First World War Book - The London Gunners come to Town

In 2014 many people contacted me trying to get a copy of my popular 1995 book, "The London Gunners come to Town," and I sadly had to say it was out of print. As a result some second hand copies were for sale online at £50 or more. A couple of weeks ago, while clearing some of the junk in my garage, I found an unopened box of new copies.  As a result I have placed a number of signed copies with the brand new bookshop in Tring (Our Bookshop) for sale at the original asking price of £9.99.

Extensive Details of the Book

 Including  sample pages, etc.

Published Reviews

February Report - Stats and additional updates

There has been a lot of email correspondence and other activities related to the site during February, complicated by the fact that I have moved all correspondence onto my newest computer - while the master web site has had to remain (due to software incompatibility) on my old system. The following is a summary of the more important activities that have not already been covered in this Newsletter.

Statistics

Activity on the main site and the newsletter have been comparable with recent years, but the number of emails I have received appears to have gone up. The only disappointing thing is that while there have been over 230 visits to the "Donations" page there has not been a single donation into the online collecting box for the mentally ill in Hertfordshire. 

First Hand Account of Xmas Truce by Aylesbury man who trained at Hemel Hempstead

On 16th January 1915 the Bucks Herald published this detailed account of the Xmas truce by Sergeant Ernest. Charles Whiskin, of the Queen's Westminster Rifles. He was born in Aylesbury in 1870 and had worked on the Bucks Herald. It is of particular interest to me because the Queen's Westminster Rifles trained at Leverstock Green, under Colonel Shoolbred (for whom Ernest worked in London) and are mention a number of times in my book The London Gunners come to Town.

See Account of the Queen's Westmister Rifles training at Leverstock Green

A Military Christmas in Hertfordshire

The following article is based on part of Chapter 18 of The London Gunners come to Town and was published in the December 1995 issue of Hertfordshire Countryside.

It was reprinted in Margaret Ashby's book "A Hertfordshire Christmas"

August 1914 - The London Regiment march to West Herts

The London Scottish marching through Watford

I have decided that over the next few months I will post selected chapters of The Soldier's Tale from The London Gunners come to Town in pdf format with all the original pictures and footnotes. There are some technical problems but the long term plan is to put the whole book online.

The Royal Field Artillary passing through Clay Hill, Bushey

The first is Chapter 16 - To War Station at Hemel Hempstead (pdf) which describes the preparations to the move to the StAlbans area of Hertfordshire, as seen from the military side. The subheadings are:

• The London Territorials
• The RFA Brigades
• August in London
• The March from London to Hemel Hempstead
• Late Arrivals and Local Recruitment

The chapter identifies a number of the officers who came to Hemel Hempstead.

Commandeered carts at Handpost Farm, Hemel Hempstead

Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Adrian Charles Gordon (1891-1917) is introduced in this chapter - and he is the soldier who provides the linking thread in The Soldier's Tale. One of my big disappointments when I wrote the book was that the only picture I could find of him was a thumbnail sized printed image of a very poor quality. I even tracked down his one surviving twin daughters, to find her in a nursing home, without a single family photograph. (She was actually too young when the war broke out to remember her father.) It's a long shot but if anyone has a better one.....

Sample Extract  below the fold

The RFA come to Hemel Hempstead August 16th 1914

Military

Extract from Chapter 9

The London Gunners Come to Town

Life and Death in Hemel Hempstead in the Great War

As soon as War had been declared arrangements were put in hand to move the Royal Field Artillery brigades of the 2^nd London Division to Hemel Hempstead. This was to be the second military “invasion” of the town in less than a year, as the area had been the jumping off point for the 4^th Division in major army manœuvres in September, 1913. The big difference was that during the manœuvres the majority of the troops were only in the area for a couple of days, and they were entirely accommodated in tents, so that apart from the extra traffic there was little effect on the civilian population.

The RFA marching North through Bushey

By Monday, 10^th August, an advance party of officers were hard at work looking for billets for both men and horses. By the end of the week they had requisitioned many buildings including the Town Hall and the Corn Exchange in the High Street, the Brotherhood Hall, and Boxmoor Hall. Open areas such as Gadebridge Park, the Old Recreation Ground and the adjoining fields of Hand Post Farm were got ready to receive the gunners.

The 6^th Brigade R.F.A. in Hand Post Farm with their H.Q. in St Paul’s Sunday School beyond

The main bulk of the troops of the 5th and 6th Brigades R.F.A. arrived by train between 4 p.m. and midnight on Sunday, 16th August, and a large crowd of locals turned out to watch them arrive. Their arrival was not without incident. As the troops marched under the railway bridge in Marlowes a dense cloud of smoke belched forth from a cottage chimney, followed by tongues of flame. P.C. Gillett was quickly on the scene and the police held the crowd back as pieces of chimney pot crashed into the roadway. The Fire Brigade, led by Chief Officer W. J. Williams, galloped down Marlowes for the second time in 24 hours and extinguished the fire. Some hours later P.C. Gregory was regulating the traffic in Hand Post Lane when Frederick Hall of Luton decided that he wanted “to assist his country” and started to interfere with the military horses. On being told to go home he became quarrelsome and abusive and was subsequently fined 7s 6d with 6s 6d costs, or imprisonment for 14 days, for being drunk and disorderly.

Many of the townsfolk were startled by bugle calls at about 5.30 the following morning. Within a week the bugle calls in the town were dispensed with (undoubtedly as a result of civilian protests) and, for different reasons, an order was issued to ensure that all public houses closed at 10 p.m. Many local firms found that their carts and wagons were requisitioned for military purposes, and their bright colours were rapidly hidden with a uniform coat of grey paint. On Monday, 19^th August, the Queen’s Westminster Rifles marched into Leverstock Green, while on Wednesday, the 7^th Brigade R.F.A. arrived in Boxmoor, and over the following weekend the 8^th Brigade R.F.A. moved into Apsley. With so many horses and men moving about there were numerous minor accidents, and a room in the Hemel Hempstead Institute was taken over as a military hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOCAL WAR NEWS

Mr A. Weston, of the Broadway Hall, Boxmoor, had a busy time on Wednesday. At short notice he was called on to provide a substantial meal for 600 hungry Tommies. The meal was served in the Boxmoor Hall, the Boxmoor Schools, the Parish Rooms, and the Oxford Club Brotherhood Hall. Mr Weston had to deliver it cooked to the places named, where the various messes took charge of it. The fare provided consisted of roast beef  and plum pudding, and it was greatly enjoyed, the plum pudding being received with cheers.

*     *      *

The Army authorities have put the public houses out of bounds for the soldiers after 9.30 p.m.

*     *      *

Some of the horses, fresh at their work, have been rather a trouble through their kicking habits. On Wednesday evening one of the animals dropped down in Marlowes, and expired in a very few minutes. Many spectators quickly gathered round, and the carcass was covered with straw to prevent people from gazing at it.

*     *      *

The improvised cook-houses have been objects of considerable interest. The food is cooked in a somewhat crude manner, but what does it matter so long as Tommy says his “grub” is good.  

Anti-Aircraft Guns in Hemel area in 1918

Some of Harry Chandler's memories of Hemel Hempstead during the First World War have been posted on Facebook. He mention the searchlight and anti-aircraft gun east of Randall Park. These installations are described in The London Gunner comes to Town as follows:

In the autumn [of 1917] the plans for the air defences of London included a ring of anti­-aircraft guns and searchlights which were stronger to the north and east of the city. Several smaller units were based in the Hemel Hempstead area and the Management and Estates Committee asked Waiter Locke to negotiate with the military authorities about the proposed searchlight station in Randall Park. This was the westernmost of a series of 3" 20cwt gun stations and searchlight posts which stretched across Hertfordshire. The western approaches to London were defended by searchlight stations armed with 18 pounder guns (a modified version of those being used by the Royal Field Artillery in France). These formed a line starting at Gadebridge. and running south through Boxmoor. Bovingdon and Flaunden. It seems very likely that these guns were never used in anger, as no later German it attacks, either by Zeppelin or aeroplane, came so far west.

I go to Hertford (First World War, etc)

Military

Yesterday I drove over to Hertford for a meeting of some of the people actively working towards remembering the way the First World War affected us all. It was a very stimulating meeting and over the next few months (at least) there is likely to be more emphasis on war related matters. I was pleased to see that quite a few people are working on the Home front - how the war affected everyday life in Hertfordshire. Because so many men went to the Front the result was that women played a far bigger part in running the country and this had a big effect (including Votes for Women) after the War.

Herts at War photo of meeting

War Memorials

A lot is being done on War Memorials and a Roll of Honour. One of the problems is what names should be included. I discussed this a few days ago in connection with Hemel Hempstead and  it was pointed out that the Haileybury War Memorial contains many hundreds of names of pupils who went to the school but who have no other connection with the county. (This suggests a question, which was not raised at the meeting - of exchanging information with other areas - as there must be Hertfordshire pupils who are recorded on war memorials outside the county.) There is also the problem of people who were never recorded on a war memorial but perhaps should have been. This is a difficult question - what about someone whose lungs were badly damaged in a gas attack, never recovered sufficiently to work, but died of related complications decades later. It was clear that drawing the line as to who to include was difficult and there was some discussion about how records should be preserved in the longer term - especially when later research suggests corrections and update might be necessary.

It is clear that many readers of this Newsletter, and the main Web Site, live outside Hertfordshire - in some cases on the other side of the world - will have family information on soldiers and sailors who died - including photographs of named individuals, and also groups. As a result I said I would encourage such people to make digital images, etc., available to that their relative's sacrifice can be properly recorded.

It is clear that there will be many events, articles and booklets published, information released on CD for use in schools, etc, and where appropriate I will publish details here. I also hope to be able to say that the book The London Gunners come to Town will be available in digital form for any historians carrying out relevant research.

Hertford

I also took the opportunity to walk round Hertford with my camera - a took pictures of the War Memorial, the Museum (including various military exhibits), and some other features of old Hertford - and I will post details once the pictures have been uploaded.

Herts at War - Latest News

First World War

The Herts at War Newsletter contains the following exciting News:

Herts at War

The Herts at War team are delighted to announce that as of January 2014 the project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and now forms one of the largest individual commemorative Great War Projects in the United Kingdom. The award of £98,400 until the end of 2015 now means that the project can develop a purpose built museum exhibition, dedicated schools outreach programme, series of talks and tours and conduct a programme of county-wide events days to mark the key dates of The Great War 100 years to the day that they actually occurred. It goes without saying that this fantastic achievement for Great War remembrance would not have been possible without the incredible effort and dedication of our volunteers and project partners, and so from the whole team - Thank you very much!

If your ancestor died fighting with the Hertfordshire Regiment you might also want to contribute to the plan to erect a permanent memorial at the site of their famous and tragic attack on the village of St Julien on 31st July 1917. For details see Herts Regiment Memorial. The project is also collecting together information on all members of the regiment who where there on that fateful day and if any of your relatives were involve have a look at page on the 1st Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment, and the list of names that have so far been identified.  

Their web site also includes a transcript of the 1st Battalion War Diary and I was particularly interested in the following extract relating to the Battle of Loos: 

25-9-15 [The Battle of Loos]. About 6.30am the 1st Kings attacked but never reached the German trenches as they were held up by heavy machine gun fire and No.3 and No.4 Companies who were in close support were ordered not to advance. We then assumed normal conditions.

26-9-15. We relieved half of the Kings line with One company. [Comment; Private 3330 Bert MILLS died of wounds]

27-9-15. At 5pm we made another gas attack on the enemy as on the 25th but were ordered not to advance unless the enemy had suffered from it. At 5.30pm we sent out a patrol but they were immediately fired at by enemy machine guns and in consequence we did not attack. Neither did the 1st Kings. From 25th to 30th our casualties were approximately Captain Smeathman [Lovel Francis SMEATHMAN, MC] wounded, Lieut. Molony [Brian Charles MOLONY] suffered from gas poisoning, OR's wounded or suffering from gas poisoning 25. [Comment; Private 3936 George Thomas GINN died from illness in England and Private 1665 Alfred BURT VC won his Victoria Cross today]

30-9-15. The 6th Brigade was relieved, the Bn being relieved by the 9th Cheshire Regiment and marched back to billets at the eastern end of BETHUNE.

When I wrote the book The London Gunners come to Town I wrote a detailed account of the battle - which involved the London gunners of the 47th Division at the southern end of the front, and included a number of quotations concerning the activities of the Hertfordshire Regiment at the north end of the front, including details of how Captain Smeathman was wounded. Both his brothers had died on the same day, as a result of actions on different parts of the front, earlier in the war.

Month End Report for January 2014

On the technical side everything went smoothly in January. The web site had 23,262 visitors in the month, about average compared with the previous four years. The Newsletter had 27 new posts and 6,420 page views - which works out at just over 210  page views a day. Computer changes at this end will mean, in the short term, that the site will continue to be updated on Frontpage under Windows XP, while non-genealogy work is being moved onto a new system running Windows 8. It has been decided to resume posting a one line summary of future posts on twitter @HertsGenealogy to alert more people to future updates.

Help Desk

The new wording of the "Ask Chris" page I introduced in 2013 is working. I still get people who like sending queries without stopping to look to see if their question is relevant to the web site. However I now have a simple and effective reply which only takes me a minute or two - as all I need to do is to send them a copy of the letter they have already seen with the relevant sentences highlighted. One I had this month gave me a laugh as (if I took it literally) I was being asked about someone with a Norman French name whose only connection with Hertfordshire was that they were living in the United States in the 12th century!

Book Reviews

Football

       More typical is one I got who wanted a copy of a picture which was part of a photo-montage on the cover of the book "100 Years - A History of Schools Football in St Albans." What appears to have happened is that they had a copy of the book and wanted to contact the authors. Of course a trivial Google search would have shown them one was still a school teacher in St Albans. However as soon as they found a review of the book they decided to ask the reviewer, rather than continuing the search for the author!
       But of course I also get many very useful messages. For example :

Watford

An anonymous comment about the Watford photographer called Lemenager, who went to the United States in 1887, has alerted me to the fate of some of his family, who died in a fire in a theatre in Chicago in 1903.
      My post about Joseph Hunt who was involved in the Weare Murder has resulted in Lesley writing to say the Hunt family came from Calcutta (and by implication had no connection with Hertfordshire beyond the murder) and I have passed the information on to Francis.

Post Cards

Dates of posting are not always a good guide to the date of publication for a postcard. During the month a card of Westmill, posted in 1980 was sold on ebay. The card had been published  by R H Clark of Royston circa 1920, and the shop (now R.H.Clarke & Son)  was obviously using up old stock to send messages to customers.
     I have corrected a couple of transcription errors on the cards kindly provided by Peter of the London Scottish at North Mimms.

St Michaels, by Sydbie

     Another post card has turned up by the artist "Sydbie", this one showing the ford over the River Ver at St Michaels, but unfortunately we still do not know who he was.

St Michaels & All Saints, Watford

      I have posted a 1931 Valentine post card of St Michael's, Watford, showing it after the tower was built - the only problem is that the angle of the shot means that only the top few feet of the tower can be seen!
     Edward is researching the artist Charles Essenhigh Corke (1852-1922) and is interested in the cards of Caldecote Towers, Aldenham. If anyone has copies of these cards and can provide a posting date that would be very helpful.
      In the background I have re-organised my Hertfordshire postcard collection so that virtually all the cards are filed under the relevant place names but I still need to go through the nine shoe boxes full, looking at each place - catching up on the backlog of cards which I want to post online, weeding out the duplicates, etc. In the case of some of the rarest cards I am looking into the possibility of donating them to an official archive. The real problem is that I have not been able to resist scanning ebay for cards and other items which could make a contribution to this site. This takes over half and hour a day and my New Year resolution to cut back on purchases has totally collapsed - so the queue of items waiting to appear on the web site is now longer than ever. My plans to sell unwanted items on ebay to pay for the purchases has not worked because I haven't had time to put items up for sale - and I regret to say that The London Gunners come to Town is finally "out of print" so there will be no more income from that source.
     I have also spent some time on other, behind the scenes correspondence, relating to subjects such as arbele trees (no new information yet), online archives of a local village newsletter, exhibits for an exhibition relating to Sandridge900, and items which have come up for sale on ebay which should really be in a publicly accessible archive - but which I cannot afford to "rescue". I have also sent off a cheque to rejoin the SAHAAS (St Albans and Hertfordshire Architecture and Archaeology Society) as so much of what I do relates to the area around St Albans.

Trapped by the Box

     One area where one of my New Years Resolution appears to be working is that I have been much more active on my other blog, Trapped by the Box, and some research I am doing related to the evolution of human intelligence.
      This all means that some of the things I had hoped to do, such as more work on William Brown's account book and revamping the military pages in time for the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, has not been done. I have also not been getting as much Rural Relaxation as I need in order to keep fit - although the exceptionally wet weather we have been having is my excuse,
       To end on a lighter note - you will have noticed that my interest in Limericks has been rekindled - and I have actually entered a limerick competition - so let me end on a light note, the first line being the given line in the competition.

A man was, alas, in the red
Having poured some paint over his head.
"So what can I do,
I intended shampoo,
And I wanted my hair clean instead."

The Herts at War Project

The Military

Visit WWW.hertsatwar.co.uk 

As part of the centenary commemorations for the First World War the project will commemorate all the men from Hertfordshire who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War. At the current count they need to:

• Research 21616 names (including identifying duplicates)
• Establish the existence (or otherwise), research and photograph 697 memorials
• Research 790 WW1 burials.

Much of the work is being done by local teams who are collecting data, and if you live in Hertfordshire why not find out what is happening in your own town or village and get involved. They will be unveiling a provision Roll of Honour on their web site on 13th November.

However if you live anywhere else in the world you may still be able to help, if you have information about your Hertfordshire ancestors who were involved, and may have been killed, in the war.

• If your ancestor died, and is (or should be) remembered on a Hertfordshire memorial you may have photographs of him and the group researching that memorial would love to have a digital copy to commemorate his sacrifice.
• If you have group photographs of, for example, the Hertfordshire Regiment, where people are named this may help provide portraits of other soldiers who died.
• If you are a collector of military post cards you may well have pictures which could help in the project, and could be of far greater value in remembering the dead if shared.

There is one aspect of the War which is not currently covered in their plans (at least as revealed in their web site) and that concerns the vast numbers of soldiers who came to Hertfordshire for training during the First World War, and those who returned with injuries to the war time hospitals such as Napsbury, and the many convalescent homes all over the county. As the author of The London Gunners come to Town, which looks at life in Hemel Hempstead during the First World War, the training of RFA soldiers of the 2nd London Division (which was centred on St Albans), and the battles they fought in France, I am particularly interested in these soldiers.

Postcards, etc

Those of you who have been following my web site and newsletter will know that I originally planned to photograph many memorials - but in the circumstances this would mean unnecessary duplication. Instead I would like to concentrate on photographs by photographers of troops training in Hertfordshire, or as invalids in hospital in the county. Over the next few posts I will give some examples here. If you have such material that can be shared in digital form, and displayed on this site, please let me know.

WW1 - The 2nd London Territorial Division in Hertfordshire

When I wrote the book The London Gunners come to Town, about Hemel Hempstead during the First World War, one important source on the 2nd London Division, later the 47th Division was the book by Alan Maude The 47th (London) Division, 1914-19. It provided useful information on the early days of the war, spent in the St Albans area, and helped me to work out the movement of Major Gordon up to the time of his death - which was noted in the book. It was such an important reference work that I photocopied it, despite its size. Should you want to research this Territorial Division I am delighted to report the complete book is now available in digitised form online.

Thanks to Jeffery for drawing this to my attention.

Copies of The London Gunner are usually available on ebay, helping to raise money for wounded soldiers.