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

W.E. 1915 Apr. 16th

In a letter sent by Lieutenant H. Cotton Minchin, Mrs. Davidge, of New Road, Castlethorpe, has learnt that her husband, Private Hayden Davidge, 1st Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), has been killed on duty on April 5th, 1915. He was sniped through the head, and, besides a widow, he leaves a baby boy. The letter states;

“He was a good soldier always willing, and always cheerful, and he is a great loss to his platoon, and, I need hardly say, to his commander. Death was instantaneous. He did not undergo any pain. The officers, N.C.O.s, and men of the platoon all join in sending their deepest sympathy. You will probably be pleased to hear that the men of his section saw that he had a good grave and that the minister held a full burial service.”

Private M. Goulston writes;

“I am proud to say that he died like a soldier, doing his duty. I can tell you that there was not a nicer chap in the service. He met his death whilst he was on day sentry. He went on duty about 12.30p.m., and when he was looking through a loophole with a pair of field-glasses a bullet struck him just below the left eye.”

Born in Islington, Private Davidge had served for seven years in the Army, and for nearly two years was a labourer in Wolverton Works, before being called up as a reservist. Aged 24, he was the first Castlethorpe man to have been killed in action.

B.S. 1915 June 19th

Mr. and Mrs. Masterman, of the Carrington Arms, Castlethorpe, have received letters from their son, Private Frank Masterman. Aged 19, he is on active service with the 15th London Regiment (Territorials). He volunteered at the outbreak of war, and has witnessed several hard months of fighting in France. In a letter from around mid May he writes;

“We were moved from the firing line at 10.30 and went in support for a couple of days. During those two days our artillery kept up a continual bombardment, and, luckily for us, got very little reply from the Germans. On Thursday night, as we were sleeping ????????? we had to leave hurriedly on account of the German bombardment, but again nobody was hit. On Saturday afternoon we again went up to the front and are now occupying a fort made of sandbags, which we are to hold at all costs. The Germans were very attentive, and the bombardment lasted an hour, and during that period we had a hell of a time. Shrapnel managed to find its way into almost every corner of the fort, but luckily nobody was seriously hurt. In fact, I ‘copped out’ worse than anybody. First of all a tiny bit of shell hit my foot. Then the worst smack I got was on my thigh by the piece which I am enclosing in this letter and which bounded off the sandbags and managed just to break the flesh in two places. It gave me a very nasty bruise which has made by leg rather stiff. The next smack I got must have been a rebound, for it was a shrapnel bullet and hit me on my pocket and damaged my cigarette case slightly. Still, I feel quite alright, and there is no need for you to worry. … Last night the Germans were very busy with their artillery, and shells fell continually all around us. To-day we have been giving the Germans h**l with our artillery, and so far, luckily, we have had but little response. I believe our attacks have been very successful round here. Although this letter gives you some idea of the war it is absolutely impossible to realise what it is like without you are on the spot.”

In another letter, Private Masterman writes;

“After we had rebuilt our barricades we gave the Germans a few rounds of ‘rapid,’ and then we thought things had settled down. Hardly had we finished rapid firing when the word was passed down that gas was seen. We at once got our sleeping hats - or anything similar - on, and steeped them in what we thought was the proper solution. By some mistake this solution turned out to be chloride of lime, but as this had been mixed with the proper solution we managed to ward off the effects of the gas. We quite expected the Germans to advance. Had they done so I am afraid they would have got an extremely rough time as we were pretty angry at the time.”

In a third letter, from “The Trocadero in Trenchland,” Private Masterman writes;

“We are again in the firing line. On Monday night we had a march through the village where we had been resting and proceeded to a larger mining town about 3½ miles behind the firing line arriving at our billets just about midnight. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights we formed working parties and marched four or five miles with pickaxe and shovel before we got to our work. On Wednesday night we were in the open digging trenches, but nobody was hit. On Thursday night we paraded at 10.30, with the rain pouring down, and marched up to the trenches which we reached at 1 o’clock. These trenches were built by the French and are very good ones. The dug-outs are excellent - some are provided with spring mattresses; but of course they are lousy, and so am I. Things are very quiet up here at present, with the exception of the snipers, who are always busy. Rumours have been prevalent recently about our coming home, but there is no truth in them, and we have no wish for them to be true.”

Having been home for a short leave at Christmas, also from the village, Private Horace Ray, King’s Own Royal Rifles, has been wounded at Ypres, a bullet having passed through his right arm, penetrating his chest and entering the lung and liver. He is in Cambridge Hospital, and although the bullet has not yet been extracted, he writes cheerfully to his parents, and says that he is comfortable. Private Ray had been serving for seven years in India when the war broke out, whereupon his regiment was recalled for active service. Thirty of the village men are now on - or preparing for - active service, although two men from Castlethorpe have been killed; Jack Davidge, of the Cameronians, was shot by a German sniper, and George Eakins, who was recalled from South Africa, met with an accident.

B.S. 1915 Oct. 16th

News has arrived that Lance Corporal William Coey, of the 6th Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, died of wounds on October 5th, 1915. He was killed in France when shot through the head with a rifle bullet. Born in Castlethorpe, before the war he had been employed as a coach painter at Wolverton Carriage Works, and, often assisting the village teams, was well known as a cricketer and footballer. Aged 24, he was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. A. Coey, of 4, New Road, Castlethorpe. He is buried in the Merville Community Cemetery Nord, France.

B.S. 1918 Jan. 5th

Killed in action on December 2nd on the Paschendaele Ridge, the death of Private Frank Osborne, of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry (Machine Gun Section), has been officially announced. He was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Osborne, of Castlethorpe, and to Mrs. Osborne, Captain F. Gordon writes;

“We shall all miss him very much, as we can ill afford to lose such efficient machine gunners as he was, and he was so well liked by all. I should like to offer you the most sincere sympathy of myself and the whole company in your great loss. It may be some small comfort for you to know that his death was instantaneous, and that he met a true soldier’s end in the brave execution of his duty, facing the enemy. Earlier in the action he had done very gallant work with his gun team, and he fell in the end to a German sniper. I understand your son’s officer has himself written to you on behalf of his section. As soon as it is ascertained I will write to let you know the location of your boy’s last resting place.”

(Private Osborne was aged 26, and has no known grave.)

B.S. 1918 May 25th

Mr. Job Cowley, of Castlethorpe, has received a post card from his son, Rifleman Sidney Cowley, of the Royal Irish Rifles, stating that he is a prisoner of war in Germany. He had been officially reported as missing on March 24th.