Friday, January 2, 2015

Tring at War: Latest News 2nd January, 1915

Extracts from the Bucks Herald
Tring
The section headed "TRING in 1914" starts with the words "The most memorable year which this generation has known or is likely know. has just come to an end. Tring at the beginning of 1914, was an obscure little country town, pursuing its quiet, uneventful way. To-day it is a centre of military activity." and much of the current week's news is typical what one might expect of an obscure little country town. The Churches did what churches do at Christmas, the local Slate Clubs paid up, three girls passed their music exams. Lord Rothschild distributed hampers to the children in nearby Marsworth (just over the county boundary into Bucks). Hunting was still continuing as normal, S.C.Holdaway was selling a full range of Horrockses striped and plain flannelettes and you could buy Harrison's Hair Colour Restorer from A. G. Wright. And of course there was a funeral to report, Mrs Percy Mead having died at her home in Gubblecote.

Military
While the soldiers were still in town, and are mentioned in the review of 1914, the only current events described are the Christmas gifts of cigarettes to the soldiers in the two military hospitals, and the concert in the Tennis Court at Pendley Manor. Some of the soldiers seemed to have missed out on parcels from the mining towns in Northumberland - but to learn of this Tring problem you needed to read the Newcastle Journal.

While the military camp at Halton was in Bucks, the 21st Division H.Q. was in Tring, but for the latest news relating to the poor state of the roads to the camp one has to look under the High Wycombe News.

Because the newspaper straddles the county boundary it is weak of more general news relating to Hertfordshire and the Bucks Herald did not mention the following report which appeared in a number of papers, such as the Liverpool Daily News:
HERTFORDSHIRE CASUALTIES
Official communication was received yesterday at the headquarters of the First Hertfordshire Regiment (Territorials), at Hertford announcing that Lance-SergeantT. E. Gregory, of Watford, and Private Percy Suggins, ofWare, were killed in action on Christmas Day. The fighting took place at a point where only twenty yards separated the British and German trenches. This is the second time the Herts Territorials have been under fire.

Extracted from the Bucks Herald, 2nd January, 1915

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