Hello. Welcome to the May edition. Keith has written an article on commemoration and cemeteries from the various South African wars. We also have an article on three “British” Americans who served with British and Commonwealth forces but are buried in an ABMC cemetery. As ever, please send any items of interest to me or Fiona for future newsletters.
Trevor
The Programme for 2014, so far
10th May Tony Davies Tabley boys who never came back
7th June Bryn Hammond El Alamein – a First World War Battle?
5th July Liza Sentence The American First Nation in the Great War
2nd August TBC
6th September Nigel Crompton To be advised
Last month’s speaker – Peter Hart
Well, Peter did talk about Bloody April after all! He has a wide repertoire of talks on WWI, so we were not entirely certain what we were getting. As ever, Peter was very informative and entertaining. Nobody would ever doze off in one of his talks!
Peter explained how the bare figures for planes lost by both sides in April 1917 were not the whole story, as the British were usually doing recces, including to direct the artillery, regardless of the losses of planes and aircrew, whereas the Germans were trying to stop the recce work. Consequently, the Britsh losses were greater. He also talked about the development of aircraft over the four years of the war from those that were barely airworthy to modern eyes in 1914, to those that were the foundations of WWII aircraft by the end of the war.
Marked but Not Named
Keith Walker
When a British or Commonwealth soldier is killed on the battlefields, his remains are buried and his name is recorded on his gravestone or on a memorial to the missing. We have many of these on the Western Front, the Menin Gate, Tyne Cot and the Thiepval Memorial to name a few. Some of the cemeteries mean different meanings to different people. We can think of Essex Farm, where one of the youngest British casualties Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick lies buried, Brandhoek New Military Cemetery for Capt Noel Chavasse RAMC and, for myself, Lijssenthoek Cemetery where Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler rests. We can identify the soldier in these cases.
On a recent trip to South Africa, I visited the following battlefields:
- Boer-Zulu War, February-December 1838 at Blood River 26th December 1838.
- Anglo-Zulu War, 11th January – 4th July 1879 at Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, 22nd to 23rd January 1879.
- Anglo-Boer War, 11th October 1899 – 31st May 1902, at Talana Hill, 20th October1899.
At all of these sites there are cemeteries and memorials naming the soldiers,
At Rorke’s Drift, the fallen soldiers are named on a memorial within the cemetery
But above the Drift, I was shown a cemetery from the period after the battle
After the battle of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, the wagons were brought to this point for repair. The work was done by the Royal Engineers and here a number of soldiers died of disease such as dysentery, typhoid etc. The graves are marked but not named. I counted twenty two graves.
The local battlefield historians have tried to name them but with no success, these men are Truly Known Only To God.
It was an honour and privilege to pay my respects to these unknown men. They are not forgotten.
Three British in an American Cemetery
Ted Hostetter, Grantley Hall and Samuell Hill
Lt Ted Hostetter RAF died on 27th September 1918. He is buried at the ABMC cemetery at Bony on the Somme. Why? Well, he was an American in the RAF and indeed there is no debate about his nationality as his story is known. He was the heir to a family fortune with his sister, but sadly she died of illness a month after her brother’s death. The CWGC entry for him is rather lacking in information but the staff at Bony were able to help.
In fact, there are three Americans buried at Bony – another one who was in the RAF and one who was in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. It seems that to be buried in an American cemetery they have all been given honorary American ranks. Hostetter is recorded there as “Lieutenant US Army, British Royal Air Force”. He was shot down near the village of Masnieres, south of Cambrai. The spot is marked today by a memorial stone erected by the local town, partly in gratitude to his family who largely financed a new school. The school is still in use today – Ecole Primaire Hostetter. A plaque outside the school records that he joined the RAF in April 1917, was shot down in April 1918, hospitalised, and started flying again in September 1918. He was on a mission to destroy observation balloons when he was shot down by Robert von Grimm in a Fokker.
One of other “British” Americans at Bony is Grantely Hall, described as “First Lieutenant US Army, British Royal Air Force”, died 8th August 1918. The CWGC entry reads “Son of Charles Edwin and Edith Jane Hall, of 132, North Alexandria Avenue, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Born in U.S.A, Educated at Malden and Boston, Mass., U.S.A.”.
The final “British” American is Samuell Hill whose CWGC entry reads “Son of Benjamin Franklin Hill and E Samuell Hill of New Castle, Kentucky, USA. American Consular Officer, Auckland”. He is listed on the ABMC site as “Rifleman, US Army” – again, an honorary US Army rank.
I have also included a couple of photos below of the headstone of a Robert Blackwell who is buried at Bony and has an impressive, if puzzling, list of decorations – see the photos on the next page. There is statue of him in his home state of North Carolina. His Medal of Honor citation reads:
When his platoon was almost surrounded by the enemy and his platoon commander asked for volunteers to carry a message calling for reinforcements, Pvt. Blackwell volunteered for this mission, well knowing the extreme danger connected with it. In attempting to get through the heavy shell and machinegun fire this gallant soldier was killed.
Hostetter’s grave at ABMC Bony The Hostetter school at Masnieres
Hostetter’s memorial near Masnieres Robert Blackwell’s grave at Bony Can you work out Blackwell’s decorations?
Grantley Hall “Lieut British RAF” Samuell Hill “Rifleman 3 New Zealand Rifle Brigade”
Robert Blackwell’s decorations are the US Medal of Honor, Italian Croix de Guerre and the Portuguese Croix de Guerre.
Book review
ULSTER, IRELAND AND THE SOMME
War Memorials and Battlefield Pilgrimages
CATHERINE SWITZER
The History Press of Ireland Ltd, Dublin 2013, £16.99,
254pp, ills
ISBN: 978-1-84588-772-8
Well, did I like this book? I can only answer with an emphatic “yes”. However, I have to declare an interest, in that my grandfather was killed on the Somme serving with the 36th Ulster Division, so my level of interest in this book was bound to be high. This is not to diminish the quality of the book in any way. Indeed, it deals with wider issues such as the post-war situation in the Somme area and the lawlessness there at that time, and the objections to various British memorials from French and Belgian officialdom. The book should not be pigeonholed a being purely of Irish interest but deals with wider implications. Indeed, it also approaches the Irish issues themselves from a somewhat different angle.
The writing style is clear and very readable. This is central to the accessibility of a book, as it does not matter how wonderful the information is if it is buried in impenetrable prose.
Key issues that are dealt with include the political background to commemoration, and the consequent difficulties to be overcome, in both the Ulster Tower at Thiepval and the Irish Divisions’ crosses at Guillemont, Wytschaete and in Serbia. (The last of these three crosses has been in three countries since it was erected without moving an inch, such has been the turmoil in the Balkans). The French and Belgians honoured the opening ceremonies for the Irish memorials by having General Weygand at the Ulster Tower, General Joffre at Guillemont and Belgian General Borremans at Wytschaete. Ironically, the Ulster political heavyweights of James Craig and Edward Carson both managed to miss the opening of the Ulster Tower through indisposition.
The Irish war of independence and the consequent Irish civil war, of which many in GB today know nothing, delayed the memorialisation of the 10th and 16th Irish Divisions until the mid-1920s. The commemoration was largely driven in the Irish Free State, as it then was, by Maj Gen Hickie who had commanded the 16th Division and at this juncture lived in county Tipperary. There was less obstruction from the Irish government than might have been expected but all were concerned that it should be an Irish commemoration. Indeed, these difficulties of commemoration have worsened until the turning point in recent years when a combination of the peace process, the Queen’s visit to the Irish Republic, the excellent work of the WFA branches in Cork and Dublin, and the efforts of the ex-service and regimental associations has brought about a greatly renewed interest in, and recognition of, the role of the southern Irish in WWI.
In the northern part of Ireland in the immediate post war period, the task faced by the committee in Belfast was far from straightforward but was less complicated than in the south (which subsequently of course became the Irish Free State in 1920). The very considerable sum of £4000 was raised by public subscription in the north as early as 1919. The Ulster tower itself was erected in 1921 and was intended to commemorate all shades of those who served with the 36th Division, though regrettably that has not always been the case since then. Considerable efforts to return to that ethos have been made in more recent times.
The speed of the creation of the Ulster Tower compares with that of the Thiepval monument to the missing on the Somme which was built as late as 1932 and was paid for by the UK government. Incidentally, the Thiepval monument is on its third choice site, due to objections to the original locations from the French authorities at the time, which probably contributed to the delay in its construction.
More generally, and away from the Irish context, Catherine Switzer deals with the process of battlefield clearances and of casualty concentration after the war. As many as 231,000 British graves were concentrated by 1921. She deals with the destruction and concentration of German cemeteries. That, coupled with the French practice of concentrating their casualties into a few very large cemeteries, and of using ossuaries for unknowns, has to a large extent removed the French and Germans from the Somme landscape and has left it today dotted with some 245 British cemeteries.
The author deals with pilgrimages in the inter-war years, and the difficulties faced by the families in visiting the battlefields and finding the cemeteries, especially given the concentration efforts.
The wider aspect of the differing reasons for, and perceptions of, battlefield visits is covered. The veterans and immediate families of the fallen themselves aged and have now passed away. With that loss of personal contact, the visits to, and interest in, the memorials and cemeteries had faded. In more recent times, many people have “discovered” family members who served and, whether or not they survived, have taken an increasing interest in where their relatives were in WWI and what they did, and indeed what they suffered. Thus, the nature of the visits has changed from direct contact and memories of the places and events, to attempting to find out what happened, and why it did happen. One might call it the “Who do you think you are?” factor. For example, the Newfoundland Park recorded visitor numbers of 50,000 in 2001 which increased to 123,000 in 2011. One can only hope that this trend continues and that more people find out about the true story of those who served in WWI.
In conclusion, Catherine is to be congratulated in producing an excellent book.
Bible Society is looking for WWI stories
Following a recent radio programme, Caroline looked at the site for the Bible Society. The background is that everyone who joined up in WWI was given a copy of the New Testament along with their army kit. To some, this must have seemed an irrelevance, others will have lost their faith as they experienced the reality of war, but for others their bible was a source of comfort and strength.
The Bible Society is collecting stories relating to these bibles. Some are already on their web site: http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible-society/our-work/world-war-1/
One bible has been carried and read by 5 generations of the family to WWI, WWII, Korea, N Ireland and Afghanistan.
If you know of a WWI bible, perhaps you would like to send the story of its owner(s) to the Bible Society to add to their collection.
The Gareth Bale of 100 years ago – Leigh Roose
Leigh Roose was born at Holt near Wrexham and became a footballing superstar of his era.
He was, in fact, a goalkeeper and his habit of carrying the ball like a rugby full-back to the halfway line resulted in a rule change in 1912, so that goalkeepers were only allowed to handle the ball in their own penalty area.
He earned 24 caps for Wales and played for Stoke City, Everton, Sunderland, Celtic, Aston Villa and Arsenal. He was famous throughout the UK and was apparently the first football superstar. His career ended in 1912 after suffering a broken wrist that did not heal properly. He joined the army in 1914, initially in the RAMC, as he had studied medicine in his younger days, and later served with the Royal Fusiliers. He was killed on the Somme on 7th October 1916 and is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial but as “Corporal Rouse” which is the name he served under.
Trevor Adams trevormcmadams@gmail.com