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

B.S. 1915 Jan. 23rd

Despite being above military age, as an expert motor driver Mr. J. Williams, of Emberton Lodge, offered his services to the British Red Cross Society, and on arriving at Boulogne was given charge of a 38h.p Daimler car. Experiencing many of the battlefield hardships, he has been the volunteer driver of a motor ambulance, and - having now returned home for a few days of welcome rest - speaks of his four months of strenuous service;

“Our first job was to help in a very bad refugee train smash. Then I was appointed to take charge of a section of 17 cars, and with two other sections we were ordered to the front to a place but two miles distant from the Belgian frontier. Here I was detached from my section to work independently, with orders to report to the A.D.M.S. of the Lahore Division of the Indian Army. I remained with the Indian Army up to Christmas. They are a fine body of men these Indians - excellent soldiers, and their medical service is worthy of all possible praise. The organisation is perfect, and the skill of the doctors and nurses cannot be spoken of too highly. When the Indian Army went back to rest I had to work with the British soldiers.”

In further conversation, Mr. Williams said that his section of the Red Cross Detachment was the first to take a motor ambulance within close proximity to the firing line, which had previously not been thought practical. However, “every night after dark we used to get within 150 yards of the trenches, and take the wounded straight down to the field hospital. By doing this we often saved 24 hours in many cases, and now the War Office have realised that it is possible for motor ambulances to get into close touch with the men who are fighting, and have detached Government motor ambulances to do this every night. There has been fighting every day. I was up on the Sunday before Christmas, prior to which I had had seven nights out on end and my ordinary day’s work in addition, and then I received a telegram to take my section out and evacuate a field ambulance station which was being shelled and where the Germans were pressing heavily.”

As for some of the wounded cases, he says; “There used to be a terrible amount of tetanus but now, directly a man is wounded, whether slightly or badly, he is inoculated. Scarcely ever is a case of tetanus heard of now.”

For some while Mr. Williams has been working in the La Bassee district, and has brought home to Emberton many interesting war relics. His most treasured memento is a six inch German shell which, penetrating a wall, exploded in a garden where he and some of his men were temporarily stationed. Of life on the battlefield he says; “Our fellows are jolly well fed and well looked after. We have plenty of London daily newspapers, which arrive on the day after publication and are distributed free to the men in the trenches. There is no need to send any but the local or weekly papers to the Front. … The destruction wrought by the German Army is ten times worse than anything you have read, and I often think it would be a great blessing in disguise if England could have some such experience as Belgium and France; it might stir the country up to a realisation of the need there is for every available man of the right age to take his share in the defence of his country.”

(By late May, 1915, he would be given a commission in the Army Service Corps and be gazetted lieutenant. Being stationed at Lee, it was expected that he would shortly leave for the front.)

B.S. 1915 June 5th

Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, of 4, West Lane, Emberton, have received official news that their youngest son, Sergeant Frank Andrews, of the 1st Royal Dragoons, has been posted as “missing, believed to be killed in action on May 19th.” This was whilst advancing under very heavy shell fire, and there has been no trace of him since. His parents have received letters of sympathy from two officers of the regiment, who, expressing their sorrow, state that as they advanced in the battle they had to leave the fallen behind. Twenty were later buried by another unit, but the bodies could not be identified. A thorough search of the area revealed no further hope, and it seems there is no possibility that Sergeant Andrews was taken prisoner. Aged 33, he had served for over 15 years with the colours, having joined the Army shortly after the outbreak of the South African War. After a few months training he then sailed with a draft to join the 1st Royal Dragoons at the front, and for serving until the end of the war received the King’s medal and clasp. After a year in England he and his regiment then sailed for India, where - firstly at Lucknow, and next at Muttra - eight years were spent. During the summer of 1911 he had six months furlough at home, but shortly after his return to India the regiment sailed for South Africa. Here they were firstly stationed at Pretoria, and then Potchefstroom, and it was from the latter location that they were called up to suppress the Johannesburg labour riots. However, in these disturbances they suffered casualties, with several horses being shot by the rioters. At the outbreak of the present war he and all the South African garrison returned to England, and leaving on October 5th were landed at Ostend and Zeebrugge to cover the retreat of the Belgian army from Antwerp. He fought in several great battles, although his wish to be in a cavalry charge was not to be. Sergeant Andrews had been home on leave for a week at Christmas.

(Sergeant Andrews was killed in action on Thursday, May 13th 1915. Born and a resident of Emberton, he had enlisted in London.)

B.S. 1915 Aug. 7th

‘The Fighting Parson,’ Lieutenant Frederick Hulton Sams, has been killed in action. He was born as the eldest son of the Reverend G.F. and Mrs. Sams at Emberton Rectory in November, 1881, and was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the University feather weight boxing competitions in 1901, 1902, and 1904. He also represented Cambridge against Oxford in those years, being victorious in each event. Ordained into the church in September, 1905, he was curate for three years at St. Paul’s, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, but in 1908 he then joined the Bush Brotherhood, Queensland, Australia, and worked strenuously until July 1914. At the outbreak of war he was unable to obtain an army chaplaincy, and so immediately enlisted in the 3rd Bedfordshires, being soon promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. In November he received a commission in the 6th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and, having gone to the front in the last week of May, it was at Hooge that he fell on July 31st, his Major writing of him; “he was at the time commanding his Company and doing splendidly, and he has caused a gap that can never be filled.” The news of his death was received with great regret in Emberton, for as ‘Mr, Fred,’ as he was affectionately known, his kindly interest in the welfare of the villagers endeared him to all. As for his work with the Bush Brotherhood, in the words of his Bishop; “they gave proof of their affection for him as a man and their appreciation of him as a priest by their numerous gifts to him and the manner of their farewells. He gave them of his best for five and a half years, and they have shown the Brothers what they have felt in return. The Church misses his personality in every way. His ever-abiding cheerfulness, his constant unselfishness, his love for men and women because they were men and women will ever be to us a memory. He touched men that other Brothers failed to reach, and brought the Church with its message of the Gospel to those who in the past have stood aloof. He was a man amongst men and “his heart was right there.”

In an edition of the ‘Sporting Life,’ his association with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry would be alluded to as follows;

“He was the leading sporting spirit in that battalion and whether it was football, running, swimming, or boxing, he was always ready to help in providing sport for the men in their few hours of leisure. He showed that he had not lost his skill at boxing by winning the battalion championship, and captained the cross-country team which gained third place in the Divisional Championship, showing them the way to pack and forfeiting his chance of gaining the officers’ medal - for which he was only just beaten by Lieut. R.S. Clarke - in order to keep them together.”

In a later correspondence, in a letter from France a nurse would write that in her ward was a sergeant of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, who saw Lt. Sams fall, and said that “He died like a soldier and a gentleman.”

(A memorial service would be held at Emberton church on Sunday afternoon, August 8th, with the Union Jack at half mast on the west tower, and the church bells muffled. Every household in the village would be represented in the congregation, with people from the surrounding towns and villages flocking to pay their last respects. Miss Sams, the sister of the deceased, presided at the organ and in his address, the Reverend W. Brooke Richards, rector of Tyringham-cum-Filgrave, paid an eloquent tribute, during which, remembering also the other men from the parish who had fallen, he said of Lieutenant Sams that as “A soldier-priest, he has given his life in the most glorious of all causes, for God, for King, and for country: he has died as he had lived, a fine type not only of a British officer but of a Christian man …”)

B.S. 1915 Aug. 14th

In an edition of the ‘Sporting Life,’ the association of Lieutenant Frederick Hulton Sams with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry would be alluded to as follows;

“He was the leading sporting spirit in that battalion and whether it was football, running, swimming, or boxing, he was always ready to help in providing sport for the men in their few hours of leisure. He showed that he had not lost his skill at boxing by winning the battalion championship, and captained the cross-country team which gained third place in the Divisional Championship, showing them the way to pack and forfeiting his chance of gaining the officers’ medal - for which he was only just beaten by Lieut. R.S. Clarke - in order to keep them together.”

B.S. 1915 Oct. 9th

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mynard, of Emberton, have learned that their son, Private Reginald Mynard, of the 7th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, (Mobbs’ Corps) was slightly wounded whilst on active service in France. He had volunteered shortly after the outbreak of war, and as an officer’s servant attended Captain Dennis Farrar, of Cold Brayfield House, near Olney. In fact two weeks ago Captain Farrar had also been slightly wounded, suffering a shoulder injury whilst leading his company in an advance on the Western Front.

B.S. 1915 Oct. 9th

Lance Corporal Fred Stanton, of the 6th Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. Stanton, of Emberton, and writes on the eve of the British advance on the Western Front;

“I went out last night to do a little more work and all of a sudden such a shout came up from the German lines. I think they were in high spirits, for they didn’t half cheer. Our lads joined in, but all that I could make out of the Germans was ‘Hooray!’ and all at once our gunners gave them a few of our iron greetings to go on with. These very soon made them quiet. We had a very exciting incident here last evening. From 12 to 15 aeroplanes came over us and went dashing across the German lines. The enemy turned a volume of shells on them with the object apparently of driving them back, but the aviators did not turn a yard out of their course. We watched them get right through. Now we are waiting good news. I see by the Bucks Standard that Emberton did jolly well in beating Olney in a shooting contest. The ‘Specials’ must be getting quite hot. We are having lovely weather now; just right for our sort of life in the dug-outs. In my little dug-out I get quite a lot of company, especially at night. I mean the mice. I think they hold their sports carnival at night, for they tear about and run all over us.”

In a letter to his father, written on September 30th, Lance Corporal Stanton tells how the British and French drove the Germans from their positions two weeks ago;

“I suppose you have read about the fight we have been in, and how the French are giving the enemy something to be going on with. I am sorry I did not get hold of one of the German helmets but there were plenty about. It was the Prussian Guard we ran up against. We are sleeping in a loft, and I can tell you we are as happy as larks.”

Speaking of the regiment’s return from the trenches for a rest, he says;

“We were marching for an hour and a half up to our knees in water. We got fairly drenched, but we did not murmur, as we were looking forward to a welcome sleep - a pleasure we had not had for a whole week.”

Prior to leaving for the front, Lance Corporal Stanton (who received his promotion on the field) was chosen as a member of the regimental bayonet team, which achieved second place in the Brigade final. He is regarded as the smartest man with the bayonet in the 6th Oxon and Bucks, whilst as an athlete and footballer he has few equals, if any, in the Olney and Newport Pagnell districts.

(Later in the war, whilst in England studying for a commission he would, as Sergeant Stanton, be decorated not only with the Distinguished Conduct Medal, but also by the French military authorities with the Croix de Guerre. The former would be presented at a large parade of troops at Reading in late April 1917, and when the details of his heroic actions were read out a staff officer, pointing to the newly pinned on medal, offered his hearty congratulations, and said “You won that by fighting.” As for the Croix de Guerre, this was announced in the London Gazette on Tuesday, May 1st 1917, awarded for conspicuous bravery in the field. In October 1917 Sergeant Stanton would complete a course of instruction at a cadet school, to be, having passed his examinations with high honours, gazetted to a second lieutenancy in the Royal Flying Corps.)

B.S. 1916 Jan. 22nd

Mentioning the Reverend F. Hulton Sams, the following article on “Fighting Parsons” appeared in the “Sunday Herald” on January 16th. The article is from the pen of Mr. Eugene Corri, the celebrated boxing expert. Mr. Corri;

“I am a fighting man, always, and to the finger tips, and though my fighting, the fighting I love, and war are not synonymous terms, that is probably why I have been invited to offer an opinion on this question which has recently occupied much attention, whether parsons should get into khaki; in other words should the cleric, be he young, fit and free, shoulder arms?
I really believed that long ago we discarded all “principles” which made it impossible to do an obvious duty, and I am at a loss to understand why the healthy, keen, vigorous, athletic clergyman should be exempt from playing an active and man’s part in this war. Any man, be he cleric or layman, who stands aside and takes shelter under his profession and conscientious scruples does not appeal to me. I would have none of him.

The fact that the clergyman is bound to secure the permission of his bishop before taking himself to the front does not weigh one jot with me. Participation in this war is a question for a man himself. He should not be tied to any apron-strings. He should be his own agent. He should do his own thinking and his own acting.
There are, of course, many parsons at the front, many of them my friends, and I know that everyone is playing the part of a hero, and the boys just love them. Listen – this is what a youth, whose home is in the unlovely East End, told me the other day. He is back wounded from Loos – only a “scrapper” in times of peace, but what a man!
“Gawd, Mister Corri,” he said, “next time you does an article give the parson a word; a little ’un, he is, but what a good ’un! He ain’t over there to slip one across nobody, but he went to hell for us at Loos, and there warn’t one of us that day – it was, I fink, the first of October – who didn’t believe that he was an angel.
“Aht he would go, rushing here and rushing there, nah taking water, nah helping, coming up to them what had been ahted and bringing them in. He was arsking for it, I give you my dicky bird, guv’nor, but he dodged ’em all. The angels was wi’ ’im, guv’nor. I can see him nah. Tired, stoney-eyed, his chivy chase as white as chalk, but he was made of little steel girders and he never thought abht a knock-out, not him. A champion he was.

“There was ’is parson’s collar; he looked as if he were straight from the pulpit. But he didn’t come it wiv ‘Let us pray’; he just ’opped it acrost open ground just to see what he could do for us blokes what had stopped a fourpenny one. Only us knew what he did. He ain’t the feller what would tell, but look here, guv’nor, tell the tale abaht the little parson what was wi’ the 47th Division at Loos.
“Gawd bless ’un! That bloke is the only bloke what’s made me cry. And, you know, Mr. Corri, I have been hammered pretty well in me time, and ought ter have cried afore.”
I would like to give the name of the man angel at Loos, but if I did I know I should make bad friends with a gentleman who would wither under publicity. I mention him because I feel he is only what every parson would or could be if he were at the front.
Only men count in these days, and if the clergy who remain at home could but realise what a tremendous power they will be able to exercise upon the youth of the country when the war is over by reason of their having taken a pace on the battlefield, my view is that there would be no hesitation about getting into khaki.

I take my stand in declaring that clergymen should be like any other man by the side of the Rev. Hulton Sams, whose first fights when he was a boy at St. Paul’s I refereed, and whose later battles at the University I also officiated at. He has gone now. He died in Northern France, like the great fearless fellow he was when he used to put the gloves on, and fight until he dropped. It happened that he was never beaten in the ring, at least not to my knowledge, but if he had been beaten he would have gone down as he went down before the German guns.
This war has begotten many nerve-tingling stories. But if I say that Hulton Sams’ stands out high among the many heroes I do not exaggerate. At Paul’s School he was the champion boxer at his weight; at the ’Varsity no one could stop him; he gloried in a good honest fight, revelling in taking punishment, glorying in giving punishment.
And there is nothing in the realm of sport that tells what an Englishman really is as the little symposium that follows an inter-’Varsity boxing contest. Black eyes are mere details; puffed lips are fashionable, for with the ’Varsity boxer it is ding-dong from the moment of getting into the ring. And so you will see a youngster with a gorgeous-coloured half shut eye making merry with the fellow who presented it to him.
Hulton Sams used to hammer his men with gusto, but he was their best friend. When he left the ’Varsity, and after his ordination, he was in the Midlands some time, and then went to Australia, where he attached himself to a mission whose work was among the “toffs.” Hulton Sams fought his way to the hearts of his flock through the medium of the boxing gloves. He was “one of them”; he was loved, he was worshipped; he was known as the “fighting parson!” throughout the Commonwealth.
Then came the war. Straight away without analysing his conscience, refusing to ponder whether it was right for a Gentleman of the Cloth to go to war, and only feeling that Germany must be throttled, he returned at once to this country. After being refused an Army chaplaincy he enlisted as a private in the Bedfordshires. Quickly he became a corporal; further promotion soon came, and in France, in the biggest fight in all his strenuous career, giving untold weight away, as we boxing people say, he was killed. And it has been set on record that “his loss is an irreparable one.”
The career, the death of Hulton Sams answers the question “whether parsons should go to war” in the affirmative and with an emphasis that cannot be misunderstood.

B.S. 1916 Apr. 8th

Bombardier Harry Lett, whose home is at “Prospect,” Emberton, has been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The official announcement was given in the supplement to the London Gazette on Thursday, March 30, and reads as follows;

Bombardier Lett volunteered for active service shortly after the war broke out, and has seen much hard fighting in France and Flanders. His brother, W. Lett, is also at the front.

B.S. 1916 June 10th Driver Melbourne Edmunds, of the Army Service Corps, died of fever in one of the French field hospitals on Friday last, June 2nd. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edmunds, of Emberton, and on Wednesday the following letter was received from the sister at the isolation hospital; “I am very sorry to tell you that your son died of fever yesterday. He had a very bad night and suffered a lot of pain, but towards morning he became semi-conscious and died at 10 a.m. without saying anything or leaving any message. He will be buried in the little cemetery near here (Camiers). He will have a proper military funeral and each grave is marked by a wooden cross with a brass plate on which is engraved the name, number and regiment of each soldier . . . I am sorry we could not restore him to health again, but everything that was possible was done for him. It is one consolation for you to know of him having a comfortable bed and dying in hospital instead of on the battle field. I am sorry to have to convey to you this sad news of your boy. Accept of my sympathy at this time in your sad bereavement.” (Having volunteered for active service at the outbreak of war, Driver Edmunds had been in France a year and ten months. Three of his brothers are on active service; Will Edmunds was the first Emberton man to join the late Lord Kitchener’s army, and after a period in the 5th Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the same regiment. John Edmunds is in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and the youngest brother, Albert, is on the high seas, and celebrated his 16th and 17th birthdays on the water.)

By kind permission of Roll of Honour

B.S. 1915 Oct. 16th

News is received that 23 year old Petty Officer Edward Parsons, attached to the Armoured Car Section of the Royal Naval Air Service, died on Sunday, October 10th aboard a hospital ship, having contracted dysentery in the trenches at the Dardanelles. The eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, of Emberton, he was amongst the earliest from his village to volunteer, and although he was initially declined on medical grounds, a later attempt proved successful. Posted to the Royal Naval Air Service (in which his brother also serves) he sailed from Devonport for the Dardanelles on June 28th, and being subsequently involved in much of the fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula, it would be whilst in the trenches that he contracted dysentery. It was whilst being removed to hospital that he died. Educated at the village school, on winning a County Scholarship he continued his studies at Bedford Modern School, after which for a while he became a student teacher at Olney School. Next he went to St. Mark’s College, Chelsea, for two years, and, following a short period on the teaching staff of the Iver Heath school, was appointed as a teacher at Olney Council School. This position he held at the outbreak of war. A competent musician, he often performed at local concerts.

B.S. 1915 Oct. 16th

The following letter has been received from Lance Corporal Fred Stanton, of the 6th Oxon & Bucks Light Infantry;

“We are now away back behind the firing line in our rest billets for a day or two to pull ourselves together prior to another turn in the trenches, so I find it a good opportunity to let you know a few of our experiences during the last fortnight. No doubt the papers at home have been full of the glorious exploits of our “little army” out here. Yes, it was glorious and fine to know that we can not only hold Mr. Fritz back but beat him, yes, beat him as we did that Saturday morning. Perhaps you have no idea what a battle is like, so I will try and explain as well as I can what we “Tommies” went through. Friday night we were told that next morning a big attack was to take place, and we were to get as much rest as possible. Well, you can guess sleep was out of the question for everyone was too full of what the morning would bring forth. Five o’clock in the morning; a hurried breakfast; then “stand to.” Five forty-five all was peaceful and quiet, there might not have been a war on, everything was so calm. Then suddenly all was turned into a perfect hell. Ay! hell is not the word for it. A mine was exploded which shook the earth for miles around. Then the guns. Oh, those “coal boxes” and “Jack Johnsons;” shall I ever forget it? I think not. Personally I thank my lucky stars I am alive to write this. It seemed well nigh impossible to live in that tornado, but all the boys stuck to their guns manfully and proved to Fritz that his impression of “Kitchener’s contemptible little army” was quite wrong. The people of England might well be proud of the sons they have sent out to uphold our nation’s traditions; for no one who has not been through it can know what “Tommy” has to go through. Nerves are all done with; one goes mad with the excitement of it all. Pals drop at your side, but still we go on, for duty does not allow us to notice such things. When all is over and calmed down we realise how near to eternity we have been, and rightly and fervently thank God for our preservation. The second shell we had over us killed our platoon officer. That was a bad start, for how we all loved him. Yes, I say, loved him. No man could have been held in higher esteem by his men than Mr. Whitlock. That alone put the “wind” up us for a minute or two, but we still had our duty to do, and believe me, Fritz paid very dearly for the loss of our gallant officer. Shells came over; I say came, it would be more appropriate to say they rained over us. There was no slackening in the fire, and for hours we could not see five yards in front of us for the smoke and powder from these fiends. Try and realise what it was like. From peaceful moments we were plunged in torrents of blood. The sights of the wounded were in some cases ghastly. But how those brave chaps bore their suffering. No writer could let his pencil speak of the simple, heroic way they bore their burden. The first thing a wounded chap asks for is a fag; if he gets one he is comfortable. And now while all this is going on what is “Tommy” doing? Why, pumping lead into old Fritz as hard as he can pump, and the cheerfulness he displays through this living hell is amazing. Jokes are given and taken freely. Thoughts of home fly through one’s minds. Then one chap is heard to yell out, “I wonder how those slackers at home would feel in this lot?” Yes, “Tommy” does not appreciate the slacker - who does? If they who are staying at home only knew what is thought about them when their help is needed most, I am afraid they would hide themselves never to be seen again. Well, I am straying far from my subject. The order comes along “Steady up, boys!” and the firing gradually grows less. The point of attack has been taken. What news! We are winning. This the result of our little efforts and the other regiments on right and left. “They have got over, lads!” comes along, and then we all know that for all our trouble, success and a glorious victory has been gained. In time everything cools down, and one goes on with the daily duty of trench warfare. We came out of the trenches the following Tuesday. What a night. The communication trench we had to come through was up to our knees in water practically the whole way. The expressions of some of the boys at being forced to take a mudbath would not, I fear, be good reading matter. Eventually we arrived at our billet, wet through and forced to sleep in our wet clothes, but morning brought forth just the same old smiling lot of boys. We had been through a rough week end, but everyone knew in his heart that the little part he had played and is playing is nearing the end of this gigantic struggle.”

B.S. 1915 Nov. 20th

Private Cyril Lett, of Emberton, is on active service with the 6th Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and sends the following lines, which, as a parody on the song, “sing me to sleep,” he and his comrades have composed in their dug-out during moments of leisure;

(Before the war he was employed by Mr. Lewis Thompson, a well known grocer and provision merchant of Olney, and after serving in France for just over a year, in August 1916 he would be officially reported as being in a French field hospital, suffering from a cheek wound received in action.)

B.S. 1915 Dec. 25th

Addressed to the editor, this letter has been sent by Lance Corporal Fred Stanton, of Emberton. He is on active service with the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry;

“British Expeditionary Force, Dec. 17, ‘15.

Dear Sir. As one of the many Emberton soldiers at the front I can only express my deep appreciation of the kindness and thoughtfulness of the people of Emberton for the splendid efforts they are making for our comfort and welfare. The parcel which I received contained just those things that are welcomed by “Tommy.” It was a collection of delicacies to please even the most fastidious. I am sure that if all the Emberton boys serving their country received a parcel similar to the one I had, then their delight would be unbounded, for I can assure you that luxuries of such a kind are always done full justice to at the Front. Once again I thank you all very much indeed for the gift. You may be interested to know that our Battalion is stationed in a fine old French village which bears plenty of evidence of the havoc caused by war. Here you can see houses and streets battered terribly by shot and shell. In many cases the villagers have taken a hasty retreat, leaving a lot of their goods and chattels behind them. Undoubtedly the most wonderful but sad sight of all is the damage done to the ancient church, which is a fine old structure. Large holes have been made by shells passing through it and out into the graveyard. It seems that even the dead must have their slumbers disturbed, for shells have wrought considerable havoc. It is also a curious sight to see barbed wire entanglements in front of the houses, whilst evidence of German occupation of the village is shown by the various loop-holed houses. Still Fritz did not stay here long - only a few days - for the English and French were pressing him sorely, and he was forced, according to the story of the natives, to retire in a somewhat disorderly manner. We have been experiencing wretched weather of late and the trenches are up to the waist in water, together with a clinging and affectionate kind of mud, which is much more loving than a brother. If anybody disbelieves this story about the quality of French mud they should just try it for themselves and I‘ll guarantee they will jolly soon agree, for it takes a deuced long time to get anything like clean. I think this is all the news this time.

Yours truly,

LCE.-CORPL. F. STANTON.”

(As Sergeant Stanton, he would be decorated on his 21st birthday with the Distinguished Conduct Medal, awarded for having under heavy fire rallied his section and not only stormed and captured an enemy trench, but taking, with his comrades, nearly 200 Germans as prisoners. He was highly complimented by the Brigade Commander and the commanding officer of the Battalion. Aged 18½, he joined the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry at the outbreak of war, and is well known in North Bucks football circles, having played many games at outside right for Newport Pagnell Autos.)

B.S. 1916 Apr. 1st

Bombardier W. Cave, of the Royal Field Artillery, has been killed in action. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Cave, of Emberton, to whom Captain E. S. Pyne, of A Battery, 78th Brigade, writes that their son was killed instantaneously by a shell on the afternoon of March 2nd. The officer refers to the deceased as being a good soldier, and that his loss will be greatly felt by the Battery. One being killed last March, he was one of four brothers who volunteered to serve King and country in the early days of the war.

B.S. 1916 Oct. 21st

Private Arthur Nicholls, of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, is officially reported to have been killed in action in the recent severe fighting in France. He was the son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Edward West, of Emberton, and had been working in a shoe factory at Wellingborough when the war broke out. Having been at the front for several months, he was about 36 years of age, and leaves a widow and four children. A son of Mr. and Mrs. West has been in hospital for the past 14 months as a result of wounds received in action at the Dardanelles, on August 24th, 1915.

B.S. 1916 Oct. 21st

Private Harry West, of the Northampton Regiment, who had been posted as missing since the battle of Aubers Ridge, on May 9th, is now presumed by the Army Council to have been killed in action. Aged 26 he was the second of Emberton’s sons to volunteer for active service when the war broke out, having previously been employed by Mr. A. Lyon, a farmer in the village. Messages of sympathy have been received by the bereaved parents, Mr. and Mrs. William West, of Petsoe End, Emberton, who on the same day were informed by ‘Records’ of the death of another of their sons, killed in action on July 1st. He was Private Frank West who enlisted on May 3rd, 1915 and had been at the Front for about 9 months. Aged 29, before joining up he had worked for Mr. Tom Wait, a farmer of Hardmead.

B.S. 1916 Oct. 28th

The Duke of Bedford has sent the following letter to Mr. W. West, of Petsoe End, Emberton, whose son was recently killed in action, when serving with the regiment which His Grace was responsible for raising:-

“Dear Mr. West, - Your son served under me so long and was so well known to me that I hope I may be allowed to express to you my sincere sympathy in the sad loss you have sustained. Your son died a gallant death, giving his life in the cause of his country.

Yours truly, BEDFORD.”

B.S. 1917 May 5th

News is received that Lance Corporal Ernest Mynard, whose wife lives at North Entrance, Emberton, is in hospital at Chatham. On April 23rd, when he was taking part in an attack on a village held by the Germans a building collapsed, and the wounds and concussion caused by the falling debris striking him on the head lead to him being removed to hospital. Before volunteering for active service he was employed at the boot factory in Olney.

B.S. 1917 May 26th

Mrs. C. Howson, who lives at the Olney approach to Emberton, has received a letter from a chaplain saying that her 27 year old son, Private Wallace Howson, of the 4th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was killed in action in France on Thursday, May 10th. He was working in the trenches when a shell burst nearby, killing him instantly. The chaplain states that Private Howson was buried with all the military honours that the circumstances would allow, with non commissioned officers and men attending to pay their last respects. Born in Emberton, before the war Private Howson, whose brother is serving with the Veterinary Corps, had worked for Mr. E. Norman, a farmer of Wolverton,

B.S. 1917 Sep. 8th

The death has been announced of Lance Corporal Cyril Lett, of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. Aged 23, he was killed in action on the Western Front on August 22nd, and is the twelfth soldier from Emberton to have fallen. His parents have received a letter from Lieutenant L. Hearn, in which the courage of their son is noted, as also the sorrow of his comrades at their loss. He volunteered for service at the outbreak of war, and although initially rejected, he managed to enlist in April 1915, being sent to France in July of that year. After being wounded he was then kept at the base until he recovered. Born at Emberton, he formerly worked for Mr. Lewis Thompson, a grocer of Olney, and being a keen sportsman and footballer, for several seasons had played at outside right for Newport Pagnell Rovers.

B.S. 1917 Oct. 20th The tragic news that two of their sons have been killed on active service on the Western Front has been received by Mr. and Mrs. William Edmunds, of Emberton, the grief being compounded by the loss of another son, Melbourne, some while ago. Last weekend they received official information that their eldest son, Private John Edmunds, of the 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, died in the 41st Casualty Clearing Station on October 5th, from gunshot wounds in the chest, shoulder, and neck. He was thirty years of age, and although initially rejected by the Army, on offering his services six months later was posted to the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. After three months training in England he was sent to France, and participating in much heavy fighting would be wounded on the Somme in August 1916. On recovering from his shrapnel injuries he spent a short leave at home in Emberton, before returning to the Western Front last Christmas. Before the war, having left school at the age of eleven he had worked on the Rectory Farm. Being the first to volunteer from Emberton, his brother, Lance Corporal William Edmunds, has been posted as missing in action in France since August 30th, 1916. No further news has been received, and it is therefore presumed that he was killed on that date. He had been wounded at the first battle of Loos, and on recovering, after returning to the Front paid a short visit to his home. He was then transferred from the 2nd Oxon and Bucks to the 5th Battalion, and had written a field card to his mother three days before he was posted missing. The second son of Mr. and Mrs. Edmunds, he was 27 years of age, and before the war had been a gardener in the employ of Dr. F. J. Grindon, at Olney. The youngest son of the family, Albert, is presently serving with the Royal Navy in the North Sea. (Lance Corporal William Edmunds was killed in action on July 30th, 1916, and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.)

By kind permission of Roll of Honour

B.S. 1917 Oct. 20th

Private Alfred Tompkins, of the 11th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action in Flanders on Friday, September 21st. He was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. George Tompkins, of The Cottage, Spring Lane, Olney, and, expressing his sympathy, Second Lieutenant Ablett writes to Mrs. Ethel Tompkins, at Petsoe End;

“Your husband was one of my platoon stretcher bearers. He was engaged in work that calls for untiring courage and self-sacrifice, and right manly he did his duty. Everyone who came in contact with him held him in the highest esteem. … You may rest assured he died a hero’s death, and he was buried with all the respect we could command.”

Born at Bozeat, Private Tompkins was aged 31, and having enlisted in November 1916 had been in France for about nine months. He formerly worked for Mr. A. Lyon, an Emberton farmer, as stockman, whilst his father, a native of Olney, is gardener to Mr. Hipwell. Besides a widow, he leaves seven young children, the eldest being nine, and the youngest 18 months. Fifteen men from Emberton have now been killed in the war.

B.S. 1917 Dec. 1st

At a large parade of troops, at Kingsthorpe Hollow, Northampton, on Tuesday afternoon, Second Lieutenant Stanton, Royal Flying Corps, and until recently a sergeant in the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, was decorated with the Croix de Guerre. Some 1,300 troops from the King’s Royal Rifle and the Training Reserve were paraded in square formation, with the decoration being pinned to Second Lieutenant Stanton’s breast by the General Officer Commanding Northampton troops. The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Stanton, of Emberton, he was promoted on the field, and has already won the D.C.M., for rescuing a wounded officer under heavy enemy fire. Having passed out from a Cadet School with high honours, a few weeks ago he was gazetted to a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.

B.S. 1917 Dec. 29th

An officer writes to the editor;

“Dear Sir. In view of your paragraphs concerning local men on the various fronts, the following may be interesting to you:-

A few days ago when we were up the line, we had such a large number of dead round us that we had to bury them. One man whom we buried had his pay book and letters on him, and I found that he was a Leonard Sharpe, who apparently lived at Emberton and had gone to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Force. His mother still lives at Emberton, but as the pay book was on him I fancy he may be posted as missing. I have forwarded it through the usual channels, but I thought the fact of one Newport man finding another might be interesting to your readers.

Yours truly,

L.W. TAYLOR, Capt.

Durham Light Infantry,

Dec. 17, 1917. B.E.F. France.”

B.S. 1918 May 18th

News reached the village last week that Private Victor Howson, of the 323rd Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, died of wounds in the 4th Canadian Casualty Clearing Station in France on Thursday, April 18th, 1918. Aged 21, he was the youngest son of John and Sarah Howson, of Emberton, and before joining the Army had been employed at Messrs. A. Gudgin and Cos. flour mills at Olney. A brother, Thomas Howson, served in the Re-mount Department from the outbreak of the war, but after nine months in Camberwell Hospital had to have his right foot amputated. He has since received his discharge.

B.S. 1918 Aug. 3rd

After much active service in France, Lieutenant F. Stanton, D.C.M., C.D.G., the only son of Mr. and Mrs. C. Stanton, of Emberton, has now become an officer in the R.A.F., and as reads the official record of one of his exploit’s, a few days ago;

“Lieut. F.C. Stanton, pilot, dived on a Pfalz, but five others got on his tail. These were engaged by his observer (2nd Lieutenant C.J. Tolman), who fired 400 rounds in all. One of the enemy aircraft fell tail first, and then sideways out of control. Lieut. Stanton fired a good burst at a Pfalz Scout, which fell in a series of stalls and spins and side falls, and crashed to earth south of -------. On returning to the lines Lieut. Stanton dived on a D.F.W. two-seater, and after a good burst, enemy aircraft emitted a volume of smoke, nose dived, and was seen to crash S.E. of -------. ”

In a recent letter, Lieutenant Stanton writes to his parents;

“I went over the lines on Saturday with another officer looking for trouble as usual. We had penetrated over the enemy’s territory some distance when we met five to seven Hun planes. We had a good scrap, but weren’t quite sure of the damage we did. I set about one hard and fast, and when I had put a good burst of shot into him, he did a sharp turn and dived as hard as ever he could into the clouds. After I had settled him I went for another who was busy pumping bullets all around me, and after a short scrap he evidently thought it best to clear out of it. So you see they get rare hidings over their own ground.”

B.S. 1918 Aug. 10th

Private Albert Howson, a stretcher bearer with the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, has been posted as missing on the Italian Front since June 15th. Writing to Mrs. Howson, of North Lodges, Emberton, a pal of her husband, Jack Harris, writes;

“He was alright early in the morning of the 15th of June, but afterwards I couldn’t say. It is quite possible for him to be a prisoner, because the Austrians got into our lines and some of our chaps were captured.”

The son of Mr. Harry Howson, of Prospect Place, Emberton, Private Howson had joined up in September 1916, and went to France in April 1917. After a while on active service on the Western Front, he was transferred to Italy in November 1917.

(In August Mrs. Howson would receive news that her husband was a prisoner of war in Austria, and quite well.)