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

B.S. 1914 Nov. 14th

Private Connor, of the Scots Guards, is convalescing at Lathbury, in a comfortably furnished house which has been kindly granted by Mr. W. Trevor, J.P. Private Connor was badly wounded in the right side by a richocet bullet from a German rifle, but is now progressing well. He went to the Front with the B.E.F. at the beginning of the war, and says of the hard fighting that he has witnessed;

“Our first experience of actual warfare was at Mons. We had been there a day, and at about two o’clock in the morning we heard that the Germans were coming on. We had scarcely left our rearguard when we heard shots. We continued to advance, and meeting with but little resistance we marched on this day about 30 miles. At Chanleroi we were exposed to the enemy’s fire, but he did little damage, and we were able to advance and take cover in the trenches. For two days we successfully held our position. The rifle fire of the Germans was very bad, and the work of their Artillery was far from good.”

Of the retreat on Paris, he says;

“It was a matter of keeping the Germans back while we got everything ready for our retreat. The whole Army Corps was well in front at the time, and we started to retire under a withering rifle and shrapnel fire. We managed to get away lucky, our casualties amounting to only 20 killed and wounded. We got back to Maubeuge, and from there on to Berlaimont and down to Le Cateau. At this point we held the Germans well, though they made a determined effort to crush us. We experienced a terrible fire at Le Cateau, and there were 40 casualties in the Scots Guards alone. The advance guard was far enough on to allow us to retire, and we moved on to Bohain and St. Quentin fighting the whole way we went. Our next experience was on the Marne, from whence we drove the enemy back, and kept them on the run until we got to the Aisne. The battle of the Aisne started on a Sunday night. We happened to cross the river just before the bridge was blown up by the heavy guns of the retreating Germans. The Engineers erected another bridge and enabled the remainder of our troops to cross. The whole of the Sunday night we stood to our arms in an open field, and after a hurried breakfast of bread and bully beef we again took up our position in the firing line. It was whilst in the trenches that I was hit by a richocet shot from a rifle. My section commander was knocked out, and I passed the word along to a piper sergeant to take charge of the section. I bandaged the wounded head of my section commander, and no sooner than I put my head up the bullets came whizzing over us like hailstones. I did not pay much attention to my own wound for a time, but after a quarter of an hour the pain became worse and I was scarcely able to move. We were compelled to remain in the trenches till six o’clock that night, when I led my section commander down to the field hospital where we stopped the night. Next morning I was preparing breakfast when a shell dropped in the yard of the hospital and killed two horses. Orders were issued that every man capable of walking should get away as quickly as possible. The orderlies put the stretcher cases on to the ambulance wagon, and as they were loading the last man a shell struck the wagon and killed the orderly. This happened near Soissons, and though the Germans were well aware that it was a hospital they shelled it unmercifully, and we were compelled to clear out.”

(On arriving in England, Private Connor was sent to Cambridge Hospital, and from there on to Lathbury, where, in the company of three comrades from the Army, he says “we are having a jolly time.” He still has the bullet which caused the wound, and carries it as a memento.)

B.S. 1914 Nov. 21st Sat.

Private Arthur Dorrill, who has been wounded in action in the right arm, writes from hospital in Dublin to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. Dorrill, of Lathbury, stating that “I am going on very well.” At the outbreak of war he rejoined the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry and, subsequently taking part in the earliest battles, went to the front with the 3rd Oxfords. However, on the battlefield he transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the county regiment, but a few weeks ago wrote home to say that his brother, Acting Corporal Walter Dorrill, who was serving in same battalion, had been killed in action. However, no official confirmation has yet been made.

B.S. 1914 Dec. 5th

Serving aboard H.M.S. Hannibal, Percy Brice, of Lathbury, has died from carbonic acid gas poisoning. In a letter to his relatives, Captain Grant Allen writes;

“I deeply regret to inform you that your son, Percy John Brice, has lost his life in the service of his country. He was universally liked and held in respect by all. And on behalf of the officers and men of the “Hannibal” I beg to assure you of their great sympathy. His funeral has taken place with full military honours. May I also beg you to accept my sincere regrets that the Navy has lost so promising a lad: and perhaps the knowledge that he gave his life for the Empire just as much as those who are killed in action may, I trust, help you to bear his loss. I am, dear madam, yours with deepest sympathy, J.N. Grant Allen, Captain Royal Navy.”

In a letter to the lad’s mother, the Reverend F.J. Irvine, Chaplain of the ship, writes;

“I am happy to be able to tell you that your son bore a good record and name in the ship, and I am quite sure he was an example to many of his mess-mates.”

B.S. 1914 Dec. 19th

The widow of Lance Corporal Walter Dorrill, of the 2nd Battalion, Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, has received the following letter from the Chief Constable of St. Helen’s Borough Police Force;

“On behalf of the Force and myself I beg to express our deep sympathy with you in your sad loss. Your husband joined this Force on 4th September, 1912, and throughout the whole of his service I always found him a most efficient, obliging, and reliable officer, who, had he lived, would undoubtedly have won promotion in the police service.”

(Lance Corporal Dorrill, a native of Lathbury, was killed in action on October 21st.)

B.S. 1914 Dec. 26th

Mrs. R. Ellis, of Lathbury, received a letter on Wednesday morning from her sister, Mrs. Pearson, in which she states that her son, Second Mate William Pearson, of the s.s. Phoebe, was fatally wounded during the recent German raid on the Hartlepools. The letter states that Second Mate Pearson was in the dock at Hartlepool when the bombardment began, and was talking to the chief engineer on deck, but under cover. He was struck when a shell went through the ship and also the cover where they were both standing. He was immediately taken to hospital, but despite every attention died at 3.30 on Wednesday afternoon.

B.S. 1915 Jan. 16th

In a letter to the widow of Corporal Walter Dorrill, whose parents live in Lathbury, a comrade in the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry describes the action in which he was killed;

“I am sorry I could not pluck up courage enough to have told you personally more about dear old Wally, but I will try and explain to the best of my ability the last moments of his life. On October 21st, about 7.30a.m., when we were having our parcels and letters distributed an order came to attack the enemy who was about three miles away. So at 8 o’clock we were attacking the Germans. About 2.45p.m., while near a hedge a bullet struck dear Wally in the arm. I was bandaging his arm and the last words he said were, ‘I hope you get wounded as well, then we can both go home and have a holiday together.’ He had hardly said these words when a bullet passed through his head and instantly killed him. I stayed with him for about five minutes to make sure he was dead. He appeared to me to be so, so I left him to rejoin my section, and before I had reached them I was shot in the left breast. I did not see him after that for I made my way to the hospital. That shot which Tom saw must have been while he lay there a corpse. It so upset me that I was nearly mad, and I honestly think I am still affected by the shock, for he was the best friend and comrade I ever had; and he said his prayers with me and others before we started to attack the Germans. Cheer up and trust in God.”

B.S. 1915 Feb. 27th

After thirteen weeks in Dublin Hospital, suffering from a bullet wound in the right shoulder, Private Dorrill, of the 2nd Battalion, Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, is visiting his parents at Lathbury. He and a brother, who has since been killed in action, were on the Reserve of the Oxon and Bucks Regiment when the war broke out, and rejoined for active service on August 8th. Of his experience on the battlefield, Private Dorrill says;

“On landing in France we proceeded from Saxmude to St. Lemare, then on to Braine, and eventually we reached the Aisne and took up occupation of the trenches. On our way up we had to cross a canal. We advanced in sections and I was in the last section. As we were crossing the bridge we received a greeting from a ‘Jack Johnson,’ the concussion from which was so great that several fellows were thrown into the water, but no one was hurt. As we advanced along the road to the Aisne we experienced very heavy fire from the enemy, but we had no losses, and reached the trenches in safety. I had two periods of three and fourteen days in the Aisne trenches, and then we went to Ypres, where the fighting on both sides was of a very determined character. It was at Ypres that I had the misfortune to lose my brother. He was only about ten yards from me when he was killed, but I was not aware of his death at the time. The next morning the officer of his company sent for me out of the trenches, and acquainted me of my brother’s death, handing me his watch, letters, and other personal effects. I went back and had a last look at my brother as he lay dead. He was advancing in open country when he received the fatal wound. We were relieved by French soldiers and were told we were going back to rest. We marched back about 8 miles and getting into a field in the early morning we had the welcome news that breakfast would be served at 8 o’clock. But we had neither rest nor breakfast, for we were suddenly ordered to march three miles and drive the enemy from a position he had taken up in a wood. By rifle fire and a charge with fixed bayonets we dislodged the Germans and drove them back. For a fortnight we had hard fighting round Ypres. One day we were seeking shelter in a wood when a shell burst near to us and my pal Tom Bennett (another Lathbury soldier) was wounded by a piece of shell. I put my rifle up as a protection for myself, when one bullet embedded itself in the magazine, and another in the framework just above. It gave me a shock, for it was a narrow escape I had had. From there we went to another part of the firing line, where the Germans gave us a lot of trouble, but we drove them back through a wood at the point of the bayonet. At night time we returned to the trenches and the enemy was not more than 100 yards in front of us. It was a warm shop, and we dare not put our heads half-an-inch above the trench; it was too risky. The earth was thrown up in clouds around us by ricochet shots. About 11 o’clock next morning we were retiring and I was hit in the right shoulder by a rifle bullet, and on my way back to the ambulance wagons two Scotchmen bound up the wound for me. We had had no food for two or three days. On arriving in hospital my wound was properly dressed, but as the Germans ranged their big guns on the hospital, the patients had to make a hurried escape.”

(Private Dorrill speaks highly of the treatment that he received in the Dublin Hospital, where his arm was operated on, and four ounces of splintered bone removed. Motor car rides, concerts, and endless gifts of fruit and luxuries were common for the wounded soldiers, and his only regret is, when wounded, having lost the treasured possessions of his brother, which he had intended to bring home. By November, six of the seven sons of Mr. and Mrs. Dorrill would have joined the Army, with William and George joining the Army Veterinary Corps in the last week of that month. In June 1920 Albert Dorrill, who had served as a corporal in the Lewis gun section of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, on the Salonica front, received the Greek Military Cross, for conspicuous gallantry in the field. He had previously been awarded the Military Medal and the 1914-15 Star.)

B.S. 1915 Feb. 27th

In a comfortably furnished house at Lathbury Park, kindly placed at the disposal of the military authorities by Mr. and Mrs. W. Trevor, three members of the 1st Bedfordshire Regiment are now convalescing. A native of Birmingham, Private J. Bicknell was injured when a trench collapsed, and Private George Adams, of Enfield, and Private A. Smith, were invalided back to England when, through prolonged standing in flooded trenches, they contracted rheumatism. Private Bicknell joined the regiment on September 2nd, and his first battle was at Bethune. In the Ypres district he endured a rough time, and being in the trenches for 21 days had several narrow escapes. It was at this time that the Germans made a determined effort to break through the British lines and capture Calais, “But”, in the words of Private Bicknell, “they did not succeed.” “It was at Ypres that I saw the first fall of snow. But we were happy enough in the trenches and had plenty of food. The commissariat arrangements are really marvellous, and it is surprising how the food is got up with such regularity to the trenches. From Ypres we were sent back for a rest, and gladly took advantage of the opportunity for a bath; and we needed it. It was a pleasure, too, to get a change of underclothing. We were inspected by General French, who spoke highly of the work of the Bedfords, both officers and men. Returning again to the fighting line, we were for ten days in the trenches at Armentiers, where there was a lot of ‘sniping.’ The trenches were flooded with the heavy rains, and the conditions were far from comfortable. Aided by the bursting of an enemy shell the saturated earthwork of the trench gave way and I was partially buried, my right foot and leg being crushed and my left knee badly damaged. I began to think it was all up with me, and didn’t expect to get back to old England again.”

For the time being his injuries have put an end to his previous pursuits of playing hockey and, on a regular basis for his regiment, football. As for the hardships he has left behind, he relates that the condition of the refugees was pitiful, and soldiers on the march would throw their rations of bully beef and biscuits to the starving women and children.

Private George Adams had rejoined the Bedfords as a reservist on August 5th, and eleven days later was at Le Havre. Speaking of the retreat from Mons, in which “The Germans attacked in close formation, and we mowed them down like mowing corn,” he says;

“It was narrow escapes all the time, and the attack of the enemy was bitter and severe. One memorable Thursday one of our companies - C - had a tough skirmish on their own, and Major Allinson did a daring bit of work, killing two Germans and capturing another. For the first three days of the retreat we could get very little food, and we lived principally on fruit given us by Frenchmen, who were very good to us. We retired to within about two kilometres of Paris, and on a Sunday we were engaged in a big battle when the news came that the Germans were ‘on the run.’ With the combined strength of the British and French soldiers we drove the enemy back, and advanced on the Aisne, which river we crossed on the Sunday morning. We were engaged in an attack on Missey where Capt. Kerr, of A. Company, was ‘done in.’ Under a very heavy fire Private Howe carried his officer off. Howe was the happiest and coolest man in the regiment. We retired back to the railway lines, but only for a short period. Recrossing the Aisne again, we relieved the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and laid in the trenches for a fortnight within 150 yards of the Germans, but though the fighting was continuous we had very few casualties. At Bethune we relieved some French troops, and made an advance on Givenchy, which we succeeded in taking, although the German artillery poured on us a storm of shells. The overwhelming numbers of the enemy forced a retirement, and we took up a position three-quarters of a mile to the rear. After two days, we forced the attack and regained the trenches which had been lost to the left of Givenchy. On and off we were in the trenches in the La Bassee district for 21 days. In one village the church had been destroyed by ‘Jack Johnsons,’ and scarcely a house was standing; all had been shattered to pieces. Being again relieved, we were given a rest, and it was now that we had our first good meal. We captured some chickens, and had a rare good time. Again we were back and in the trenches, and by steady advance under heavy fire and a three days’ march we got to Ypres, where I was attacked by rheumatism, and was invalided home.”

(Private Adams gives high praise for the officers of the regiment, and their coolness under fire.)

B.S. 1915 Mar. 27th

Of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, Private T. Bennett, of Lathbury, was wounded early in the war, but is now back in the trenches. In a letter, he thanks Mr. Lovell, at the Ram Inn, Newport Pagnell, for the recently received parcel, stating;

“The mails are brought up to us, but it is a difficult job, as they have to travel over open country. But they got up to-day, and I got the box of Woodbines and soon had one. They went down very nice. There has been a lot of hard fighting round here, but the Germans will soon be fairly on the run. I think they have very nearly had enough of us and will soon give up.”

B.S. 1915 Aug. 21st

News has been received that Private W. Johnson, of the Worcestershire Regiment, was wounded on Friday, August 13th at the Dardanelles. He is the son of Mrs. Boon, of Lathbury, and went to the front with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on June 21st. Before the war he was employed in the stables at Weston Manor.

(On July 6th, 1916 he would be posted as missing in action, and in April 1917 his mother would receive official news that he had been killed.)

B.S. 1915 Aug. 28th

Miss Tidmarsh, the Assistant Scoutmistress for the past two years at Lathbury, is leaving to take up nursing in one of the military hospitals, and on the evening of Thursday, August 26th was presented with a silver pencil case by, on behalf of the boys, Mr. W. Trevor, who paid tribute to her work on behalf of the Boy Scouts movement.

B.S. 1916 Sep. 23rd

Private Angus Ellis, of the Bedfordshire Regiment, is officially reported as being in the general hospital at Rouen, dangerously ill with a fractured skull, and gun shots in arm and head. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Reg. Ellis, of Lathbury, who have received the following letter, written on September 18th by the sister-in-charge, L. E. Shaw;

“I regret very much to tell you that your son Pte. Ellis was admitted to the hospital yesterday with a severe wound in his head and also a severe wound in his left arm. He is dangerously ill at present, but the medical officer hopes he may recover. Everything possible is being done for him, and I will write in a day or so and let you know of his progress.”

Private Ellis had formerly worked on Woad Farm, Lathbury, and reached his 18th birthday last month. Joining up 16 months ago, he has been in France since February.

B.S. 1917 Aug. 25th

Aged 27, Corporal Thomas Stowe, of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, attached to the Trench Mortar Battery, was severely wounded in action on August 16th, and died in a French hospital the following day. He was a native of Lathbury, where his parents reside, and his wife lives at 6, Priory Street, Newport Pagnell. He enlisted in September 1914, when employed as a smith in Messrs. Salmons’ motor works, Newport Pagnell, and was promoted to corporal on the battlefield. In a letter dated August 25th to his widow, the matron of the 4th Casualty Clearing Station, France, writes;

“I am grieved to tell you that Private J. Stowe was very badly wounded in the abdomen, and, although everything possible was done for him, he passed away very peacefully at 2a.m. yesterday. He was not conscious for some time before, and was always too ill to realise anything. … He will be buried with military honours and be with many of his comrades. The graves are very well looked after and his name and number will be put on his cross. With much sympathy, Yours truly, I. GREAVES, Matron.”

(An older brother of Corporal Stowe is serving with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in France.)

B.S. 1918 Sep. 28th

News has been received that Private William Harcourt, of the Oxon and Bucks Light Infantry, died in hospital at Salonica on September 6th, the cause being cerebral malaria. As the first man from the parish to voluntarily enlist, he joined the army on September 7th, 1914, from employment on the farm of Mr. J. Whiting, at Lathbury. Almost a year to the day later he then sailed for Salonica, where he had been ever since. Previous to his fatal illness, he had spent two periods in hospital; one through being kicked on the knee by a mule, and the other through an attack of fever. Aged 24, he was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Harcourt, of Lathbury, and a memorial service held at Lathbury Church on Sunday, September 22nd was conducted by the Rector, the Reverend Brereton.