The Beachley Old Boys’ Association Newsletter Edition No. 23 ~ April 2017 Beachley POW Camp Centenary Beachley Prisoner of War Camp View Lageransicht 1917 Contents President’s Thoughts ............................................ 2 & 3 GPF Balance Sheet ..........................................25 & 26 Reunion 2016 ................................................... 4, 5 & 6 Membership Report .................................................. 27 In The Beginning ........................................ 7, 8, 9 & 10 Standing Order & NOK Forms ..........................28 & 29 Heritage .................................................................... 11 Memories (from Old Boys) ......................... 30, 31 & 32 Walter carr ................................................................ 12 John Furley ............................................................... 32 Reunion 2017 ........................................................... 13 General Information .................................................. 33 Peter Burridge........................................................... 14 More Memories (from Old Boys) .......................34 & 35 Editor’s First Hurrah .................................................. 15 WW1 Battlefields Visit ............................................... 35 In Memoriam ............................................................. 16 BOBA Shop .......................................................36 & 37 Cenotaph 2016 ......................................................... 17 From The Fairway .............................................38 & 39 Committee Members Details .................................... 18 Golf Entry Form ......................................................... 40 2016 AGM Minutes ................... 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24 Page 2 Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ President’s Thoughts The President’s thoughts for 2017 - 18 I greet you well and hope that you will read what is following !!!!!! Last year we were talking about the loss of Malcolm Hay – this year yet more great losses in that John Furley lost his 30 year battle against the dreaded Cancer. Four very major operations, the last one the amputation of his left leg, very few years when he was not under treatment. RIP John. The final loss was that of Peter Burridge, our ‘resident’ Reunion Organiser. Peter had guided the Association through every Reunion since we re-formed in 1994 and will be sadly missed by all. BIG HOLES IN THE COMMITTEE. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE As those who attended last years Reunion will know that we did not get a volunteer from the committee to succeed Brian as Chairman so I became ‘double hatted’. We owe Brian a great deal of gratitude for his 12 years of sterling work as our Chairman. We have, luckily, not lost his experience as he has taken over the duties of Treasurer. Elsewhere you will see the make-up of the revamped Committee. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT or a 22 YEAR STEP BACKWARDS (I first became Chairman in 1995) The Chairman’s ravings for 2017 - 18 VERY MANY CHANGES PLANNED FOR THE ASSOCIATION. Some of the major changes – We now have a team organising/running the Reunion. The Friday Night ‘Get Together’ function will be held in Chepstow at the Beaufort Hotel rather than at Beachley (Camp) Barracks. We are trying to ease the time that committee members spend travelling to meetings by only having one full committee meeting per year, all other meetings will be for separate groups as needed – we think they can carry out their duties from home and use the modern communications methods to keep the remainder of the committee informed. It is my hope that this will enable some of the younger members to volunteer for committee posts (our aim is to have all posts covered by a second member who could take over in case of illness). We still need a Secretary as Derek Walker will stand down at this coming AGM, again we can divide the work between two people if needed – who knows we may get one of the wives/partners willing to join the committee as a Secretary !!!!!!!!! Volunteers please contact me before or at the AGM. With the eminent closure of Dewstow Golf Club, Alf and Geoff (Tony Battle has had to give up the organisation owing to poor health) have been out and about to secure The Bells Club at Coleford for this year’s Tournament. Only time will tell if we have arranged this correctly !!!!! Changes Yes – we hope they will gain your approval but be sure to let us have your views at the AGM or later – only constructive criticism please. The 2017 Reunion Chris and his team have worked wonders to put together the Reunion package and at a very long committee meeting, after much discussion, managed to have it all accepted. IT IS NOW UP TO YOU to SUPPORT THEM by ATTENDING. Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ President’s Thoughts Page 3 The Cenotaph Parade – last year was the lowest turnout ever – I hope that more attend this year or we will find our allocation of tickets reduced. Already 5 have asked to be put on the list. Remember we now need, for uprated security, details as they would appear on a passport or other photographic document: Full Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth and in addition your Military Number and a contact phone number. We were honoured last November to have Sgt Derek Cantellow from the Royal Hospital Chelsea to join us on parade – he was first to ask for a place this year. We expect to have only 30 tickets so make you bid early. BOBA Open Golf – Like the Cenotaph Parade, last year’s attendance was the lowest recorded – COME ON WE NEED PLAYERS, Ladies are very welcome, if the golf is to continue. I know that there are lots more that could turn out – it’s not at all that serious (or I would not be playing !!) Membership – I make no bones – This is very much your responsibility, if every member managed to recruit just one ex BRAT to join we would have very few problems over the next 10 years or so. 66 groups had a wonderful turnout for the Saturday Dinner – can 67 groups equal that or better still beat them??? AGM – This is the one meeting that shapes our future where you can have your say, make decisions, volunteer for committee duty and support the efforts of the present committee PLEASE MAKE A DETERMINED EFFORT TO ATTEND. See you all in September and hope the 67 Groups have a good turnout. May Fair winds propel you in your chosen direction. Syd. “Something” bucket is empty. This is an empty space and I wanted something to fill it with but my Therefore this empty space must remain “Somethingless”. Page 4 Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ Reunion 2016 Two photographs of The 1966 Groups Table Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ Reunion 2016 Page 5 Page 6 Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ Reunion 2016 Who has forgotten the hours spent on the square? Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ In The Beginning Page 7 Some more information has come to light about the early history of the Camp where we took so much for granted during our relatively short sojourns there. After all as we are growing older the three years that most of us were incarcerated there was only a small period in time. A book of photographs has been very kindly donated to The Beachley Old Boys’ Association (BOBA) by the owners. The book was originally presented to a Mr. J. Rendle of Cardiff by the German Prisoner of War shown in the photograph on the left. This eventually came into the possession of his daughter who magnanimously presented it to BOBA Heritage. Note that Mr. J. Rendle’s name has been handwritten on the first internal page. Ken Reader (Co-opted - Ad Hoc assistance Committee member) kindly took on the task of scanning the book so that we would all be able to see some of the contents in The Echoes. The book was then passed to Tony Waite to enable him to collate some further information. Here is Tony’s update on his actions:- I have recently met up with the Tidenham Historians and handed the booklet over to them for "Research" purposes on an interim loan agreement, (it remains the intellectual property of BOBA). They were absolutely thrilled with it, as it significantly compliments recent records about the POW Camp at Beachley, that they were able to obtain from the International Red Cross in Geneva. They are currently finalising a book on the History of Beachley which will be published shortly before our September Reunion. They have sent me a thank you letter. They sincerely want to work with BOBA and I have suggested they might like to put on a stand as part of our Heritage display and they would be very keen to do this, at the very least we will get 10 times the co-operation than we would from Chepstow Museum. I am publishing some of the photographs from the book in this year’s Echoes and also using one for the frontispiece. Page 8 Beachley Old Boys’ Association ~ In The Beginning Beachley 1917 Eleven Days to Evacuate In September 1917, residents in Beachley were forced to evacuate their homes to make way for a shipyard that, ultimately, never produced a single ship. Under the Defence of the Realm Act, villagers on the peninsular were given eleven days to vacate their properties, sort their belongings, animals and find a new home. Although compensation had been promised, many did not receive a penny until well after the war. Earlier that year the Germans declared unrestricted warfare on merchant vessels meaning they might torpedo ships without a warning. Between January and July 1917 alone, 794 British merchant vessels were sunk and lost at sea. These vessels carried supplies to keep the nation going, so the government decided it was in the country’s best interests to take over Beachley, open a shipyard and build more ships. To do this, many homes had to be requisitioned. Over 100 residents had their lives disrupted. Fishermen, hoteliers, landlords and villagers were forced to leave their homes, many with nowhere to go. Colonel Marling, a local land owner, campaigned to get compensation for the residents and took in some of them. In December 1917, building work started, a railway system was driven into Beachley through Sedbury and a Prisoner of War (PoW) camp opened.