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.

 

 

Darkness and Light: early summer 1918

April 1918 was very definitely the cruellest month of the entire war for this collection of Cotswold villages. Nine men died, the highest number for any month, and bad news was beginning to filter through to waiting families as May progressed. In addition to reporting the deaths of Richard Raymond-Barker and Terrence Dean, the local papers expressed anxiety about the fate of Frank Webb, whose family owned Sevilles Mill, towards the end of the High Street. Normally a reliable and frequent writer of letters to his wife Lily, she had not heard from him for some time, and friends had contacted her to say he was missing.

Frank had initially been turned down when he tried to enlist, because of his poor eyesight. He continued his village life, managing the bone mill, attending the Baptist church, playing the violin and flute, joining in games of cricket, and carrying out duties in the VTC. Come 1917 and a crisis of manpower, however, his eyesight was judged ‘good enough to shoot Germans’, and off he went to do his duty, enlisting with the Glosters. He returned home to see his family for what would be the last time, on pre-embarkation leave in October 1917.

His widow and two daughters (a little son, Harry, had died of septicaemia in August 1914) had to wait more than twelve agonising months for confirmation of his death, which didn’t come till June 1919. His official date of death was 4th April, but he may have died even earlier, at the end of March. He was 34.

The tribute to him published in June 1919 enumerated his numerous contributions to community life, including:

…good work in connection with the Liberal Registration Committee… a great help to Mr H Smart in temperance work, being a life-long abstainer…member of the Tabernacle Choir, violinist in the string band…a welcome reciter.

(Stroud Journal)

He had also served as chairman of the Stroud Mutual Provident Sick Benefit Society District Committee.

The death had also been announced of Frederick Boulton, only son of Mr and Mrs J Boulton of Snake’s Hole, Middle Lypiatt, who had been fatally wounded on 18th April near Bethune, and died the following day. He was only just 19, and had only just arrived in France.

In happier news, Roy Essex, son of the headmaster of Christ Church School, had been promoted to lieutenant (‘given his 3rd pip’, as the jaunty ‘With the Colours’ column in the News put it). A month later, the paper recorded how he had been awarded the MC for:

Conspicuous service on the Somme and Lys…Practically continuous fighting since March 21st, however, has had the inevitable result, and he is now taking enforced rest. He shares the optimistic feeling that ‘old Fritz is cutting his own throat and much is just letting him do it’.

Harold Hale, whose family lived at Randall’s Green, had joined the Royal Flying Corps as a fitter in 1917. He had been stationed in Ayr:

While up there he was starting a propellor, which, however, was a bit previous, and knocked him down and about. Anyway it put him in hospital for some weeks, but he is now looking especially well. He has had eighteen months of the Air Force, and likes it…

Lionel Griffin, son of Mr J J Griffin of Cotswold View, Chalford Hill, was home on leave, he ‘arrived in the district from a convalescent camp in this country on Friday. He is in the Artillery, and has seen much service in France’.

The Australian airmen stationed at the Aerodrome had been whiling away their leisure hours preparing a show – beguilingly entitled ‘While the Billy Boils’. The first performance was held at the Sub Rooms on Wednesday 5th June: ‘Australian Artists, Music, Scenery’ were promised. To read the review of the show in the Stroud Journal is to be transported back to a stifling evening in the company of an excitable and expectant crowd:

From far and near came troops of the fair sex to listen and admire…A Camp Scene in Australia was presented to the party…and in the semi-tropical atmosphere of the room it was not difficult to be transported in fancy to ‘the land of the sun’…The scene was made as realistic as possible by the skilful brush of one of the company…and the audience was introduced to the habits of life and conversation in the Australian Bush…while the songs were presented in an unconventional manner, the character of the music was uniformly high…There was not a dull moment throughout the evening. (7-6-18)

Proceeds went to charity: the Belgravia Supply Depot and the Red Cross. The entertainment proved so popular, it was repeated on the 8th June!

A report on Food Provision in the same Journal observes that ‘provision of men for the fighting lines is the supreme task of the moment’, which has resulted in a severe shortage of agricultural labourers. Prisoners have been used, but:

Women have not only filled the gap, but it is largely due to their services that the agricultural returns this year are likely to beat all records. Greybeards and schoolboys have helped, but it is mainly the 300,000 women who are working on the land in England and Wales who have saved the situation. With experience their services will become still more useful…In little more than a year agriculture has been restored to the position it occupied forty or fifty years ago, and it has made the United Kingdom all but self-supporting as regards the two staple foods, bread and meat…

The importance of allotments was also emphasised.