Events and days out on Essex in the Great War

Like every other part of the country, the county of Essex played its part in the war. From the largest to the smallest community, everyone was in some way affected by the war.

The page provides information on events, websites, museums, archives and books telling the story of the counties involvement. Most of the information will be specific to Essex, but there will also be information on national resources.
If you have an event book or website that you would like us to include on the page, you can contact us here.
Notes on talks

Kate Luard, Unknown Warriors A talk by John Stevens at the Essex Record Office

The Essex regiment and the First World War
Music

Home Lad Home – a poem by Cicely Fox Smith sung by Paul Sartin of Balthazaar’s Feast
Resources

Colchester War Memorials Images and notes on the many war memorials in Colchester

Now The last Poppy Has Fallen
Now the Last Poppy has Fallen is a project which focuses on the lives of individuals, families and communities during the First World War in Essex. It has a very active facebook page, as well as an excellent blog which has lots of articles about the experience of Essex people during the 1st World War

The Essex Great War Archive Project
Launched in the autumn of 2014, this project, in association with the Essex Record Office marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, and will run for the four years 2014 to 2018. The aim is to raise funds to provide archival resources for educational study, family history research, and community histories. Do you have a family connection to the Great War in Essex, or hold photographs, letters, diaries, community records or official documents from wartime organisations? Your records can be digitally copied and included in the archive for public access. Or you may prefer to deposit your materials in the ERO for permanent preservation and safekeeping. Donations will fund work to conserve, catalogue, and digitise archives, both new acquisitions and some that are already held at the ERO.
details

First World War centenary – useful ERO resources
A blog by the ERO highlighting the many Essex resources that can be used for 1st World War research. The blog highlights many items in the ERO as well as the Essex Sound Archive

First World War centenary – useful ERO resources
A blog entry by the ERO listing many useful and interesting national resources that can be used for 1st World War research.

Western Front Association
The Essex branch of the Western Front Association holds meetings in Kelvedon and Hornchurch. Both branches will have a full programme of meetings throughout 2014. Click here for the national website, and here for the Essex branch website. You can aslo follow the association on their facebook page

10th Essex WW1 Living History Group
10th Essex W1 Living History Group – a group of re-enactors who are dedicated to depicting the life of the British soldier during the First World War

Roll of Honour
The Role of Honour website aims to list as many war memorials in the United Kingdom as possible. it has fairly comprehensive page of memorials in Essex

English Heritage
“As part of the 2014-2018 Centenary, English Heritage has initiated a major project to record the colossal ‘footprint’ left by the First World War on the fabric, landscape and coastal waters of England”. You can find out about the project here

The Imperial War Museum
The Imperial War Museum covers conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day. There are five museums: IWM London; IWM North, Trafford, IWM Duxford, the Churchill War Rooms London, and HMS Belfast, moored in the Pool of London on the River Thames. Their website tells you about the permanent displays, archives, exhibitions and events

The British Library
Supported by over 500 historical sources from across Europe, the British Libraries World War one website examines key themes in the history of World War One. It as been created as part of the British Libraries commemoration of the war.

BBC Essex – World War One At Home
Part of the programme of events from the BBC and IWM to commemorate the First World War in the various regions of the country. Includes short films and articles about events that happened in Essex during the war. Click here

The 10th Essex Great War Living History Group
“A military display and living history group depicting the British Soldier in the Great War 1914 – 1918. The group aims to provide a well informed and balanced ‘Visual Remembrance’ of those brave men of the Battalion and others who served in the British armed forces throughout the conflict.” Find out about the group here
Books

If you shed a tear In the early 2,000’s a dozen Essex coastal churches produced memorial books telling the stories of those lost through armed conflict. To commemorate the centenary of the Great War a FREE e-book has been produced. It contains over 200 profiles of men associated with these villages killed in that war. It is a scrap book compiled by the local community and is dedicated to the Generation that endured the Great War. It uses press cuttings, letter home and photographs still owned by the families.

Dr. Robert Beaken: The Church of England and the Home Front 1914 – 1918: Civilians, Soldiers and Religion in Wartime Colchester Available from Red Lion Books the independent book shop on Colchester High Street.

Jim Dickinson: In Search of Tugs Dad Jim Dickinson The police officers of Southend on Sea who gave their lives in the Great War. £1 plus P&P Essex Police Museum email: museum@essex.pnn.police.uk

Michael Foley: Essex in the First World War Heavily illustrated, telling the story of Essex and its people during the 1st World War, both at home and on the battle fields
Click here to order your copy

Paul Rusiecki The Impact of Catastrophe The people of Essex and the 1st World War (1914 – 1920). Maybe the definitive book on Essex during the 1st World War. It shows how the shadow of the Great War fell on every corner of the counties life. Copies are available to purchase from the Essex Record Office Searchroom in person or by calling 03301 32500
Museums

Stow Maries Aerodrome
The only surviving 1st World War aerodrome left in the country. It was active from 1916 -1919. It has received a large Lottery Grant to develop its work. There’s lots of information on their website , and you can follow them on facebook as well

Combined Military Services Museum
An extensive collection of military equipment charting the history of the British armed forces. The collection covers conflicts over many centuries including the 1st World War. They have a very comprehensive website

Essex Regiment Museum
The regimental museum of the Essex regiment An excellent place for family research. It’s opening hours can be found here
Events

I add all of the First World War events in Essex that I can find. If you know of any events that are happening in your town or village do let me know by emailing us here

From the Trenches to Tendring
A very special project that will be running in the Tendring district, using the Jaywick Martello Tower as it’s base. It aims to bring together stories of te 1st World War by focusing on private collections of postcards sent back to Tendring from the Western Front, It will reveal the social and emotional impact of the war on families and friends at home. Private collections – which may also include letters, parcels, trench art and messages delivered by courier pigeons – will become more publicly accessible by creating a digital record to be shared online.
There will a roadshow of events around Tendring for people to bring their collections for digitization and also to collect people’s family memories and information regarding their collection.
more details

Spring Talks at the Martello Tower : The Stomach for Fighting: Food and the Soldiers of the Great War
Jaywick Martello Tower
Friday 22nd April 2016, 11am
Dr Rachel Duffett’s research is about the significance of food for the soldiers serving on the Western Front; it looks at the army’s rations from purchase to their storage, distribution and preparation. Food was central to morale and physical performance, but it also had an emotional aspect and the much anticipated food parcels
from home provided an important connection between the men and the families who waited for them.
more details

History talk – Music of the Great War
Stow MariesGreat War Aerodrome
Sunday 24th April 2016 11:00
A look at how music played a part in the First World War and how the music changed as the reality of WW1 was realised. Held in the Dope Workshop. Entry to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome payable.
more details

Spring Talks at the Martello Tower : Trenches to Tendring
Jaywick Martello Tower
Friday 6th May 2016, 11am
In 2015 the project set out to discover correspondence
sent between the people of Tendring and those away during the Great War.
The talk will present some of the many letters, cards, photos, diaries and souvenirs
that were shared and some of the stories they tell.
more details

Spring Talks at the Martello Tower : Four years, three months and one week: the First World War diaries of a Suffolk farmer’s wife.
Jaywick Martello Tower
Friday 13th May 2016, 11am
Using the diaries of Alice Packard, a farmer’s wife in the Suffolk village of Shotley, this talk will explore how the First World War affected both a single family and a wider rural community. From the first appearance of casualties at Shotley Barracks in early August 1914, following the sinking of HMS Amphion off the Suffolk coast, the war became part of daily life for the village, culminating with the surrender of U-boats on the River Stour in November 1918. This paper will consider the diverse nature of the Shotley ‘home front’, as recorded by Alice, and it will reflect upon the various ways in which local people experienced the war, from grassroots charitable initiatives to Zeppelin raids.
Talk by Dr Edward Packard, Lecturer in History,University Campus Suffolk.
more details

History talk – Music of the Great War
Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome
Sunday 24th April 2016 11:00
A look at how music played a part in the First World War and how the music changed as the reality of WW1 was realised. Held in the Dope Workshop. Entry to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome payable.
more details

History talk – The first daylight bombing raid
Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome
Sunday 12th June 2016 11:00
German Gotha bombers attacked London for the first time in June 1917. This talk will discuss the tragic effects of this first raid.
Held in the Dope Workshop. Entry to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome payable.
more details

The Anzac Walk
Brightlingsea Museum, 1 Duke Street, CO7 0BS
Saturday 18th June 2016 11:00am a professional guide will lead a free walk around Brightlingsea visiting places with Anzac connections. In approximately 40 minutes you will see some of the places that have World War One Anzac connections. Hear about what they loved and hated, where and how they trained and where they entertained themselves and the locals. Find out how love flourished and learn about those men who were destined never to return to Brightlingsea or their home country. Pre-booking is essential.
more details

Anzac Themed Brightlingsea Carnival
Bayard Recreation Ground, Regent Road, Brightlingsea, CO7 0N.
Saturday 18th June 2016
11:30am – Judging of the Anzac-themed Carnival floats will take place
1:00pm – Carnival procession departs from the Recreation Ground on its
route around the town and returns to the Recreation Ground.
more details

The Last Post – Anzac commemoration
Brightlingsea
Sunday 19th June 2016
11:00am – Uniformed organisations and other Participants muster on Hurst Green.
11:30am – Parade departs Hurst Green along the High Street to the War Memorial at Victoria Place.
A short Service of Commemoration will be conducted and wreaths will be laid. The parade will then proceed on foot to the Bayard Recreation Ground for Dismissal and unveiling of memorial Plaques to mark the Centenary.
more details

The Battle of the Somme
Jaywick Martello Tower
Friday 1st July 2016. 6:00pm Free. Booking essential
A special screening of the Battle of the Somme film to mark he centenary of the battle.
more details

Love, Life and Lose: Colchester in the Great War
Hollytrees Museum, Colchester
Saturday 2nd July 2016. £4.20 per adult
To commemorate the start of the Battle of the Somme. Join me on a guided walk through Colchester, to discover how Colchester was affected by the “War to End all Wars” As part of my research for the tour I’ll be visiting as many of the War memorials in Colchester as I can. You can read about my visits more details

Battle of the Somme film screening
Essex Record Office, Wharf Road, Chelmsford
Saturday 16th July 2016, 1.30pm-4.00pm Free, please book in advance on 033301 32500
This year, Imperial War Museums (IWM) and members of the First World War Centenary Partnership are working together to show the UNESCO listed film The Battle of the Somme, to audiences across the world. Shot and screened in 1916, it was the first feature length documentary about war One hundred years later, this unique film from IWM’s collection, is being shown to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The screening will be framed by a talk from Ian Hook, Keeper of the Essex Regiment Museum, on the Essex Regiment’s experiences at the Somme,
and a talk by Andy Begent on Chelmsford men killed at the Somme.
more details

History talk – The origins of the Great War
Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome
Sunday 14th August 2016 11:00
A debate on the origins of the Great War. Come and share your thoughts on this widely discussed topic. Held in the Dope Workshop. Entry to Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome payable.
more details

Colchester during outbreak of thr Great War

Taken from the BBC:-

Colchester was a garrison town long before the outbreak of World War One – the largest military town in Essex and Suffolk – but as war was declared Colchester suddenly witnessed a huge influx of volunteer troops. By early November 1914 more than 3,000 men had enlisted in the town at a rate of more than 200 a day.

Several battalions of “Kitchener’s Army” were trained here. At its peak, Colchester had more than 20,000 troops stationed here – doubling its own population. The main focal point of all this activity was the Cavalry Barracks and the Abbey Fields on which the soldiers trained.

Some of the old Cavalry barrack buildings have seen a new lease of life in recent years. The Creffield Medical Centre is one such building, which used to be a riding school during the war where officers trained their horses in dressage and obedience.

Colchester historian Andrew Phillips describes this building’s transformation.

See http://bbc.in/1eID1yD

Harwich at the outbreak of the Great War

Taken from the harwickanddovercourt.co.UK site:-

The Declaration of war on 4^th August 1914 was announced in style by the Harwich Town Crier. The next day at 6 a.m. the people of Harwich lined the quays and seashores to watch the entire Harwich Force steam out to sea. Harwich was of great importance during the Great War of 1914-1918. Here was based commodore Tyrwhitt’s famous Harwich force which carried out many raids on the German and Belgian coasts.

The German ambassador Prince Lichnowsky Arrived with his staff by special train from London to Parkeston quay for their return to Germany Aboard “St Petersburg” to Hook of Holland. When Prince Lichnowsky took over as ambassador to London in the Fall of 1912, he was given a difficult task, but was not expected to accomplish it. It was his responsibility to repair damaged relations between Great Britain and Germany He excelled at this job. Between the time of his appointment on 1912 and his departure in 1914 the Prince negotiated a colonial treaty, secured the peace of Europe in the 1912 Conference of Ambassadors, and brought about better feelings between Great Britain and Germany.

 

His success made his superiors in Berlin distrustful of him and his close relationship with the British foreign office. In July 1914, Lichnowsky pleaded with Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Gottlieb von Jagow, to use discretion in their support of Austria. In his view, Britain would definitely support Russia and France in a war defending Serbia against Austrian aggression. The Chancellor and the Secretary did not trust Prince Lichnowsky’s judgment because they believed him to be easily duped by the British. After the war started, Lichnowsky returned to Germany and spent the rest of his life trying to justify his actions

The Harwich Force

The Harwich Force consisted of between four and eight light cruisers, several flotilla leaders and usually between 30 and 40 destroyers, with numbers fluctuating throughout the war, and organized into flotilla’s. Also stationed at Harwich was a submarine force under Commodore Roger Keyes. In early 1917, the Harwich Force consisted of eight light cruisers, two flotilla leaders and 45 destroyers. By the end of the year, there were nine light cruisers, four flotilla leaders and 24 destroyers. The combination of light, fast ships was intended to provide effective scouting and reconnaissance, whilst still being able to engage German light forces, and to frustrate attempts at mine laying in the Channel.

It was intended that the Harwich Force would operate when possible in conjunction with the Dover Patrol, and the Admiralty intended that the Harwich force would also be able to support the Grand Fleet if it moved into the area. Tyrwhitt was also expected to carry out reconnaissance of German naval activities in the southern parts of the North Sea, and to escort ships sailing between the Thames and Holland.

After the end of the war, Harwich was designated the port at which the remaining German U-boats would be surrendered, and Tyrwhitt’s Harwich Force oversaw the operation.

Hylands Home Military Hospital Opening 1915

Taken from the Essex Regiment site:-

On the declaration of war , Sir Daniel Gooch, offered the use of Hylands House top the Red Cross as a hospital.

Hylands House opened as a military hospital in 14 August 1914 when it was manned by the 2nd and 3rd Midland Field Ambulance Corps to treat wounded territorial troops.

On 14th October 1914 , King George, visited the hospital as part of a visit to Chelmsford.

On 20 October 1914 the Field Ambulance Corps moved their operation to Oaklands Hospital in Chelmsford and the Red Cross took over the operation of Hylands House.

During their period of operation over 500 men had been treated.

Hylands offered five wards with one hundred beds and an operating theatre and x ray machine.

On 23rd October 1914 the first patients arrived from the front line by train and then ambulance.

Staff at the opening

Commandant Lady Gooch

Secretary Mr R A D Leiber

Matron Miss Mary Winifred Rossling

Medical Officers Doctors Alford, Gimson, Martin (anesthetist) and Newton

Quartermaster H Gripper

VAD staff from No4 and 46 VAD.

The hospital continued to receive both British and Belgian wounded and  in November 1914 Private George Joseph if the 1st Battalion Black Watch was the first soldier to die at the hospital of his wounds.

By early 1915 the VAD staff were deployed elsewhere and  their place was taken by trainee nurses bringing the staff to 5 trained nurses, 5 probationer nurses, 2 orderlies and 2 ward maids. One of the trained nurses was Miss K Pownall.

The hospital took cases from the Middlesex War Hospital at Clacton on Sea and the General Military Hospital at Colchester.

On 7 August 1915 Lord Kitchener visited Hylands and spoke to some of the wounded men.

In February 1916 Nurse Hilda Ayre Smith, aged 37 years, who had worked at Hylands for over a year died from septicemia. It was thought that she caught the blood poisoning while dressing the seriously wounded soldiers in her duties.

Following her death the hospital was patients were moved out to other hospitals and deep cleaning took place before once again patients arrived at Hylands.

A close relationship was in place with Coptfold Hall at Margaretting who offered 8 convalescent beds for patients from Hylands House.

The last Matron of the hospital was Miss Outram when the hospital closed in April 1919.

Hylands had treated 59 Belgian and 901 British wounded with an average stay of 70 days.

 160 operations were performed.

All of the expenses of operating the hospital were borne by Sir Daniel and Lady Gooch.

Thanks for their voluntary work were given to

Rev W J Pressley and Mons Watson

Mr J W Marriage of No4 Chelmsford VAD.

Miss Clift of Margaretting, Miss D Christy, Miss Mabel Usborne, Miss E Wells, Miss Craig, The Misses Meeson, Miss E Mason, Miss Gooch, Mr H Jackson ( hairdresser), Mr G Starkey and Mr Phil Edmunds.

Colchester Barracks in 1914-1918

After trying to find anything on the Warley Barracks between 1914 and 1915, I decided to resort to the next important military camp in Essex which is Colchester in the 1914’s only to have information from Wikipedia: –

Territorial Force

Essex Regiment

8th (Cyclist) Battalion, Essex Regiment, (TF) was based in Colchester at the outbreak of war in August 1914. It was redesignated 1/8th Battalion as additional “Terrier” battalions were raised from volunteers during the early months of the war. The 2/8th and 3/8th Battalions were formed in September 1914 and April 1915 respectively. All three Terrier battalions were allocated to home defence and remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war.^[4]

Essex Yeomanry

The Essex Yeomanry (EY), a cavalry regiment, was mobilised at the outbreak of war. The regiment joined the Royal Horse Guards and the 10th Royal Hussars in France in November 1914 as part of 8th Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division.^[5] During the war, 2nd and 3rd line regiments were raised in Colchester to reinforce the 1st line. 2 EY served as garrison troops in Ireland during the war, 3 EY was absorbed into the 4th Reserve Cavalry Regiment in 1917.^[6]

On 14 March 1918, Essex Yeomanry left 8th Cavalry Brigade to become a cyclist unit, then to form a machine gun battalion with the Bedfordshire Yeomanry. The German Spring Offensive forestalled this plan, and the regiment was remounted on 28 March and sent to the 1st Cavalry Division. From 4 April it was split up with a squadron joining each regiment in 1st Cavalry Brigade (2nd Dragoon Guards, 5th Dragoon Guards and11th Hussars).^[7]

Essex RHA

Essex Battery, RHA was mobilised in Colchester and Chelmsford in 1914. The battery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery unit. A 2nd line unit, 2/1st Essex Battery, RHA, was raised later.^[8]

Kitchener’s Army

The 12th (Eastern) Division was organised at Colchester from August 1914 to February 1915. The division was one of the first New Army divisions to be formed, as part of K1. The division included Kitchener battalions from the Essex Regiment, the Suffolk Regiment, the Norfolk Regiment, the Royal Berkshire Regiment, the Cambridgeshire Regiment, the Royal Fusiliers, the Queen’s Regiment, The Buffs, the Royal West Kent Regiment, and the East Surrey Regiment. The division moved to France in 1915 and fought at the Battle of Loos (1915), the Battle of the Somme (1916),^[9] the Battle of Cambrai (1917) and the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (1918).

Life at Shorncliffe Barracks Camp in 1914

I tried long and hard to find what life would of been for the 9th and 10th Battalions of the Essex Regiment when stationed around August and September 1914 and as they were hardly any accounts of soldiers diaries during that time, I thought it would not of been a pleasant time for them as little evidence of postcards and diaries are shown if any from any regiment.

However I am relentless and wonderfully a fantastic detailed result showed up from my findings! After I found a few postcards and photos and the soldiers feedback in letters depicting the conditions of Shorncliffe Camp was not great at all, it had been damp, overnumbered with rationed food supplies and little bedding for the soldiers.
I did eventually found an Internet Archives of a very detailed diary by Lt Col EM Liddell. Here is his account from an exempt:-

SHAPING THE NEW ARMY. 
By the Editor and Lieut. -Col. E. M. Liddell. 

By the end of September, 1914, nearly 20,000 
recruits were on the Camp. Shorncliffe had lost its 
calm ; visitors no longer went up to St. Martin's Plain 
for a quiet stroll, as in the old days of Peace. They 
went to watch the hustle of Camp life in War-time. 

The boys represented all classes of the community, 
from bank clerks and college students to farm labourers 
and London street-hawkers. The response to the call 
for volunteers was so great that the Military Authori- 
ties did not know what to do with the men. It was 
estimated before the War that England had 12,000,000 
men of military age, of whom 4,000,000 would be 
needed for essential trades and 4,000,000 would be 
physically unfit, or required at home for compassionate 
reasons. It will always be a matter of honest pride 
that 3,500,000 men voluntarily enlisted. 

The New Army took its drills wherever there were 
suitable spaces. In Radnor Park the soldiers in the 
making were watched by wondering children and 
admiring servant maids. On the Leas they took 
gunnery instruction before they possessed guns, 
or even uniforms. They carried on with their 
training, and greatly enjoyed it. 

Lord Kitchener, who had a residence at Broome 
Park, managed to come and go unobserved by the 
general public. K. of K. loved to mingle with the boys, 
watching their progress, nodding approval, and speak- 
ing words of counsel. Many a lad has among his most 
cherished memories a sentence from the lips of the 
great soldier. When the news leaked out that 
Kitchener was coming crowds of visitors assembled to 
get a view of the creator of the New Army. Kitchener's 
aversion to publicity sometimes led to disappointment. 
He was most at his ease when entertaining a company 
of convalescent boys in his own beautiful grounds at 
Broome Park. His last photograph was a snapshot 
in which he is seen with Nurse Harrold, of Manor Court 
Hospital, and a batch of her patients. 

Great amusement was created by the bathing 
exercises. The boys came down to the beach in 
swarms, for a dip in the briny, or to roll in the surf. 
Folkestone beach presented the appearance of 
Blackpool or Coney Island. Bathing regulations were 
very stringent, but they were more honoured in the 
breach than in the observance. It was good to see the 
fellows in their fun capering about in the water, like 
little children in their glee. Boats were in great 
demand for diving. The sea was, as ever, a great 
attraction to adventurous Britons. 

The accommodation on the Camp was inadequate 
to meet the demand ; large numbers of men were 
billeted all over the area. Town mansions, private 
hotels, and cottages were packed with men. No 
visitors were more welcome, and on the whole none 
behaved more honourably. Praise of the men was 
heard on every side ; poor people whose homes were 
filled with the strange guests told how the boys often 
helped Mother to wash-up and made their own beds ; 
they played with the kiddies, and won the hearts of 
the girls. Soon after, in the terrible days in Flanders, 
they showed their quality in many a hard fight ; 
but in their training they were soft-hearted as boys at 
home. 

In early morning squads would march down to the 
Leas and begin the monotonous task of forming fours. 
They were in civilian attire ; an odd lot they were : 
boys in corduroy, and "knuts" who had taken the 
"spats" from their boots and put them in their 
pockets to avoid the banter of their new comrades. 
The old sergeant, usually a tough customer, shouted 
out the most elementary instruction. Upon one 
occasion, after the roll had been called, he yelled : 
' ' Is there anybody absent who hasn't answered to h.is 
name ? ' ' and looked surprised at the hilarity caused 
by the question. But the sergeant always got his own 
back. He ordered the men to double, and then to 
charge on the run. It was ciirious to see the fellows 
without gun or even walking-stick going through the 
drill of lifting the rifle into position, sighting, and firing 
on command. 

On the Camp, huts were being erected as fast as 
contractors could get men for the work. Cook- 
houses were designed, but not constructed, and all the 
domestic duties were executed in the open, greatly 
to the amusement of the boys and the visitors. The 
tents in which many men slept on the Camp were often 
blown down, and in the storm flooded out. The 
adventures were humorous to the onlooker, but not to 
the men who found their clothes wet through, and no 
opportunity to dry them, except upon their backs. 

Regiments came in quick succession, and went over 
almost as soon as they received their uniforms, and 
sometimes before they obtained their full equipment 
of weapons. The Northern burr and the Irish brogue 
were common in the streets, and the bagpipes resounded 
over the hills. The 3rd Hussars, 1st Batt. Royal 
Irish Fusiliers, 2nd Batt. Seaforth Highlanders, and 
1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment were in the Camp 
at the outbreak of war. Regimental sports, held a 
week before their departure, attracted great crowds ; 
like Drake, they played their game before they went 
out to fight the foe.

Alas ! that so few of those fine fellows were fated to return

News of outbreak of War in Essex on 7th August 1914 with the Essex County Chronicle

The first edition of the Chronicle to be published after the declaration of war was on 7 August. As well as giving us an insight into people’s thoughts on the war, the paper gives us an idea of the activities and occupations of people on the eve of the conflict.

A Bank Holiday had just passed, on which the Great Eastern Railway had conveyed 42,411 people to stations serving Epping Forest, and there had been shows and sports around the county. Essex’s status as an agricultural county is also evident; it was reported that Chelmsford was confirmed to be home to the third largest wheat market in the country, and Colchester the sixth largest. All was not well in the world of agriculture though; a farm labourers’ strike in north Essex had culminated in five haystacks being set alight in Steeple Bumpstead and Birdbrook in the weekend before the declaration of war.

All of these snippets of news, however, were overshadowed by news of the war, and speculation as to how Essex was going to be affected.

Views on the war

The paper explained briefly what had unfolded on the continent so far: the Archduke of Austria had been assassinated by ‘some mad youth said to be a member of one or other of the cut-throat Societies which abound in Servia’. The ensuing row between Austria and Serbia had escalated until Russia and Germany became involved, ‘and so the mad Dance of Death has begun’.

Some people clearly opposed the war entirely: ‘Sir Albert Spicer is among those who have expressed their willingness to give effective support to an organisation for insisting that this country shall take no part in a Continental war unless directly attacked.’

The overall impression given by the paper’s reporting on the war is that people were not happy about it, but they would do their duty. Under the heading ‘Armageddon’, one journalist described ‘the great black war cloud which [has] darkened the horizon’, and thought that everything had been done by Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, to ‘avoid joining the titanic struggle’. Germany’s invasion of neutral Belgium, he believed, had left Britain no choice.

The mood in Essex was described as serious, but calm:

‘There is no panic, no mafficking, nor jingoism; a calm, serious resolve seems to pervade Essex, as indeed the whole country, to meet the terrible arbitrament of war cast upon us unflinchingly and with high courage, and there is a feeling that the sword must not be sheathed again until it is placed beyond the role of any one power to attempt or desire to dominate others.’

This is maybe not a totally accurate description of the prevailing mood, as the paper also reports on fears of a German invasion and on people hoarding food.

Fear of invasion

There was instantly some discussion in Essex about the possibility of a German invasion of England. The Mayor of Maldon, Alderman Krohn, was reported as saying that ‘it was practically certain that if the enemy did effect a landing at all, it would be on the Essex coast. That view is general, and it goes without saying that the authorities are prepared’. The idea that the authorities were prepared for a German invasion in August 1914 is not borne out by other sources, but that’s for another blog post.

Food hoarding and profiteering

One of the principal concerns in Essex on the outbreak of war seems to have been the hoarding of food and profiteering. The page giving news of the war is dominated by a large notice at its head:

‘In view of the great national emergency all sections of our people must stand together. Not only those in the fighting line, but those who are left to carry on the business of the nation have a duty to perform. There should be no scares, no attempt to corner the necessaries of life, no private hoarding of supplies, no waste in any shape or form. Suffering there must, unhappily, be. Let everyone do his part to minimise it.’

Food supplies are also mentioned in another segment on the page:

‘One of the outcomes of the outbreak of war between this country and Germany, is that prices of food have increased. Some traders – and to the honour of traders generally the number is not large – have rushed up prices to almost a famine standard. But the public are largely to blame for this, because they have with unnecessary panic, not unaccompanied by selfishness, bought heavily of the necessaries of life, without the least thought for others.’

Mr. J.J. Crowe, Chairman of Brentwood Urban Council, had commented that ‘Such wholesale buying of food and rushing to the bank … are not only unpatriotic but wicked’.

In the meantime, the Government had issued an assurance that there was no immediate danger of a food shortage; the German fleet was blockaded in the North Sea, and not in a position to interrupt the main routes through which British food supplies passed.

 

Looking back to the past

Just as we look back to the past of 100 years ago, so did the people of 1914. TheChronicle of 7 August included mention of a Mrs Brooks of Downham, apparently still going strong at the age of 102.

Mrs Brooks was distinguished by more than just her age:

‘Few people are alive now who can remember seeing Napoleon, but this lady has the dual distinction of having both seen the great Bonaparte and been spoken to by his conqueror, the Duke of Wellington.’

Mrs Brooks was born in Plymouth, and as a 3 ½ year old was taken by her father to see Napoleon as a prisoner on board the Bellerophon before he was taken to St Helena. When she was 17, she briefly met Wellington while visiting the Hon. Mrs Cotton, daughter of Lord Combermere.

‘It is no small coincidence that this venerable lady should have been born in the turmoil of a struggle which paralysed all Europe and should live to see the beginning of another which promises to be no less titanic.’

 All images reproduced courtesy of the Essex Chronicle

Warley Barracks Essex 1914

Kelly’s Directory recorded the staffing of Warley barracks in 1914

There are barracks on the common for the training of recruits for the depot of the Essex & 3rd battalion ( Special Reserve) Regiment and the headquarters of one battalion of Foot Guards( now 1914) 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards & is capable of containing about 1,500 men.

Eastern Command- No 9 District

Comprising of the counties of Norfolk, Cambridge, Suffolk, Bedford, Hertford, Huntingdon, Essex and Northampton.

Commanding District and OIC Records – Col H E watts CB

Staff Captain – Captain W H Denny – Bedfordshire Regiment

Assisting OIC Records – Captain G E Fitzgerald

Essex Regiment – District no 44

Dept Commander – Major Charles George Lewes

3rd Special Reserve Battalion Essex Regiment

Commandant – Lt Col C H Colvin DSO

Majors – E S Penrose , A A Crocker and C G Lewes

Adjutant – Captain H G Wilmer

Quartermaster – H S Roberts

Army Medical Corps

Commanding Colonel F H M Barton MD

Army Pay Department

Chief Paymaster Lt Col L F Ditmas

Territorial Force

East Anglian Division

Commander – Major General F S Inglefield CD DSO

General Staff Officer 2nd Grade – Major C R Stirling RA

Dept Asst Adj & Qr Mast Gen – Major E Evans DSO

Asst Director of Medical Services – Col S S Hoyland MD VD

Dept Asst Director of Medical Services – Major E C Freeman MD

Sanitary Officer – Major F E Freemantle MB

Asst Director of Vetinary Services – Lt Col A E Clarke AVC

Divisional Troops

Royal Artillery

1st East Anglian RFA

2nd East Anglian RFA

3rd East Anglian (Howitzer) Brigade RFA

4th East Anglian RFA

East Anglian RGA

HQ Claremont House

Commanding – Col G W Biddulph

Staff Captain – Captain W K E Jameson RA

Underage youths joining the army

Youthful Private William Billie Boy Tickle joined a generation of young men at the frontYouthful Private William ‘Billie Boy’ Tickle joined a generation of young men at the front [GETTY]
In 1919 Mrs Eliza Tickle of Tottenham in North London responded to a public appeal from the newly established Imperial War Museum for photographs and biographical material of men who had lost their lives or won distinction in the Great War.

Youthful Private William ‘Billie Boy’ Tickle joined a generation of young men at the front line.

 

She sent a photograph of her son, whom she identified as Private WC Tickle 13510 of the 9th Essex Regiment. She added that he was his mother’s “Billie Boy”.

She wrote on the photograph that the smiling boy in the picture had been killed on July 3, 1916, aged 18, having enlisted on September 7, 1914.

That wasn’t quite true. William Cecil Tickle was just 15 years old when he volunteered and he was 17 when he died on the Somme – just one of the estimated 250,000 underage boys who joined the patriotic rush to fight the Germans.

Last week the Royal Mail announced that Private Tickle is to be commemorated, a century after he obeyed Lord Kitchener’s call to arms, on a first-class stamp to be issued in July.
It’s a fine tribute that fulfils the promise the fledgling museum made to Billie’s mother to make good use of the studio photograph, which was taken less than a fortnight before he died. But it also focuses attention on that army of young volunteers who lied about their age – as many as 30,000 of whom lost their lives.

That’s the figure calculated by historian Richard Van Emden, author of Boy Soldiers Of The Great War.

He used various different methods to come up with it including looking at birth records for soldiers said to have died at 19 to see what proportion were actually younger than that.

Of the quarter of a million who enlisted underage he says only about 100,000 of those went overseas and many were kicked out when their parents started complaining.

But he believes that between a quarter and a third of them were killed.

“Joining the Army underage wasn’t particularly shocking, especially when you could leave school at 14,” he says. “What did shock people was that the boys were sent overseas when the war was meant to be over by Christmas and of course the conditions in which they found themselves. No one expected the Battle of the Somme.

They had no expectation that their children would see such carnage.”

In the rush to enlist there was little requirement to produce paperwork showing that the volunteer was above the minimum age for overseas, which was set initially at 19 and later lowered to 18.

Recruiting sergeants were paid on a bounty system and any boys who admitted they were 17 were told to walk round the block and come back as 19.

There was no record of anyone being punished for signing volunteers up without checking their paperwork and the extreme youth of the recruits was immediately obvious to anyone watching troops arriving in Flanders.

As one Australian soldier recorded: “For two days companies of infantry have been passing us on the roads: companies of children, English children: pink-faced, round-cheeked children.”

The youngest soldier to successfully enlist was 12-year-old Sidney Lewis who signed up in August 1915 and was fighting in the trenches of the Western Front by the following June.

He was discharged from fighting in August 1916 after his mother wrote to the War Office pleading for him to be sent home but he re-enlisted after the war ended and served in Austria with the army of occupation.

Private WC Tickle, first world war, war, world war one, battle of somme, boys of war, britian, soldiers, fighting, richard van emden, history, Private William Tickle on a Royal Mail stamp to commemorate the Great War [PA]

He later joined the Surrey police and ended up running apub near Tunbridge Wells. He died in 1969.

VAN EMDEN’S research shows that Lewis’s experience of being sent home was not unusual for the young recruits. “The length of time they served overseas was quite short compared with other men,” he says.

“By the time winter arrived a lot of these 14, 15 and 16 year olds couldn’t do it physically.

“They were full of courage and pluck but they didn’t have the body mass to deal with standing in a trench for a week on end in below freezing temperatures carrying their kit and everything else. So they would write to their parents and ask them to provide a birth certificate because they couldn’t hack it any more.”

Not all of them hated it. Some boys had joined to escape poverty or borstal or to get away from home and some of them enjoyed it. But for a great number the experience aged them prematurely.

Young Billie, whom his mother described in her handwritten submission as “one of the very best”, never had that privilege. The son of a land agent, he was born in Tottenham in 1898 and by 1911 he was already claiming to be five years older than he really was.

He carried on exaggerating his age and enlisted in the 9th Battalion of the Essex Regiment a month after the start of the war, arriving in France 11 days after his 17th birthday.

After almost a year there he took part in an advance in the early hours of the morning of July 3, 1916. He was listed as missing in action but later declared killed.

His battalion had been ordered to capture the village of Ovillers, which was well defended by German machine guns and the trenches were full of the bodies of those who had already fallen.

It was a time of apparent futility and frustration as the young soldiers tried to find cracks in the enemy lines.

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Nigel Steel, principal historian at the Imperial War Museum, says: “Very close to where he was killed there is a cemetery laid out very nicely on the slight rise that climbs up from the valley on to the small hill beyond it.”

HE ADDS: “It’s the kind of place where he may well have ended up being buried but his body would no longer have been identifiable so his name is on the memorial at Thiepval.”

The Thiepval monument is a memorial to more than 72,000 British and South African soldiers who died between 1915 and 1918 and have no known grave.

Now this posthumous postal honour is another memorial to Billie although he may not have any surviving relatives who can appreciate it. A Royal Mail spokeswoman says: “We were unable to trace any family members of Private Tickle.”

Billie may have had a brother who went to the US and there is hope that if there are any descendants there they will come forward as all families are invited to do in the Imperial War Museum’s Lives Of The First World War project, helping to build up a record of everyone who took part.

One question remains about Private Tickle. Why did his mother put his wrong age when she wrote to the museum?

Was she scared she would get into trouble and so had to carry on covering up for her underage son? Van Emden believes the explanation is more prosaic: “There was a lot of rounding up and if someone was born in 1898 and died in 1916 he would be counted as 18 even if he hadn’t passed his birthday.

“It seems to have been a normal thing to do, even on gravestones. I certainly don’t think she felt she needed to carry on lying for him. No one is going to get in trouble once the boy has been killed, least of all the parent.”

Joining the Army underage wasn’t particularly shocking, especially when you could leave school at 14

Richard Van Emden

William Cecil Tickle

Private William Cecil Tickle was a 15-year-old boy who secretly signed up for the First World War and was killed just two years later in the Battle of the Somme is to be remembered in a set of stamps marking 100 years since the start of the war.

Private William Tickle was described by his mother as “one of the very best” in a handwritten note handed over to the Imperial War Museum.

He was accepted by 9 Battalion, Essex Regiment in 1914 but died aged 17 on July 3, 1916 in the first Battle of the Somme – where Britain sustained tens of thousands of casualties.

He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France which stands for soldiers with no known grave.

Pte Tickle’s mother is thought to have given the Imperial War Museum a portrait of her son in 1919, accompanied by a small handwritten note.

It said: “Private W. C. Tickle killed on the 3rd July 1916. Joined up on the 7th September 1914 age 18 years. One of the very best.”

Private William Tickle on a Royal Mail stamp to commemorate the Great War