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Following the outbreak of war, there was much vilification of those of able body who did not join up, and regarding a family in Milton Keynes an insinuation published in a local newspaper provoked this response, sent to the editor in December 1914;

“Dear Sir. In your issue of last week you made an attempt to cry open shame on some of the Milton fellows for the simple reason that they had not seen their way clear to enlist. Take it from me, sir, that the attempt has completely failed in its object, and that the finger of scorn points in vain. And may I remind you that the Government will mind its own business, and may the “Bucks Standard” do likewise.

Yours truly,

ONE OF THE FIVE.

Milton Keynes, Dec. 10, 1914.”

The editor replied;

“This letter carries its own condemnation. Where there is no sense of patriotic duty it is fruitless to appeal - Compulsion is the only remedy. We deeply regret that our historic county should be inflicted with such individuals resident in it’s midst - pitiable examples of the characteristic Britisher - and we sympathise with Milton Keynes in its misfortune. Where would Britain and its glorious Empire be to-day if all her sons had been imbued with a similar patriotic (sic) spirit?”

The following week, this letter from a reader would then be published;
“The Patriots (?) of Milton Keynes.
To the Editor of the Bucks Standard.

DEAR SIR, When the five brave Miltonians sit by their peaceful firesides, thanks to their brave brothers who are fighting and watching the foe on sea and land, they should ponder on Judges v.23, and note the comparison.

Yours truly,
AN OLD READER.

Newport Pagnell. Dec. 14, 1914.)”

In fact in 1915 Fred Baker enlisted in the Beds. Yeomanry in May of that year, and in August 1915 would gain the distinction of coming out first in his squadron for test firing, on a service range at 600 yards. Indeed, his score was so commendable that the Commanding Officer presented him with a special money prize. Yet still the carping continued, and in November 1915 this comment appeared in the local press;
“Among the shirkers of Milton we know of five strapping fellows who are holding back from performing a public duty. All of them are single men and ought not to hesitate for one moment in offering their services. So long as they hold back the finger of scorn points at them”

Not surprisingly, those slighted shot back with both barrels;

“Dear Sir. Will you permit me, through the medium of your paper, to remove all doubt and suspicion as to the patriotism of my family, and especially my brothers. Much has been rumoured and insinuated about the strapping sons of Mr. C.B. Baker, and the term “slacker” has been frequently applied with vigorous application, but I may remind you that it has been a case of pouring water on a duck’s back. But to get to the point:-

Two more of my brothers (not frightened by Lord Derby’s scheme) have enlisted in the Royal Bucks Hussars, and go into training at once - both able to ride and shoot, and ready to get on with the job at once. I may add that it has been their intention to join for some months, but circumstances have held them back until now, and their answer to the canvassers recently was: “You may leave it to us.”

One may question why they did not join before and my answer is this - my brothers have been doing yeoman service for their employers, and the men who go now are those who have had time to think about it seriously, and see the necessity in its true light. It is generally known that my brother Jack has been across, and home again wounded, and Fred has completed his training with the Beds. Yeomanry, been promoted to Corporal‘s rank, gained distinction in service firing, and is ready to go abroad. This makes four actually serving; the names of the latest recruits are Will and Tom. As for myself I have acted upon the advice of better men than I, and have enrolled for general service, and am labelled to be called for. The total for the family thus reads 4½ out of a possible 6. Can you wonder at my father and mother wanting to retain the other as a help to keep the home fire burning against the time when the rest may return. Now those little-minded slanderers come forward! We are prepared against any attack.

Yours faithfully,

FRANK BAKER

Milton Keynes,
Newport Pagnell,

Nov. 24, 1915.”

In fact there could be no doubt regarding the courage and patriotism of the family, for Trooper Jack Baker, of the Royal Bucks Hussars, had been reported as missing after the battle of Chocolate Hill on August 21st 1915. Then in September it became known that he was in the American Women’s War Hospital at Paignton, Devon. He had survived the charge and retreat of Chocolate Hill, but on August 28th was wounded by an enemy bullet, and writing to his parents gave a vivid account of his experience in the Gallipoli operations;

“You will be surprised to hear I am back in England, and sorry to hear I have been wounded, but I am glad to say not serious. It is in my back. A shrapnel shell burst close to me on Saturday morning, August 28, at Chocolate Hill. We had a rather tough experience during the time we were on the Gallipoli Peninsular. To cut a long story short, it is like hell. You get shelled before you land, and when you have got ashore there is no background: you have to face the music or run and jump into the sea. I am going on first rate and am able to sit up in my cot. My back is painful as I still have the bullet there.”

“I am going on first-rate. I had a bullet taken out of my back this morning (Sunday, Sept. 12). It gave me a nasty working at the time but I soon got over that. It was a nice clean bullet, so that was in my favour, but the doctor thinks I must have another piece of shrapnel in my back, as there is another wound; probably the bullet has lost its way. We will let him rest if he gives me no trouble. Our casualty list will be a heavy one I am afraid. … It was on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning at daybreak - August 21-22 - that we made a fair bid for Hill 70. The night was too awful to think about, and it must have been 12 o’clock when I looked round just as the moon was rising and found I had not got one of our boys with me. I kept going on through the wood till I got to a Welsh regiment, so then I set to work to dig myself in and blaze away at the Turks for the rest of the night. Their trenches were about 200 yards away. I was very much amused by a fellow digging beside me. He was bent down and got hit somewhere, dropped flat down and made an awful groan. Then he was quite still and I just pulled him out of the way, thinking he was dead. I went on working and in about five minutes he sat up. He gave me quite a shock, and before I could speak to him away he ran. I often have a laugh over that.”

Describing the landing of the troops on the Peninsular, Trooper Baker says;

“We landed at Suvla Bay. We had to go ashore at night in small boats. We had four battleships and two or three of the monitor type to bombard the hills and keep back the Turks. The ‘Swiftsure’ was one of the ships. It’s fine to see them when they are bombarding. They shoot at hills just like Brickhill. If you stood ten miles away the shells go overhead like express trains. … I looked a bit rough when I got on the hospital ship, but no worse than others. I hadn’t had a shave or a wash for a fortnight. Thank goodness I am clean once more and shaved up and look as smart as a fresh scraped carrot.”

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Following the outbreak of war, Mrs. Harley, of Walton Hall, the Reverend G. Hawkes Field, the rector of Milton Keynes, and Mrs. Field, his wife, became the prime movers in securing comfortable homes for two Belgian refugee families in the village of Milton Keynes. They had also secured furniture and other necessities, whilst Mr. Alan Finch, affectionately regarded by the villagers as ‘the squire,’ provided two thatched cottages, rent free, near the village centre, situated in a meadow off the main street. The refugees arrived on the night of Monday, October 19th 1914, and before the hostilities earned their livelihood by tilling small plots of land at Buggenhout, a village a few miles from Antwerp. In fact when Mrs. Harley, together with the Reverend Field and his wife, had approached the Belgian Refugee Committee, it was made clear that the people would need to be of use on farms in the district, and consequently one of those forwarded was Monsr. Frans Van Eyken, a labourer of middle age. In Belgium he had kept two cows, some pigs and poultry, and since “They can milk the cows and do all kinds of work on the land,” his wife Rosalie, and 18 year old daughter, Philomena, would also be useful in the farm work. Until 12 months ago their son, August Van Eyken, had additionally helped on the smallholding, but more recently he had turned his attention to coal mining. As for another son, he was is in the army fighting the Germans. Having had warning of the enemy’s advance, the family were able to flee and seek refuge in England, but sadly on Wednesday afternoon, October 28th 1914 Madame Van Eyken passed away from acute erysipelas. Since arriving in the village she had complained of acute pains in the head, and was attended by Dr. Holmes of Woburn Sands, and Dr. Bailey of Newport Pagnell, with every attention being rendered by the ladies of the village. She had been visited before her death by Father Walker, of Wolverton, and the funeral was held on Friday afternoon. The other family to seek refuge in the village was that of 32 year old Madame Mathilde Rosa Segers, who arrived with her aged mother and six small children. Her husband was in the Belgian army, and in the family’s flight her father had been lost, with his whereabouts being unknown. When the Germans discovered that her husband was a Belgian soldier they not only set light to the cottage but also destroyed all the pigs and chickens, and she could recount many other tales of German atrocities against men, women and children. Therefore it was of little surprise that the Belgian flag occupied a prominent place on the front of the cottages, which in preparation of the families’ arrival had been readily papered and internally painted by the men of the parish, with the women having scrubbed the floors, cleaned the windows, and supplied food.

At Milton Keynes Rectory, in February 1915 Mrs. Field had the need for a ‘cook general.’ ‘Two in family. House parlour maid and nurse kept, man for coals etc.’

In March 1915 Mr. J.T. Snelson was appointed as section leader of the special constables of Milton Keynes and the neighbouring villages.

In All Saints Church, Milton Keynes, on Whit Sunday afternoon 1915 the local units of the Bucks Volunteer Defence Corps held their first church parade. At 4.30p.m. the Milton Keynes and Moulsoe Sections, the latter being in the charge of Section Commander Mark Grimes, marched from their respective villages and met together on the main road near Broughton Bridge. There they were reformed as a Platoon under Platoon Commander J.T. Snelson, and marched to Broughton Corner, where they were reinforced by men of the Woburn Sands Company under Company Commander E. Creasy. All the participants carried rifles and bayonets, and wore service caps, belts, and puttees. Headed by the bugler and the drummer of the Woburn Sands Section, the whole Company, about 70 strong, then marched in fours to Milton Keynes, where in the Rectory Garden a refreshing tea was served by Mrs. G.H. Field and Mrs. J.T. Snelson. At the Rectory the assembly was joined by the Commandant, Lt. Col. W.G. Bowyer, the Adjutant, Mr. W. Trevor, and the Company Commander, Mr. W. Uthwatt, and after tea with the bugler having sounded ‘Fall In’ the assembly reformed into their Sections, and, with a sentry placed to guard the arms, filed into the church, where the service was taken by the Reverend G.H. Field, an enthusiastic Volunteer. The hymns included ‘O God, our help in ages past,’ and the proceedings ended with the National Anthem. Returning to the Rectory Garden, there the assembly fell in and marched out on the return journey, but before parting company at Broughton bridge they were addressed by Colonel Bowyer, who complimented them on their turn out, and stressed the importance of rifle practice.

In June 1915 Mr. J.T. Dover required ‘a steady man’ to make himself useful on a farm. Good wages were offered, as well as a cottage with garden in the village. In May 1916 came the same requirement

In 1915, being a cleric the Reverend G. Hawkes Field, the rector of the village, was not able to join up, and so as a chaplain served for about a month among the troops in Norfolk. On his return, on Sunday, October 10th 1915 he took the church services for the harvest, the £3 offerings of which were applied to Bedford Hospital, and having left his name on the list he was appointed as temporary chaplain to the troops stationed at Plymouth, with instructions to begin his duties on Friday, November 26th 1915.

In October 1915 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Howe had 11 family members serving their country. Formerly in the Bedfordshire Regiment, and having gone through the Chitral Campaign and the South African War, Charles, their eldest son, was in the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry. Thomas, their second son, had been in the army for 20 years, and was an instructor in the 5th Northants. He had served 9 years in India and 3½ years in Malta. Their grandson, Charles Markham, whose mother lived at Wolverton, was in the trenches with the 7th Wilts., having enlisted from Wolverton Works at the outbreak of the war. Another grandson, Harry Markham, was training at Ampthill with the Duke of Bedford’s Regiment, having before the war been employed by Mr. J. Dover of Milton Keynes. Two other sons were in the V.D.C.; Arthur had served for 3 years in the South African War in the 4th Mounted Artillery under General Buller, and was now a farmer at Blisworth.

A letter to the local press from Manor Farm in May 1916, regarding the sparrow pest;

‘Dear Sir. May I, through your columns call the attention of occupiers of land to the necessity of destroying all the sparrows they possibly can; the damage they do is difficult to estimate. I should not be surprised if they spoilt 100 grs. of corn within a radius of five miles of Newport Pagnell, as they commence as soon as the grain begins to form and continue until it is in the stack; and when the Daylight Saving Bill becomes law I expect they will start an hour earlier in the morning.

The best plan is to have a sparrow club in each village. We have one at Milton, and pay 3d per dozen for old birds, 2d per dozen for young birds, and 1½d per dozen for eggs. In three years 1,962 sparrows and 1,590 eggs were destroyed.

Yours faithfully,

W. BRICE SHAKESHAFT.

Milton Keynes, May 10th 1916.’

John Meadows is the secretary of the Milton Keynes Sparrow Club, and in May 1917 reported that, due to the damage caused to corn crops, during the previous 11 months 1,478 house sparrows had been destroyed, and 894 eggs taken. 300 starlings had also been disposed of, and 462 eggs. The Club would pay 3d per dozen for old sparrows, 2d per dozen for young sparrows, and 1½d per dozen for eggs, and the same rate would apply to starlings and their eggs. The total amount paid during the 11 months was £2 14s 2d.

During a severe thunderstorm, one Saturday in June 1917 the belfry door of Milton Keynes church was damaged, and brickwork ripped up. No external effects were apparent, and it seemed that by travelling down the conductor the lightning had penetrated the foundation wall on reaching the floor.

With Colonel W. Levi as the chairman, ‘a disgusting case’ was heard at the Newport Pagnell Divisional Petty Sessions on Wednesday, August 22nd 1917. Her home being at Fleet Marston, near Aylesbury, the offence involved a servant girl who was accused of stealing 2 purses, 3 brooches, a miniature photo album, jewellery, wearing apparel and other items from the Rectory at Milton Keynes, where she had been employed as a cook general since June 14th. The value of the goods was about £5, and in evidence Mrs. Field, the wife of the rector, said that she gave the girl, who wept bitterly during the hearing, a months’ notice to leave on July 28th. This involved an occasion when she had gone into the kitchen and told the girl to accompany her to a bedroom, as some work had not been done. However, the girl refused on several occasions, and so was told to pack her box and leave at once. Nevertheless, the girl just stood over the box, to which Mrs. Field responded, “Very well, I will wait till you have packed.” Still the girl did not comply, whereupon Mrs. Field asked her husband to fetch Miss Ada F. Cother, the lady superintendent of the Preventative and Rescue Home at Fenny Stratford, from whom she had received the girl. On receipt of this request, at about 12.15p.m. Miss Cother immediately left for the Rectory, and arriving at about 1.30p.m. asked the girl what was the matter. She received no reply, and Mrs. Field then completed arrangements for Miss Cother to return the girl to the Rescue Home. At that time she was unaware that anything had been stolen, although some items put aside for a rummage sale seemed to have been disturbed, but when Miss Cother opened the girl’s cardboard box articles were found for which the girl offered no explanation. Miss Cother then stated “This is a case for the police; will Mr. Field send for a policeman?” and when police constable Britnell duly arrived Miss Cother searched the girl’s handbag, in which the two purses were found. Before and during the search the girl had remained sulky, and, since there was already a record against her the Bench thought it advisable to send her for trial at the Quarter Sessions, with a view for Borstal treatment. Subsequently at the Bucks Quarter Sessions on Friday, October 19th 1917 she pleaded guilty, and it was revealed that she had originally been in a situation near Leicester, but on being dismissed for petty thefts was sent to a Refuge Home. She was then placed in another situation at Henley on Thames, but having forced open a missionary box, and stolen the contents, she was dismissed and sent to another Refuge Home. Later she was placed in service at Maidenhead, but dismissal soon followed for bad conduct and petty thefts. By the decision of the court she would be detained in a Borstal Institution for 2 years.

Private Jack Shakeshaft, of the South African Force, was reported missing on the Western Front from March 23rd 1918, the official news being received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. Brice Shakeshaft, of The Manor House. He was their youngest son, and being in South Africa at the outbreak of war he immediately joined the 2nd Rhodesian Regiment, and went through the East African campaign under General Smuts. In the autumn of 1917 he then came to England for training in trench warfare at Woking.

On Peace Day, July 19th 1919, the church bells rang a peal at 7a.m., and later the children assembled on the church tower to sing the National Anthem. Conducted by the Reverend Field, a service of thanksgiving took place at 10a.m., and in the later proceedings despite the weather a cricket match and other sports were enjoyed. The schoolroom having been prepared by Mrs. Harry Savage, at 1p.m. a dinner was served for all the adults in the village, with large joints of home fed beef and mutton being amongst the fare, with the vegetables prepared and boiled by Mrs. Kent, Mrs. Leach and Mrs. Hartop. The rector helped as one of the carvers, and his wife as one of the waitresses. Then at 4p.m. all the children sat down to tea, and in the evening to the music provided by Mrs. Claridge and Miss Huckle there was dancing in the schoolroom until 11p.m., with many in fancy costumes. A large bonfire concluded the day’s events.

When their house was bombed out in World War Two, during the first big blitz, Charles Thorpe and his family came to Milton Keynes village, where he became a roadman, looking after ten miles of road in Walton, Broughton and Milton Keynes. Born in Yorkshire, as a boy he had worked down a coal mine at Barnsley, and would usefully employ this experience during the First World War; “I was a Sapper, tunnelling eight hours a day, blowing Jerry out of the trenches.”