Keep the Home Fires Burning - detailing wartime life in the towns and villages mentioned.

NBT 1914 Dec. 26th Sat.
In a letter to his father, Lance Corporal A. Bateman, of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, writes;

“On September 12th we took 124 German prisoners and killed five cavalry men. On the following morning the German guns let us have it very hot. Two of my companions had their legs smashed next to me and I was hit slightly in the back of the head. This was one of the worst days - it was the battle of the Aisne. Then we went into trenches, in which we remained nearly a month. While there the Germans used to try and break our lines, but they did not succeed, and only lost thousands of men. Their guns must have fired millions of rounds. Later on we attacked and lost 400 men and 11 officers killed and wounded. We “hung on” for three days and were then relieved by the French. The number of dead Germans in front of the trenches was 740 - their wounded must have numbered two or three times as many. On Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st the Germans came up in thousands and we had to charge them back and take their trenches. Amongst them were the Prussian Guards, men standing 6ft. 3 and 4 inches in height, but the biggest lot of cowards I ever came across. I think we killed about 100 of them and took many prisoners. During this five weeks we have not had a wash or shave, nor had we taken off our boots. Up to the present two of our regiment have gained the French Legion of Honour, five of the officers have won the D.S.O., and three of our men the D.C.M. Our regiment has been praised by the General, but we are led by Capt. Dillon, - a better officer never lived.”

W.E. 1916 Apr. 28th
Aged 29, on Sunday, April 9th Private W. Fall was killed in action. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Fall, of Brookside Terrace, Aylesbury, in which town he had served his apprenticeship as a basket-maker. He subsequently obtained employment at High Wycombe, and was engaged for some time at the Aylesbury Sewage Works, before enlisting in the Territorials in December 1914. After training at Northampton and Chelmsford, he was drafted to the 1st Bucks B.E.F. on June 25th, 1915, attached to the 6th Platoon of B Company, and of the circumstances regarding his death his company captain writes;

“I am very sorry indeed to have to inform you that your son, who was in my Company, was killed in action last night. He was killed by machine gun fire when the Company was acting as a covering party to a large working party not far from the German trenches, between the lines. Your son was very popular with his comrades. He was always bright and quick at understanding and obeying orders. Please be assured that you and your family have the deepest sympathy of all his comrades, both officers and men, in the Company. With very great regret and sincere sympathy, - Yours faithfully, L. W. Crouch.”

(Tragically, Captain Lionel W. Crouch would be killed on July 21st, 1916, leading his Company in an attack in the Battle of the Somme. The elder son of Mr. and Mrs. William Crouch, of Friarscroft, Aylesbury (his father being the Clerk of Bucks County Council), he was born in 1886, and after an education at Marlborough became a solicitor by profession. Before the war he had been a keen Territorial - being gazetted Second Lieutenant in 1907 - and at the time of his death his younger brother, Captain Guy Crouch, of the same regiment, had only just returned to active service. His letters from August 4th, 1914 to the day of his death were collected and printed for private circulation, with the last words committed to paper being; “But it’s all in the day’s work.” The following morning he was killed. His was always a sense of duty, and a steadfast belief in the righteousness of the cause, and this is well emphasised by the entry for August 29th 1914; “We have got to lick these chaps, and we are only playing at it at present. Our Expeditionary Force will be practically wiped out in a month, and more men must be sent. I don’t take a pessimistic view of the ultimate result, but by our present shilly-shallying we are likely to keep the war lasting for years.”

B.S. 1917 Nov. 24th
On Sunday, November 18th the death took place of Private Frederick Wickham, of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry. 23 years of age, he was the youngest son of Mr. Jesse Wickham (formerly of The Green, Newport Pagnell), and had contracted an illness in Flanders. At the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Engineers, but after serving for a while in the regiment he developed enlarged glands, and was discharged as medically unfit for further military duty. However, on recovering he offered his services again, and being posted to the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry saw two years service on the Western Front. He was buried with full military honours on Thursday at Aylesbury, the coffin, draped with a Union Jack, being borne to the grave by the men of his regiment. Fifty wounded soldiers joined in the funeral cortege, and also attending were the buglers from Aylesbury Grammar School, who sounded The Last Post. Three of Private Wickham’s brothers are serving in the Forces - two in Flanders and one in Egypt.