Tag Archives: cwgc

Frederick Cooke and the Gyme

east ardsley mapFrederick Cooke was born in East Ardsley in 1880/2 as when looking at documents there is a slight variation, but there is an entry on Freebmd for a birth registration for a Frederick Cook in the March Quarter (January, February, March) of 1881 in Wakefield – so that looks like him but with a spelling variation in his name.

He was born to Arthur William Cooke and Martha Hardaker along with two other children between 1879 and 1883.  Arthur William was originally from Cheverell in Wiltshire, while Martha was from Bishop Auckland – I bet that was a fun household with the variation in accents!  The couple married in St Michaels church, East Ardsley on  the 15th of September 1877.  Sadly, Martha died in the spring on 1890 and with young children to look after Arthur William remarried Emma Wright, when on the 3rd of February 1891, he again walked down the aisle of St Michaels church.  The couple went on to have more children.

But, back to Frederick – In the census of 1891 Frederick is living at Allinsons Buildings, East Ardsley, with his father, a furnace keeper;  his step-mother, Emma; his brother George;  sister Margaret and Emma’s nine month old baby boy – written in the census as ‘William Wright, son of wife’.

The Christmas of 1903 must have been a busy and exciting time in the Cooke household as within the next few weeks a family event was to take place.  On the 16th of January 1904 cook fleming marriageFrederick would be found standing with his family and friends in St Michael’s church, East Ardsley, waiting for Ethel Fleming to walk down the aisle and become his wife. Fred’s father, Arthur William, was now a lamplighter, while John Fleming, Ethel’s father was a miner.  The two witnesses to this event were Edmund Lee and Jane Hunt.

Life, does not always deal the cards we would wish, and like many others Frederick, seemed to have been given a few ‘duff’ cards.  He had already seen his mother die, his father re-marry and the 1911 census told of another ‘duff’ card.  The census shows the couple living at 6 Mary Street, The Falls, East Ardsley, a house with 3 rooms.  It tells that he was 30 years old and Ethel was 26; that they had bee married 7 years – we know that from the Parish Register entry, but the paper from 100 years ago also tells that the couple had had one child, and that it had died – died between their marriage and the date of the census.

Before I continue with Fred’s life, curiosity was getting the better of me, and it dosn’t take a lot for me to go off on a tangent looking for another story…………..here I go again!

Who was this child? When was ‘it’ born?  Was it a boy or a girl? How old was he/she when it died?  Questions, lots of them, and they seem easier to come up with than answer.  Let the questions stop and the answering begin.

What do I know, not a lot really apart from his surname would be cook(e) and death occurred between 1904 and 1911, which is too early for a mother’s maiden name to be entered.  A search of Freebmd with the search criteria being  Cooke and West Riding, brings up a lot of entries  – do you know how many there is to search through?  A lot!  I need to lessen the number of entries.  The Ancestry website has very considerately scanned West Yorkshire Parish Registers for certain periods, what can that come up with?  Straight to the West Yorkshire section for deaths and burials using just Cooke and East Ardsley came up wit five possibilities, but by the dates of burials I could eliminate three straight away, leaving two to have a look at.  After viewing the first I could also now eliminate that entry as the address was Morley.  One remaining, a John Arthur Cooke.

John Arthur Cooke was buried on the 23rd of March 1904, his address was given as Whitaker’s Fold, he was five days old and the entry states there was no service.   Without purchasing a birth certificate and death certificate John Arthur seems to be the most likely candidate, along with  both his grandfathers being Arthur and John.

Back to Fred.  Life carried on for him and Ethel until 1914 when events took place that would not only shock the world for years to come but would also impact greatly on East Ardsley. But the passing of time and the generations that followed would mean that events locally, would be forgotten sooner within the community.  The Great War, the war to end all wars, had begun and men were enlisting inn villages, towns and cities all over Great Britain.  Fred enlisted

Fred, platelayer, on the Great Northern Railway and  being an old Territorial, re-enlisted, some sources say August, while other state September and November, but all agree on the year of 1914.  He became Pte., 2425, F. Cooke, in the 1/4th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).  The 1/4th’s were training near Malton, but bad weather was continuing they, (about 4000 of them) were moved to Gainsborough and be billeted within the community.  Training continued while some of the men moved to the coast, other stayed and on one particular day, the 19th of February, 1915, they were in the village of Moreton at a place called the Gymes.  The men were training on an enclosed pond to build rafts, readying themselves for crossing the Belgian canals. A Dewsbury man, Captain Harold Hirst, was in charge of the operation.  The rafts were constructed from rope, straw, tarpaulins and a wooden platform.

The Gyme, with the remains of the pontoon

The Gyme, with the remains of the pontoon

20150226_125332

Reverse of the Gyme photo

 

It was at 12:10 on Friday the 19th of February 1915, that as men from ‘D’ Company boarded their raft. As the raft started to leave the bank, their ‘vessel’ crowded with soldiers (some say up to 40) in their heavy kit and boots seemed stable for a while, but Pte., Punyer, who was in charge of a very long pole to push the raft forward, was soon, even with his arm fully in the water, could not reach the bottom of the gyme with his pole.  The raft was beginning to become unstable and tragedy soon struck and the men were very quickly fighting for their lives.  Those who were closer to the bank dragged men out of the water, others gave artifical respiration.  Higher ranking officers were called for, Field Ambulances were on their way and a roll call was sounded but seven were unaccounted for.  Five men were found and later in the afternoon, the final two soldiers were accounted for.

Their bodies were taken to stables behind the Crooked Billet pub in Morton.  An inquest was held the following day in Morton School, presided over by Philip Gamble, a local solicitor with a local builder, Mr Fox, being the foreman of the jury.  The jury viewed the bodies and visited the Gyme.  After the jury had viewed the bodies they were placed in coffins and taken by Army Ambulance to Holy Trinity Church Hall, Gainsborough, from where they would be taken the next day for their journeys home.  Some of the families of the seven men made the journey to Morton for the inquest, where after hearing various statements a verdict of Accidental Death was given but the Officer was criticised for his lack of experience and the lack of adequate safety precautions i.e. life buoys and trained first aid staff.

Within days the regiment had been moved to York and were sent to France on the 13th of April and were soon in the trenches at Bois Grenier.

The seven soldiers were all given full military funerals in their own villages, towns or cities, where family, friends, neighbours and many others paid their respects.

And it was that on 23rd February 1915, from 23 Cardigan Terrace, Frederick made his final journey carried aloft the shoulders of his fellow soldiers and followed by many more, with many carrying floral tributes.  The streets were lined as the courtage walked slowly passed, up the hill on its way to St Michael’s church.   The party would have been met by the Rev. John H D Hill, who years before had married Frederick and Ethel  in happier times, but today was a very sombre occasion as over 2000 from the military and surrounding area paid their respects.  The Rev. Hill in his parish register wrote the required information in the set columns and lines but he also added ‘military funeral drowned on pontoon’.

We now know how the Fred’s life ended and where he rests, but what happened to Ethel, well, early in 1918 she married Peter Humberstone.  She died on 29th of November 1947 and rests within the walls of St Michael’s Parish Church, East Ardsley, along with her first husband and her son.

Batley Cemetery 100 years on

Batley Cemetery 100 years on

100 years on to the day …………. a  group of people gathered at the graveside of Private Batty, one of the 7.  They were there to remember the tragedy by laying a wreath for each one of those men an eighth wreath was laid by people from Gainborough.  The following Sunday over 20 people travelled from Yorkshire to Morton for a service and plaque unveiling.  It was a wonderful service and a visit to the Gyme followed, braving the wind, rain, bitter cold and the mud, where the wreath laid in Batley,  was laid in what remains of a now filled in Gyme.  I can’t say that walk was pleasant but having gone that far it seemed only fitting to go and complete the circle.

Tony Dunlop, PROJECT BUGLE and D Bedford, great niece of Fred Cooke lays a wreath

Tony Dunlop, PROJECT BUGLE and D Bedford, great niece of Fred Cooke lays a wreath

During the following day and weeks, the wreaths to the 7 have now been laid at the foot of each DSCF4764of their

 

 

 

headstones with a small information plaque.

The names on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones in most cases bare the name, regiment, service number and age of the casualty, but what they do not tell is the story, so when you see one of those headstones, stop and think if only you could tell your tale.

We Will Remember Them

Additional information :-  Captain Harold Hirst was the youngest of the officers within the regiment.  He was the son of Mr & Mrs Joseph Hirst of Ravensleigh, Dewsbury and a member of the firm of Messrs. G H Hirst and Co., Ltd., woollen manufacturers of Dewsbury and Batley.  He was an ‘old boy’ of Rugby School and it was on 24th of June 1915 that Harold was killed by a German sniper. He had previously killed two or three German snipers and this had been mentioned in dispatches.  He left a widow and a child which had been born two weeks after he left for the front.

So, it was that during the the war many of the men who were at the Gyme on that fateful day also lost their lives.

There has been an 8 page booklet produced as a joint project by various local and Lincolnshire groups – if anyone wishes a copy the cost is £2 plus postage – email gyme @ wakefieldfhs.org.uk

Sources :-

Ancestry, Find My Past, Freebmd,

Gainsborough’s War Years early 1914 – mid 1915 by P Bradshaw

Tony Dunlop

Walter Hamilton Riach contd., by guest blogger David Oxlade

A very warm welcome to my first guest blogger, with some further information on Walter Hamilton RIACH and his family.

I was intrigued to see the recent blog concerning the background research on Walter Hamilton Riach, as I have been looking into him myself, as he and my father were cousins. If it is of interest to anyone, I may be able to add a little more to his and his family’s background.

Walter Hamilton Riach’s (WHR) mother was Mildred Agnes Riach nee Baker, (sister of Eveline Maude Baker (EMB), my paternal grandmother) who had indeed married Lt. Col (RE) Arthur Dundas Riach on June 3rd in Newton Abbott, Devon. WHR was born June 24th 1897, and as noted previously, joined the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders where he was Capt., 5th Bn, was captured in France and died of his wounds shortly before his 21st birthday – like so many of his generation! – on May 5th 1918; he is buried in Le Cateau Military Cemetery. In his earlier days he had been at school near Newton Abbott – Newton College, now no longer – where his brother and a number of his relatives were sent from India, including my father, Eric Robert Oxlade, his cousin, who was one year younger than WHR. He had then gone on to Haileybury Imperial Service College where he had been one of the first group of 23 pupils to join the College, which opened in 1912; 12 of his group of 23 were killed in the first war alone!

WHR had three siblings, two younger brothers, Lt Col. Robert Malcolm Riach, DSO, OBE, (RMR) born July 24th 1900, died Nov 7th 1962, who also joined the Cameron Highlanders and Lt. (RE) Wilfred Knight Riach, (WKR) born 8th August 1907, died 4th February 1928 while at RMQ Woolwich. WKR is buried at the Fort Pitt Military Cemetery in Kent, see photo below; how and why he died there, I have not been able to find out as yet. WHR also had a sister Margaret Stewart Riach, (MSR) born Jan 27th 1902. In 1911 the two younger Riachs (MSR and WKR) were listed in the census that year as staying with their mother and my grandfather Henry John Wilson Oxlade (their Uncle) at his house in Colliers Down, Caterham.

WHR’s mother Mildred Agnes RIACH nee Baker (usually known as “Agnes”) was born on 22nd Sept 1876, and died 14th June 1953; she was buried 18th June in St Peters Church, Yateley, Hampshire; her grave is located close to a tree behind the building attached to the back of the church, see photo below. While in England she seems to have lived most of the time in Cornwall, where exactly I don’t know, but letters from her father confirm that she was there and when her husband Arthur Hamilton Dundas Riach was in England on home leave, that is where they lived, although at various times her husband gave his address as 30, Mattock Lane, Ealing.

Her headstone reads:

riach mildred agnes wo arthur hamilton riach

Grave of Mildren Agnes Riach by D Oxlade

In Loving Memory of / Mildred Agnes / widow of Lt. Col. Arthur Hamilton Dundas Riach R.E./  Died 14 June 1953 / Aged 77 years.

riach robrt malcolm

Grave of Robert Malcolm Riach by D Oxlade

WHR’s younger brother, Lt Col. Robert Malcolm Riach (“Malcolm”), DSO, O.B.E., was born on July 24th 1900 and died on 7th Nov 1962. Also of the Cameron Highlanders like his older brother, Malcolm married in 1939 Marjorie Joan Howarth. His DSO was awarded in July 1940. RMR and his wife are buried at the Colvend Parish church in Dumfries and Galloway.

An interesting reference to RMR’s military career (and mentioning others of his family) is this extract from the description of an auction sale of various militaria:   ‘Robert Malcolm Riach enlisted on the 18th December in 1919 and was appointed as 2nd Lieutenant at Aldershot and the following year moved with the 2nd Bn to Ireland where he was wounded during the SInn feinn operations. He transferred to the 1st Bn in 1925 and served in India and Burma until 1929 when he was seconded to the 1st Nigerian Regiment until 1934 when he re-joined the 2nd Bn proceeding to Palestine the following year. He was transferred back to the 1st in 1935 and later completed a tour of duty at Cameron Barracks until the outbreak of war when he rejoined the 1st Bn. Embarking with the Bn for France he commanded “A” Company with distinction and was one of the survivors at Dunkirk. Awarded the D.S.O. (LG 11/2/ 1940). Commanded 2nd Bn Liverpool Scottish in May 1941 Awarded MID 29 April 1941 Awarded MID 10 May 1945 Awarded O.B.E. 24th Jan 1946. Commanded 4/5th Bn in 1947 until his retirement in 1950 as Lieutenant Colonel. riach broochBUT……take a good look at this lovely brooch and note that this is the pre 1881 version with the letters “LXX1X” beneath the sphinx. The Riach family have given great service to 4 their Regiment and to their Country. Now then, just who first owned this glorious brooch? It was made before 1881 so my guess is that perhaps RMR’s Great great Grand father might be a contender’.

Robert Malcolm RIACH’s engagement – and subsequent disengagement – seems to have been a matter of public record as well, his fiancée Dorothy Spicer being described as “one of England’s most beautiful airwomen” :  (From the Sydney Herald in August 1934: nla.gov.au/nla.newsarticle17103972; see also the Straits Times 30th July 1934 page 15 for a longer and slightly more colourful version)

Women’s Air-Taxi Business. There is only one air-taxi business in England, and it is conducted at Hunstanton, Norfolk, by two women, Miss Dorothy Spicer, the first woman to gain the Air Ministry’s B certificate for ground engineers, and her partner, Miss Pauline Gower, daughter of Sir Robert Gower, M.P., the second woman in England to obtain the Air Ministry’s B pilot certificate. Miss Spicer is young and very attractive, and became engaged some time ago to Captain Robert Malcolm Riach, of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, who has just arrived home from serving in Africa, naturally desirous of claiming his bride. But Miss Spicer has broken off her engagement. So the three-seater Moth of the Spicer-Gower partnership, the former as mechanic and the latter as pilot, is still available for passengers.

Grave of Wilfred Knight Riach

Grave of Wilfred Knight Riach

As mentioned above, WHR’s younger brother Wilfred Knight Riach died while at RMQ, and is buried at Fort Pitt Cemetery in Kent.

WHR’s sister Margaret Stewart RIACH (“Stewart”), was born January 27th 1902, and married Dennis Noel Venables, born 24th (some records state 20th) December 1898, Lt. Commander, RN, on June 23rd 1928. He was commissioned in August 1914, made Lt on Nov 15th 1919 and retired 15th Nov 1927 as Cmdr. He was obviously called up again and was mentioned in despatches 11th Nov 1941, awarded the DSC on Jan 1st 1943 and bar on Jan 23rd 1945. He commanded HMS Alresford and HMS Bagshot, both minesweepers, and HMS Glenearn an Infantry Landing Ship.

Margaret Stewart Riach and Dennis Noel Venables had three children: Robert Malcolm Venables, born 4th March 1935; Katherine Patience Venables who married an architect, Richard Watson, with whom she had a daughter and Hugh Spencer Venables, born ? and died 12th January 1946.

Hopefully the above will fill in some more details for anyone looking for background on this branch of the Riach family!

David A Oxlade – Guest Blogger

The original blog about Walter Hamilton Riach can be found here

If you have any further information on this family, or your family tree also ties in with these people, please let me know / Carol

Prisoners of War WW1

Over the past week or so I seem to have gone into blogging overdrive – well I have had a gap of over 12 months due to technical problems.  So, I am back with vengeance, as they say!

Those of you who visit my pages on a regular basis, will know that I like to tell you of resources to help with your research, news about places and updates to my website plus the odd mystery that has diverted me from my original path.

I think this bit of information will come under the heading of ‘help with your research’.  A few days ago someone sent a message around about Prisoners of WW1 record cards being put online by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and what a good source of information that is.

I think most people will be like me when a name search is placed directly in their view – yes, I go through most of the main surnames I am researching, well what did you expect me to say!   Siddle, no matches ; Wilkinson, too many ; Riach, not many.  Looks like Riach it is.

But before I tell you about soldier Riach, a little bit of background.   During the Great War 10 million, yes 10 million, sounds a lot dosn’t it? More than I imagined.  These 10 million were servicemen and civilians who were captured and sent to detention camps.  The countries involved provided an index card for each prisoner or detainee and  5 million are available to search through. One must realise, that the ICRC has a great deal of extra information in French, as it is based in Switzerland.

 Riach, was my search criteria, and a soldier named Walter H Riach turned up.

But what do his index cards tell? Walter was a Captain in the Cameron Highlanders. I saw his rank and thought to myself, that his service record won’t be online.  He was classed as wounded and missing on 23 March 1918. Words and references are F.S.E.  R.I.A E70738 with Z154 being struck through.  The card gives the impression that enquiries should be made to Berlin. Details of a Mrs Helen J W K Bakewell, of Forest End, Sandhurst, Berkshire are noted along with the fact he may be a Roman Catholic and that he was a prisoner, but with information that I now know the dates show the information was slow to be passed through.

If certain references are registered on the card it gives a link to other information available for that person – Walter has the relevant references. Another card tells that Walter Riach was a ‘soldat’ and had a reference of PA 28358 prefixed by a printed cross – possibly signifying a Red Cross reference.

Another card gives more references – A34209 with 27819 struck through.  We already know that Walter was wounded and missing since 23 March but now we know that it was between Fries and Equancourt – a look on a map tells me that Fries could be Fins.  We now have another name – Colonel Goff (cousin), Villa Valerie, Bellaria, La Tour, Vaud, Suisse.  the final page has another reference A400 with 30245 struck through.

As I said earlier there are reference that give access to more information and Walter had one, PA28358  which took me to a scanned book, typed and very faint but all in French.  The PA refers to British prisoners in the hands of Germany. The site has screen shots of what each reference means but sadly there was only one set of references for Walter so his information came to a halt here…………….but I wanted to find out what happened to him and more to the point who he was and who were Mrs Bakewell and Colonel Goff, his cousin.

Walter Hamilton Riach was the son of Arthur Hamilton Dundas Hamilton a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Engineers who served in India.  There are sources that say that Walter was born in Muree, India about 1897. This is getting very complicated as the more I search for the family the more I find peoples research differs and as this is not my Riach line, well not yet anyway, I am not going to get bogged down in others research, therefore, I will focus on what is out there on original documents. One document I did find was the Roll of Honour of The Imperial Service College which tells that during 1912-1914 Walter was there.

Ancestry has the medal card for Walter which tells what we know already – his name, ranks, that he was eligible for the 1915 Star etc. That he served in France from 30 September 1915 and his date of death.  Yes, Walter died his wounds while a prisoner of war on 5 May 1918 aged 21.  Here is card is unusual as it has information on the reverse.  An application was made by Mrs C H Holmes on behalf of her late nephew Capt., Riach W H for his medals.  An address is given as Rosevale, Newton Abbot presumably for Walter and his fathers address is given as 44 Grange Road, Ealing, W5.

Now, as to who is Mrs Bakewell and Colonel Goff, shall we say that is my next adventure………..see you there!

The CWGC tells that  Walter served in the 5th Bn., of the Cameron Highlanders and that his father at the time information was given regarding his grave was 30 Mattock Lane, Ealing, London.  Additional documentation for the CWGC gives references to his plot and tells that a headstone had been erected, no. 324, with the design 1010/1C with a cross with the words ‘The pure in heart shall see God’ his father’s name is also listed with his address but without seeing the headstone I’m not sure if all the wording is included.

le cateau cwgcWalter rests in plot III F 4 in Le Cateau Military Cemetery, along with over 700 others who gave their lives for King and Country, of which 511 are identified.  The probate for Walter’s estate was granted on 13 August 1919 to Arthur Hamilton Dundas Riach, Lieutenant-Colonel R.E.. Effects £593 9s 7d.

The area had been in German hands since 1914 and Le Cateau had been the site of a German railhead and also the site of an important military hospital.  In 1916 the Germans laid out the cemetery and allocated separate sections for Commonwealth servicemen and German soldiers, of which over 5000 rest within its boundaries and 34 Russian servicemen .

 There are three other people mentioned in this snippet, Arthur Hamilton Dundas Riach, Mrs Bakewell and Colonel Goff, a cousin.  Who they are will have to be another story……………so see you soon!

Sources

Ancestry

International Committee for the Red Cross

CWGC

Henshaw, Pte., Stephen

I’ve not written anything for a while, so while I’ve been away from work for a few days I thought I would put fingers to keyboard and do a few snippets, as you have already will have seen.

Normally I see interesting things and make a note to write later, this time, decided to write something from some of the information passed on by friends – I have some wonderful friends who keep cuttings for me to use as a starting point for my meanderings. This time seems to be a reverse of the norm. Whilst looking through a book I’ve had for ages and is one of many I take away with me, I found the name of a young man and was quite moved by what happened many years after his death.

Stephen was the son of Ephraim and Sarah Ann Henshaw of Quinton, being born in 1887. In 1901 he was 14 years old and employed as a brick maker. His 52 year old father was navvy on the reservoir, while his 18 year old sister was a rivet sorter.

In the census of 1911 Stephen had been married to Sarah for under 1 year, but the enumerator had struck through the written explanation and recorded just a ‘1’ in the relevant box. Stephen worked as a stoker on a stationery engine at a local brickmakers. The young couple lived at 51 Stonehouse Lane, California, Northfield, Worcestershire.

dozinghem cwgcStephen enlisted in Birmingham, serving as Pte 204232 in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The Ox & Bucks). He was wounded during the Battle of Langemarck on 16th August 1917 and lay wounded in the fields for 6 days. After being found he was taken to Casualty Clearing Station 61 (CCS 61) Dozinghem near Proven, but sadly died of wounds on 23 August 1917 aged 30 and rests in Dozinghem Military Cemetery.

The book I had been looking at was by Major and Mrs Holt and in the pages I found the idea for this snippet and that Stephen’s granddaughter had been researching her grandfathers war . It was during a visit to the area and finding local historians that lead to finding the approximate area where Stephen lay for six days and nights. The area back in WW1 was known as Springfield Farm.

As many people who go on pilgrimages to WW1/2 sites will have seen, a laminated information sheet was left attached to one of the farms fence posts – a semi-permanent potted history of a family man whose life was taken away – a notice that passers by may see, stop and take a few moments to read about Stephen.

henshaw stephenWell, someone did stop and read the laminated information about Stephen’s last days – the owners of Springfield Farm (now renamed). So, when Stephen’s granddaughter returned a few years later she was shocked to find that from the information left attached to the farm fence, a memorial had been erected at the farmers’ own expense.

For further information

http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/dozinghem.htm

http://www.wo1.be/en/persons/henshaw-stephen

Images CWGC.org and http://echoesofwar.blogspot.co.uk/

A Boy Named Sue or Any Other Name That Fits!

As usual I start off doing a little project and then I go off on a tangent – I was looking for someone on a war memorial, a local one, that had a surname that I knew one of my friends was researching – I sent her a message and while waiting for the reply, the whole blog went belly up and did a full 180 ° turn – so you will have to wait for that blog.

But, while I was waiting for a reply, someone on one of my facebook groups placed a request for information on a lady who died in Egypt in 1918 – well what was I to do?  Leave her question unanswered, or go for it!  A quick search of Probate came up with nothing, a search of passenger lists came up with a few but none that I could say 100% without further information.  So the good old 1901 was consulted, but not to sure about the entries, therefore, forward 10 years to 1911 and this is where it went all wrong!!

I had been looking for ‘Abbie Garner’, she may have been known as Abbie and everyone called her Abbie, and it stuck but I checked Abigail and I should not have done……………..as one entry, an entry very near the top of the list in the 1911 census was for a George Abigail Garner – a transcription error on the index I thought, but no, it was his name, he wrote it clearly on the census and I was totally and utterly distracted from both the war memorial and Abbie.

Now I am hooked, who was George Abigail Garner and why the unusual middle name for a man and why did he give his son the same name?  Starting where I found him in 1911, we have George snr, head of the house aged 38 and working as a cooper, born in Lowestoft.  His wife, Mary Elizabeth aged 34, stated she had been married 10 years, given birth to 4 children, with 3 surviving to the 1911 census. Elizabeth Shepherd Garner is aged 10 and born in North Shields, next is George Abigail jnr, and then Helen aged 5. Finally, Robert Stephenson Garner aged 7 months.  Why does Helen have only one name when her siblings have an extra ?

A change of websites and a hit for G A in Lowestoft comes up in 1901 where Nathan Garner aged 55 is the head of the house, a town crier, with his wife Martha and 5 children aged between 20 and George, the youngest on the census aged 8. But still not a hint of a clue as to why Abigail was used as a middle name – George is not even entered with this name on the census.  Think we may have to back a generation to see what lies there.

So to Google, a wonderful too, but don’t believe all you read – verify and check with original sources where possible but if that is not possible make a note of the source and where you found the information.  A search for Nathan Garner took me to a site listing all Town Criers world wide, very interesting but I am confused as to why it had an piper playing over the page and even turning my sound off, still the sound could be heard when mousing over the information – why it was not Scottish and had no reason to be there.  I like a good tune played on bag pipes, in tune and in the right place – rant over, now back to Nathan.  Well, the site did tell me he was working as a crier in 1891.  Another link took me to a page full of Suffolk family names – this should be interesting and was.  The Nathan Garner I had been looking at on the previous site was born, as we know from the census in 1901, around 1845, but the list of names goes back one more generation, as I said I needed to do.  Nathan Garner, yes another, was born around 1829.  Back to the census.

The 1871 census has Nathan living next door to his brother, William, at 7 Nobbs(?) Buildings, Lowestoft and is a tailor, brother William is a basket maker.  Nathan jnr is 16 and working as a shoemaker.  I now know Nathan snr’s wifes name – Martha, obtained from an original document.  Next stop was to find who Martha was. A visit to Freebmd and a quick search came up with just one entry – Nathan Garner + Martha = Martha Abigaill……………..Fantastic.  So, it looks like that George Abigail Garner, even though there is a spelling variation, has the maiden name of his grandmother as his middle name – not unusual but sometimes it may raise a few questions.

George Abigail Garner had a son in 1903 and like generations before gave his son his name – George Abigail Garner.

Problem solved and back to the blog I was going to start earlier!

The Truce and a Footballer

100 years ago the noise, chaos, confusion and panic of life in the trenches of Northern France fell silent, it was Christmas Day! No orders came from on high to stop the fighting for one day, yet peace and calm was the order of the day.  The sound of carols rose from the trenches and gradually men from either side risked their lives to enter ‘no man’s land’ – no shots were fired as they left the safety of the trenches – it was Christmas and all was calm and they played footbal.

Some say the events of that day were fiction, while other deny that and have evidence to prove that the truce and the match took place.  Recently, there was a programme on television that produced the actual football – somehow being brought back home.

It seems appropriate with the football match taking place 100 years ago that I chat about a young man, a footballer who gave his life in the Great War,

By the title of the page you know who I am focusing on today – Walter Tull.  Walter Daniel John Tull was born on April 28 1888, the son of Daniel Tull a carpenter from Barbados and Alice Elizabeth Palmer, who he married in the spring of 1880.  When Walter and his siblings were young Alice died and in the winter of 1896 Daniel married her cousin Clara Alice Susannah Palmer but by the time Walter was 9 years old both his parents had died and he was living in a Methodist orphanage in Bethnal Green.

Clara, remarried in 1899 to a William Charles Beer, in the Dover Registration District and the 1901 census the couple are living in Coldred, Kent, with Elsie Tull and Miriam Tull aged 10 and 3 recorded as step-children. The family next door are the Palmers.  In the census of 1911 has the couple living in Kearnsey(?) also in the household is Miriam Victoria Alice Tull, step daughter, aged 13 and a William Thomas Palmer a boarder aged 64.

tullfootballHis brother was eventually adopted, while Walter remained and played football for the orphanage football team.  By 1908 he was playing for Clapham F C and within months had won winners’ medals in various leagues.  The Football Star in 1909 called him ‘the catch of the season’. The following year, 1909 he signed as a professional player with Tottenham Hotspur – it was while playing with Tottenham that he experienced racism from the spectators, one correspondent commented ‘a section of the spectators made a cowardly attack on him in language lower than Billingsgate’  he continued ‘Let me tell those Bristol hooligans that Tull is so clean in mind and method as to be a model for all white men to play football whether they be amateur or professional.  In point of ability, it not actual achievement, Tull was the best forward on the field’.

Tull, Walter officer

In the latter part of 1911 he moved to Northampton Town where he played half-back and scored 9 goals in 110 appearances.  When in 1914, the war started, Walter was the first player to sign up and join the 17th (1st Football) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and by late 1915 he was in France.  It was not long before the military took advantage of Walter’s leadership qualities and he was promoted to sergeant.  Walter took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 but in the winter of the same year he returned to England due to illness – sources differ with trench fever and/or shell shock’ being the cause.

2nd Lieut.,Walter Tull

2nd Lieut.,Walter Tull

On his recovery Walter was not returned to the front, as many others were, he was sent to the officer training school at Gailes, Scotland.  Even though regulations were against a man of walters birth becoming an officer, he did receive his commission in May of 1917, thus Walter became the first black combat officer in the British Army.  He was posted to the Italian front, being mentioned in dispatches for his gallantry and coolness under fire.

By early 1918 Walter was now serving on the Western Front.  On March 25th he was ordered to lead his men on at attack on German trenches at Favreuil, where shortly after entering No Mans Lane he was hit by an enemy bullet.  He was a highly regarded officer and some of his men made an attempt to bring him back to the British lines. One of the rescuing soldiers told that Walter was killed immediately with a bullet through his head.  And so it was that Walter who had been the first in many fields ended his life on 25 March 1918 aged 29.

Walter Tull had been recommended for the Military Cross, The award was never granted and various campaigns have been hoping that someday 2nd Lieutenant Walter Tull’s family will receive his Military Cross.

Back to Walter, as his body was never found and he is remembered on the Arras Memorial, bay 7.

It may not be the Military Cross, but the Royal Mint announced earlier in 2014 that Walter will be remembered one of a set of £5 coins commemorating the centenary of World War One.

Sources :-

 http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWtull.htm

http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/walter_tull.html

www.ancestry.co.uk

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Faces behind the headstones

Last year I found a leaflet asking for relatives of those WW1 soldiers who rest in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetary to come forward with any information or documents they may have and as I have original documents relating to my great uncle, there was only one thing to do and that was make contact – well you would, wouldn’t you, it is only being polite after all!

I made contact and as I have a little ‘bolt hole’ quite close to Poperinghe I made several visits to my contact who at the time worked out of Toc H and had many cups of tea there, if I may say, the best cups of tea in Belgium.  So, with my documents copied and information regarding my great uncle passed on I awaited the day I could visit.  I was invited to the opening in the autumn of 2012 but a few days holiday was not available………..so I waited.

The summer of 2013 in August was very hot and on one of the cooler afternoons I crossed the border to my uncle’s ‘little piece of England in a foreign land’.  The visitor centre is situated on a parcel of land at the side of the cemetery.  I did see the work in progress last year but then it was hard to imagine the building and ideas used.  The people at Toc H had told me of the ideas they wished to use and it sounded wonderful.

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

My first stop was, you guessed, the centre and after parking my car took the short walk to the single story centre.  Inside there is a plain red wall with two rows of speakers – for the tall and the short, each tells of the happenings from the area in a soldiers words and is available in four languages.  At the rear of this wall is the main archive area, all in white with red accents.  This could be symbolic of death and blood or red for the poppies.  My aunt a nurse would never have white and red flowers together in the same vase.  The room has a central work station with banks of computers listing all the men and one woman (Nellie Spindler) who rest within the boundary of the cemetery, and is easy to search.

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

I searched for my uncle, as I expected the CWGC information was there but also my pictures but I was disappointed not to find the original documents I had taken in were not available – never mind, may be at a later date or they may save them for a display, must keep visiting.

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

The displays on the wall are ‘clean looking’ and very informative.  There are photographs or the original wooden crosses, maps and aerial photographs, Director of Graves photographs, casualty records, letters requesting monies for extra working on their relatives headstones (my family paid the extra charge).  You will have seen this if you have visited a WW1 headstone – the wording at the bottom i.e. Much loved son, Dearly loved husband and father.  One wall has a plan showing the happenings on the Ypres Salient and a series of red spikes show when the most deaths occurred.  To say the Salient was on for quite a long time the spikes occur in a small time span.

When I visit any CWGC cemetery I am either overwhelmed by the number of headstones of men, young and old who gave their lives, for example a visit to Lijsenntheok or Tyne Cot brings this home very well, but there are also small off the beaten track cemeteries with sometimes only a dozen or so men.  Moving as this can be you don’t know who the men or women were, do you?  What did they look like, what colour eyes or hair did they have, how did they comb their heir, did they have a parting?  Were they clean shaven? For some of the men this now can be answered thanks to a red box like structure in the centre.  Pictures of the men and the one woman are placed within what

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

looks like a pencilled rectangle – one space for each headstone.  I am pleased to say that my great uncle, Herbert Siddle, Pte., 242874, 1/4th K.O.Y.L.I who died of a bullet wound in his neck, is positioned on the photo wall very close to Nurse Nellie Spindler, also from Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, as it was during their time.

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

In amongst these pictures is a screen displaying information regarding a soldier who died on the date of your visit.  The date of my visit – 16 August a young man named James Ernest Gordon was remembered. But what I

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

did like was that with the press of a button, you could print out information about him for example, his parents names, that he had siblings and that a fiancee never shared a special moment at the alter becoming his wife.  That he served in the Balkans and according to his second Lieutenant and was gassed helping a wounded comrade. He was overcome by the effects of the gas but did make it to No 10 CCS, the British evacuation hospital in Lijssenthoek at 9:45 and breathed his last some thirty minutes later.

After going around the centre if you care to take a walk to the cemetery you will notice that the old car park out side the main gates (if you have been before) has gone and now a path takes you towards these gates.  The path is protected from the road with what at first glance look like rusty metal pylons, but on closer inspection you can see that every one is dated – one for each day of the events

copyright c Sklinar 2013

copyright c Sklinar 2013

that took place.  The end of the war is depicted by a gap and the rusty metal continues from 24 January 1919 until 18 June 1921 in staggered dates i.e. 1 August 1915, 1 August 1918, 31 October 1920 and finally, 18 June 1921, bringing home that quite a lot of things were still going on in the area well after the war.  From here, you enter the familiar ground of a CWGC cemetery, rows of soldiers lined up in death as they were in life.

 

Was it worth a visit?  Yes!

Would I go again?  Yes!, of course, as the displays could change and I may get to see the original documentation kept by his mother at the bottom of a blanket box, along with the local newspaper, his picture on the front page as KIA and the insertion by his parents and family later in the paper saying how saddened they were at his loss.

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Lijssenthoek Visitor Centre click here 

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And finally, my reward for a nice afternoon out – only one eaten at a time – promise!!

A Fusilier’s Postcard

A friend of ours/mine is a songwriter and musician, basing many of his songs around his Northumberland origins.  A few years ago I blogged about a mining disaster that was the basis of a wonderful and moving song and a song dedicated to my husband called ‘The Old Chateau’.

northumberland fus badge

Anyway, the moving lyrics have once again spurred me into putting fingers to keyboard, but this time based on a postcard written by a fusilier to ‘his Maggie’.  I have no idea who the writer was or who ‘his Maggie ‘ was but I have found a Northumberland Fusilier who I shall blog about!

Frederick Noel Coates – who was he, just picked out at random from Army Service Records, basically as I thought his name would be easy to follow.

Frederick was born in 1895, in Whitley Bay, Northumberland, the son of John Robson Coates and Edith Annie, his wife of 19 years.

On Sunday 2nd April 1911 the family were living at 39 Victoria Avenue, Whitley Bay.  John was classed as an Accountant, while Edith  was given no occupation, but it did give information that she had born 6 children – the eldest being Edith Vera aged 18 and the youngest was Gwendoline aged 7 months.  Frederick Noel was the eldest boy aged 16 and employed as a Commercial Clerk.  The family were looked after by 2 teenage servants.

Ten years previous in 1901, John was an accountant working for the Water Gas Company with his family living at 37 Victoria Avenue.

A few short years after the census Frederick Noel Coates on 10 September  1914 signed his Short Service Attestation Papers in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Our young man gave his age as 19 years and 259 days and employed as a Wireless Telegraphy Student and was now officially a Private in the 16th Bn., Northumberland Fusiliers.  The only other entry on ‘Statement of Service was dated 18 September 1915, but will mention that later.

His military history sheet is bare apart from the information regarding his next of kin – John Robson (surname missing , probably as we know the name of the family) 8 South Parade, Whitley Bay.  One thing that was not missing was his description – a wonderful find for any family member who has no photograph to view.  Frederick was, as we know, 19 years and 259 days old.  He was 5” 7 1/2 “ tall and weighed 121lbs.  He had a girth of 35” with an expansion range of 4”.  His complexion was fresh, he had blue eyes and fair hair and gave no religious preference and he was declared fit for duty.

You may be wondering why I wanted to come back to Fredrerick’s Statement of Service, well on the 18September  1915 he was Discharged, but for a very good reason – he was Gazetted a Commission and became Temp. Second Lieutenant.

Frederick changed Battalions and was now in the 22nd.  These Battalions were made up of ‘Pals Battalions’ and took part in many battles including 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme – the 22nd Bn., lost over 530 men on that day.

The Northumberland Fusiliers were often known as the ‘fighting fifth’ as until 1881 the regiment was the Fifth Foot, but during The Great War the Northumberland Fusiliers raised no fewer that 51 battalions making it the second largest after the London Regiment.nf_steloi

The  22nd was formed in Newcastle on 5 November 1914 by Newcastle’s Lord Mayor and landed in France in January of 1916.

John and Annie Coates lost their eldest son on 4 April 1917 aged 23.  He is remembered at FAUBOURG D’AMIENS CEMETERY, ARRAS with over 2640 other  known men and 10 who are Known only unto Their God.

FAUBOURG D'AMIENS CEMETERY, ARRAS

 

 

 

Frederick is mentioned in Whitley Seaside Chronicle of the Great War

As to who was the Maggie, dearly mentioned on the postcard that could well be another story, but I do hope that  her soldier did return home.

You can listen to A Fusilier’s Postcard here

You may also like to listen to Where Footsteps Used Fall also with a WW1 theme

Sources –

Ancestry

Find My Past

 

 

 

 

The Eton Rifles

It was Eton College that gave me the WW1 bug and one friend in particular imparts me with newspaper cuttings and snippets.  One such newspaper cutting was given to me a few days ago and again has an Eton College link. It is a known fact that many of the young men from Eton College and other Public Schools left school in the spring and summer and by the autumn and winter had joined the the ranks of ‘the fallen’.  One in five young men from these schools did not return. Information from a new book tells that King Edward School, Lytham was the hardest hit public school with a third of ex-pupils who went to war being killed.  The National Archives has a graph detailing six public schools, the numbers serving, numbers killed and a percentage.  Eton College had 5650 young men serving with over 1100 being killed.  While Sedbergh had 1250 serving with losses of 251.  Eton in this graph seemed to come off the worst.  But saying that Eton seemed to fair very well when it came to The Old Etonians being awarded the Victoria Cross followed close by Harrow. Anyway, back to my newspaper article that features Eton’s first viii rowing team for 1913. Namely, Lindsay Campbell ; Charles Rowlatt ; Sigurd MacCulloch ; Ronald Backus ; Augustus Dilberoglue ; Richard Buckley ; Ian Napier ; Stephen Fairbairn ; Edmond Elliott. Only three of the first viii team for 1913 died in The Great War, firstly –

Dilberoglue AugustusAugustus Dilberoglue – he was born on 13th January 1894, he was the son of Planton and Julia Dilberoglue who around the time of their sons death were living at The Lodge, 19 Southfields Road, Eastbourne.  The family had previously been living in Cairo as Planton had been a Judge of the Native Court of Appeal.  He was educated at Summerfields, Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was when war broke out.  He obtained a commission and later attended Sandhurst.  1915 saw him being gazetted to the 3rd King’s Own Hussars.  Augustus served with his regiment in Shorncliffe, Ireland, with the BEF in France and Flanders and was KIA on 1 April 1918 nr Domart.  He rests in Hourges Orchard Cemetery Domart-Sur-La-Luce CWGC cemetery. His Commanding Officer wrote that he had a very high opinion of him, he was a fine young man and would be a great loss.  A fellow officer said he was of the finest character and a good friend.  He went on to say that he did not think he had ever met a more morally fearless character and that his squadron and troop fellow officers all loved him. While at Eton he had been captain of his house and in his last year captain of boars.  He rowed bow in the vii in 1912 and no 5 in the vii in 1913.  During that year he also won the School Pulling with G W Withington.  In 1914 he rowed no 7 in the Christ Church boat First Torpids.  He was a member of the Cavalry Club, the Vikings Club and of the Leander Club. Dilberoglue richardPlanton and Julia lost another of their sons – Richard Nicholas Dilberoglue who was also educated at Southfield and Eton and Sandhurst and joined the Coldstream Guards.  He was KIA when a shell exploded at his feet and he rests in Ginchy.  He also had wonderful tributes paid to him. Richard’s medal card, like his brother’s give their parents address in Eastbourne, but Richards gives a previous address of Buckingham Gate SW1. Richard and Augustus also had another brother serving in the Welsh Guards, Pandeli Dilberoglue who survived The Great War and lived until 1952.  

Sigurd MacCulloch (MacCullock) – Sigurd Harold MacCulloch was the son of John J and Matilda J MacCullochserved as a 2/Lieutenant  in the Seaforth Highlanders and died of wounds near Albert in 20 December 1915 aged 21.  He rests in Mailly-Maillet Communal Cemetery Extension.  An address on his medal card tells that the family lived at 8 Caurtfield Gardens, SW7.  The London Gazette for 4 March 1915 states that “The undermentioned Second Lieutenants to be Lieutenants” Sigurd H Macculloch’s entry had a note in brackets ‘(since died of wounds received in action)’. Sources:-De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour Ancestry CWGC Christ Church, Oxford.

elliot esmond

Esmond Elliot –  Was born on 25 September 1895, to Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, Earl of Minto and his wife Mary Caroline Grey.  Esmond like the other young men in this entry he attended Eton College and was coxwain in the Eton College eight in 1911,12,13.  During the Coronatian year he was Page of Honour when the new King and Queen went to Holyrood.  He served in the Scots’ Guards with a rank of Lieutenant and acted as A.D,C, to the Major General commanding the Guards Division in France.  He Died of Wounds on 6 Aug 1917.  A note on his Medal Card dated 7 February 1922 has his mother, The Rt. Hon. Mary, Countess of Minto, of 48 Chelsea Park Gardens,  SW3, applying for her dead sons medals.on year, he was Page of Honour when the King and Queen  were at Holyrood.

Sources:-
Ancestry.co.uk
The London Gazette
The Sunday Times

 

Cosens, H S F, KIA

I first came across the person above while photographing memorials in St Mary Abbotts church in Kensington.  I homed in on the war memorial outside after spending a wonderful time in Wholefoods – what a fantastic place and their cheese room is to die for!!

Cosens, H S F, who is he?

Harold Stanley Frederick Cosens, born 2 December 1889, the son of Frederick George Cosens and Fanny Louisa Ambrose who had married in Kensington in the spring of 1877.

Frederick was a Sherry Shipper born in Streatham in 1855, his wife was born in Marylebone in  the same year.

In the census of 1891 the family were living at 8 Airlie Gardens, Kensington – just off Campden Hill Road. Harold was the youngest of three children.  The family employed three staff, one of which was a nurse.

Ten years later in 1901, Frederick and Fanny still had three children but the number of staff had increased to four.

A further ten years on only one of the children is at home – 24 year old Winifred but now back to three servants.

Harold by the census of 1911 was a Second Lieutenant serving in the East Yorkshire Regiment and was one of 330 men and 80 women at Aldershot Barracks.  We now know he was a career soldier.  But his early had been at St Paul’s School and later Sandhurst Military College.

Harold was Killed In Action at Rue du Bois, Armentierre, on  27 October 1914, according to a number of sources,but the memorial in St Mary Abbots gives the date of 28 October 1914.

The medal card for Harold gives quite a lot of information. Firstly, his regiment and rank was confirmed.  His date of death is given as 27 October.  Other information is taken from Routine Orders, Staff Book, Disembarkation Returns and medals awarded.  In March of 1918 F L G Coens, Esq., applies for the 1914 star in respect of his late son.  Mr Cosens requested the medals address given 7 Observatory Gardens, Campden Hill.  There are a number of notes on the card and one says ‘medals to’ 15 Vicarage Gardens, Kensington.  One other adress is for F G Cosens, Esq., Beech Bough, Bacton, North Walsham, Norfolk.  Harold parents must have moved to Norfolk as he is remembered on the village war  memorial.

His Commanding Officer, Major M Boyle wrote of Harold  “He was my subaltern and I never want a better, always cheery and ready for any work that came in his way, and to take on any hard job, even when out of his turn, as so often happened when I wanted a man I could trust to do any difficult or jumpy piece of work. I could not want for a nicer, more cheery and hard working officer to soldier with……. The exact circumstances are these. He had led his men to retake some trenches from the Germans and had carried out his work successfully, and was actually in the trench, doing a kindly act to one of the enemy, who wanted to surrender, when a sniper shot him from another direction. It is extremely painful to write thus, as it was sheer bad luck! My company are very cut up indeed. He died a gallant gentleman.”

Harold rests in Ration Farm Military Cemetery, La Chapelle-D’Armentieres

Sources:

Ancestry ; Masonic Great War Project ; Freebmd ; CWGC