Moving into a Post-war World: late 1918 and early 1919

I can’t imagine how that festive season would have felt, 1918-19. After all, Christmas 1918 fell only just over a month after the Armistice. Most servicemen were still far from home, shops were still experiencing shortages, and many families had lost one or more deeply cherished members. Unsurprisingly, Christmas that year was described as ‘quiet’ and ‘domestic’, with ‘sadness in many homes’.

Deeply aware of the physical legacy of war, people were keen to continue fund-raising. In Bisley:

A Carol League was formed the second week in November and six or seven practices of special music were held. A band of carollers, led by Mr Bloodworth [the school master], paraded Bisley and Eastcombe on Christmas Eve and the evening of Christmas Day and over £10 was collected. The four-part music, very tunefully rendered in the open air to the accompaniment of a portable harmonium, gave much pleasure.

More money was contributed at a variety concert held in the school on New Year’s Day, giving a total of £25 for St Dunstan’s Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors. Obviously ‘carolling for St Dunstan’s’ was a thing, because a similar  initiative took place in Stroud, where £70 12/4d was raised over ‘fourteen consecutive evenings’. A letter to the ‘Journal’, published on 17th January, compares 1918’s total favourably with that of 1917 (£54 3/5d) and 1916 (£25).

There was yet another ‘flu burial at France Lynch. Reginald E Barrett, a boy of only 17, had died on Christmas Eve. He had worked at Chalford Aerodrome, and also done war work in Birmingham, and the ‘Journal’ commented:

…his death adds to the already long list of boys who from the hamlet of France Lynch have laid down their lives either on active service, or in helping their comrades at the front.

Further mention was made of Douglas Webster’s Military Cross, the ‘Journal’ quoting his local Canadian newspaper (in Regina, Saskatchewan), ‘The Morning Leader’, which gave a summary of his enlistment in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in October 1914, his promotion to Sergeant in the Signallers, and later to Lieutenant. The paper went on to describe how he had won the medal for his actions near Amiens ‘clearing out a machine gun nest’. Mainly, the paper was interested in his pre-war civilian life, as a keen footballer:

Lieut Webster will be best remembered by the soccer fooball fraternity of the city, among whom he was known as the sterling right half of the old United Club. In France he maintained his football reputation as a good defence man in games between the Canadians and Imperials…

His father Frank, the probable source of the Canadian cutting, had been busily engaged writing a poem for the welcome home event held for returned POWs at the Primrose Hall on 17th January:

He compered the evening, congratulating the men ‘on being alive, on having survived a diet of black bread and dirty water, yclept [called] soup,the brutality of the big booted Hun, and that they had not been entirely eaten up by unmentionable creepy-crawlies’. There was sufficient money left over from fund-raising to provide every man with a sovereign and a packet of cigarettes.

Percy Abel, Sam Browning, Percy Creed, G. Davis, E. Gardiner, Bernie Gardiner, Frank Howell (who – the next edition of the paper said – ‘is not given to talking of his experience’) and Claude Mills were all present for the presentation of ‘a handsome travelling clock and umbrella’ to Miss Mabel Grist in gratitude for all her ‘splendid energy’ and hard work in organising the parcels sent to servicemen during the war. Private Smart (whom we have not identified) was still in hospital, and Alfred Harmer, from Toadsmoor, had died – ‘the gathering stood in silence when the chairman called his name’.

Percy Abel ‘spoke his deep appreciation…and believed that very few of them would have been alive now but for the food received from England’. There then followed a little concert.

The Bread Order was still in place, forbidding the sale of bread under 12 hours old, and coal was short.

The Hinton-Joneses were the instigators of another fund-raiser for St Dunstan’s – a  production by the school of  ‘Princess Chrysanthemum’, a popular operetta set in Japan, by C. King Proctor, performed at the Primrose Hall in late January. The ‘pretty oriental dresses’ and stage set with coloured lanterns and butterflies obviously made an attractive sight on a wet January evening, and the local performers were enthusiastically reviewed in the local paper:

…the Baby Butterflies was an improvisation and not actually a part of the operetta. It was a delightful addition to a composition brimming over with brightness and melody…

Bubbling along below the surface were urgent political discussions on the scarcity of housing, and public disquiet about the slow demobilisation of soldiers, sailors and airmen. The columnist ‘Jonathan’, writing on 10th January, refers to the resentment felt by many, going on to say:

At least the men who have broken the bounds of discipline have been handled with care, possibly because Bolshevism is too near to our shores to permit of bureaucratic sternness with Thomas Atkins…

He speculates that the disruption caused by the election, and the promises made during the campaign of ‘speedy demobilisation’ can’t have helped matters, but that ‘anybody with the capacity for thought must have known that a huge Army could not be disbanded by a stroke of the pen, and particularly having regard to the disturbed condition of Central Europe’ – where, after all, the trouble had all started.

A week later, the ‘Journal’ prints a digest of an article in ‘The Daily News’, which describes the ‘fears…in official circles’ that on the contrary, the demobilisation might be too rapid:

A high authority pointed out… that “the war is not yet over,” and that “Great Britain, in proportion to its military strength, must maintain an Army of Occupation on the Rhine for many months to come.

Apparently there is a new factor in the situation, which means that our object must no longer be rapid demobilisation, but the securing of the “fruits of victory”.

The intention seemed to be the creation of a dedicated ‘Army of Occupation’ – with strong discipline and decent pay, using ‘those categories of men who have done least during the war’ (this would not be likely to include those over 35). There was already a military presence in Russia, supporting the White Russians. The logistics of demobilising large numbers of troops was referred to:

Some misunderstanding may be caused by the statement which has been made that within a short time demobilisation may take place at a rate of 50,000 a day. While transport might be available to enable this to be done, it is understood that 40,000 a day is the highest number that can actually be dealt with.

Scraps from December 1918

In early December, both Trevor and Douglas Webster were back in the village on leave. Douglas was expecting to be summoned to the Palace to receive his Military Cross from the King. There was news of another local lad who had fought with the Canadians, Pte Albert Edward Watts, son of Mr Watts of the White Horse, Frampton Mansell:

Pte Watts experienced a glorious time on the Canadians’ entry into Mons last month. He and others were relieved of everything they were carrying by the delighted inhabitants, who could not do too much for the Canadians…

There was more consciousness-raising about V.D., which was obviously a major public health concern, as men returned from service overseas:

Those who ‘wait and see’ may well see terrible things…False shame is sheer folly. The doctor is not there to blame but to cure. Do not be frightened of going to the doctor, be frightened of the disease…

The General Election was held on Saturday December 14th, the first in which most men and many women could vote. The Stroud seat was contested by Sir Aston Lister, a Liberal, on behalf of the Lloyd George/Bonar Law Coalition, and Captain C.W. Kendall, for the Labour Party. Enthusiasm for the poll was not marked – the election was felt to have been called too soon after the end of the fighting, when much was still not settled; the influenza epidemic was still raging; most servicemen were still away. In Chalford, the electorate was listed as 1483, absent voters numbered 285. According to the Journal, reporting on the election in the whole district:

A heavy poll was not anticipated, and the first few hours were deadly dull, so dull that apathy seemed to have taken hold of the electorate. As the morning wore on, however, activity became more marked, and at noon, when the mills and factories closed, the presiding officers…were given a more busy time, the ladies making things hum to some tune, in more senses than one. In the agricultural districts, polling was leisurely but continuous throughout…The weather was disappointing…Many old ladies displayed a fine example of zeal for country by voting…

‘Jonathan’ commented: ‘It was interesting to watch married couples sallying forth together to record their Parliamentary vote…’

The results were not announced until 28th December, a whole fortnight later: a victory for the Coalition – Lister won by 4912 votes.

The Stroud News anticipated a ‘frugal Christmas’, ‘the scarcity and high prices of the usual Christmas fare’, and the ‘cost of children’s toys will also limit the range of selection in many homes’:

…Nevertheless, now that the dark cloud has lifted, Christmas should be a joyous and happy festival…

 

The Return of the POWs

By late November, prisoners of war were arriving back home. Among those newly released were Claude Mills and Bernie Gardiner, who had enlisted together, two years underage, early on in the war – obviously thinking it all a huge adventure. They had, as recounted earlier in these pages, taken part in much vicious fighting, especially at Hebertine and Festubert in 1916. Claude Mills, ‘going ahead too quickly’, had been captured at Festubert, and spent the rest of the war in German camps. Bernie Gardiner, on the other hand, had been discovered to be underage and sent back home in September 1916. He re-enlisted immediately on reaching 18, only to be taken prisoner in March 1918 at Messines. On release, Bernie apparently ‘had to make the best of his way possible to the Allies’ lines, and fortunately after wandering about some two days he met the Yankees, who kindly took care of him. A postcard from him to his mother states that he expects to return home shortly’. Claude Mills was at that time back in Scotland, and also expected home imminently. Both men can be seen in this group portrait taken outside the Baptist Tabernacle in 1919 or 1920 – Gardiner second from the right in the second row from the back, Mills in front of him, second from the right in the third row from the back. Also in this photograph, at the extreme right of the back row, is Sam Browning. He had been taken prisoner at Merville ‘last March’. According to the local paper, he ‘had a hard time of it for some eight weeks, being divested of his clothes . Later he was put to work in a saw mill, his attire consisting of paper materials’ (Journal, 6-12-18).

Interestingly, both those youthful seekers after excitement and experience, Claude Mills and Bernie Gardiner, settled back in familiar old Chalford after their war service. Claude Mills used the reparation for his time in the POW camp (it is understood he spent time in a salt mine) to set up a garage at the foot of Cowcombe Hill. He married Doris Kathleen Davis in 1934, and the couple were living in Chestnut House, next to the garage, in 1939.

Claude Mills and his wife Doris in their garden in the 1930s

He died in Cheltenham in 1954. Bernie Gardiner became a carpenter, married, and lived in Sunny Patch, France Lynch. He died in 1965. Sam Browning also saw out his days in the village, dying in 1941 at the age of 57.

 

Trying to get back to a previous life…and a Knitting Vicar

It is so difficult to imagine what it must have felt like to wake up in a World newly at peace after more than four years of war. For those who knew definitively that their friends and relatives were safe, the prospect of their return home at some point in the near future would have been a huge relief – though of course, many families had to wait a surprisingly long time before they were reunited. Others would have been consumed by anxiety about those who were injured, missing or prisoners. Many would have been  traumatised by the loss of their sons, husbands and brothers. Everyone, in our villages, would have known many bereaved families.

Though lighting restrictions were lifted immediately, food and fuel were still in short supply. The prevailing mood, once the exhilaration of the Armistice had dissipated a little, was one of exhaustion. The innocent optimism of 1913 would never return.

There was positive news about Ballinger’s Bridge, however – after only 25 years of concerns about its narrowness, it was being widened! Private funding had been organised by Mr John Ferrabee (‘who at the time was closely connected with the business carried out at Bliss Mills’); Charles Appleby, JP, had contributed, ‘which enabled Sir Aston Lister, JP, CC, the acting County Surveyor, to obtain the sanction of the County Council for the scheme’. Local ‘inhabitants are well-satisfied with the improvements’ to what had been ‘a very dangerous spot’.

Ballinger’s Bridge                                          Ballinger’s Lock

Further up the canal, behind the High Street, there was light relief in the form of a minor accident (which, incidentally, throws an interesting light on the condition of the locks):

Much amusement has been occasioned in the district by the sinking – certain wags suggest that this was due to enemy action – on Friday last of a boat with a full cargo of coal in the Bell Harbour, or Lock, Chalford, thus completely severing water communication between the West and London!…The boat, which is the property of the Stroud Water Company, has been used for the conveyance of coal to the company’s works , that commodity being brought to the boat from the station to a point near the bridge at the bottom of the approach to the railway station. The boat and cargo were safely towed into port, otherwise the lock, preparatory to making the journey to the Works. The boat was temporarily left in the full lock, which leaks considerably, and during the absence of the “hands” the lock emptied, with the result that part of the boat, which had been fastened to the top end of the lock, got onto the sill, and eventually dropped to the bottom of the structure, practically breaking its back. The removal of the obstruction will involve considerable time and labour.

Bell Lock

 

Frank Martin of Chalford was home on leave at this auspicious time. Aquaticus commented, ‘should think he was very acceptable in the army, for he is a dab [sic] on the piano, and the presence of a fellow like that often makes life passable in the barracks’.

(Another pianist!) Roy Essex’s citation for the Military Cross was quoted:

This officer handled the company in a rearguard action under heavy fire, with consummate skill, covering the withdrawal of the Battalion most successfully. Later he held out for 20 hours with his company in a strong point against repeated attacks and point-blank artillery fire.

Several concerts were held – it was, after all, the run-up to Christmas. Australian troops gave one of their popular shows at the Tabernacle Schoolroom, in aid of St Dunstan’s. Miss Marie Philpotts had organised another entertainment in the Church Rooms, in aid of the parcels fund – 1918’s parcels had already been despatched, and servicemen would not return, in many cases, for many months, so would still be cheered by food and other items from home. The Journal remarked on Miss Philpotts’ ‘genius for organisation’ and reported:

The room was crowded long before the appointed time…Wedged into a very small compass the audience waited patiently for the curtain to rise, the kindly Vicar of the Parish [presumably Addenbrooke] setting an example of industry to his parishioners, and incidentally providing them with a little amusement, by producing his knitting and serenely plying his needles.

The concert raised a very reputable £15 14/-.

The VTC had served its purpose. Aquaticus lamented ‘…we think it a shame that such a body or Corps should at any time be allowed to vanish completely’.

There continued to be sad news, however. The death was reported of Ernest Halliday, of Chalford, who before the war had worked as a fitter in the FES Motor Works, Gloucester. He had enlisted on 12th August 1914 in the Royal Field Artillery with his friend David Griffin (also from Chalford). As mechanics, they were eligible for enhanced pay. David Griffin was killed in 1916. Ernest survived the fighting, but, while based in Salonika, fell ill with the influenza. He was admitted to hospital on 6th November, and died on 8th November, aged 29.

 

 

“No week…can compare”: Armistice 1918

The Great War formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 – surely the most poetically timed Armistice in history. The agreement had actually been signed at 5.10am, in General Foch’s railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne, but extra time was needed for the news to reach the various fighting fronts.

Stroud had been on tenterhooks. ‘No week…in all history can compare with these wonderful seven days of historic happenings’, gushed the News, in its first peacetime edition, published on Friday, 15th November. The official bulletin had been posted outside the newspaper’s offices:

…that was shortly before eleven, and with the stroke of the hour the bell at Messrs. Holloways factory clanged forth, the Syrens [sic] at the local mills were sounded and within an incredibly short time the streets were filled with excited citizens and bright faced, never may care schoolchildren.

The announcement had been eagerly expected, and indeed premature rejoicing, based on rumour, had taken place a whole hour in advance among the local Australians…

However the newspaper scrupulously and sympathetically noted that:

To say  that all were delighted would be to perpetuate an untruth. Unfortunately too many were borne down in sorrow  and it was the lot of our reporter to meet many suffering mothers and widows hurrying from workshop and mills to their cottage homes to silently mourn the loss of loved ones who had gone…one mother had lost no fewer than five sons.

Drapers sold red, white and blue ribbon (for bows and rosettes) ‘like wildfire’, flags appeared everywhere, and the VTC fired blank rounds from the Sub Rooms balcony. The Town Band played patriotic music in King Street Parade.

In Chalford:

All were on the “tip-toe” of expectation for the glad tidings on Monday morning, and, when , about eleven o’clock, telephonic enquiry at the ‘Stroud Journal’ Office elicited the reply that official news had been received of the signing of the Armistice, a prolonged blast on the hooter at Bliss Mills was the signal for general rejoicing…Flags were displayed, the bells at the Parish Church were rung, and the firing of cannon from Mr James Smart’s wharf and elsewhere materially helped to spread the glad tidings in the villages and hamlets on the top of the hills and hillsides. Business was entirely suspended “on all fronts”, and sane jollity reigned supreme   to a late hour at night. On receipt of the news, the children of the Chalford Hill Council School, together with their esteemed Headmaster (Mr FA Webster) and teachers, paraded the village, singing school and other songs en route, and also stopping at the various greens to give vent to their feelings in song and cheering.

A large number of people gathered at the Parish Church to give praise and thanksgiving to God for victory and other blessings, the service…being conducted by the Rev AE Addenbrooke, vicar, and the singing heartily joined in by the congregation. As usual, the church remained open during the day for private worship, and many repaired thither to humbly render thanks to Almighty God.

A similar service was held at France Lynch Church in the evening…

Bisley had a problem in that its usual method of reacting to positive news was ringing the church bells – however most of the ringers were away at the Front, so they had to improvise:

…the place contains handbells of varying grades of sonorousness, and these were collected by a number of young people, including a dignified member of the nursing profession, who ventured forth, a bell in either hand, and rang in the good news with muscle-straining vigour.

The papers had to treat with less happy news, however, as reports of deaths of local servicemen continued to be notified.

Harry Philpots

Harry (Henry George William) Philpots (or Philpotts) had been killed on October 12th, fighting with the 7th Canadians in the attack on the Canal-de-la-Sensée. He had been born and brought up in France Lynch, but by 1911 he had moved to Cheshire, where he was working as a valet. Described as ‘a dutiful son and a gallant young fellow’, the Journal explained that:

Previous to crossing the Atlantic, he had been in ill-health for a long time, and a gentleman who took an interest in him was the means of his emigrating to Canada, where he was getting on very nicely. He responded to his country’s call in February ,1915, and soon became an efficient soldier and popular with his colleagues.

His officer wrote to his parents: ‘He had charge of one of the Lewis gun sections in my platoon. He was a very capable NCO, and is sadly missed by us all’. Another tribute was quoted in the paper:

We have lost a good friend and comrade, and you a dear son, in the death of Harry, and our sympathies are with you…Harry was a good soldier, a great personality, and a friend of all who knew him.

The family had already lost their youngest child, Christopher, killed in January 1918. The remaining members, George, Elizabeth and their two daughters Lily and Alma, would have been among those for whom the rejoicing at the Armistice felt very hollow indeed.

Albert Robbins’ wife, Alice, heard the day after the Armistice that he had been killed. A quarryman who lived in Bournes Green, near Oakridge, ‘he joined up early in the war and therefore had seen considerable service at the Front’. He had been ‘on the Reserve’, having previously served in the Glosters. Though involved in ‘stiff fighting’ early on in the war, he had been drafted to the cook house for two years (possibly because of his age – he was 37 at the outbreak of war), until he requested a return to more active service. He was killed ‘during the taking of Catillon prior to crossing the Sambre Canal on November 4th’ (the same place and day that saw the death of the poet Wilfred Owen). His officer, Captain WH Hodges, who hailed from Thrupp, wrote to the vicar of Oakridge, asking him to break the news to Alice, and saying:

He was one of our best men, always very cool and brave under fire. His death was instantaneous. He was killed by machine gun fire, and has been buried in an orchard near the village.

In 1911, the Robbins were shown as having four living children, the oldest of whom, Hilda, aged 13, was described as a ‘cripple’.

Ernest Hill, who lived in the Vale, ‘arrived home on Tuesday [12th November], but  shortly afterwards was taken seriously ill. Unfortunately he had been gassed on no fewer than four occasions’. Happily, the next week’s paper carried the news that Sergeant Hill had recovered.

The parents of Charles Franklin had received ‘an interesting letter’ from their son, who was a POW. Writing before the end of the war, he expressed ‘strong indignation at the treatment meted out to him by the Germans’. He had been incarcerated in Hameln Camp, Germany, but recently moved to an internment camp in Holland:

Remarking that it was a very long time since he saw his relatives, and that he hardly knew ‘who is who’, he added that he was eagerly looking forward to coming home again…’I am very glad to have my freedom, but one wants plenty of money’…(Stroud Journal, 15-11-18)

Now the war was officially over, the focus would gradually shift to domestic matters. Of these, the most pressing was the imminent general election, called immediately after the announcement of the Armistice, in which all men over the age of 21 and some women would be allowed to vote for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scraps from before the Armistice

There was a pervasive sense that the war was drawing to its end. In what would be its last wartime issue, published on Friday, November 8th, the Stroud News referred to the ‘closing stages of the greatest war in history’ and remarked on the changed World order: ‘Turkey has ceased to be a power for good and evil in Europe…’ (this after five centuries of the Ottoman Empire). It was believed that the ‘flu epidemic might be abating slightly in the Stroud area, however the Star cinema was advertising its opening roof, giving a chance to change the air inside.

Captain Wilfred Selwyn, son of Mr William Selwyn of Toadsmoor (who had lost another son, Colin, in 1917) had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross:

On August 8th this officer engaged some 300 enemy troops; having inflicted heavy casualties by bombing he pressed home his attack with machine-gun fire until he himself was shot down. Two days later, leading a patrol of three, he observed an enemy two-seater escorted by eight scouts approaching an area where our troops were assembling for an attack; without hesitation he attacked the two-seater, and, despite the efforts of the scouts to protect it, he shot it down. A courageous officer with cool judgement, he has destroyed three machines and driven down three others out of control.

The News also carried an amusing story about George Emery, of Chalford. Under the headline “Too much jam”, it recounted how he had been summoned under the Food Hoarding Order, being in possession of 72lbs of jam – at a time when the ration was 1lb per month per person. Emery ‘admitted having the jam but denied he was hoarding’. He also maintained that he had been planning to share some of the jam with friends. It turned out that he had been ordering direct from Chivers since 1912 – they were ‘under the impression that he was a grocer’ (hardly surprisingly!). Emery claimed that he had been ignorant of the restriction on jam. He was fined £5, and his jam was confiscated, to be supplied to a real grocer. The newspaper was at pains to emphasise that rationing would continue after the end of the war. Rather fascinated by this story, I looked George Emery up on Ancestry. In 1911,  George Alfred Emery was 38, and living on the Minchinhampton side of Chalford in a large house with his wife Esther, their little son Sydney George (who was five), and a servant called Nellie Browning. Emery was a commercial traveller in hardware.

I tried and failed to find a contemporary advertisement for Chivers jams, but came across this one from June 1914 for Golden Shred! Interesting to see it marketed as a ‘health tonic’…

Golden Shred advert, June 1914

Eight days: three burials

 

A still, leafy, place on the edge of the hill: a peaceful place to lie – whether living or dead. Startlingly, the churchyard at St John’s, France Lynch, contains five Great War graves. Look a little closer, and – even more disconcerting – you will notice that three of the five young men died within days of each other, and were buried in their familiar village cemetery in the space of just over a week. Eight days in November 1918.

Alfred Rupert Gardiner, known as Rupert, died three months after his 18th birthday on 25th October, of pneumonia which had developed from the ‘flu. The Stroud Journal noted that ‘he joined the Army on reaching the qualifying age some months ago, and was a promising young man’. He had grown up in France Lynch. He was taken ill while training in Norfolk, for a war that would be over in less than a month, in which he would never have faced fire.

The same edition of the paper related how Mr Elisha (actually Elijah) Damsell had ‘left Chalford on Wednesday evening at the request of the authorities to visit his son, who is in the Army and is dangerously ill’. Frank Damsell died aged 20 on 29th October, again of pneumonia caused by influenza. His record card, badly charred, survived the bombing of the Army offices in the Second World War, and contains graphic details of the progress of poor Frank’s illness. One of five children, he lived in The Glen, France Lynch, and had worked at Chalford Stick Company before enlisting in the Devons just before his 18th birthday. He was categorised as C1, and therefore not fit for frontline service. Instead, he was occupied in home duties with the Labour Corps when he fell ill, and was taken to Balmer Lawn hospital in the New Forest.

Frank was buried on Saturday, November 2nd, beyond the East window of the church . On Sunday 3rd, Rupert was laid to rest beside the path down to the church, his ‘body not arriving in Chalford in time to be associated with the interment of Pte Frank Damsell’. Against both their entries in the burial register, the Revd Wade-Evans has written ‘died of influenza’.

Frank Damsell’s grave, France Lynch

 

Rupert Gardiner’s grave, France Lynch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilfred Hale (who appears in Army records as ‘William’), unlike Frank and Rupert did see active service and did die as a result of injury. Born in 1892, the 1911 census records him living with his family in Prospect Terrace and working in a stick factory. According to the Journal, some time after that, Wilfred moved away:

The gallant soldier was at work in Wales when war was declared, and he joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers a week after the commencement of hostilities…He served with the Balkan Expeditionary Force for over two years. Then he was given leave, and at the expiration of that he was sent to France, where, after seeing much fighting, he was wounded in both thighs, and sent to England for treatment. He recovered, and was again despatched to France in October, 1917. In September, this year, he was severely wounded in the head, and brought to England, his death ensuing…Deceased’s only brother was unable to attend [the funeral], he being on active service in Egypt.

Wilfred died on 30th October, aged 25. He was buried on Saturday, November 8th.

Wilfred Hale’s grave, France Lynch

Under the entry in the burial register for Wilfred, which is (handily) at the bottom of the page, Wade-Evans wrote ‘ARMISTICE DECLARED BETWEEN ENGLAND AND GERMANY NOVEMBER 11TH 1918 LAUS DEO [praise God]’.

 

“A war-like set of brothers”: the Griffins of Chalford Hill

‘Aquaticus’ devoted two paragraphs over two weeks to the Griffin family from Chalford Hill, giving a lively and useful insight into the way that whole families were absorbed into the war, those already professional soldiers and their brothers who had chosen other paths:

Harry Griffin…served about 18 years in the RAMC before being transferred to the 8th Gloucesters about a year and a half ago. Been all over the World and farther at the Nation’s expense. At the…outbreak he was hospital steward on board, and in New York when recalled. He is now in the band as a trombone player…Griffin had about 12 months in the heavy fighting.” (Journal, 18th October)

The Griffins are a war-like set of brothers and worthy scions of the house of Mr Joe Griffin…Lionel, another brother…of the RFA, arrived home from hospital at Northampton, and nearly frightened his brother’s speech away in the doing of it. He came in unknown and unexpected, and had the audacity to creep into Harry’s bed and put his cold feet in the small of the latter’s back. Lionel was wounded at Cambrai in the hip with shrapnel. Just previous he had two horses killed under him. Before joining up he was doing the farming stunt, and has now had two years of it…The next brother, Otto, also in the RFA and a bombardier, went three years ago to France, and to Italy last October, and was wounded with shrapnel in the head. Only been home on leave once, and that was from Italy…he was captain of Chalford soccer club, and to have attained such an honour in that mountainous village of fighters ne must be a good man. He was a clerk at Messrs Townsend and Co. The youngest brother, Carl, is wireless operator in the RAF with seven months’ service in France. This at such a time doesn’t sound long, but considering he joined up 18 months ago, and is even now only 18 years of age, it is seen that he was in it long before his time. He was clerk at Messrs Ball, Smith and Playne’s, from which place he went to the Workhouse. This, of course, sounds queer, so we had better add that he went there in a clerical capacity. All the four brothers   peculiarly enough have met in France. Harry, who is still at home, said he was looking forward to spending his 5th Christmas in France, as he finds Chalford air too strong for him. He added, however, that he was not sure whether it was the air or the beer…Would have liked to stop longer in Stroud, only ‘Duggy’ (Haig) couldn’t spare him. (Journal, 1st November)

Otto Griffin

This image of Otto Griffin is taken from a photograph of Chalford football team in 1919. All four brothers survived the war, though Harry, born in 1880, died young, in 1924.

Joys and Sorrows from the Last Month of the War

Quite apart from the ‘flu outbreak, domestic life was not easy after four years of war. The coal shortage caused by the draft into the military of miners and the commandeering of fuel for military purposes was causing anxiety, as winter approached. The local press carried a variety of adverts on the subject, ranging from the patriotic angle (“Think of the men fighting in the trenches…”), to the more practical public service-type announcement (“The Coal you save to day will start your fire tomorrow”) and the rather opportunist commercial angle (courtesy of Rinso: “You don’t need the copper fire”).

 

There had been a heated argument about the proposed rise in milk prices from 7d to 9d per quart – in the end, after weeks of criticism from one side and justification on the other, the compromise of 8d was arrived at.

Australian airmen had put on one of their shows at the Primrose League Hall (in Halliday’s Mill): an evening in which ‘mirth and merriment was the presiding genius’ –  a welcome escape from everyday anxieties. The performance raised £9 10/- for the Wesleyan Church.

There was some good news about some local servicemen. George Humphries, from Bussage had been awarded the Military Medal ‘for gallantry on the battlefields of France’:

His mother received the news last week but George gives no particulars, only saying it was by hard fighting. A few weeks ago the gallant soldier was home on 14 days’ leave after 13 months in France, and two days after he returned to duties he won the distinction referred to. He is only 21 years old. Needless to say, his mother, sisters and friends are very proud of him, and hope that he will be spared to return safely to his home once more.

Douglas Webster, son of Frank Webster, fighting with the Canadian forces had gained the Military Cross ‘for operations in August this year’. According to the London Gazette in an article published on 29th November, it was awarded:

…for conspicuous gallantry and initiative during an attack. He was in support company, but, observing that the attack was being held up, he at once went and secured a Tank, guide it to the front affected, and then led his platoon forward to the support of the troops in front, breaking the enemy’s resistance and enabling the advance to continue. Later when his company took the offensive, he skillfully led his platoon round the flank of a large force of the enemy, and brought effective fire to bear; enabling his company to kill or capture the garrison.

Douglas Webster aged 16

Bert Smart of Chalford had been wounded in the knee, and was currently in Warrington hospital. He had ‘seen much hard fighting this last twelve months and was on the St Quentin’s front. He was wounded only a fortnight after his chum, Ray Scarsbrook, of Brimscombe, met his fatal blow’.

There was development of the VD story. “The spread of this disease has increased so greatly, and the effect on the whole country is so serious”, explained the Journal, that a series of lectures was being held at places of work – separate sessions for men and women. There was also a clinic held at Stroud hospital, 6pm on Tuesdays for men, 6pm on Thursdays for women (there was a female doctor, Mary Davie), ‘under conditions of strict secrecy’.

The Chalford Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Parcel Fund had presented its annual accounts (audited by Frank Webster). Between 31st March 1917 and 31st March 1918, receipts had totalled £180 3/7, while expenditure had been £171 8/8 – leaving a balance of £8 14/11 which was augmented by proceeds of whist drives and dances. The committee were already busy with the Christmas parcels for 1918 – ‘those for Mesopotamia, India and Egypt have already gone…’ Ten local men were POWs in Germany and Austria.

On 1st November, the Stroud News reported that new ration books were to be issued the following Sunday, and that jam would be included in the list of controlled foodstuffs. The paper also carried the following reflection on the late autumn landscape:

It is the season of changing tints and shades, when the wooded hills – which, alas, have already paid paid heavy tribute to the demands of war – are seen in all their glory from the sheltered valleys.

 

 

 

 

October 1918: ‘Flu hits Stroud

The influenza pandemic which spread throughout the World as the Great War was drawing to a close is notorious to this day for having killed more people than the fighting did. Aided by troop movements, the displacement of populations, malnutrition and the general levels of stress generated by conflict, the disease swept through communities, killing indiscriminately. To this day, the medical authorities fear the emergence of another strain of ‘flu as deadly as that a century ago.

It is interesting to consider how the local papers perceived the outbreak in this area.

According to the Stroud News, the problem was that the ‘flu ‘developed easily into pneumonia’. The paper itself was tragically affected – the Journal wrote sympathetically of the contagion at its rival’s offices, where the previous Monday, only two staff had been well enough to be on duty. It had fallen to the Journal and other local printers to help get the week’s edition out. One member of staff, Norman Barnes, succumbed to the illness, as did his wife, leaving a small child orphaned. The wife of a linotype operator there, Mrs Wynn, also died, leaving young children.

In the 11th October edition of the Journal, ‘Jonathan’ wrote:

Stroud is at the mercy of the foe in the form of acute influenza, and workshops, factories and offices are being devastated in every direction. Not for twenty years has this district been attacked by such a severe epidemic, People have acquired the habit of dignifying all severe colds with the name of influenza, but the malaria-like disease which is doing its worst in our midst today is unquestionably the ‘real thing’. Its symptoms are quite unmistakable – excruciating and sudden headache, bloated face and suffusion of the eyes with the usual accompaniment of catarrh of the nose and throat. The liver also quickly becomes affected, producing what appears to be a bad bilious attack, and the temperature rises alarmingly. If the attack runs its normal course, the patient is soon restored to health again, but ubfortunately there are apt to be complications such as pneumonia. Immediately a victim shows any signs of having contracted influenza, the only safe place is bed with hot water bottles until medical aid is procured…People while still in good health may safely protect themselves against infection, I understand, by taking one tabloid (two grains) of quinine each morning.

‘Flu advice

All elementary schools in the area were closed, and under-12s were banned from cinemas.

‘Flu was presumably responsible for the sudden and untimely deaths of Maggie Weare (née Whiting) and her baby daughter, which occurred towards the end of October – Maggie had been fit and well and attended France Lynch church the Sunday before she died. Less than a week later, on the next Saturday, her funeral was held there. A Mrs Rowles, of Chalford Hill, was another victim, and again, the suddenness of the death was emphasised.