Brace yourself Britain, the Canadians are coming!

Proudly bearing arms, a battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force

This post is my small tribute to the volunteer soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who helped Britain fight the Great War. Their reputation as fighters was second to none and as they began arriving in this country on their way to the Front, disembarking from ships in in large numbers, loud, brash and eager, it was clear they would take some getting used to!

At the turn of last century we Brits were a modest, mild-mannered lot. We liked our homes and gardens, we had no wish to travel further than the nearest seaside resort, and most of us were quite happy to abide by the established Edwardian social order in which everyone knew their place. Such folk had departed Britannia's shores in their droves during the early 1900s to make a new life for themselves in Canada, but their sons who returned were a different breed completely. Coming from a country that was huge and wide open, many found Britain stiflingly small ... and weren't afraid to say so.

The extract below is from my new book 'Letters from the Trenches' and describes the arrival of George Lamb, a bank clerk from Kamsack in Saskatchewan, in 1916. A tougher character you couldn't wish to find, although he had plenty of charm too.

English trains 'sure were a joke' said George Lamb

Coming from a land of wide open spaces, everything about the ‘old country’ seemed tiny to Lamb and his fellow Canadians. When they arrived in Liverpool, they could hardly believe the size of the train and the box-like little carriages that awaited them: ‘Eight men were put in each contrivance and there you were shut off from the rest of the train in this stuffy little room, they sure are a joke, their engines are about the size of a threshing engine’ he wrote. Interestingly, an American airman, Ned Steel, used very similar words to describe his first impressions of Liverpool when he there landed in 1918, en route to France: ‘With a squad to each compartment on our funny little coaches we started across “Merry Old England”, the dinky little engine quite surprising us with its speed. What a beautiful country.'

Lamb wasn’t blind to England’s bucolic charm either and he acknowledged it in letters home: ‘The scenery is beautiful and trees are still quite green, the hedges are cut off by the men who own the land and kept in fine shape.’ But such descriptions were now and again tempered by coarser observations: ‘The streets and roads are so narrow a person can spit across them.’

Not exactly what we were used to, but his heart was in the right place! There are plenty more of Lamb's colourful letters in my book - details of which are at the top of the page on the left - but I should warn you that his story does not have a happy ending. In my next post I'll tell you what sort of impression the Aussies made.

Letters from the Trenches pays tribute to 'everyman'

I'm thrilled and proud to say that 'Letters from the Trenches' has now been published!

Yes, the book that inspired me to start this blog in July 2012 is now out, and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. When I was asked to write Letters from the Trenches by Pen and Sword Books I knew very little about the primary sources that were available and I assumed I would be making trips to archives, museums and libraries to dig around in their collections. But no. The vast majority of my material came from ordinary people whose families had passed letters, diaries and photos down through the generations, and who got in touch because they wanted their stories told, and their relatives remembered.

And that gives you an idea about the sort of book it is. 'Letter from the Trenches' tells the story of 'everyman' - men, women and children just like us who lived through four extraordinary years of conflict.

History has a tendency to 'compartmentalise' and, as a result, the First World War in often talked about in terms of themes: plucky 'munitionettes', innocent volunteers sent to the slaughter, self-sacrificing Red Cross nurses, poets who railed against trench warfare, conscientious objectors who stood their ground and refused to fight.

But reality, of course, was very different ... as my book shows.

• For every plucky 'munitionette' there was a mother at home fretting about how she would cope without her husband: ‘If only our little homes and our children’s welfare could be made secure. How many happy mothers would be able to bear the separation better, and how many soldiers would gladly do their bit the more contentedly?’

• For every quietly-serving Red Cross nurse there was another with a mind of her own: ‘Went round with a nurse who did dressings, I put on bandages, one awful one on groin (disgusting) did it badly.’

• For every volunteer whose life was lost needlessly, there was another who found the war was exactly what he had been looking for : 'Please don’t think I am unhappy or miserable I am just the reverse and enjoying all the fun.'

• For every conscientious objector who refused to fight, there were far more who kept their objections to themselves: ‘I am sorry to tell you I am going to France on Monday next, quick work isn’t it?’

• And for every poet who shed light on the horror of the trenches, there was another eloquent soldier who accepted the way things were and even tried to see the funny side: 'What dugouts there are, are flooded with mud and water up to the knees and the rats hold swimming galas in them.'

This is the way things really were. And it's only when we understand that those who lived through the Great War were not a different, stoical, noble breed, but people just like us, that we can comprehend what they really went through.

I hope you enjoy the book.

Sit up straight! It's time to dig out the school logs of 1914

Eyes straight ahead and hands out of sight: a class photo from 1914

Old letters and diaries are among the most popular primary sources for anyone researching the social history of a particular period in time. But there are many others of course. Reports of the old assizes courts bristle with fascinating detail and, on another tack completely, so do the school logs that used to be kept by all headteachers. School logs proved very useful when I was writing my book Bristol in the Great War (published September 2014) and they are bringing colour to the book I am writing at the moment, Dorchester, Weymouth and Portland in the Great War (out next year).

Below is a taste of these logs from 100 years ago. They were kept during the winter of 1914, just after the Great War had started, at schools around Bristol and on the Isle of or the Isle of Portland, Dorset. You won't find anything earth-shattering in the entries, but with mentions of the war, whooping cough, laundry classes and coal fires, the details could not be more evocative of a bygone age ...

Hambrook Evangelical School
                 

November 23 - Some wounded soldiers visited the school this pm. The time table was suspended and the soldiers were entertained with country dancing & some patriotic songs.

November 27 - I [the headmaster] have obtained permission to attend the funeral of my uncle & to be absent for 2 or 3 days to assist my aunt, who is very aged, in making her arrangements for the future. Mrs Luff will take charge of the school during my absence.

Brinkworthy School, Stapleton

November 26 - To date 45 exclusions have been made for whooping cough.

November 30 - Received notice from LEA [Local Education Authority] that in view of the present circumstances, it has been decided that until 31^st March next the school hours shall be from 2 to 4.15 in the afternoon.Two more exclusions for whooping cough were forwarded today.

Deccember 7 - School was closed by permission of LEA on Dec 7^th & 8^th for the purposes of a school play in aid of the school and War distress funds, and in which all the children were taking part.

 

All Saints School, Winterbourne Down


November 18 - The School visited by Mr Ward, to see about Laundry Classes. It was decided that none should be held at present.

November 26 - Colonel Lister, HMI [His Majesty's Inspector], visited the School late in the afternoon to speak about some bad behaviour at woodwork and cookery classes.

November 30 - School opened at 9.40, a service having been held at Church at 8.45.

December 4 - Owing to stormy weather, only 13 Infants were present in the afternoon, and the register was not marked.


Frenchay National School

November 9 - Miss Whale absent all day at London to be inoculated against typhoid fever, having volunteeered as a red Cross nurse for active service.


St George's Infant School, Portland

September 15 - Began coal fires today.

November 5 & 6 - Half day holiday each day, though owing to war there is no fair.

November 15 - Half day holiday there being a bazaar in the Jubilee Hall in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund and the fund for providing clothing for the Soldiers and Sailors.

***

These school logs are held by Frenchay Village Museum and the Portland Heritage Trust - my grateful thanks to both.

Armistice Day - the view from 1918

A hundred year after the armistice was signed, lavish commemorations are being held up and down the country and all over the world to mark the event. But for those who believe the pomp and ceremony is starting to take on a life of its own, here's what it felt like for the ordinary people who were actually there on 11 November 1918...

Private Tom Fake, of the Rifle Brigade, writes to his wife from the Western Front:

‘This is the day we have been looking forward to, hostilities ceased at 11 o’clock this morning, so I guess it’s fairly safe out here now with the exception of accidents. Of course we have to be on the alert in case of anything re-starting. But I did not think when I wrote my last letter to you that it would come so soon. Well, my dear, I can tell you I am more than glad for I have had more than enough of it lately, and thank God he has brought me through. I am quite well, but owing to marching etc I am as sore as though I have been kicked all over.’

Later he added: ‘I think the day the armistice was signed or rather the morning hostilities ceased was the most miserable day I have had since I have been out here, and all I feel is roll on the time when I am free once more.’ 

Maude Boucher, a Bristol mother of four, kept journal she kept throughout the war:

'The hooters from the ships were all sounded and the church bells pealed forth, so we understood the good news was true ... The workpeople at many of the big factories and laundries put on their hats and coats and left their work and in the majority of cases would not return again any more that week. Everyone got very excited and the streets were soon crowded with people and flags were seen flying everywhere.’ 

Eight-year-old Olive Fairclough, of Colchester, writing to her father in the Machine Gun Corps:

‘You better hurry up and come home now peace has come because we want either to spend Christmas or the new year with you. Yesterday, the day peace was declared, the soldiers were singing and shouting wrapping themselfs in flags and dancing catching the girl and some of them got in long trails and shouting left right all the time.'

Lance Corporal Stanley Goodhead of the Royal Engineers, one of the first to enter newly-liberated Belgium:

‘I shall never forget the day we landed in Ostend from Calais, on our arrival the people went mad with joy, kissing us, shaking hands, hugging us, and in every manner possible they showered their thanks on the “English Gentlemen” as they called us. I was carted off for tea at a large house near the Grand Promenade, and along with three other men entertained to music and dancing.'

Captain Warren Sandes, of the Royal Engineers, a prisoner of war in Turkey since 1916:

‘The loss of liberty is a severe punishment and becomes more and more irksome as time goes on. But the full rigours of captivity are not felt till the prison is reached and the doors are closed...Not until we settle down to the dreary monotony of monastic prison life among a semi-civilised people did the iron really enter into our souls. Some went to pieces under the strain. Most did not. Work was found to be the panacea for all ills, and those who worked hardest were the least affected.’

These extracts are taken from my new book 'Letters from the Trenches' which is published on 30 November and tells the story of the First World War in the words of those who were there. Lest we forget.

The face of our 'St Paul's Hero' is revealed!

The gallant Private Thomas Orr

More information has come to light - as well as a photograph (right) - about Private Thomas Orr, the gallant soldier I wrote about on September 30 and October 3, who featured in a poem called 'A St Paul's Hero' that was published in a local Bristol paper early in the war.

After reading my posts, Elliot Metcalfe got in touch to say that his research had revealed the following about Private Orr:

'He originally joined the Devon Royal Garrison Artillery Militia in March 1904. In June of the same year he joined the Gloucestershire Regiment as a regular soldier. He went over to France with the 1st Battalion in August 1914. In October 1914 he was mentioned in despatches. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in December 1914. His citation states "For gallantry in going forward 100 yards, on 19th September, to pick up a wounded scout, and helping to bring him in under heavy fire". He was later transferred to the Royal Fusiliers and became Sergeant.'

Western Daily Press
10 December, 1914

Had fortune smiled on Thomas Orr in 1914, he would have lined up in France to receive his medal from none other than King George V himself, according to a report in the Western Daily Press from December 1914, left, that was sent to me by Robert Bickers:

'The battalion was drawn up in single file on both sides of the road near their billets in a pretty French village. Bright sunny weather favoured the Royal visit. His Majesty remarked upon the fine appearance of the men and took the opportunity of presenting the distinguished conduct medal to Private George Law, of the Battalion.'

Private Law had been involved in the same act of bravery as Orr, but sadly Orr had since been wounded and was now laid up in hospital (as described in 'A St Paul's Hero'). He must have been kicking himself!

The newspaper goes on to give more details about the battlefield rescue:

'An outpost sentry was wounded and a second sentry came in to report the casualty. As the report was being made the wounded man was seen crawling towards the trench. Private Law, accompanied by Private Orr, immediately went out to his aid, and succeeded carrying him to a place of safety under heavy fire. Private Orr has since been wounded but has been awarded a similar medal.'

My thanks to Elliot Metcalfe and Robert Bickers for their research and the photograph, which was published in the January 1915 edition of Bristol and the War.

Cavalryman's 1914 diary - the early days of war

 

Sgt George Fairclough in India, where
he was stationed before the war

In October 1914 the first phase of war in Europe was drawing to a close and what had begun as a mobile campaign would soon become mired in the trench warfare most of us associate with the Western Front. As both sides worked their way westwards towards the coast in an attempt to outflank each other, cavalryman Sergeant George Fairclough kept a diary which noted the relentless labour of each day, and how motor transport was rendering horses less and less useful.

Sunday, October 4^th 
We crossed the River Aisne at last after a fortnight’s halt. We crossed at a pontoon bridge thrown across by the French as the iron bridge was completely wrecked by the Germans.

All the cavalry are to concentrate on the Allies’ left wing, and having left our other troops behind we are now among the French. The troops marched 45 miles and camped at Trier. There was terrible gun fire going on all night.

Monday 5^th
Marched 35 miles and camped at Dormat-sur-la-Luce.

Tuesday 6^th
We marched out but we had only gone about four miles when we were stopped by a motor car and sent back. We stood to all day, there was heavy firing going on all day.

Wednesday 7^th
We were sent to assist the French force that had been driven out of their positions, but our men weren’t required after all as some French infantry reinforcements had arrived in motor lorries after travelling all night. There is not much use for cavalry at the present.

We have been travelling north-west each day to try to get around the enemy’s right flank – no fighting.

Monday 12^th
Came into contact with the enemy early in the morning in dense fog, the 4^th Lancers had five wounded, the  16^th had one officer, one sergeant, and one private killed and several wounded.

In the afternoon two troops of ‘C’ squadron took a hill with a monastery, the Mont-des-Cats, on top.  My troop acted as the rear guard. The Germans, firing from fox holes killed Captain Gatacre.
My troop retired, and being fired upon dismounted for action, I had led the horses and came under shell fire. We were lucky to have no casualties. Billeted at Fletre.

Tuesday 13^th
It was pouring with rain all day, we got drenched. We passed through lines of French infantry to get in touch with the enemy. We had a sharp fight which developed into a general engagement as our infantry came up. Mr Lonsdale and four men were wounded.

Wednesday 14^th
We had a sharp fight but no casualties.

Thursday 15^th
Still in contact, one corporal has been hit.

Friday 16^th
Dense fog impeded movements, as it cleared we got in touch. Corporals Wakefield and Smythe were killed and Sergeant Dillon, Corporal Davis and another man of ‘C’ Squadron wounded. General Gough got the 4^th and the 16^th Lancers to trail a gun, by hand, up to within 200 yards of a barricade of a village where Germans were billeting ad then blew the barricade to bits. We took the village, but then had to retire. The Germans, afterwards, spent the whole night knocking the village to bits. They probably thought we were still there! There was beautiful furniture used to barricade the streets.

Saturday 17th
We had no casualties but the 5^th had several including one sergeant killed.

I have learnt since that in the action my troops had taken part on the 12^th, the monks from the monastery had picked up and buried 17 German dead and several wounded. The Prince Max of Hesse was among them. 

You can read more of George Fairclough's diaries and his dramatic story in my new book Letters from the Trenches which is published in November.

(Copyright © 2014 Jacqueline Wadsworth)

A breakthrough in the search for gallant Private Orr!

Private TH Orr's bravery is recorded in the
Citations of the Distinguished Conduct Medal

Could this be the the First World War soldier who was lauded in the columns of a Bristol newspaper for 'saving a chum under fire!' on the battlefield?

In my last post I published a verse called 'St Paul's Hero' which praised the bravery of a Private T Orr who risked his life saving a wounded comrade. The verse was discovered on a yellowing cutting that was tucked inside an old bible and I asked if anyone had any idea who the soldier could have been.

He was described in the verse as 'a Glo'ster' (soldier of the Gloucestershire Regiment) and there was some indication that he and his wife ran a business in the St Paul's area of Bristol.

Within hours of my post going up, Sarah Spink, an amateur researcher, got in touch to suggest that the man in question may have been Private Thomas Henry Orr who served with the First Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment (Regimental No 7640) and who, according to the 'UK Citations of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914-1920', above, was decorated 'For gallantry in going forward 100 yards, on 19th September, to pick up a wounded scout, and helping to bring him in under heavy fire'.

Sarah's research also showed that Private Orr was born in the Eastville district of Bristol in 1887, and was married in the city in 1913. At the time of the 1911 Census he was serving with the Gloucestershire Regiment and his wife-to-be worked as a confectioner's shop assisant.

If anyone can confirm Sarah's findings, or tell us any more about Private Orr and his connection to St Paul's, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Sarah has also tried to shed light on the identity of RW French, who wrote the verse. 'I have seen several references to a RW French of Bristol on the British Newspaper Archive website, who was on the National Executive of Credit Traders in the 1940s and the Western Executive in the 1930s,' she said. 'Possibly the same one of Bristol who is referred to as being a Presbyterian Church Speaker in 1945.'

This isn't the first time Sarah has helped 'Letters from the Trenches' with its inquiries. Two years ago she managed to track down the family of another WW1 soldier, Ernest West, which resulted in two half-brothers meeting for the first time. I thank her very much for taking such a lively interest.