1

37 Divisional Supply Column (135

Mechanical Transport Company(1), Army Service Corps), 4 Corps

Army Service Corps insignia 37

th Division emblem

Seven Unsung Heroes of Ally Sloper’s

Cavalry (2)

Killed in action and died of wounds 3rd

July 1917 and buried at Dranoutre Military

Cemetery, Heuvelland, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium (3)

2

Acknowledgements

Susan Berry, Stanley Emms Great Grand Niece; Roy Iremonger, Headmaster and Marie Peters Headmaster's Secretary, Shoreham College; Cumnor Parish Record; National Archives, Kew; Imperial War Museum London; In Flanders Fields Museum Documentation Centre, Ieper, Belgium; June (Weaver family); Commonwealth War Graves Commission; Royal Logistics Corps Museum, and Stuart.

3

In Flanders Fields (4)

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

4

Introduction

The earliest memories I have of my paternal great grandfather, Charles Skingle, are of seeing an old photograph of the headstone of his military grave on the wall of the living room at my paternal grandparents’ house when I was about eleven years old. His son, my grandfather, also called Charles, told me that he had been killed by a German hand grenade, a ‘tater masher’ as he called it, and that he was buried in Belgium.

At about the same time I picked up a paperback laying around our house called ‘The Winding Road Unfolds’, by T S Hope (5). As a deeply impressionable eleven year old child reading about the horrors of war in the trenches of the Ypres Salient during the First World War the book had a very long lasting effect and to this day can remember wondering at the time if that’s what it had been like for my great grandfather. I recall at the time wondering about his life, last moments, and the possibility of going to visit his last resting place. I didn’t mention the idea of going to Flanders or the reading book to my parents who would have hit the roof if they knew I had read it.

A few weeks before Christmas 2007 I was visiting the Imperial War Museum North, in Manchester, and it all came back to me. As an independent adult I could go under my own auspices so I started planning my visit, checking the Commonwealth War Graves website to find out where Charles was buried and to which unit he had belonged, as it turned out, Mechanical Transport, 37th Division, Supply Column, Army Service Corps, and buried at Dranoutre (Dranouter) Military Cemetery, Heuvelland, West-Vlaanderen, 11.5 km south west of Ieper.

On a very frosty morning, the 19th December 2008, I visited the ‘In Flanders Fields’ Museum Research

Centre in Ieper. As far as they were able they were marvellously helpful though the information I was able to access about the 37

th Division was very sketchy. At midday I caught the bus to Dranoutre.

I didn’t really know how I would react. When I finally found his grave I found myself thinking that, other relatives excepted, I was connected to this man, or what remained of him, more intimately than most people on this earth. Part of me is this man; he is a part of me. It was an intense and profoundly moving moment. Again I wondered about his life, the experiences that led to him being laid to rest here, his last moments and if he had been remembered in any way that might perpetuate his memory and the sacrifice he’d made. It was with some surprise that, on checking the graves nearby, I discovered six other graves, all from the same Army Service Corps Company and all who died or were killed in action on the same day; 3

rd July 1917. I made my mind up there and then to try to find out

more about them, and what events had led to them dying on the same day and being buried side by side. In some way to try to bring the memory of them back to life so they are not lost to posterity.

It took a lot of work but on 5th January 2008 I finally tracked down the War Dairy of their Company at

the National Archives in Kew, London. It was at the point when I turned to the dairy page for the 3rd

July 1917 that I found out what had happened to them. Again I experienced an intense and profoundly moving moment. Here I was looking at a transcript written at the time by their Officer Commanding detailing their deaths and the cause. God knows what he had seen and what carnage had taken place that day. He had known them personally and this was written in his own hand and on the same day, or very shortly afterwards. It was as if I was looking over his shoulder.

Army Service Corps, 37th Division, Supply Column, 135 Company ASC. Buried at Dranoutre Military Cemetery*, killed in action/died of wounds on the 3

rd July 1917

Charles Skingle Corporal T4/085280. Plot II J 8

Frank Oliver Private M2/033827. Plot II J 9

Stanley Edward Emms Private M2/078127. Plot II J 10

Thomas Hughes Acting Warrant Officer Class 2 M2/045935. Plot II J 11

Harold George James Hardy Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant M2/055251. Plot II J 12

Percy Capel Private M2/166793. Plot II J 13

Frederick Gordon Weaver Corporal M2/032670. Plot II J 14

Given the sometimes paucity of records this, as far as is possible, is their story.

* Note: See http://www.flickr.com/photos/8456119@N08/

5

The Army Service Corps, and 37 Divisional Supply Column (135 Company A.S.C.,) 4 Corps First World War, 1915 – 1918 (6)

(7)

Stanley Edward Emms may have been processed through the Army Service Corps Office at 11 Britannia Road, Norwich (Britannia Barracks Depot was at 1-9 Britannia Road - see the picture below)

(9) Percy Capel’s enlistement was processed at Abingdon, Netheravon

Enlisted As they all enlisted in or near to London it is highly likely that Charles Skingle, Frank Oliver, Stanley Edward Emms, Thomas Hughes, and Harold George James Hardy all trained at Grove Park ASC Training Centre, Marvels Lane London SE12 0PG, an old workhouse, which from 1914 until 1918 was used as a mobilisation / training centre for new recruits by the Army Services Corps. Records show Harold Hardy and Charles Skingle were posted to Aldershot from where they joined the British Expeditionary Force.

Grove Park workhouse ("The Barracks") from the west, 1914. (8)

6

France 1915 – 1917: With the advent of hostilities the Company embarked at Southampton and left for Rouen on 25

th July 1915 from where they pushed on to Abbeville and then straight onto Arras;

arriving there on 31st July 1915. On 7th March 1916 the Company moved to Mondicourt, 4km west of

Arras, and though the Lorry Park was shelled on 17th May 1916 (with no casualties), they were to

remain in the area as part of VII Corps until the summer of 1917. French/Belgian border 1916 – 1917: On the 19

th April 1916 the Company moved with the Division to I

Corps at Dainville, 4km west of Arras. Due to heavy shelling they then moved into IX Corps on 1st

June from where they eventually pushed on to Flanders. In March 1917 (as the Russian Revolution kicked off and British Forces captured Baghdad) the Company was reorganised with 37

th Ammunition

Sub Park joining the Supply Column to form the 37th Divisional Transport Company by which time their

total mileage was 1,244,057.

(11)

Army Service Corps Training, Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK (10)

UK – 1915: 135 Company A.S.C formed in January 1915 (that month the 1

st Zeppelin

raid took place on England) and in July 1915 was based at Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, an area which played an active role in the First World War; 80 per cent of the trees in Weston Woods were felled for military use. Large numbers of soldiers were billeted in Weston for training prior to being posted, as the beach was used for training exercises in digging trenches. Originally part of the 11

th Northern Division they were later

attached to the 37th Division.

The Battle of Messines Ridge then took place on 7

th June 1917. At

01:00 hours the British moved up into their jumping off positions. Just before 03:10 hours everybody was warned to lie flat on the ground. At 03:10 hours about 450,000 kilos of explosives were detonated exploding 19 huge mines under the German front line. The effect was a man made earthquake which sent German soldiers in Lille, 20 kilometres away, into a panic and was easily heard in the south east of England. The Company would most certainly have been a part of the preparations for the attack, most likely involved in Supply Logistics in support of IX Corps who, during the battle, attacked Wytschaete (Wijtschate, Whitesheet to the British), and would most certainly have been witness to the tremendous detonation of the mines. They eventually arrived at the Divisional Reserve area at Locre (Loker) on the 25th June 1917 where the Company set up a camp and lorry park. The First World War diary summary for the company states that when they moved to Locre on 25th June “The lorries had a good standing in a paved yard on the BAILLEUL Road”. (12)

7

Today this would be somewhere along what is now N375 Route De Locre - Douanestraat between Bailleul and Loker, probably nearer to Loker. There are a number of farms just south west of Loker which could have been the area where 135 Company had their lorry park, near the Belgian border with France. The HQ Unit remained here until March 1918 where they would have been ‘responsible for the supply of goods, equipment and ammunition from the Divisional railhead to the Divisional Refilling Point and, if conditions allowed, to the dumps and stores of the forward units and were used, of course, where loads were heavy. A Company initially comprised 5 officers and 337 other ranks of the Army Service Corps, looking after 45 3-ton lorries, 16 30-cwt lorries, 7 motor cycles, 2 cars and 4 assorted trucks for the workshop and stores of the Supply Column itself.’ (13) Activities listed for 135 Company were training, rescuing ditched and broken down vehicles, the transfer and supply of drivers and vehicles, vehicle repairs and extraneous activities. Whilst it was quiet leave was granted, usually for 10 days and to a party of one officer and four NCOs and men. Reveille was at 530am everyday and guard was posted at 6pm. Casualty lists at the time showed those on leave, the transfer of men and vehicles, illness, deaths and wounded. From June 1917 onwards Captain Prichard, the Officer Commanding, reported frequent movement of supply dumps and railheads. In the summer of 1917 the area around Bailleul, Locre and Dranoutre was a Divisional Reserve with supply dumps, stores, baths, delousing stations, laundries and billets for soldiers coming out of the line, casualty clearing stations, a hospital and with an influx of many refugees. Nearby Poperinghe, known as ‘Pop’ was popular as a place of rest and relaxation with the troops. Facilities included Skindle’s Hotel and Officers Club and Talbot House (also known as Toc H and run by Reverend Tubby Clayton) located directly opposite Mrs Schabaille’s undertakers which had a sideline in candles, tobacco, Belgian sweets, souvenirs, postcards and methylated tablets for the soldiers’ field cookers. There were also cafes and estaminets selling egg and chips and vin blanc. In Locre there was the Frontier café with seventeen year old Paula, the resident pianist, and the child of the house six year old Marguerite. Victoria was the local attraction in Dranoutre, serving in the café and cutting sandwiches in the YMCA. (15) There were football matches, field days, regimental ‘bull’, practicing attacks and manoeuvres, horse shows and sports days at which the ACS would have shown off their field gun talents in Wagon Mounting and Dismounting competitions (the precursors for the Royal Tournament Field Gun competitions at Olympia) (16). Front line troops were generally cycled through the rear areas with two weeks on the front line and two weeks in the rear echelons.

(14)

The weather at the time was fine and is reflected in that fact that daytime bombing sorties were being carried out by German Gothas, each able to carry more than 1000 pounds (454 kilograms) of bombs, from bases in the Ghent area of Belgium. Two raids over London, on June 13

th and July 7

th, resulted in

many deaths and injuries. German bombers were also targeting high volumes of traffic in rear areas, affecting the Western Allies supply lines.

Bailleul, Kemmel and Ploegsteert area - http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/adami/camc/camc.html

8

During July 1917, prior to the launch of Third Ypres on 31 July, the area around Bailleul suffered substantial damaged due to heavy shelling. As part of their counter attack the Germans began to harass and interrupt the British lines through night bombing raids. That July, for the first time, the Germans used mustard gas which was intensely painful, blistered the skin, damaged the lungs and caused blindness. Then on the night of Tuesday 3

rd July 1917 disaster struck the Company. The entry

of the 37 Divisional Supply Train, 135 Army Service Corps Company War Diary, signed by Captain J Lloyd Prichard, Officer Commanding, reads “Locre, 3/7/17, Casualties: Six NCOs and men killed – the deceased NCOs and men were buried at DRANOUTRE Military Cemetery with full Military Honours; the GOC (General Officer Commanding, Major-General H. Bruce Williams) 37th Division attending. Fourteen men wounded of which five have since died. These casualties were caused by a bomb dropping from enemy aircraft”. The diary summary for the company states that “On the night of the 3rd July a bomb was dropped in this yard killing 15 NCOs and men.” In the 3

rd July entry two Staff

Sergeants and a Sergeant are listed as amongst the wounded. That the bomb most likely fell where the men were bivouacked and not where any vehicles were parked is indicated in the transcript for 3

rd

July as no vehicles were listed under casualties with 27 lorries on supply work and 9 on various other duties. On 4

th July vehicles were being used for regular duties - Divisional Supplies, Royal Engineer

work, conveying troops and extraneous duties with Horse Troops being used to load the supplies. (17)

The scene must have been one of utter devastation. Six of those buried at Dranoutre were killed outright and were probably blown to pieces. The others would have sustained the sorts of serious traumatic amputation wounds that come from bomb blasts and flying shrapnel. Of the fifteen men who died as a result seven are buried at Dranoutre; three Privates, two Corporals, one Acting Warrant Officer and one Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant. Where the remainder are buried and their stories will require further investigation. After the incident a fair amount of leave was granted and new men posted in to bring up the strength of the Company. In March 1918 (as the Germans launched their ‘Michael’ offensive against the British and French Forces and Paris came under fire from Big Bertha, a German 43-ton mobile howitzer, and German Forces were attempting to capture Amiens) the post of Officer Commanding 135 Company was taken over by Major Treadcroft RASC indicating that by this time the King, who held the ASC in high regard, had managed to overcome Kitchener’s objections to the Corps having the Royal epithet attached to it. The Company was then stationed at Dampemy. Then from May 1918 onwards large groups of men, about 30 at a time, were demobilised until eventually on 7 June 1918 at Boisdinghem in France all remaining personal apart from the Officers were transferred away.

Ruins of Dranoutre and Bailleul in 1918

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10

The Seven

Charles Skingle

Fred Weaver

Percy Capel

11

Charles Skingle

Charles Skingle was, according to official records, born in 1877 at Hatfield Broadoak in Essex, son of Mark Skingle and Mary Jane Emily Skingle (nee Milbourne, from Lincolnshire). In 1881 (aged 3) Charles and his family were living in a cottage on Cage Road in Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex.

Cage End, Hatfield Broad Oak circa 1920

At the time Charles dad Mark was 45 and working as a carpenter. His wife Eliza was 43. Charles siblings at the time were Minnie (aged 11), George (aged 9), Mary (aged 7), and Mark (aged 5). In 1861, when Mark was a Police Constable, the family had been living at the White Horse Inn, 51 White Horse Lane, Great Baddow, Essex, England.

In the years prior to the First World War Charles had enlisted and served with the British Army in the bloody Anglo-Boer War in South African Campaign.

He would have been awarded the Queens South Africa Medal, awarded to all who served in South Africa between 11 October 1899 and 31 May 1902 (during the Boer War).

In April 1915 Charles enlisted in the Army. The National Roll of Honour gives his address at the time as 17 Leffern Road, Shepherds Bush, W12. The family seemed to have moved, possibly after his death, to 48A, Wardo Avenue, Fulham, London. His wife, Mary Jane survived till her death at the age of 89 in the spring of 1964. At the time of Charlie’s death she was left to bring up nine children ranging in age from 3 to 18 years old; the last being born in 1914, three years before his death. Author’s note: I recall his wife Mary Jane Emily, my great grandmother, visiting my grandparents; a tiny old lady who passed away when I was ten years old.

Charles wife Mary Jane Emily

Queens South Africa Medal with 5 clasps

12

Thomas Skingle (b 1899) who would have been an 18 year old teenager at the time of his father’s death Mark Leonard Skingle (b 1900 – d 1959)

Twins, Sidney George Skingle (b 1902 – d 1903) and surviving twin Charles Skingle (b 1902 – d 1988) Note: Charles is the author’s paternal grandfather and served in India and Afghanistan in between the wars

Margaret Anne Skingle (b 1904) Emily Elizabeth Skingle (b 1904 – d 1988) George Francis Skingle (b 1907) Caroline (Kitty) F. Skingle (b 1912 – d 1940 at the age of 28) Albert Edward Skingle (b 1914).

Violet Skingle (nee Jales) aged about 25

Charles Skingle with wife Violet in Ramsgate circa 1950

Mark served in the 9th (Service) Battalion (County of London Volunteer Rifle Brigade), The London Regiment, the King's Royal Rifle Corps, Photo: Cologne, Germany. Army of Occupation, 2

nd Infantry Division. 1918 – 1920

India Medal with Afghanistan North

West Frontier clasp

13

Albert Edward. Skingle born 8th Oct 1914, In Fulham, London. Married Dorothy Forshaw, Born 16th Dec 1914, in 2nd qtr 1948, Preston. They had one known child and emigrated to Australia. Departed from Liverpool on 20th Sept 1950, on the "SOMERSETSHIRE" destination Canberra

Caroline (Kitty) Skingle

George Francis Skingle, born 2

nd

quarter of 1907 and emigrated to Australia 4 Oct 1923 aged 16 from the Port of London to Adelaide on the SS Balranald. One of the Barwell Boys, encouraged to Australia to replace the men lost to Australia during the First World War. Never heard from again.

14

Charles served with the Army Service Corps till he was involved in the bombing incident in the Lorry Park on the Bailleul Road near Locre, dying of his wounds aged 41. He was buried with full Military honours next to his pals.

Plot II J 8 Charles Skingle Corporal T4/085280 Army Service Corps, 37th Division, Supply Column, 135 Company ASC. KIA 3

rd July 1917 aged 41. Son of Mark and Elizabeth (Eliza)

Skingle of Hatfield Broadoak, husband of Mary Jane Emily Skingle of 48a Wardo Avenue, Fulham, London. Served in the South Africa Campaign.

‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’ (18)

1914-1915 Star (Pip) for service in all other theatres of war, 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915; and for service in France and Belgium, 23 November 1914-31 December 1915 British War Medal (Squeak) for service abroad (including India) 5 August 1914 - 11 November 1918, or 1919-1920 in Russia. Victory Medal (Wilfred) for military and civilian personnel who served in a theatre of war.

Charles Skingle – medal card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

15

Frank Oliver In 1881 Joseph Oliver (aged 42) was living with his wife Regia (aged 37), at Black Door Villa, with their children Joseph (aged 17), Regiah (aged 15), Jessie (aged 13), Scott John (aged 12), James Albert (aged 8) and Janice (aged 5). In 1891 they were living at Turners Farm, Warbleton. Joseph was a farmer and his eldest son Joseph, a poulterer.

Turners Farm (Copyright: Richard Dear - http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/453715) 50:56.9771N 0:23.2307E

In 1893 Joseph (junior – aged 29) and his wife Ellen (aged 25) had a boy, Frank Oliver; there were 3 Siblings In 1906 aged 13 Frank was attending Shoreham College, St Julian's Lane, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 6YW

16

Copyright: http://www.shorehamcollege.co.uk

Frank enlisted in London into the Army Service Corps serving in France and Belgium as part of the First World War British Expeditionary Force till he was involved in the bombing incident at the Lorry Park on the Bailleul Road near Locre, dying of his wounds aged 24. He was buried with full Military honours next to his pals.

Plot II J 9 Frank Oliver Private M2/033827 Army Service Corps KIA 3 July 1917, aged 24 (born June 1893), Son of Joseph (born 1869?) and Ellen Oliver (born 1868?), (and lived at) Turners Farm, near Punnett’s Town, Heathfield, Sussex. Roll of Honour Sussex (and born) Warbleton. Enlisted London

‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

He is remembered on the Roll of Honour at St Mary the Virgin Church in Warbleton, Sussex

Frank Oliver’s medal card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

17

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/Warbleton.html Roll of Honour photographs – Copyright and courtesy of Roy Iremonger, Headmaster, Shoreham College

And also on the Shoreham College Roll of Honour where he was a pupil

Copyright: http://www.shorehamcollege.co.uk/OSA/RollOfHonour/WW1OliverF.aspx

18

Stanley Edward Emms

Eaton

Eaton is a parish and suburb of Norwich extending 2 miles south-west, bounded by the Yare, containing a large number of handsome villa residences, occupied by the merchants and traders of the city, within the county of the city of Norwich. The church of St. Andrew is an ancient flint building, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel and nave, covered with thatch, having a tower and 3 bells: the parents of Henry Kirke White, the poet, were interred in this church: the sacramental cup is of date 1684, and there are a sedilia and a piscina. The register dates from the year 1568. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £300 and house and 43 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich and held since 2875 by the Rev. Wm. Melville Pigot M.A. of Brasenose College, Oxford.

A district church named Christ Church was built by subscription, and was opened on the 4th of November 1873: it is a handsome cruciform building of flint with brick and Bath stone facings, in the French Gothic style: it consists of nave and transept, and has a stained glass east window, and a pretty spire containing 1 bell. There are several nurseries here: that of Messrs. Ewing and Co. covers an area of 40 acres, which are open to the public free on week days. The Norfolk and Norwich Cricket Club have their ground here. The Dean and Chapter of Norwich, who are lords of the manor, and the trustees of the late Richard Hanbury Gurney esq. are the principal landowners. The soil is light and sandy; subsoil, sand and gravel. The crops are of the usual kind. The area is included in Norwich; gross estimated rental, £8019 4s.; rateable value, £7,055; and the population in 1881 was 1,237.

Ref. Parish Clerk, Charles Chamberlain (19)

Eaton is within the city boundaries. As such, this means that St Andrew is the last surviving thatched church in the city. Today, it is surrounded by development, but twenty years ago it was backed by open countryside (20).

Stanley Emms was born in the third quarter of 1890 in Eaton, Norfolk, to William John and Agnes E. (nee Newman) Emms, originally of Avenue House, Mile End Road, Norwich. He may have gone to St. Phillip’s National Boys School which was on West Pottergate Street, Norwich, not far from where they lived at 21 Pottergate Street. The Emms were a reasonably privileged family; William was a tailor and draper (a dealer in clothing and dry goods) in Norwich and had a shop there. William John Emms is listed as a tailor and draper at 21 Pottergate St. (21).

In 1901, when William was 39, when they were living at 21 Pottergate Street in the Parish of St. Gregory, Norwich they lived next to the Morning Star Garter (pub), 23 Pottergate, Norwich (from 22.06.1880 the proprietor was Walter George Kelf and then, from 05.04.1913, Horace Arthur Smith. Both would have been known to the Emms family).

19

Number 19 Pottergate (see here on the left) would have been the neighbouring house to the Emms at 21

(Note: The houses next to the pub shown in the picture on the bottom right, and below, backed onto the yard at the back of the house where the Emms lived which is behind the shed in the centre ground. As can be seen in the picture o the bottom left, they

were demolished to make way for the rebuilding of the pub in 1937)

20

Photos - http://www.the-plunketts.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm

The pub after its rebuild in 1937 looked much the same as it does today. The name changed in 1975 to the Brown Derby and in 1988 became the Pottergate Tavern

23 Pottergate, NR2 1DS. tel: 01603614589 The first house at the back of the pub would be 21 Pottergate, where the Emms lived.

Pottergate as it looks today

http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/norfolk/norwich2.html

Stanley’s siblings are listed as Hilda Violet (4 years old) and William Reginald (2 years old). They had a boarder; an Isabel A. Palmer (aged 16). By 1901 the family had grown substantially with the addition of Agnes Maud (aged 6), Rose (aged 4) and Ruby Auriana (aged 1). By that time they had a domestic servant living with them, Alice Sallas (aged 15). Subsequent siblings include Nora Winnifred (born second quarter 1906) and John Clifford (born last quarter 1902).

Though Stanley is recorded as having enlisted in London he may have been processed through the Army Service Corps Office at 11 Britannia Road, Norwich (Britannia Barracks Depot was at 1-9 Britannia Road - see picture below)

21

Photos - http://www.the-plunketts.freeserve.co.uk/barracks.htm

Stanley was killed in action by a bomb dropped from a German aircraft on the Bailleul Road, near Locre, Flanders, Belgium on 3

rd July 1917. Stanley’s mother, Agnes E. (born 1861), died in 1938 and

his father, William John (born 1861), died in 1944

Plot II J 10 Stanley Edward Emms Private M2/078127 Army Service Corps. Born 1891. KIA 3 July 1917 aged 27. Son of William John and Agnes E. Emms (nee Newman) of Avenue House, Mile End Rd., Norwich. born Eaton, Norfolk. Ecclesiastical Parish - St Gregory. Enlisted London.

‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

Stanley Edward Emms – medal record card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

22

Thomas (Edward?) Hughes Thomas’s age was unknown at the time of his death and the lack of any concrete Army records other than his medal card makes it rather difficult to flesh out his life. He was known to have been born in Marylebone and enlisted in London.

There are records of a Thomas Hughes born in Marylebone in 1847 enlisting at Westminster into the 4

th Regiment of

Foot on 15th May 1865 at the age of 18

and went on to serve until 23 June 1883 aged 36. This could quite possibly have been the father of the Thomas Hughes who served in the Army Service Corps. The earlier Thomas Hughes was illiterate, as is shown by his ‘mark’, an ‘X’, made on his Attestation. His next of kin is shown as his mother, Charlotte Hughes and that he had served in Afghanistan and Abyssinia. He transferred on 14 November 1872 into the 1/5

th Fusiliers by

which time, as his signature shows, he was no longer illiterate. During his service he had suffered many bouts of recurring malaria and dysentery. Is it any wonder then that when he was discharged in Warrington he was described as ‘gaunt’. His career was peppered with offences, some of which make amusing reading. On the ‘19

th

August 1875, Allahabad. Found in the Kutha Bazaar improperly dressed at 6pm’ and on the ‘26

th August 1880. Leaving his

guard without permission and found in the company of a prostitute at 840pm’.

Census records of 1881 indicate that a Thomas Hughes was living at 31 Devonshire Street (now in Westminster and today the site of the Devonshire Hospital) with dad Thomas and mum Caroline. Their local pub may have been the Devonshire Arms (now called Inn 1888), 21a Devonshire Street, Portland Place, Marylebone, London, W1G 6PD (Tel: 020 7935 8327).

http://fancyapint.com/ http://www.marylebonevillage.com/

Moving forward to 27

th July 1891, a 19 year old Thomas Edward Hughes, born 1872, a labourer, of

Marylebone joined the Middlesex Regiment at St. George’s Barracks, Hounslow, London. A Roman Catholic he had a scar on his left jaw and a mole on his left cheek, and with a fair complexion and eyes and hair both dark brown. He served in the East Indies from 15

th November 1892 until 2

nd March

1899. He is also shown to have been put on trial though the offence is difficult to determine form the records. He served in South Africa from 2

nd December 1899 until 26

th August 1902 on both the 1899

and the 1900-1902 campaigns. He had the Kings South Africa medal with 6 clasps and the Queens South Africa medal with 2 clasps.

Afghanistan 1878 Medal

Abyssinian War Medal 1869

23

His next of kin is shown as his sister, Caroline Hughes, 31 Upper Hamilton Terrace, St. John’s Wood, London. Sir Joseph Bazalgette (1819 – 1891) lived at number 17 so would have been known to the family. The area was well to do with many doctors having moved into the area in the mid 1800s. Though Thomas was a labourer that fact that they were living in the area may indicate that by the 1880s the Hughes were reasonably well off and that Thomas was part of a family that was becoming or had already become middle class.

Thomas enlisted in London into the Army Service Corps serving in France and Belgium as part of the First World War British Expeditionary Force till he was involved in the bombing incident at the Lorry Park on the Bailleul Road near Locre, dying of his wounds probably aged about 45. He was buried with full Military honours next to his pals.

Plot II J 11 Thomas (Edward?) Hughes Acting Warrant Officer Class 2 M2/045935 Army Service Corps Died of wounds 3 July 1917, born Marylebone. Age unknown – possibly 45 born 1872. Enlisted London. Resident Willesden

‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

Thomas Hughes medal card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

Queens South Africa Medal with 5 clasps

Kings South Africa Medal with two clasps

24

Harold George James Hardy

Harold was born in East Dulwich and his birth was registered in Camberwell in the 1st quarter of 1882

According to the 1901 census the family may have moved as a Harold Hardy aged 19 and born in East Dulwich is registered as living at 31 Bellevue Road, Enfield with father George (aged 47), mother Ellen (aged 49) and a servant, one Alice Fisher (aged 19). Both father and son were travelling ironmongers so it would seem that the must have had a fairly good business to have had enough money to employ a servant.

Harold had already served for 3 years in the 1/7th Battalion the Middlesex Regiment when, at the age

of 32 years and 9 months he re-enlisted on the 25 September 1914 at Weybridge from the Reserve into the 2/6

th (Reserve) Battalion East Surrey Regiment, Regimental number 20471 on Home Service.

On the 6th October 1914 he was posted to the Regiment’s Guard at the Lang Propeller Works,

Riverside, Weybridge, which had been set up in 1913. Then on 24th March 1915 he was discharged

only to re-enlisted at East Molesey (near Hampton Court) into the Mechanical Transport, Army Service Corps

He lived at with his wife Anne (she was originally from Shadingfield, Wangford, Suffolk) at “Casita”, Dorchester Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13).

Harold served with the Army Service Corps till he was involved in the bombing incident in the Lorry Park on the Bailleul Road near Locre, dying of his wounds aged 35. He was buried with full Military honours next to his pals.

On the Walton-on-Thames Roll of Honour, unveiled by Admiral the Earl Beatty in July 1921 appears the following inscription:

HARDY, H.G.J., C.Q.M. Sgt. A.S.C., M.T.

The unveiling of the Walton-on-Thames War Memorial in 1921. Image © Elmbridge Museum

http://www.elmbridgemuseum.org.uk/?image=902

25

The Walton War Memorial today © Copyright Chris Clarke and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/57796

Plot II J 12 Harold George James Hardy Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant M2/055251 Army Service Corps (born 1882) died of wounds 3 July 1917, aged 35, Husband of Anne Hardy (nee Fordham), of Shadingfield, Wangford, Suffolk. Born 1882 East Dulwich, Middlesex. Enlisted East Molesey (near Hampton Court).

‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

Harold George James Hardy’s medal card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

26

Percy Capel Cumnor, Oxfordshire, famous for having been the place where Amy Robsart, wife of Queen Elizabeth the First’s favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, died, was where Percy was born and spent most of his life. Percy’s parents, George Capel (born 1843 and died in 1910 in Cumnor) and Lucy Bennett (born 1841 Cumnor) were married at Cumnor on the 19

th October 1863. George was an agricultural labourer, and

in 1890 is shown as living at rear of the present 'Bear & Ragged Staff'. At the time they had 12 children living at home with them – Eli (a stepson, born 1859) aged 31 and an agricultural labourer, Florence J. (born 25

th November 1864) aged 26, Elizabeth (born 9

th April 1865) aged 25, Rose (born

25th December 1867) aged 23, Alfred (born 18

th October 1868) aged 22 and an agricultural labourer,

Thomas (born 26th March 1871) aged 19, Lily M. (born 2

nd February1873) aged 17, Ruth (born 21

st

February 1875) aged 16 (who married William Stanley, railway guard, of Oxford on 12th October 1901),

George (born 4th February 1877) aged 14, Percy (born 1880) aged 11, Albert H. (born sometime

between 20th – 26

th February 1883) aged 7 and Arthur E. (born 5

th April1885) aged 5. The 1891

census shows a stepson Thomas Bennett an agricultural labourer, in residence.

The 'Bear & Ragged Staff' cottages, formerly 32 – 38 Appleton Road, were converted to storage in the 1960s. A terrace of five cottages with limestone rubble walls and gabled stone roofs and very likely with a beaten earth floor, they were originally positioned next to the road at the south end of the plot behind the pub (about 400 years old a formerly a barn) at number 28, which still exists. Note: Bear & Ragged Staff, 28 Appleton Road, Cumnor, Oxfordshire, OX2 9QH, Tel: 01865 862329, Fax: 01865 862048. Email: enquiries@thebearandraggedstaff.co.uk

In 1896 at the age of 16 Percy was a member of the Cumnor Cricket Team

Percy Capel (aged 16)

(Photo - http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/)

27

Life in Cumnor at the turn of the Century

(Map - http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/)

Pimms came with the grocery from Eynsham on Saturday nights. Fish, fruit and vegetables were brought from door to door once a week. Bread was delivered from Botley by horse and by Mr Surman. The oil man came once a week. Shopping was done in Oxford once a week by carrier's cart. Recollections of Mrs Ninn

The children too in those days played quite a considerable part in helping the domestic routine as soon as they came out of school. Their first job was to take father's dinner to Chawley Works. The meal was usually boiled bacon, cabbage and potatoes. Today it certainly sounds good but in those days it was eaten with really monotonous regularity. Butcher's meat was only eaten once a week on Sunday for a special treat. Most housewives cooked two meals a day for the children and father, at midday and again in the evening when he came home from work. It was cheaper to live that way as there was always plenty of vegetables and, of course, always bacon. The food was cooked in a huge iron boiler over the fire. Cabbage, bacon and potatoes which were put in a net were put altogether in the pot. Suet puddings were the order of the day, made with any fruit that happened to be in season, not forgetting the ever-popular 'Spotted Dick'. I have never seen such huge puddings since I was a girl. They were usually sewn up in a pudding cloth. Basins were not very popular for the sweet pudding but it was very much in evidence on Sunday when practically every family sat down to their weekly treat of beef steak pudding. There was real poverty in those days. Most of the people were very poor and life was a hard struggle. But on the whole children all seemed to enjoy good health.

…there was quite a number of women who worked on the land. I think they were paid about 2d an hour. But here again all women were not adapted for the soil.

There was work which was brought to the village from Oxford. It was brought in a big van and a pair of horses and the stopping place was the 'Lion Tree'. It was making men's trousers, chiefly corduroy. It was very thick and heavy material. I imagine it must have been very hard work. These trousers were lined with unbleached calico. The linings were cut out but the worker had to actually make them ups complete with buttons and buttonholes. These garments, as I remember, seemed to have endless buttonholes, no comparison with the men's working apparel today. As far as I can remember, they were paid 2d for a 'set' of buttons and button- holes. The finished garment, I think, produced the large sum of 3d.

Note: Lucy, Percy’s mum, and Sister Ruth were both seamstresses (trousers).

Most of the women did their needlework on little round bare deal tables on which was usually an array of threads of all colours and tailor's thimbles without tops. After the garments were finished they had to be pressed with very hot irons which had to be heated on a trivet in front of an open fire. The work when finished was stacked on a Windsor chair to await the arrival of Mr. Slay with the van and horses.

28

This was quite a day in the village. The work was taken to the 'Lion Tree'. People who managed to do quite a lot pushed the work down the road on prams and push-chairs etc. Most of the women put on big clean aprons, and a very popular type of headwear of those days was wearing the men folk’s caps complete with hat pin. It was actually on a Thursday that the work was fetched and the women paid, and you may be sure that there was no more welcome visitor to the village. I forgot to mention that the firm from Oxford was Thomas Hale, whose factory was in Queen Street, but whose premises have long since been used for other purposes. The work went on till round about 1912 or perhaps a little later with the outbreak of the 1914 World War. Ref. Mrs F. Masters 1990, when she was living with her daughter in Lake Street, Oxford.

Although we lived in a horse-dominated age, we did see the odd car. Something else appeared too: we called them Flying Machines in 1909; one of these even flew from England to France, or was it the other way round? One came to grief in the fields above our School, where ladies played hockey - very daring: - I can smell the petrol now as I remember how we searched for souvenirs, fragments of this wonderful machine. THE AGE OF HORSES, George King of Botley (22).

An early monoplane landed on Cumnor Meadow at Farmoor during haymaking c. 1914 (The meadow is now covered by two Thames Water reservoirs) and probably shortly before Percy would have enlisted (23).

(Photo - http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/)

Most of the men worked either as farm labourers or, as with Percy (aged 21) and his dad George, as labourers at the Chawley Brick and Kiln Works employed by the Earl of Abingdon. Arthur (aged 16), Percy’s brother also worked there as a sawyer in the Bricks and Timber section. There they would have worked for 3d an hour for 12 hour days from 6am to 6pm, though in the summer would have carried on working till 10 or 11pm. Weekly earnings would have been 14 shillings rising to £1 a week for the long hours worked in the summer. There was also a blacksmith’s in a brick building by the Vine which shod the local farm horses. Recollections of Mrs Ninn and Mrs F Masters and Iris Wastie (24).

The accounts of the Earl of Abingdon in the Bodleian Library give details of the employees and the rents of their tied cottages. In 1899 the works made a good profit. Immediately after the Great War a lot of bricks were produced but could not be sold. Production had to close down till the surplus stock had been disposed of. Wages remained low and in 1921 there was a strike for better pay, eventually resolved by a rise of one shilling but not before several workers were sacked and ejected by bailiffs from their cottages with their furniture put in the street. Iris Wastie (25).

Map -

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/

29

By the age of 20 Percy and his brother Albert, aged 16, had joined the Cumnor Reading Room Group which took place in the Church House.

Top row includes: A. Capel (probably Albert H.), R. Hoare, P. Capel, G. Inness, J. Belcher. Third row: W. Brown, J. Bennett, M. Bennett, P. Lambourne (relation E. Lambourne – not pictured), R. Blake, E. Rowles, A. Belcher. Second row: A. Inness, E. Wernham, A. Costar, E. Woodward, E. Jordan, E. Sherwood, E. Buckingham, E. Buckingham, A. Sherwood, H. Keene. First row: A. Rowles, E. Durham, H. Woodward, E. Rowles, C. Shurmer, H. Lambourne (relation E. Lambourne – not pictured), C. Brogden. (relation A. T Brogden, not pictured) Sitting: A. Barson (relation P. Barson – not pictured), G. Neale (relation E. J. Neale – not pictured)

Note: Names shown in bold, including some who were related to those in the picture but who are not pictured, died in the First World War and are remembered on the Cumnor War Memorial. Those included in the photo that died are circled

Percy Capel (aged 20) in 1900. Percy joined up and served with the Army Service Corps till he was involved in the bombing incident in the Lorry Park on the Bailleul Road near Locre, dying of his wounds aged 37. He was buried with full Military honours next to his pals.

Plot II J 13 Percy Capel Private, born 1880, M2/166793 Army Service Corps Died of wounds, 3 July 1917, aged 37, Son of

Cumnor Reading Room Group c.1900 (Photo - http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/)

30

George and Lucy (nee Bennett) Capel, (and born 1880 at) Cumnor, Oxford. Enlisted Abingdon, Netheravon

Parishioners gather for the unveiling of the War Memorial in Cumnor High Street in 1921. The memorial was on the site of the former pound

DEDICATION OF CUMNOR WAR MEMORIAL

The little church at Cumnor was crowded on Saturday, the occasion being the unveiling of the village roll of honour and war memorial. A large number were unable to obtain seats. The ex-Service men turned out in large numbers and formed three sides of a square. Previous to the unveiling a memorial service was held in the church, where the tablet is fixed. The Rev. L. M. Walker dedicated and unveiled the stone, assisted during the service by the Rev. H. Milnes.

The Rev.E.M.Walker, in an address, said the names on that stone were the names of men who had given their lives for their country, to keep it great and free. Although there were feelings of sorrow among them that day, there must also be feelings of pride and gratitude. He referred to the way the lads came forward in the early days of the war, seeming utterly unconscious of the splendid act they were doing. They would not save themselves from death before they had saved others, and a man could have no greater love than to lay down his life for others.

The tablet, which was executed by Messrs Axtell of Oxford, was inscribed as follows: "In undying memory of the men of this place who laid down their lives in the Great War that others might live. Lieut.F.D.Wilkinson M.C., E.W.Ayers, A.Barson, P.Barson, F.W.Bateman, M.Bennett, A.T.Brogden, S.Bullock, P.Capel, W.T.Cook, E.W.Didcock, H.Gibbs, W.G.Hathaway, E.Lambourne, F.Lardner, E.J.Neale, H.Parker, B.Pike, W.Richards, M.F.Saunders, E.P.Sparrow and R.Trinder. 1914-1918. Their name Livet for evermore."

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the war memorial, erected on the roadside, was unveiled and dedicated by Major Worsley, 'Stroud Court.' The memorial was draped with the Union Jack, and was also the work of Messrs Axtell, bearing the same inscription as that on the tablet, and the Major, in a brief address, referred to the memorial as a memorial of peace as well as of war, and also a warning to any enemy in the future. It reminded them of the duty they had to perform under certain circumstances, and of the horrors of war which should not be forgotten, as, should there be another war, it would be at their own doors. Three buglers of the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry sounded the 'Last Post' and 'Reveille', and parents and friends placed floral tributes at the base of the memorial. These included three wreaths from 'The demobilised men of Cumnor, with deepest sympathy.' (26).

Aerial view of Cumnor village as it is today, looking N.E.

(Photo - Cumnor Parish Website http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/)

31

‘Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

Percy Capel’s medal card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

32

Frederick Gordon Weaver Fred was born in December 1885 to John S & Eliza Weaver. John from Gloucester married Eliza from Magor, Monmouthshire in 1875. Fred had nine sibling, three older brothers, John S (b 1876), George H W (b 1878) and Stanley M (b 1883) an older sister Gertrude M (b 1879). More followed; Laura ‘Lottie’ A (b 1888), Charles (b 1889), Ethel (b 1892), Annie (b 1894) and Walter (b 1895).

In 1886, a builder sent some plans to Cardiff Council for some terraced houses to be built in a street called Hirwain Street in a part of Cardiff called Cathays. In the 1880s, lots of new houses were being built in Cathays. Before this, it was just fields. Today, most of the streets of terraced houses in Cathays are still there (27).

In 1896 Cardiff staged and Industrial and Fine Art Exhibition

Photograph by William Booth. Glamorgan Record Office (29)

On 14 December 1897 Cardiff City Council bought Cathays Park from Marquis of Bute to establish the new Civic Centre. Shortly thereafter the 1891 Wales Census records Fred at school, possibly Cathays High School for Boys, and the family living at 11 Hirwain Street. The 1901 Wales Census records Fred by this time employed as an errand boy and his older brother John with his wife Henrietta and son William living at 119a Woodville Road, Cathays, Cardiff.

5 Hirwain st

Photo - Gathering the Jewels: The website for Welsh cultural history (28).

33

At the same time, in 1901, the foundations were laid for the new Cardiff Town Hall in Cathays Park. Later, in 1905, Cardiff was declared a City and the new Cardiff City Hall opened in Cathays Park. In 1907 King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra and Princess Victoria opened King Edward VII Avenue in Cathays Park and Alexander Dock in Cardiff, for which a commemorative medal was struck.

Fred enlisted in Cardiff into the Army Service Corps serving in France and Belgium as part of the First World War British Expeditionary Force till he was involved in the bombing incident at the Lorry Park on the Bailleul Road near Locre, dying of his wounds aged 33. He was buried with full Military honours next to his pals.

Frederick Gordon Weaver Corporal M2/032670 Army Service Corps died of wounds 3 July 1917, aged 33, Son of John and Eliza Weaver, of 42, Harriett St., Cathays (pronounced Cattays) (Bute), (and born Dec 1885 at) Cardiff, Glamorgan, CF24. Enlisted Cardiff

’Pip, Squeak and Wilfred’

John and Henrietta Weaver – Fred’s brother and sister in law (Courtesy of

June)

Frederick Gordon Weaver’s Medal card (National Archives – Crown Copyright)

34

Postscript Whilst searching the British Military records database I came across a second Charles Skingle, a gardener, born in Takeley in Essex in 1871, who also enlisted and served in the Army Service Corps in France and lived in West London. His address is given as 29 Alexandria Road, West Ealing, London. This was later changed to 29 Connaught Road and the records show that he married a spinster, Elizabeth Malster, at Holy Trinity Church, Upper Tooting on the 1

st August 1887 when, according the age on his records he would have

been 16 years old and born in 1871. As is the case at the time many lied about their ages to enlist. In Charles case when he enlisted he lied to appear much younger than he actually was; he was about 25 at the time of his marriage and had been born in 1862 not 1871. His records indicate that he had spent 20 years in the 2

nd Royal Middlessex (Volunteer) Battalion. He

enlisted in London on 3rd

November 1915, his actual age 53 not 44, and was posted to the Army Service Corps, Labourer Company at 3 shillings a day, regimental number SS/22015, being deemed physically fit for active service at home and abroad in a labour battalion. He landed in France on 6

th December 1915 where he stayed until the 24

th February the following year,

1917, when he returned to the UK and was admitted to the 3rd

General Hospital, Cardiff for 25 days until the 20

th March. What he was suffering from is difficult to discern, the handwriting being almost

illegible. Whatever his ailment his treatment (which can be deciphered) was that it was opened and drained. When he was finally discharged from hospital he was classified as suitable for Category III Employments Class C2

On the 30

th April 1917 he returned to France, arriving there on the 1

st May. Then, on the 11

th June

1917 he returned to England and attended a special medical board in Plymouth on the 26th June 1917

where he was found fit for Category E. On 21st July 1917, 18 days after the death of the other Charles

Skingle, who was also serving in the Army Service Corps in Belgium, this Charles Skingle was deemed no longer physically fit for active service and on 30

th June 1917, according to Para 392 (XVI)

Kings Rules, was discharged.

Top Row Left to Right: Thomas S, Charles S. Jessie S, James R Dobinson, Harry S.

Bottom Row Left to Right: Thirza Gardener, Elizabeth Malster, Anne Cleverly, Charlotte S, Alice Newbury

Courtesy of Steve Abbott Grandson of Nellie Ellis (Nee Skingle)

35

References (1) Mechanical Transport Companies in Divisional Supply Columns In a similar role to the Companies of the Divisional Trains, responsible for the supply of goods, equipment and ammunition from the Divisional railhead to the Divisional Refilling Point and, if conditions allowed, to the dumps and stores of the forward units. Used, of course, where loads were heavy. A Company initially comprised 5 officers and 337 other ranks of the Army Service Corps, looking after 45 3-ton Lorries, 16 30-cwt Lorries, 7 motor cycles, 2 cars and 4 assorted trucks for the workshop and stores of the Supply Column itself. All Companies served in France unless otherwise mentioned. The Divisional Train was the 'workhorse' of the Division in terms of carrying stores and supplies. It initially comprised 26 officers and 402 other ranks of the Army Service Corps, looking after 378 horses, 17 carts, 125 wagons and 30 bicycles. These comprise a headquarters and 4 horse transport companies (one for each infantry Brigade, and one for Divisional HQ and other troops). ASC Company 135: Formed January 1915. 11th (Northern) Division. Later, attached to 37th Division

(2) The Army Service Corps, were nicknamed Ally Sloper’s Cavalry. Ally Sloper's Half Holiday was the name of a weekly comic strip which first appeared on 3 May 1884. Every age has its famous comic and cartoon characters. Present generations, growing up with Alf Garnet and Andy Capp may not yet have heard of Ally Sloper, however, from 1884 until the 1920s, the red-nosed social climber who poked fun at the English people and their customs was a household name and national favourite. http://www.1914-1918.net/asc.htm http://www.chrisharrisproductions.btinternet.co.uk/Pages/allysloper.html

(3) Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Dranoutre Military Cemetery http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_Results.aspx?CemeteryName=dranoutre&send.x=0&send.y=0

(4) McCrae, John, The Penguin Book of First Wold War Poetry, pp. 155, pub. Penguin Books, 2006. First appeared in In Flanders Fields and Other Poems, London, Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1919

(5) The Winding Road Unfolds (aka The Rage of Battle/War), Thomas Suthren Hope (5th King’s), Pub 1937, 340 pp. Reprinted (London; Tandem Books, 1965). Covering the period July to December 1917 the book was written by an under-age volunteer who seems to have served with the King's (Liverpool) Regiment in Flanders and the Somme. The descriptions of battle are powerful, unvarnished and, sometimes, harrowing. Describes the author’s service at Ypres, his wounding and subsequent recovery in hospital. Interesting episodes include an account of a planned brigade mutiny when a soldier was tried for sleeping at his post. It failed to materialise when, instead of being sentenced to death, the soldier was given ten years' imprisonment. Another remarkable inside story is that of being hoovered up by the military police when returning from leave in Peronne and being forced to join a scratch battalion to block the German counter attack at Cambrai. (6) Grove Park workhouse ("The Barracks") from the west, 1914. © Peter Higginbotham. (7) Whole: the image occupies the upper half, with the title and text arranged over the remainder, in white outlined blue. All are set against a dark blue background. The Royal Charter is positioned at the top. Image: a depiction of a British Army officer being driven in a car by a member of the Royal Army Service Corps. text: G R [Royal Charter] HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE [Translation: 'Shamed be he that thinks evil of it'] DIEU ET MON DROIT [Translation: 'God and my right'] V. C. POLLEX, 1915 MOTOR DRIVERS REQUIRED FOR THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS (MECHANICAL TRANSPORT) PAY: 6/- PER DAY - ALL FOUND and Increased allowances for Dependents Apply Personally (or write) with references to:- CENTRAL RECRUITING DEPOT, WHITEHALL GOD SAVE THE KING ISSUED BY THE PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT, CENTRAL RECRUITING DEPOT, WHITEHALL, S.W. ANDREW REID and CO., LTD., 50, GREY STREET, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conMediaFile.39979 (8) WO 95/740 – National Archives: 37 Divisional Supply Column (135 Company A.S.C.,) 4 Corps War Diary, the National Archives, Kew (9) http://www.the-plunketts.freeserve.co.uk/barracks.htm (10) Reference: NNA/0402, Mechanical Transport Depot, Army Service Corps (ASC) Hounslow. Creation dates: 1916. Scope and Content: Black and white postcard photograph of some members of the MT Depot at Hounslow. Reference: NNA/0433. 302nd (Mechanised Transport) Company, Army Service Corps (ASC). Creation dates: 1916. Scope and Content: Black and white group photograph of the Company at Marlborough. Photographer: Panoras http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conMediaFile.55027

(11) Map 4. Messines Ridge sector, June 1917. This shows the outlines of the battle of Messines Ridge, and some of the details of the German position. The sheer number of targets to be bombarded can be seen on the inset maps. Source: Maps reproduced from OH 1917, vol. 2, and trench maps inset. Permission to copy and reproduce this electronic version granted by Mr. Mike Iaverone. http://www.gutenberg-e.org/mas01/frames/fmasarc01.html

(12) WO 95/740 – National Archives: 37 Divisional Supply Column (135 Company A.S.C.,) 4 Corps War Diary Summary, the National

Archives, Kew

(13) http://www.1914-1918.net/logistics/ASC_MT_DivSupply_Coys.htm (14) http://www.1914-1918.net/asc.htm

(15) Macdonald, Lynn. ‘They called it Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres and the Men Who Fought in it’. Penguin, London. 1993.

36

(16) Young, Mike. Army Service Corps 1902-1918, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., May 2000. ISBN-10: 0850527309 / ISBN-13: 978-0850527308

(17) Crown Copyright; the National Archives, WO 95/740 – National Archives: 37 Divisional Supply Column (135 Company A.S.C.,) 4 Corps the National Archives, Kew

(18) Pip, Squeak and Wilfred are the names given to the trio of commemorative medals issued to personnel of the British and Empire Forces who took part in the Great War. Pip, Squeak and Wilfred were characters in a comic strip which first appeared in the Daily Mirror on 12th May 1919 and became very popular in the 1920's coinciding with the issue of the medals to forces personnel.

http://www.remembering.org.uk/memorial_scroll.htm

(19) Kelly's Directory for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk, 1883, pp. 403-411

(20) http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/eaton/eaton.htm, accessed 19 Jan 208

(21) Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904

(22) Cumnor Parish Website http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/

(23) Cumnor Parish Website. Op Cit

(24) Cumnor Parish Website Op Cit

(25) Cumnor Parish Website Op Cit

(26) Cumnor Parish Website Op Cit

(27) Plan for four houses in Hirwain Street, Cardiff, 1887. Gathering the Jewels: The website for Welsh cultural history. http://www.tlysau.org.uk/en/item1/24559

(28) Gathering the Jewels: The website for Welsh cultural history http://www.tlysau.org.uk/en/item1/24559

(29) Gathering the Jewels ref: GTJ69212

37

Bibliography/Suggested Reading

Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19 Part 78 Royal Army Service Corps

Macdonald, Lynn. ‘They called it Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres and the Men Who Fought in it’. Penguin, London. 1993.

Young, Mike. Army Service Corps 1902-1918, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., May 2000. ISBN-10: 0850527309 / ISBN-13: 978-0850527308

Massé, Charles Henri. The predecessors of the Royal Army Service Corps. Aldershot : Gale and Polden, 1948. [covers 1757-1888: Royal Waggoners, 1794-95; Royal Waggon Corps and Train, 1799-1833; Land Transport Corps, 1855-57; Military Train and Commissariat Staff corps, 1856-69; Army Service Corps, 1869-81; Commissariat and Transport Staff and Commissariat and Transport Corps, 1880-88] Fortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir; Beadon, Roger Hammet. The Royal Army Service Corps: a history of transport and supply in the British Army. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1930-1931. [2 v.] Volume 2 is by Colonel R. H. Beadon. Crew, Graeme Campbell Eley. The Royal Army Service Corps. London: Leo Cooper Ltd., 1970. (Famous regiments) ISBN: 0850520460 Richardson, Wodehouse, Sir. With the Army Service Corps in South Africa. London: Richardson & Co., 1903 Young, Michael. Army Service Corps 1902-1918. London: Leo Cooper, 2000. ISBN: 0850527309 Turpin, Patrick G. (Patrick George). The turn of the wheel: the history of the RASC 1919-1939. Buckingham: Barracuda, 1988. ISBN: 0860234282 Sutton, D. J. The Story of the Royal Army Service Corps and Royal Corps of Transport, 1945-1982. London: Leo Cooper in association with Secker and Warburg, 1984. ISBN: 0436506068 Hammerton J A and Wilson, Herbert Wrigley (Editor), The Great War Vol 6 - Victory at Last (The Great War Series) (Hardcover), The Illustrated History of the First World War. Trident Press International The Golden Horseshoe. The Journal of the 37th Division (London: Cassell, 1919) Note: Each man’s family would have received what was called the ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ as a memorial to their loss

38

Trevor Skingle 10

th February 2008