cyril MGC and Gloucestershire Regt Fry, Francis 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regt Fry, George Edward Devonshire Regiment & Labour Corps Gardiner, Austin Royal Army Service Corps Gardner, Thomas 8th Bn Royal Berkshire & Gloucestershire Regt Glover, Frank Alfred Royal Flying Corps & RAF Greenwood, Cecil Henry 1/5th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Greenwood, George T Royal Engineers Greenwood, Victor F. Army Service Corps & Royal Fusiliers Greenwood, William John Royal Army Medical Corps Harvey, Thomas Gloucestershire Yeoman Head, Arthur George Royal Engineers Labour Corps

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Herbert, Charles W. Royal Army Service Corps Hewer, Thomas Henry Royal Field Artillery Heyden, Herbert John 8th & 12th Bn Gloucestershire & 1st Cheshire Bn Heyden, Reginald Alec Machine Gun Corps Heyden, Wilfred Walter Royal Garrison Artillery Heyden, William Thomas 12th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Holland, Albert Royal Army Service Corps Holland, Edwin John Gloucestershire Regt Holland, Ernest John 10th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Holland, Ernest Gloucestershire Regiment Holland, Joseph Royal Field Artillery Holland, Louis Royal Engineers Holland, Wilfred 1/5th Bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry Jackson, Harold Thomas British Red Cross Soc & KRRC & RFA Jackson, Walter John Gloucester Rgt and Royal Army Ord Corps Keen, Arthur Gerald Machine Gun Corps Keen, Wilfred Allen MM 8th Bn West Yorkshire Regiment & ASC Kirkland, Henry Royal Army Service Corps Lawrence, Archibald Machine Gun Corps & Tank Corps Lawrence, Arnold Royal Army Service Corps Lawrence, Bertie George Royal Engineers Lawrence, Cecil Harry Royal Army Service Corps Lawrence, Frederick John Royal Army Service Corps Lawrence, Gilbert Fry South Staffordshire Regiment Lawrence, Reginald 9th Bn Gloucestershire Regt & 816th L.Corps Leech, Ethelbert Royal Field Artillery Leech, Joseph Young 1st Grenadier Guards Leech, Leslie Harold Machine Gun Corps Leech, Wilfred Walter 3/6th Bn Gloucestershire Regt & 1st IW&D RE Leech, William Frederick 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Mabberley, Percy Royal Engineers Labour Corps Mackie, Lewis Gordon PPCLI (Canada) & 9th Bn KRRC Mackie, Marjory H. (Miss) Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps Mackie, Rupert William HM Hospital Ship MOREA Mackie, Thomas Oscar Royal Navy Mackie, Vesta Grace (Miss) Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps Marston, Charles 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers Martin, Norman MacDonald Indian Army, RFC & RAF Massey, Ernest Royal Garrison Artillery McTier, Ernest M. Royal Army Medical Corps Messenger, Wilfred Charles Tank Corps Miles, Frederick George Royal Garrison Arillery Miles, Herbert Cycle Corps & Tank Corps Millard, Thomas George Hampshire Regiment Miller, Edward Miller, Oliver P. Royal Army Medical Corps Mills, William Charles 1st & 5th Bn West Indies Regt and 8th Bn DCLI Minchin, Frederick C. Royal Navy Minchin, Ira John Yorkshire Light Infantry Morse, Albert Daniel Royal Field Artillery 196

Morse, Ernest Charles 8th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Morse, George 8th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Morse, Harry Lawson 8th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Morse, Thomas William Sherwood Foresters Regt (Notts & Derby) Munden, Cecil George Edgar Royal Engineers Munden, Reginald Wilfred Royal Bucks Hussars/Cyclist Regt & RGA Mustoe, Francis Coldstream Guards Newman, Henry Norman, Cyril Gilbert 9th Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Norman, William Royal Garrison Artillery Norman, William Royal Navy, WT Station, Seychelles Peachey, William John 9th Bn Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) Perry, Albert Mortimer 28th London Rifles & KRRC Pinchin, Ernest Devon Rgt and Labour Corps Robins, Alfred John (John) Royal Welsh Fusiliers and Royal Engineers Rooke, Arthur George Hampshire Gloucester Devon Labour Som LI Rooke, Francis (Frank) Royal Garrison Artillery (probably) Rooke, Frederick John 4th Bn Grenadier Guards Ruck, Henry Rudman, George Brunnell Royal Army Service Corps Scotford, Hector William MM Dorsetshire Regiment & KRRC Scotford, John Herbert Machine Gun Corps & Gloucestershire Regt Scotford, John Lloyd 13th Bn Devon Rgt and Labour Corps Seates, Henry Clement Royal Army Medical Corps Smith, Harry Stanley DCM 5th Bn Lincolnshire Regiment Spencer, William Royal Garrison Artillery Tee, Charles Royal Field Artillery Towlson, Vernon Edward Durham Light Infantry Regiment Townsend, Arthur Henry Trotman, John Christopher Gloucestershire Regiment Trotman, William F. Royal Navy Reserve Tucker, Fredrick Royal Engineer (Sig) Tucker, William Victor Royal Army Service Corps Vizor, Raymond A Gloucester Yeomen, Hussars Whiting, James George MM 2nd Bn Duke of Edinburgh's Wiltshire Regt Whiting, John Bernard 1/4 Bn Gloucestershire Regiment Whiting, Richard A . South Wales Border Regiment

Key

Names in green have been added to a new Roll of Honour panel by The Chedworth Remembers Project The names in red font are men who died whilst in service Names in black font are on the original Roll of Honour

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Men with the forces listed as absent voters in the Chedworth 1918 Electoral Register

Division I (entitled to vote in parliamentary and local elections)

Beames Alfred Charles Hill Close Blackwell Frederick James Smuggs Barn Boulton Arthur Charles The Laines Coates Ernest Frank Pancake Hill Greenwood George Thomas Adam’s Pool Greenwood William John Holywell Cottage Head Arthur George Bleakmoor Herbert Charles William Cheap Street Holland Edwin John New Road Holland Lewis Seven Tuns Inn Mabberley Allen Percy Middle Chedworth Mills William Charles Calves Hill Rudman George Brunnell Queen Street Scotford John Lloyd The Laines Spencer William Bleakmoor Townsend Arthur Henry The Laines

Division II (entitled to vote only in parliamentary elections)

Allington Albert Edward Rookery Allington John Ernest Rookery Arthurs Horace Patrick Harts Hill Arthurs Roland Harts Hill Broad Joseph James Lower Chedworth Coates Cecil Walter Queen Street Coates Homer Frank Queen Street Cosslett Edward Roman Villa Cosslett Stuart Roman Villa Danford Cyril Postcombe Day Victor Lower Chedworth Dayment Leonard Bleakmoor Fry Cyril Near Waggon & Horses Inn Fry George Edward Near Waggon & Horses Inn Gardener Thomas The Laines Glover Frank Alfred Clifden Cottage Greenwood Victor Church Row Greenwood Cecil Church Row Hewer Thomas Henry Chedworth Heyden Reginald Alec Middle Chedworth Heyden Herbert John Middle Chedworth Holland Albert Middle Chedworth Holland Ernest John Pinkwell Holland Reginald Joseph Pinkwell 198

Holland Wilfred Pinkwell Jackson George Post Office Jackson Harold Thomas Woodlands Farm Keen Arthur Gerald Reybrook Lane Keen Wilfred Allen Reybrook Lane Lawrence Archibald Queen Street Lawrence Arnold Queen Street Lawrence Cecil Harry Queen Street Lawrence Frederick John Well Hill Lawrence Gilbert Fry Queen Street Lawrence Reginald Queen Street Leech Ethelbert Queen Street Leech Lesllie Harold Queen Street Leech Wilfred Walter Queen Street Mackie Gordon The Vicarage Mackie Thomas Oscar The Vicarage Mackie Rupert William The Vicarage Martin Norman McDonald Delmar, Cheltenham Massey Ernest Fred Smuggs Barn Inn McTier Ernest Morris Queen Street R.A.M.C. Minchin Frerick Chapman The Navy Minchin Ira John 2 Cromer Street, Beverley Roasd, Hull Morse Albert Daniel Pinkwell Morse Ernest Cheap Street Morse Thomas William Cheap Street Miles Frederick George Newports Munden Cecil George Edgar Queen Street Munden Reginald Wilfred Queen Street Newman Henry Longfurlong Farm Norman William Church Row Perry Albert Mortimer Mount Pleasant Pinchin Ernest Queen Street Robins Alfred John Calves Hill Rooke Arthur George Near Cheap Street Rooke Francis Near Cheap Street Ruck Henry Woodside Cottage Scotford John Herbert Bleakmoor Scotford Hector William Bleakmoor Seates Henry Clent Near Waggon & Horses Inn Trotman William Frederick Hutnage Tucker Fred Ballengers Row Tucker William Victor Ballengers Row Vizor Raymond Alfred Waggon & Horses Inn Whiting Alfred Queen Street Whiting John Bernard Queen Street

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Men with the forces listed as absent voters in the Chedworth Autumn 1919 Electoral Register

Division I (entitled to vote in parliamentary and local elections)

Beames Alfred Charles Hill Close Head Arthur George Bleakmoor Mabberley Allen Percy Middle Chedworth Mills William Charles Post Office

Division II (entitled to vote only in parliamentary elections)

Dayment Leonard Thomas Bleakmoor Fry George Edward Near Waggon & Horses Inn Holland Albert Middle Chedworth Jackson George Post Office Jackson Walter John Woodlands Farm Keen Arthur Gerald Reybrook Lane Keen Wilfred Allen Reybrook Lane Lawrence Archibald Queen Street Leech Leslie Harold Queen Street Mackie Lewis Gordon The Vicarage Mackie Rupert William The Vicarage Mackie Thomas Oscar The Vicarage McTier Ernest Morris Queen Street Millard Thomas George Middle Chedworth Minchin Frederick Chapman The Navy Morse Thomas William Cheap Street Munden Reginald Wilfred Queen Street Mustoe Francis Fred Ballengers Row Newman William Church Row Perry Albert Mortimer Mount Pleasant Robins Alfred John Calves Hill Rooke Arthur George Near Cheap Street Ruck Harry Woodside Tucker Fred Ballengers Row Whiting John Bernard Queen Street

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The Chedworth Brass Band of 1905

Chedworth has a long and proud history of bands (brass now silver) – a tradition that continues through today (2019).

The band purchased the Primitive Methodist Chapel (Middle Chedworth) and have used it as a practice room for over 65 years.

This is a photograph of the Chedworth band taken in 1905. The photograph includes many men who were to become Great War soldiers, several of whom become military musicians (see the Albert Broad diary starting on page 155).

1905 Chedworth Brass Band

Left to right

Back Row Justin Fry, Chris Lawrence, Jack Lawrence, Walter Day

Mid Row Philip Coates, George Greenwood, William Broad, William Greenwood, Oliver Bartlett, Bert Leach

Front Row Bert Lawrence, Harry Allington, Victor Day, Arthur Pinchin, Cecil Coates

Note: Names in red indicate future Chedworth Great War soldiers

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Notes about other soldiers

Ralph Norman

On the back of his grand-parents gravestone in the Chedworth Congregational Chapel burial ground there is an inscription recording the death of Ralph Norman of Bamborough, 60282 9th Bn Royal Welsh Fusiliers who was killed in action 22nd March 1918.

As Ralph had no direct association with Chedworth his story is not further recorded in this book.

Thomas Charles Scotford

Thomas Scotford has been difficult to research. There are inconsistencies in the few records that survive but the following outline story has been ascertained:

Thomas was born in Chedworth in 1895 to parents Thomas Scotford (senior) and Ann Stevens. Thomas was a carpenter and in 1901 the family lived at Brook Cottage off Hawke Lane, Chedworth. Ann was the second wife to Thomas and they had 5 children of whom Thomas Charles was the youngest.

Thomas (senior) died in 1903 (he had been born in 1821). In the 1911 census Thomas (junior) is enumerated as a Plough Boy living with Mr & Mrs Jones outside Northleach and his mother Ann (named Elizabeth in army records) is an inmate of the Union Poor House at Northleach.

Thomas enlisted in the Gloucestershire Infantry Regiment (7th Battalion #10190) at Cirencester and attested on 14th August 1914. He was a carter when he enlisted and it is recorded that his height was 5ft 4 1/2 inch and that he weighed 118 lbs. On 28 October 1914 he was discharged as the medical officer assessed that he was unlikely to become an efficient soldier.

Thomas was obviously keen to serve his country and on 23rd November 1914 he enlisted in the Royal Navy ( #Bristol Z/354) at HMS Crystal Palace but on 11th December 1914 he was transferred to the Royal Marine Division Train ( #Deal/1723 S) presumably because of his experience of working with horses.

Between 1 -27 March 1915 Thomas was transported on the troopship SS Cesrian as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli) to Egypt. Thomas is next recorded on 21st August 1915 as being admitted to the 17th General Hospital at Alexandria suffering from pneumonia then on 25 August he was dangerously ill with enteric fever (typoid) and on 17th September at 1145 a.m. he died at the age of 20.

Thomas is honoured on the war memorial at Aldsworth (his mother’s village).

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The first Chedworth Volunteer list. See Page 173

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Was it this poster that lured Walter Dodwell (see page 41) to join the P.O. Rifles?

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