The_Poppy_March_2012.pdf - The Western Front Association

Poppy
THE
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE WESTERN FRONT ASSOCIATION, THAMES VALLEY BRANCH Number 29, March 2012

Patron
Colonel Terry Cave CBE
Honorary President
Professor Peter Simkins MBE FRHistS
Honorary Vice-Presidents
Dr John Bourne BA PhD FRHistS
Professor Gary Sheffield BA MA PhD FRHistS
Lt.Col. Graham W Parker OBE
Tony Noyes C.Eng., MICE
André Coilliot
The Burgomaster of Ypres
The Mayor of Albert
Chairman
Bruce Simpson
7
3
CONTENTS
Proposed visit to Reading Old Cemetery
4 Dedications
6 Photographic competition
Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland Ambulance
10
13
15
18
20
21
9
EHIC expiry
The Kronstadt Raid
The Bridcutts of Benson
The Death of Charles Frohman
17 New book
Take Care if you’re visiting France!
19 Branch Battlefield tour
“The Prospect 1000” Project (cont.)
20 Branch matters
Programme and Speakers for 2012
Photograph of Bignemont Cemetery on
front page taken by Mike Lawson.
Contacts
If you are receiving this copy of The Poppy for the
first time, then please come along to our next branch
meeting on 29th March 2012. Should you require
directions to the venue or any other information relating
to the branch, please contact one of the committee
members listed below.
Bridgeen Fox: tel 01189 265376
or email bridgeen.fox@btinternet.com
Don Farr: tel 01189 794518
or email don.farr@ntlworld.com
Mike Lawson: tel 01692 535184
or email lawsonm100@aol.com
Roger Laing: tel 01753 654885
or email roger.laing@tiscali.co.uk
Liz Tait: tel 0118 9662885
or email liztait@virginmedia.com
2

Proposed Branch Visit to Reading Old Cemetery
Saturday 23rd June 2012 at 2.30 pm
A proposed guided branch trip to the fascinating
Reading Old Cemetery is being arranged for Saturday
23rd June 2012, starting at 2.30 pm.
Reading Cemetery was set up by a private Act of
Parliament in 1842 to establish the Reading Cemetery
Company and is now Grade 2 listed. It contains 18,327
graves, covering an area of 11.5 acres, and includes
two listed memorials, a war graves plot, memorials to
three Old Contemptibles and a memorial to George
Blackall Simonds, the sculptor of the Maiwand Lion
in Reading’s Forbury Gardens. The war graves plot is
situated at the back of the cemetery and includes a
screen wall memorial to commemorate those buried in
Plot 72 together with those buried in other parts of the
cemetery, whose graves are not marked by headstones.
There are 205 Commonwealth burials from the First
World War and 41 from the Second World War plus one
from Serbia.
The cemetery is situated at the junction of London
Road (A4) and Wokingham Road (A423) in East Reading
and parking is permitted inside the cemetery through
the main entrance.
Reading Old Cemetery, Cemetery Junction
Of special interest to Branch
Members might be the headstone
of Trooper Joseph William Odell of
the Berkshire Yeomanry. As readers
of The Poppy no. 6 may recall, a new
headstone was paid for in 2004 by
the Regimental Association of the
Berkshire Yeomanry. The Branch raised
the money to pay for cemetery fees
and Branch Member Alan Dickens,
a stonemason, very kindly carved
and erected the headstone free of
charge. n
The Maiwand Lion, Forbury Gardens, Reading
3

Dedications
As a mark of respect to all those who perished during the Great War, the following meetings will be dedicated to the memory of local men serving with the
Royal Berkshire Regiment who died on that date during 1914–1918. If during your travels you happen to be near to where any of these soldiers are buried or
commemorated, kindly pay a visit.
26th April
The dedication this month is to
Richard Brombley, a Private
with the 8th Bn. Royal Berkshire
Regiment, from Easthampstead.
Richard Brombley was born at
Easthamstead, near Bracknell in
the spring of 1896, the son of Edwin
Pte. Richard Brombley,
Brombley, a farm cart worker and 8th Bn.Royal Berkshire
Regiment
his wife Mary Ann, of Nine Mile
Ride, Easthampstead. The family
had a total of 13 children, six sons and seven daughters,
including Richard and his twin sister Winifred. By 1911,
Richard, now age 15, was working, locally, as a domestic
gardener.
In September 1914, Richard, age 18, enlisted at
Wokingham and in October 1914, commenced training with
the 8th Royal Berks, attached to 26th Division, at Codford
Camp on Salisbury Plain. During November 1914, the
battalion returned to Reading to be housed in billets until
May 1915 when, now at full strength, it was sent to Sutton
Veny, near Warminster for further training. Embarkation
orders were received at the end of July 1915 and the 8th Royal
Berks set sail from Southampton at 6.00 pm on 7th August
1915 on RMS Viper, to land at Le Havre about seven hours
later on 8th August 1915 at 12.45 am. The battalion, together
with the 10th Gloucesters, was now transferred to 1st Bde.,
1st. Division, to replace two Guards battalions that had joined
the newly-formed Guards Division. Two days later, the 8th
Royal Berks marched to Arques for a few days rest, before
marching again to arrive at Béthune on 16th August 1915.
The battalion quickly went into the trenches around Béthune
on 17th August 1915, in preparation for their part at the
Battle of Loos on 25th September 1915. The 8th Royal Berks
fought in the battle for three days in the front line, in the La
Haie and Bois Carré sector, until it was withdrawn to reserve
on 28th September 1918. The battalion fought again in the
battle from 12th-13th October 1915 before being withdrawn
to an area around Lillers. The Battle of Loos ended on 18th
October 1915 but the 8th Royal Berks remained there, in and
out of the trenches and holding the line, in the Maroc sector
until June 1916, when the division moved to the Somme.
During this relatively safe eight month period of the war, the
battalion lost a further 65 men killed or dying of wounds,
mainly due to occasional shelling and sniping. Sadly, one
of these casualties was 14393 Pte. Richard Brombley, age
4
19, who was killed in action on
Wednesday 26th April 1916, the only
man from the 8th Royal Berks to die
that day.
Pte. Richard Brombley has no
known grave and is commemorated
on the Arras Memorial, Bay 7,
Avenue du Mémorial des Fusillés,
Pte. owen Brombley,
62000 Arras, Pas de Calais, France. (sic) 8th Bn.Royal
Berkshire Regiment
A further tragedy struck the
Brombley family later in the war when the youngest son,
45838 Pte. Owen Brombley, also serving with the 8th Royal
Berks, was killed in action, together with 17 other ranks,
during an attack on German positions between Ronssoy and
Lempire on Friday 20th September 1918.
Pte. Owen Brombley has no known grave and is
commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, Bay 7, 1
Route Nationale, 62156 Haucourt, Pas de Calais, France.
31st May
The dedication this month is to Harry Alfred Hiscock,
a Lance Sergeant with the 2nd/4th Bn. Royal Berkshire
Regiment, from Wokingham.

Harry Alfred Hiscock was born in Reading in the summer
of 1883, the eldest son of Harry Hiscock, a police constable
and his wife Ann, of 10 Manor Terrace, St. Giles, Reading. He
had four brothers, James, Frank, Albert and Harold and by
1901 the family had moved to 19 Cholmeley Road, St. Giles,
Reading, where Harry Alfred, now age 17, was working as a
plasterer’s apprentice. By early 1911, father Harry had retired
from the police force and was working as a live-in caretaker,
together with the family, at the London & County Bank, 5
Broad Street, Wokingham (now NatWest Bank) where son,
Harry, age 27, was working as a greengrocer’s assistant.
In the spring of 1911, at Wokingham, Harry Alfred
married Agnes Gertrude Portchmouth, also age 27, from
Hamstead Marshall, near Newbury. Agnes had been working
as a domestic cook in Murdoch Road, Wokingham at the
time but after they married, the couple set up home together
at 33 Easthampstead Road, Wokingham, where, in early 1912,
a daughter, Kathleen, was born.
Harry Alfred enlisted with the 2nd/4th Royal Berkshire
Regiment, sometime during late 1914 or early 1915. The
battalion was formed in Reading on 6th November 1914
and immediately sent to Maidenhead. In February 1915 the
2nd/4th Royal Berks was allocated to 184th Bde., 61st (2nd/
South Midland) Division and moved to Northampton but
in April 1915 the battalion relocated to Chelmsford, where
it remained until February/March 1916. The 61st Division
then moved to Salisbury Plain, before leaving for France on
21st May 1916. Landings at Le Havre were completed by 25th
May 1916 and after a three-day march, the Division arrived at
base camps in an area around Merville-Gonnehem-Busnes-
Thiennes.
The 2nd/4th Royal Berks took part in the Attack at
Fromelles on 19th July 1916 and, during 1917, was engaged
in the Operations on the Ancre (11th-15th January), the
German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line (14th March-5th
April), the Battle of Langemark (18th August), the Battles
of Ypres (18th August-15th September) and the German
Counter-Attacks at the Battle of Cambrai (1st-3rd December).
During the German Spring Offensive of 1918 the division
fought in the Battle of St. Quentin (21st-22nd March), in the
Actions at the Somme Crossings and in the Battles of the Lys
(11th-18th April). After the Battle of Béthune on 18th April
1918, the 2nd/4th Royal Berks remained on the Lys until
August 1918 with spells occupying defensive positions in the
St. Venant-Robecq Sector in front of Robecq, together with
periods of rest, training in back areas near Lillers. On 26th
May 1918, the battalion was sent for another, unpleasant,
seven-day spell of occupation in the front line at Robecq.
Both sides were very active during this period, with aircraft
actions overhead, intermittent shelling of both front line
positions and rear areas during day and night time, machinegunning,
sniping, wiring and patrolling of no man’s land.
Total casualties during this period amounted to 10 men killed
and 19 wounded. Sadly, one of those casualties was 201375
L/Sgt. Harry Hiscock, age 34, who was killed in action on
Friday 31st May 1918, the only man from the 2nd/4th Royal
Berks to die that day.
L/Sgt. Harry Alfred Hiscock is buried in at Robecq
Communal Cemetery, grave 2, Rue de Saint-Venant, 62350
Robecq, Pas de Calais, France.
28th June
The dedication this month is to
William Adnams, a Gunner with
the 99th Siege Battery, Royal
Garrison Artillery, from Whitley,
Reading.
William Adnams was born at
gnr willian adnams,
Reading in early 1886, the only son 99th siege battery,
royal garrison
of Willliam J. Adnams, a wine and artillery
spirit bottler, and his wife Emily. He had a younger sister,
Nellie, born at Reading in 1893 and in 1901, the family of
four were living at 18 Essex Street, St. Giles, Reading, where
William, age 15, was working as a tailors’ clothes presser. On
9th July 1910, William, now age 24, married Lizzie Fennell,
age 22, at Whitley, Reading and the couple set up home
together at 55 Spring Gardens, Whitley.
Six years later, on 31st August 1916, William, age 30,
enlisted in Reading for Short Service (i.e. for the duration
of the war) and was immediately put on Army Reserve. He
was of slight build, being 5”6” tall with an expanded chest
measurement of only 35 inches. William was mobilised
on 20th December 1916 and posted to serve with the Royal
Garrison Artillery at No. 3 Depot in The Citadel at Plymouth.
He was allocated to 38th Coy R.G.A, as 129930 Gunner on
4th January 1917 and on 6th January 1917 was sent to the 1st
5

Reinforcing Depot, Siege Artillery at Bexhill. At his medical
on 5th May 1917, William was passed fit for service at level
Aii and on 30th June 1917 was posted to 161st Siege Battery,
before being sent to France on 24th August 1917. Soon after
landing at Boulogne, he went down with suspected dysentery
fever on 8th September 1917 and spent a few days in No. 14
Stationary Hospital at Boulogne before being posted to 99th
Siege Battery on 24th October 1917. Prior to the German
Spring Offensive, William spent 14 days on home leave from
5th-19th March 1918 and on 24th May 1918 was admitted
to hospital again for another period of sickness. He was
discharged on 31st May 1918 and returned to 99th Siege
Battery on the Lys. Barely four weeks later, William was
wounded by a gas shell on 25th June 1918 and admitted to No.
39 Stationary Hospital at Aire-sur-la-Lys, where he sadly died,
age 32, three days later on Friday 28th June 1918.
His personal effects, strangely containing seven unopened
letters, were returned to his wife, Lizzie on 1st November
1918. The couple did not have any children and Lizzie
remained a widow until she married William Maynard at
Reading in the spring of 1942 at age 54. She died at Reading
in the summer of 1955, age 67.
Gnr. William Adnams is buried in Aire Communal
Cemetery, grave 3.E.5, 68 Rue de Saint-Martin, 62120 Airesur-la-Lys,
Pas de Calais, France. n
Branch Photographic Competition
Thursday 24th November 2011
The response and quality of entries to this season’s competition was excellent and
congratulations go to Chris Nash, who won first prize, with a photograph of the grave of
a recently buried unknown soldier, ‘Late on Parade’, at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz,
Somme, France. Nigel Parker was runner-up with a photograph of Chichester Cemetery.
‘Late on Parade’ Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz
Photo: Chris Nash
6

Millicent Duchess of Sutherland Ambulance
by Bridgeen Fox
Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland, was born in Fife on 20th
October 1867 and married Cromartie-Leveson Gower in
1884, when she was just seventeen. In 1892 she became the
Duchess of Sutherland. She was a society beauty, a successful
London hostess, whose portrait was painted in Stafford
House by John Singer Sargent. She was an omnivorous
reader, wrote fiction which included a book entitled ‘ Seven
Love Stories,’ published by Heineman in 1902 and her war
memoir, ‘Six weeks at the War,’ published in 1915 by A.C.
McClurg , 1915.
She was a serious activist for social reform and one of her
projects was to form a technical school in Golspie, Scotland,
but she will probably be best remembered for establishing,
in 1896, the North Staffordshire Cripples’ Aid Society, a
charity with the aim of training a number of crippled boys
in North Staffordshire and teaching them a trade, ‘generally
assisting them to obtain a living when, by reason of their
misfortunes, they are disqualified from doing so through the
usual channels.’ In 1902 the Guild began to do practical silver
smithing and was soon producing handicrafts of a very high
standard in the Arts & Crafts Movement.
Her Involvement in philanthropic schemes at home was
interrupted when war was declared on 4th August 1914.
Millicent had persuaded the French Minister of War to
exempt her from those regulations forbidding foreigners
from serving in French hospitals. She had also enlisted the
Portrait of Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland
1904 by John Singer Sargent
help of Winston Churchill in overcoming entrenched Royal
Army Medical Corps opposition to her plans.
At the time British organisations, individuals and groups
of friends, gave lavishly of funds, stores and the services of
trained nurses to the French, Belgian and Serbian Allies and,
by 17th August 1914, Millicent had installed an ambulance
with eight trained nurses and a surgeon, Mr Oswald Morgan
of Guys’ Hospital, in Namur. This became the No.9 Red Cross
Hospital (Millicent Duchess of Sutherland’s Ambulance)
and it was established in the Convent of Les Soeurs de Notre
Dame. On 22nd August 1914 German forces attacked Namur
and the hospital was inundated with wounded soldiers. In her
book ‘Six Weeks at the War,’ which is really a diary, she gives
a graphic account of her experiences on that day:
45 soldiers were brought wounded mostly by shrapnel but
a few were bullet wounds which inflict terrible gashes but
if taken in time rarely prove mortal. The wounded were
all Belgian – Flemish and Walloon or French, many were
Reservists. Our young surgeon, Mr. Morgan, was perfectly
calm and so were our nurses. What I thought would be for
me an impossible task became perfectly natural: to wash
wounds, to drag off rags and clothing soaked in blood, to
soothe a soldier’s groans, to raise a wounded man while he
was receiving Extreme Unction, hemmed in by nurse and a
priest, so near he seemed to death; these actions seemed
7

‘A Madame la Duchesse de Sutherland, Homage respectueux et très
reconnaissant d’un simple soldat,’ by Victor Tardieu
‘Bourbourg, 1915’ by Victor Tardieu
suddenly to become an insistent duty, perfectly easy to
carry out.’
She also found herself seeking the men’s rosaries from
the purses in which they carried them because they wanted
to hold them in their hands. Their small hospital had to take
all the wounded who were brought to them because there
were already 700 in the military hospital and the smaller Red
Cross ambulances were full. She is full of praise for the nuns
and her staff:
What a blessing our ambulance was to Namur,’ she writes;
‘no one until these awful things happen can conceive of the
untold value of fully trained and disciplined British nurses.
The nuns were of great use to us, for they helped in every
possible tender way, and provided food for the wounded.
The hospital was disestablished after the German
Occupation of Belgium but it would be re-established in
November 1914 at the Hotel Belle Vue at Malo-les-Bains,
Dunkirk, as an evacuation hospital with the capability of
providing 70-100 beds for sick or wounded. No.9 Red Cross
hospital became a Tent Unit at Bourbourg in July 1915 and
was known as ‘The Camp in the Oatfield,’ immortalised in
the vivid paintings of Victor Tardieu, a French soldier who
had fought in the trenches. He painted canvasses ‘en plein
air,’ depicting life in the tented camp at Bourbourg in bright,
vivid colours.
Many of these paintings were dedicated to the Duchess
by Tardieu: ‘A Madame la Duchesse de Sutherland, Homage
respectueux et très reconnaissant d’un simple soldat,’ is the
dedication for one of the paintings.
Later that year, No.9 Red Cross Hospital closed in
preparation for a move to Calais where it opened on 12th
January 1916 as a hospital for British wounded initially for
one hundred beds but later increased to one hundred and
twenty.
The Visitors’ Book for No.9 Red Cross Hospital contains
the signatures of a huge variety of prestigious visitors
including the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, the President
of the Canadian Red Cross Society and by personnel from
the international Ambulance Units from America and
Australia. On 14th July 1917 King George V, accompanied
by Queen Mary and Prince Edward visited the hospital and
signed the Visitor’s Book.
In 1915/16 Lady Randolph Churchill wrote an article
‘Amongst the Wounded’ in a series entitled ‘Our Women
Heroes’ which was about women working for the Red Cross
at home and overseas. She praises the Duchess of Sutherland
for her work as ‘Directress in station to all matters of supplies
and pecuniary import in her hospital.’
In March 1918 No.9 Red Cross Hospital moved to
Longueness, near St Omer, followed by another move in
September 1918 to 20th November 1918.
The constant change of locations of the hospitals was
recorded by a nurse who was an avid post-card collector
and managed to acquire a postcard of every place in which
she worked. Her name was Uma Tomlin Hunter who came
from a military family in Northumberland. She was born in
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1886 and in April 1915 she enrolled
as a VAD in Northumberland and was sent to France to serve
8

with the No.9 Red Cross Hospital, where she served the major
part of her duty. In April 1918 she was posted to the Duchess
of Westmimster’s No 1 Hospital and a post-card written at
the time indicated that the Queen of the Belgians had visited
the hospital and presented the Duchess with the Order of St.
Elizabeth.
Uma was discharged from the VAD, on 28th November
1918, whilst at the No.1 Hospital. For her service as a nurse
during the War she was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British
War Medal and the Victory Medal. She was also awarded the
Belgian Medal of King Albert 1914-18.
No.9 Red Cross Hospital, administered and financed
largely by the Duchess, was recognised for its efficient use
of a new, revolutionary treatment of wounds known as
the Carrel-Dakin treatment. This consisted of constantly
irrigating wounds with a highly diluted antiseptic of sodium
hypochloride and boric acid. The main advantages of this
treatment were that old infected wounds could be cleaned up
and healing quickened and that the general condition of the
patient improved almost immediately once the treatment had
begun. The hospital also had provided excellent treatment of
fractured limbs by means of suspension and extension. The
total number of patients treated between 12th January 1916
and 20th November 1918 was five thousand nine hundred
and fourteen.
Millicent was an indomitable woman who became
passionately involved in the war effort, tending to the
wounded. She went on to run one of the Red Cross Hospitals
in Calais until the end of the War. For her efforts throughout
the War she was awarded the Belgian Royal Red Cross, the
French Croix de Guerre and the British Red Cross.
She spent much of the rest of her life in France where
she died on 20th August 1955, age 87. She was cremated in
Paris and her ashes were returned to the Sutherland private
cemetery at Dunrobin. n
‘Bourbourg, september 1915’ by Victor Tardieu
King George V and Queen Mary at No.9 Red Cross, Calais
IMPORTANT REMINDER!
European Health Insurance
Card (EHIC): Expiry Date
To those members who intend to travel to the Western
Front this year, just a reminder to check the expiry
date on the back of your EHIC card. If it needs
renewing then the easiest and most efficient way is
to renew online through the Department of Health
(DH) official website at www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/
Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/Applyingandrenewing
but not more than six months before it expires.
The card is free so make sure that you renew it
before you go abroad so you can relax knowing that
you are prepared for all eventualities. Your card will
normally arrive within seven days. You can also
apply by phone on 0845 606 2030 or by post using
an application form available from some post offices.
Don’t forget to check your passport as well!
9

The Kronstadt Raid, 18th August 1919: The Other Boats
by Niall Ferguson
In The Poppy, issue 27, dated September 2011, I gave the
personal account of Sub-Lt. Frank Howard onboard CMB 86
and the actions of CMB 72 in the raid. But what happened to
the other boats?
Whilst Frank Howard had been escaping the attentions
of Fort Alexander, in and around Kronstadt harbour the
other boats had been having varied success that, nevertheless,
amounted to a great victory, possibly the greatest dividend/
resources ratio ever achieved by the Royal Navy.
In summary:
• CMB 4 (Agar): Fired his single torpedo through the
entrance of the military harbour and succeeded in hitting
a group of patrol craft. Observed and returned safely.
• CMB 24 (Napier): Fired at the destroyer Gavriel which
was guarding the harbour entrance but the torpedo
passed underneath and the destroyer then engaged CMB
24 and sank her. Napier was taken prisoner with his
wounded No.2, Giddy.
• CMB 79 (Bremner): Sank the submarine depot ship
Pamyat Azova. CMB 79 then collided with CMB 62
(Brade) and Bremner had to destroy his boat before
clambering to safety on the mole to be taken prisoner.
Sub-Lt Usborne was killed.
• CMB 62 (Brade): After assisting CMB 79, also attempted
to torpedo the Gavriel but the torpedoes passed
underneath and CMB 62 was also sunk by Gavriel’s guns.
Brade was killed.
• CMB 31 (Dobson): Both torpedoes hit and sank the
Petropavlovsk (which only had about 2 metres of water
below the keel). Returned safely to base.
• CMB 88 (Dayrell-Reed): Dayrell-Reed was shot in
the head as he started the run towards the Andrei
Pervozvanni. With remarkable initiative his No.2, Gordon
Steele, took over and completed a successful attack. They
got back to base but Dayrell-Reed died.
Overall, three CMBs had been lost and four officers,
including Brade and Dayrell-Reed and three ratings had been
killed. Three officers and six ratings had been taken prisoner
and were later repatriated. It is sad that those who were
killed in action could not be decorated (only the VC could
be awarded posthumously). Those who lived were awarded a
rich and well-deserved harvest of medals:
Commander Claude Dobson, DSO
VC
Lieutenant Gordon Steele
VC
Engineer Lieutenant Commander Francis Yates DSO
Lieutenant Augustus Agar, VC
DSO
Lieutenant Russell McBean, DSC
DSO
Act. Sub-Lieutenant Edward Bodley
DSO
Sub-Lieutenant Roland Hunter-Blair
DSC
Sub-lieutenant John Boldero
DSC
Sub-Lieutenant Robert Wight
DSC
Sub-Lieutenant Edgar Sindall
DSC
Act. Sub-Lieutenant Francis Howard
DSC
Act. Sub-Lieutenant Norman Morley
DSC
Lieutenant James Fairbrother, RAF (and 3 DFC
other RAF officers)
In addition, Rear Admiral Cowan was made a baronet,
Baronet of the Baltic. Those taken prisoner such as the brave
Lieutenant Bremner were also later awarded DSOs and DSCs
and fifteen ratings were awarded the DSM. Frank was thrilled
that, on his recommendation, his Engineer Officer and his
First Lieutenant received a DSO and DSC respectively. It is to
be supposed that he regretted having broken down as, if he
had succeeded in torpedoing the Rurik, he would probably
have received a VC, although considering the likely size of
the resultant explosion had Rurik’s cargo of mines gone up,
he would not have been at the ceremony!
Again, let us take up Frank’s account to his mother:
The next day I dined with the 1st Lieutenant of the destroyer
who towed us out here and after dinner the servant I had
in her (the destroyer) came to the Wardroom and said “Mr
‘Oward, Sir. The ‘ands would like you to speak a few words to
them”. So, fortified by a glass of port, I went forward armed
with a couple of charts and a piece of chalk and went over
the show for their benefit. They clapped loudly when I had
finished. The next day we went to the funeral of one of the
officers who had been killed during the show but his boat
10

had come back (Lieut A. Dayrell-Reed, DSO, in CMB 88). The
next night my Sub (Wight) and I dined with the Captain of
the destroyer.
Next day we were towed down to Revel, alias Reval, alias
Tallina. The first name is English, the second is German, the
third Estonian. We had a rotten trip going down, water coming
over all the time. It took us 14 hours with nothing to eat or drink
and one of the crew feeding the fishes at regular intervals
(being sick!). When we got to Revel it was 11pm. I thought, Ah!
Bath! and turn in to go inside (the harbour) in the morning. On
our way in we passed four minesweepers hooting their sirens
and the destroyer turned her searchlights on to us. I did not
know what it was for at the time but found out afterwards that
they were cheering us. When the destroyer dropped anchor,
she said we were to go inside immediately as everyone was
waiting for us. So while they were getting our gear down in
the boat I had something to eat and drink.
Then we started in (to enter harbour) and the racket
started. All the ships in the harbour turned their searchlights
on to us and cheered like mad fools. Then the Lucia, the
submarine depot ship at Revel started in. She had her rigging
lined with the submarine crews and an Esthonian band
playing “Tipperary”. The men cheering themselves hoarse.
No one had the sense to chuck us a line as we came alongside.
However we made fast. My Sub went over onto the other boat
which was inside me and they started talking to the officer
who had towed us in. I was just squaring off a few things before
I went over and I heard scraps of conversation like this: “You
go first Steele”. “No I think Yates should etc.,etc”. Then they
The Approaches to Petrograd (St. Petersburg)
spied me who had not heard what was on. So they sang out
our crews. One rather senior officer pressed one of the men,
to me and I went across. They told me to go up so I started
a lifelong T.T., to have a glass of port and it so upset him that,
to climb the ladder and thought they had a meal ready for us
to put it in his own words: “I felt so bad and dizzy Sir, I had to
and a bath. But when I got to the top of the ladder a crowd
go straight and turn in”.
of ruffians (officers) seized us and launched us into a sea of
This went on for about an hour and a half. Lt.-Col. Pirie
whiskey, brandy and handshakes in the Wardroom. Here we
Gordon in charge of the British mission to the Baltic Provinces
were introduced to Captain Nasmith, VC and we introduced
made me tell the whole yarn again for the Estonian papers.
11

I forgot to mention that only two boats came down to
Revel (CMBs 88 and 86). The other boat that came broke down
just as she got to the flagship on her way back from Kronstadt.
Then we had a bath and turned in.
Next day we got our engines out and in the afternoon
three of us went with some of the submarine officers for a
picnic on the river. We sailed over to the river and got canoes
at the mouth and went up the river to a place known to them
where we had tea and buttered eggs (eggs and butter are very
cheap at Revel). We started back at 6 thinking we would have
plenty of time to be back by 8 when the Engr. Lt.Com (Yates)
the captain of the other boat (Gordon Steele) and myself had
to dine with Captain Nasmith (Martin Dunbar-Nasmith VC) but
the wind dropped and we had to pull (row) all the way across
arriving at 8pm exactly. It was one wild rush to get changed.
We managed by being only 10 minutes late. We had a very
nice dinner and a quiet evening.
The next day was Sunday (24th August 1919). In the
afternoon I went on the river again. That evening we were
to dine at the English Civil Mission so I thought if I was back
by seven it would be in plenty of time. I arrived back by five
minutes to seven and was told the cars were leaving at seven.
Another rush but I managed it before Capt. Nasmith, who was
also dining there, was ready. We arrived at a very gorgeous flat
that had once belonged to M. Girard, a Baltic Baron.
There then follows a description similar to that of the
Zeebrugge reunion, describing further celebratory dinners
which were mainly characterised by the vast amount of
alcohol consumed ergo.
coastal motor boats
We started off with a sort of strawberry cup and then went
in to dinner where everyone seemed to be constantly filling
your glass with white vodka, red vodka, Rhine wine and
Cognac. Several other N.O.s besides us, but we were given a
central position. One poor grey, or nearly white, headed old
RNVR Lieutenant, had to be taken home at half time, having
lost all interest in proceedings. We CMB people stuck it like
heroes to the last drop.
They also dined our crews in another room. These as they
collapsed were taken home in motor cars. We watched the
mode of procedure of one little hero. He was carried down
to the car as stiff as a poker by six very cheery Estonian sailors
who, when they arrived at the car, immediately dropped him
and fell on top of him.
Next morning I went down to my boat and found one of
the mechanics lying down. I asked him if he felt like work, he
said he did. He got up, seized his cap and fled on deck and
tried to be sick but failed dismally so one of the seamen, not
to be outdone, immediately turned round and was violently
sick over the stern.
After this we lived the life of normal human beings. We
stayed three weeks and returned to Biorko last Sunday (14th
September).
In the autumn of 1919 British forces, including
the monitor HMS Erebus provided gunfire support to
General Yudenich’s White Russian army in its offensive
against Petrograd. The Russians tried to disrupt these
bombardments by laying mines using the Orfey Class
destroyers, Azard, Gavril, Konstantin and Svoboda. Frank’s
CMB was involved in these actions as the CMBs were
stationed so as to be able to rescue the crews of any seaplanes
forced to land whilst spotting for HMS Erebus’ guns, a duty
which meant that Frank, “was ten hours in my boat, soaked
through almost from the start as it was rather rough. The
Bolshies’ shooting was very poor. Our ships were calmly at
anchor bombarding while the Bolshies fired back at them.”
The latter three Russian ships were sunk in a British
minefield on 21st October 1919, during an attempt to defect
to Estonia. The White army’s offensive failed to capture
Petrograd and on 21st February 1920, the Republic of Estonia
and Bolshevist Russia signed the Peace Treaty of Tartu which
recognised Estonian independence. This resulted in British
Naval withdrawal from the Baltic, and Frank’s return to the
UK. n
12

The Bridcutts of Benson
by Rob Lovesey
Some months ago, I was given a copy of “War Memorial
and Graves Book of Remembrance, Benson, Oxfordshire”. It
was whilst preparing to undertake my annual pilgrimage to
the Western Front, I thought it would be a nice idea to visit
the graves of the fallen from the village. One name became
particularly interesting, that of John Henry Bridcutt.
Born in 1874 to John Bridcutt, a general labourer, and
Amelia Owen, John Henry’s life would be moulded by a tragic
up-bringing and military discipline. By the age of six, John
Henry Bridcutt had endured the death of his mother in 1879.
His father, left with three small children, Agnes, John Henry
and Charles Amos, had to take on a housekeeper, Esther,
whilst continuing to work as a labourer in the fields and
providing for his family.
Benson War Memorial, Benson, Oxfordshire
Little is known about the life of young John Henry. It is Charles went to St. Albans, Hertfordshire and enlisted
apparent that he did well at school and was able to read and into the 7th Bn East Surrey Regiment in June 1916 and
write; this is evident as his attestation papers for enlistment after his training was sent France in the October. He served
into the army had his trade or calling as a Clerk.
with distinction at Beaumont-Hamel, Arras and Vimy
What is not apparent is what his home life was like; Ridge, where he was killed in action on 3rd May 1917. He is
his father had married the housekeeper and settled into commemorated on the Arras Memorial, bay 7, Avenue du
domesticity, having seven further children. You can draw Mémorial des Fusillés, 62000 Arras, Pas de Calais, France, as
your own conclusions but the census shows that Agnes, John his body was never found.
Henry and Charles Amos were to leave the village at a very John on the other hand, at the age of 19, enlisted with the
young age.
1st Bn Coldstream Guards on 3rd July 1893, signing on for
seven years initially. He was to have a remarkable career with
the Coldstream Guards.
Within eight years of his enlistment he would rise to the
rank of Sgt. Major. He was to serve with distinction with the
Guards in the South African War, where he was Mentioned
in Despatches twice.
In August 1914, he took up the position of Garrison Sgt.
Major, London District, although his career was to take an
entirely new path by March 1915 and see him elevated way
beyond his very humble beginnings in Benson.
The high casualty rates in 1914, especially among British
Officers forced the Army to seek potential commission
entrants from the ranks. John with his excellent record for
organisation was selected and was elevated to “Temporary
Gentleman”. He was appointed to a commission as 2nd
Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry on 6th March 1915.
I believe, however, that he never served with this Regiment
for on the same day he was transferred to the 7th Bn
Bedfordshire Regiment. Within ten months of being with the
Bedfords, he was to be promoted to Temporary Captain.
In the early summer months of 1916 Captain Bridcutt’s
professionalism was exercised. When acting as Adjutant to
the Battalion he was responsible for the organisation and the
preparedness of the Regiment for the forthcoming Battle of
the Somme. At about midnight on the 30th June 1916 the
7th Bn Bedfordshire Regiment, part of the 54th Brigade, was
concentrated in the trenches just outside Carnoy, for the
assault on the morning of the 1st July.
13

The 7th Bedfords acquitted themselves on the opening
day of the Battle of the Somme, as they advanced, as if on
parade, the waves were perfectly dressed, with intervals and
distances kept extraordinarily well. The machine gun fire
however was to be very active and casualties were seen to
occur before the German Front Line was reached but the
British wave continued relentlessly on.
The Battalion was all but leaderless by the time they
reached the Front Line and Emden Trench, with nearly all
officers having been either killed or wounded. The assault
continued on towards Bund and Pommiers Trenches, where
the Germans managed to check their advance. Working
with the men of the Berkshire Regiment, on the Bedfords’
right, they managed to push on through the uncut wire that
checked the advance and got into Pommiers Redoubt, the
second Objective. The Bedfords losses were heavy with 321
casualties that day.
Captain Bridcutt was to survive and was to be Mentioned
in Despatches on 15th June 1916 and twice more whilst
he was appointed Second-in-Command of 7th Bedfords
as Temporary Major. John Bridcutt went on to be made
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. His excellent
work with the Bedfords was rewarded by promotion to
Lieutenant Colonel on the 8th August 1917 and command of
the 2nd Bn Royal Irish Rifles.
In the early hours of 30th September 1918, Lt.-Colonel
Bridcutt led his men into the front line near Becelaere in the
Ypres Salient. At 1355 hrs the 107th Brigade, to which the
2nd Royal Irish Rifles belonged, received orders to move up
Grave of Lt.-Col. J.H. Bridcutt DSO,
Dadizeele New British Cemetery
Names of John and Arthur Bridcutt on
Benson War Memorial
and attempt to seize Klythoek. It was found to be impossible
to advance owing to the devastating German machine-gun
fire and there being no British artillery available to target
the German positions. The attack frittered out and the men
sought cover wherever they could from both the enemy fire
and the elements, until dawn and further assault.
The next day found the dawn full of heavy wet mist. The
2nd Bn Royal Irish Rifles advanced again but was unable to
make any advance on account of machine gun fire. The front
Companies swept by this devastating machine-gun, soon lost
direction in the heavy mist. Lt.-Colonel Bridcutt attempted to
reorganise them, like he had done so many times before, but
on this occasion he was killed 150 yds north of Carton House.
The attack petered out with the 2nd Bn Royal Irish Rifles
suffering about 183 casualties. John Bridcutt is buried in
Dadizeele New British Cemetery, grave 3.E.17, Beselarestraat
79-93, 8890 Moorslede, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
The war had claimed its second Bridcutt child. The War’s
bloodlust however, did not cease there for the Bridcutt family.
Of the seven Bridcutt boys, five were to serve in the military,
the other three, not already mentioned, being:
Albert George Bridcutt He served with the 80th
Company, Royal Garrison Artillery, surviving the war to die
in Reading in 1934.
Francis Edward Bridcutt He was a Gunner with 471st
Seige Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. He too survived the
war and died in 1934 in Warwickshire.
Arthur Elijah Bridcutt He too was a Gunner in the
Royal Field Artillery, attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery.
14

In 1919 he was part of The North Russian Expeditionary
Force who fought with the Russians against the Bolsheviks.
On 10th August 1919 the NREF, supported by naval assets
were to assault the River Dvina. Owing to the abnormally
low water in the Dvina, the Naval Flotilla was prevented from
proceeding so far up the river and had to be abandoned. The
British and Russian Army however continued with the attack
under Brigadier-General Sadleir-Jackson. The attack was a
complete success and executed with a minimum of losses,
believed to be 55 mainly British, with the enemy’s casualties
estimated at 1,200 with 2,296 prisoners. Unfortunately, the 23
year-old, Arthur Elijah Bridcutt was one of the few casualties
on that day. Arthur is buried in Troitza Churchyard, North
Russia but is commemorated on a Special Memorial
headstone in Archangel Allied Cemetery after Troitza
Churchyard became ‘unmaintainable’ in the period following
the First World War during the Soviet era.
A third Bridcutt had been cut short in the service of his
King and Country. It is, therefore, a stark reminder that one
small community, like so many up and down this country
had to give much to the war effort. n
The Death of Charles Frohman
by Chris Nash
I may have mentioned that close
explosion, followed by several
to the First World War memorial on
smaller ones.
the green at Marlow (see The Poppy,
As passengers began to panic,
issue 27, dated September 2011)
Frohman stood on the promenade
there is another very interesting
deck, chatting with friends
memorial to an American civilian,
and smoking a cigar. He calmly
Charles Frohman, a theatrical
remarked, “This is going to be a
producer who loved Marlow
close call.” Frohman, with a disabled
and died when the Lusitania was
leg and walking with a cane, could
torpedoed in 1915.
not have jumped from the deck
Charles Frohman made his
into a lifeboat, so he was trapped.
annual trip to Europe in May 1915,
Instead, he and millionaire Alfred
to oversee his London and Paris
Vanderbilt tied lifejackets to “Moses
“play markets”, sailing on the Cunard
baskets” containing infants. At the
Line’s RMS Lusitania .
final moment, Frohman quoted his
Charles Frohman Memorial,
Songwriter Jerome Kern
Marlow
greatest hit, from Peter Pan: “Why
was meant to accompany him
fear death? It is the most beautiful
on the voyage but overslept, after being kept up late adventure that life gives us.”
playing requests at a party. On 7th May 1915, Frohman Actress Rita Jolivet, the only survivor of Frohman’s
entertained guests in his suite and later at his table. party, was standing with Frohman as the ship sank. She
At 2.10 pm, within fourteen miles of the Old Head of later said, “with a tremendous roar a great wave swept
Kinsale and with the coast of Ireland in sight, a torpedo along the deck. We were all divided in a moment, and I
from the German U-Boat, U-20 struck the Lusitania on have not seen any of those brave men alive since.”
the starboard side. Within a minute, there was a second
15

Charles Frohman died a month and a week short
of his fifty-ninth birthday. His body was later washed
ashore below the Old Head of Kinsale and it was later
determined that he was killed by a heavy object falling
on him, rather than by drowning. His body lay among
147 others awaiting identification, where a rescued
American, identified it from newspaper photographs.
His body, alone among all the others, was not disfigured.
His funeral service was held on 25th May 1915 at the
Temple Emanu-El in New York City and he was buried
in the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens,
New York. Services were also arranged by some of his
stars in other American cities: by Maude Adams in Los
Angeles, by John Drew in San Francisco, by Billie Burke in
Tacoma and by Donald Brian, Joseph Cawthorn and Julia
Sanderson in Providence, as well as memorial services at
both St. Paul’s and the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
in London. Frohman was also eulogized by the French
Academy of Authors in Paris.
Links between people can go on and on!
For example:
Frohman promoted J.M. Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’. Barrie was a close
friend of Arthur Llewelyn Davies, who had five sons, one of
whom, George Llewelyn was killed in Ypres, on 15th March
1915. He is buried in grave 2.E.2 at Voormezeele Enclosure
No.3, Ruuschaartstraat 1-31 8902 Ieper, Belgium. His entry
in the CWGC records state:
DAVIES, GEORGE LLEWELYN, son of Arthur and Sylvia
Llewelyn Davies. Step-son of Sir J.M. Barrie, Bart, Model for
Barrie’s ‘Peter Pan’. Educated at Eton and Trinity College,
Cambridge.
Last photograph of Charles
Frohman on board the Lusitania
Also drowned on the Lusitania was Alfred Vanderbilt who
was travelling with Frohman. Alfred Vanderbilt owned a large
log-house retreat in New York State called ‘Sagamore’ www.
greatcampsagamore.org/great-camp-sagamore. In addition, he
owned the house opposite mine, also called ‘Sagamore’! This
house is on the river and is now owned by the singer Vince
Hill. My house is built on the opposite side of the road in what
was the kitchen garden.
Below is an interesting article on Vanderbilt’s last hours
on the sinking of the Lusitania http://rmsLusitania .info/pages/
saloon_class/vanderbilt_ag.html#family After the ship was
torpedoed, Alfred and his valet Ronald Denyer calmly assisted
several women and children to safety. Fellow passenger Oliver
Bernard, while searching for Stuart Mason, almost collided
with Vanderbilt in the A Deck saloon class entrance. Oliver
was surprised by Vanderbilt’s composure, and Oliver would
never forget the grin on the millionaire’s face.
Alfred was heard remarking to another passenger, “Well,
they got us this time, all right.” On B Deck, Second Steward
Robert Chisholm saw Vanderbilt “vainly attempting to rescue
a hysterical woman.” Chisholm shouted, “Hurry Mr. Vanderbilt,
or it will be too late!” Vanderbilt did not listen and continued
assisting the women and children. Thomas Slidell saw him put
a lifebelt on a woman’s shoulders and then walk away without
saying a word. The truth was that Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt,
the renowned sportsman and ladies man, did not know how
to swim. Even so, Alfred made no attempt to push his way
through the mad crowd and into a lifeboat. As it was, “men
of his standing were not supposed to panic” (Hickey/Smith,
223). One of the last people to see Vanderbilt was Owen Kenan,
on the port side near the verandah café. Owen jumped with
Denyer at the last minute but Denyer did not survive.
Nurse Alice Middleton, a second cabin passenger, is
thought to have accepted Vanderbilt’s offer of a lifebelt.
Vanderbilt helped her put it on, but before he could finish
16

securing it, the Lusitania took her final plunge and water
enclosed them, separating the two.
Page 2 of The New York Times, dated Tuesday, 11th
May 1915 contained an article in tribute to Alfred Vanderbilt,
purported to be by Mrs. Ethel Lines. She later claimed it to be
a reporter’s invention (Ethel left the Lusitania on a starboard
boat whereas Vanderbilt was on the port side):
People will not talk of Mr. Vanderbilt in future as a millionaire
sportsman and a man of pleasure. He will be remembered
as the children’s hero and men and women will salute his
name. When death was nearing him he showed gallantry
which no words of mine can describe. He stood outside
the palm saloon on the starboard side of the Lusitania with
Ronald Denyer by his side. He looked around on the scene
of horror and despair with pitying eyes. ‘Find all the kiddies
you can, boy,’ he said to his valet. The man rushed off
collecting children and as he brought them to Mr. Vanderbilt
the millionaire dashed to the boats with two little ones in
his arms at a time. When he could find no more children he
went to the assistance of the women and placed as many as
he could safely in the boats. In all his work he was gallantly
assisted by Denyer and the two continued their efforts until
the very end. I hope the young men of Britain will act with
the same cool bravery for their country that Mr. Vanderbilt
showed for somebody’s little ones.” n
New Book Release
‘The Germans in Flanders 1914’ by David Bilton, published
by Pen & Sword Military, 176 pages, paperback, fully
illustrated with rare black and white photos, ISBN 978-1-
848844-45-2, RRP £14.99
German Army in Flanders
1917-1918, are currently
being prepared for
publication later
this year in July
The Germans in Flanders 1914, is the latest book from Thames Valley
branch member and historian David Bilton, in the popular ‘Images of
War’ series and follows the presence and campaigns of the Kaiser’s
Army in Flanders during the traumatic period from its arrival in August
1914 through to the end of the year. It covers the battles with the
French, Belgians and British, concentrating primarily on the British and
particularly 1st Ypres. Many of the German divisions involved in this
battle were formed of reservists and, in many cases, untrained student
volunteers. Their high casualty rate gave rise to the inter-war myth of
the ‘Slaughter of Innocents’.
Each phase and aspect of the period is described from the German
point of view in photographs, captions and text from German and
British primary and secondary sources. Using many images that have
never been published before, activities at the front are complemented
by life in the German rear areas and on the home front. Just how much
and December
respectively.
David is a
popular and
prolific writer and
his previous publications are all still
readily available from www.pen-and-sword.co.uk and other outlets:
• Hull Pals: 10th, 11th, 12th & 13th Battalions, East Yorkshire
Regiment
• The Trench: the Full Story of the 1st Hull Pals
• Oppy Wood (Battleground Europe Series)
• The Home Front in the Great War: Aspects of the Conflict
1914-1918
• The German Army on the Western Front 1916-18
• The Germans on the Somme 1914-1918
the war changed the towns and villages also becomes clear. The book
helpfully contains a chronology of events and a section on the German
divisions that fought there.
The final two volumes of The Germans in Flanders in the ‘Images
of War’ series, entitled The German Army in Flanders 1915-1916 and The
• The Germans at Arras 1914-1918 n
17

Planning a trip to France? L’Automobiliste … PRENEZ GARDE!
For some years now it is has been strictly forbidden under
Article R413-15 of the French ‘Code de la Route’ (highway
code) to carry a speed camera detector in a vehicle in France,
regardless of whether or not it is being used. Penalties can
include fines of up to 1,500 euros (£1,290) confiscation of the
device and of the vehicle. Until recently this legislation did
not apply to satellite navigation or other GPS/phone based
systems, capable of displaying fixed speed camera locations
as points of interest (POI).
However, a new French law came into effect from 3rd
January 2012, to extend the carrying of such devices to
include Satnav or GPS/phone systems capable of showing
speed camera sites as POI.
As well as now banning these devices, the French
government is actively installing around 400 new fixed
speed cameras and taking down road signs that indicate the
location of existing fixed speed camera sites.
What should you do? If you have a Satnav device
capable of displaying camera locations in France, then
you must at least disable the speed camera alerts before
driving in France. It is recommended that you contact the
manufacturer of the Satnav for advice as it is likely that a
software or database update is available to actually remove
speed camera data from the device for France. Those drivers
who have a Satnav system built into their car should contact
the vehicle manufacturer in the first instance.
The French Police are not allowed to investigate your unit
GPS/Phone etc. but the Customs & Excise (Douanes) can do
so by law and it is reported that checks are likely to be made
when leaving ferry or Eurotunnel terminals.
Encore … PRENEZ GARDE! Another new motoring
law that is being introduced into France, this July, is
the requirement for all motorists to carry a single-use
breathalyser kit in their cars, so that they can test themselves,
as necessary, to ensure they are below the French drink-drive
limits. Motorists found with between 50mg and 80mg of
alcohol in their blood can be fined €135 (£116) and lose six
out of 12 points on their driving licence. Above that, then a
driver risks a fine of €4,500 (£3,880) the loss of his licence
and a prison sentence 0f up to two years.
Motorists are being urged to carry at least two of the
single-use breathalysers, to show the police that they have
a ready-to-use kit available, if stopped. The Police will, of
course, use their own breathalysers to carry out any roadside
test.
Those drivers caught without a kit will risk a fine of €11
(£9.50) but the French have stated that there will be a period
of grace until November 2012, before they start issuing
penalties. Breathalyser kits cost between £1 and £2 each and
will be available from ferry and Eurotunnel terminals on this
side of the Channel.
French Police are expected to carry out random checks
on drivers to ensure that they understand the latest drinkdriving
rules.
Just a reminder of what you will now be compulsorily
required to carry when driving in France:
• Breathalyser
• Luminous vest (gilet)
• Warning triangle
• GB sticker or number plate with EU logo
• Motor insurance certificate
• Headlamp converters
• BOTH paper and photo card parts of UK driving licence
Recommended:
• Spare bulbs for external lights
• Fire extinguisher
• First-aid kit n
18

Branch Battlefield Tour 2012 –
Messines, Third Ypres and Courtrai
Remembrance Day at Brock Barracks
Passchendaele in the Autumn of 1917
Sunday 10th June to Friday 15th June 2012
Thanks to the efforts of Don Farr and Ian
Fenne everything is now in place for this
year’s tour with reservations at the Albion
Hotel*** in Ieper confirmed and travel
arrangements for the mini-bus, cars and
P&O Ferry crossings all booked. Planning
for the trip is well under way and presenters
will be busy researching their chosen
subjects over the next couple of months.
Mike Lawson will be shortly drafting the
itinerary, following recces to the areas
around Mesen (Messines), Passendale
(Passchendaele) and Kortrijk (Courtrai) by
Don, Mike and Michael Orr in early April.
Sunday 13th November 2011
The Chairman, Bridgeen Fox, about to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph,
Brock Barracks, Reading at the Service of Remembrance
19

The Poppy by email
To continue receiving The Poppy by email, please inform
the editor, at lawsonm100@aol.com, of any change to
your email address, as soon as possible.
Please note that The Poppy can also be viewed
online by simply going to the WFA website at www.
westernfrontassociation.com and finding it listed within
Branch Newsletters under WFA Branches.
Charitable Donations
Branch Committee Meeting on 9th February 2012
The Branch Committee on your behalf has made a
charitable donation of £25 from branch funds to the War
Memorials Trust and a further donation of £50 to the
Trooper Potts Memorial Fund.
The War Memorials Trust was established in 1997
to protect and conserve the symbols of our shared
heritage and history. There are War Memorials at risk
and the War Memorials Trust needs your help to protect
them from deterioration through weathering, ageing
or vandalism, or simply to prevent them from being
sold and discarded. For further information visit the War
Memorials Trust website at www.warmemorials.org
Remembering the Great War
at Prospect School
“The Prospect 1000” Project: Update
The ‘Prospect 1000 Memorial’ was dedicated at Prospect
School, Tilehurst, Reading on 11th November 2011.
Designed by the pupils this is a living Memorial with a
different name featured every week and is maintained
by a different Tutor Group. The photograph shows Sixth
Form student, Laura Holder, standing next to a picture
of her great-great-grandfather, Corporal Ernest Alfred
Brown, 1st/4th Bn Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, killed in
action on the 16th August 1917 and buried in New Irish
Cemetery, Briekestraat, 8900 Ieper, West-Vlaanderen,
Belgium.
For more information about ‘The Prospect 1000
Project’ see The Poppy, issue 26, dated March 2011
20
Members’ Contributions
Brief articles, preferably not exceeding
1,200 words and accompanied by large,
high resolution images or photos, are
most welcome from members for
publication in The Poppy. Should anyone
have any items that they wish to share
with the membership, then please send
them to Mike Lawson, preferably by
email, at lawsonm100@aol.com or by post
to Stewards Field, Mill Road, Dilham,
North Walsham, Norfolk NR28 9PU, or
hand them to him at any branch meeting.

Programme for 2012*
Details of the meetings for the remainder of our 26th season
are set out below and the Branch Committee hopes that
you agree the programme offers a wide variety of different
subjects to meet most interests. However, should you have
any comments on the programme or suggestions for future
topics and speakers then please let us know.
All meetings are held at the Berkshire Sports and Social
Club, Sonning Lane, Reading on the last Thursday of each
month (except December) commencing at 8.00 p.m.
29th March 2012 – Prof. Richard Grayson BA, D.Phil
“The Belfast Boys: How the Unionists and Republicans fought side by
side in the First World War”
Belfast’s Loyalist murals depict many images of the First World War. The 36th Ulster
Division, in which so many forebears of today’s Ulster Loyalists fought and died, is a
regular theme for these gable-end remembrances. Alongside the 36th was the 16th
Division, which recruited Irishmen from Belfast, England and elsewhere. The 36th
contained many members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the 16th included
many of the pro-Home Rule Irish Volunteers. Yet, instead of fighting it out in a civil war
on the streets of Belfast, the UVF and the Volunteers fought together at the Somme.
While the 36th is heavily remembered, the 16th merits no equivalent memorialising
among Nationalists. The 36th Division, with its strong associations in Protestant
Belfast, is the chosen symbol of the Unionists’ war-time sacrifices. The 16th reminded
Nationalists of their service for Britain and her Empire but, when British troops were in
Northern Ireland, they had no desire to commemorate the fact.
26th April 2012 – Paul Cobb
“Fromelles, 1916”
At Fromelles in July 1916, two divisions - one British and one Australian - within a few
weeks of arriving in France went into action for the first time. Their task was to prevent
the Germans from moving troops to the Somme, where a major British offensive was in
progress but the attack on 19th/20th July 1916 was a disaster with 7,000 casualties in
just a few hours. Paul’s talk explores this battle, which for many epitomises the futility
of the Great War. During that brief time many heroic deeds were done but the battle
caused a souring of Anglo-Australian relationships and truly was a baptism of fire for
these British and Australian troops. This is their history.
31st May 2012 – Ian Cull
“Battlecruisers, Lions or Lemons?”
As part of his redesign of the Royal Navy from 1900 to 1908, Jackie Fisher introduced a
new class of heavy cruiser, which combined the firepower of a battleship with the speed
of a cruiser. At the battle of Jutland, in 1916, they proved to be a disaster, with three
being sunk with almost all their crews. Was the design flawed, or were they victims of
Admiral Beatty’s leadership?
28th June 2012 – Jon Cooksey
“All’s Well With England, Poulton’s On His Game, Ronald Poulton Palmer:
Sporting Legend and Soldier”
Ronald Poulton Palmer was one of the England’s biggest rugby stars before the First
World War, playing 17 internationals and scoring eight tries. He was born in 1889 and
was a member of the Huntley and Palmer family. Ronald was set to inherit the well
known biscuit manufacturing business but on the outbreak of war volunteered to serve
with the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet at Ploegsteert
Wood on 5th May 1915, age 25.
*See full list in next column
Programme for Next Season
September 2012 to June 2013
The programme of speakers for next season is now
confirmed. Please make a note in your diary of the
following dates for speakers and topics:
27th September 2012 – Taff Gillingham
The Development of Uniforms and Equipment of the
Great War British Infantryman
25th October 2012 – Andy Robertshaw
Ghosts on the Somme
29th November 2012 – Tony Taylor-Neale
Germany at War - Taking on the World
20th December 2012 – Edward Dixon
Postcards of the Great War
31st January 2013 – Prof. Gary Sheffield
tba
28th February 2013 – Verne Littleyl
The Basra CWGC War Cemetery and Memorial to
the Missing – World War 1 to 2005
28th March 2013 – Fraser Skirrow
How Tactical Capabilities Developed in one
Territorial Battalion from 1916-1918
25th April 2013 – Stephen Cooper
The Final Whistle: A History of the Great War in 15
Players (Rosslyn Park Rugby Club)
30th May 2013 – Aimée Fox-Godden
The word ‘retire’ is never to be used – Command in
the 9th Brigade AIF at First Passchendaele 1917
27th June 2013 – Prof. John Derry
General Horne
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Our Speakers up to the end of the Season
26th April 2012
PAUL COBB lived in Tilehurst for a number of years before
moving to Lechlade, Gloucestershire with his wife and
family. He first visited the battlefields in 1969 and has been
a regular visitor there ever since, including several annual
tours with the Thames Valley branch. Paul joined the WFA
in 1984 and served as a member of the Thames Valley
Branch Committee during the 1990s. In addition, he was
also national Membership Secretary for several years before
becoming Vice-Chairman. Paul has had a life-long interest
in the Australian Forces in the Great War which, in 1989,
prompted his research into the attack at Fromelles, where
the Australians played a major role. An extensive array of
sources were studied including material at the IWM and
AWM, many unpublished accounts as well as interviews with
veterans in the early 1990’s. His new book on this disastrous
attack by two divisions entitled, ‘Fromelles, 1916’ was
published by The History Press in 2010.
31st May 2012
IAN CULL was born in Jamaica where his father was serving
with the Royal Engineers. He grew up in army camps in
Munster, India, Aldershot, Rheindahlen, and Cyprus before
escaping to join the Merchant Navy, where he spent the next
eight years. After leaving the sea, Ian worked for IBM and the
NHS and obtained a history degree with the Open University
before retiring in 2002. Although initially interested in
maritime history, he was converted to shore based studies
after attending a course run by Colin Fox at Bulmersh
College in 1992 called “Aspects of the Western Front”, and
was recruited by Colin into the Thames Valley Branch soon
after. Ian worked as a researcher for Colin on the four books
which cover the Royal Berkshire Kitchener Battalions on
the Western Front. In collaboration with the Regimental
Museum in Salisbury, Ian has published two further books
on the Royal Berkshire Regiment, namely the First Battalion
1914-1918 in 2004 and the Second Battalion 1914-1918 in
2005. During 2008 he helped with the research for Maiwand:
The Last Stand of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment in
Afghanistan, 1880 by Richard J. Stacpoole-Ryding, published
by The History Press, 2009 (see issue 20 of The Poppy dated
March 2009).
28th June 2012
JON COOKSEY was educated at Carnegie College, Leeds;
Nottingham University and Dalhousie, Nova Scotia. He is a
prolific author on subjects as diverse as the First World War,
Elite Forces Operations and John Masefield. His first book
for Pen and Sword was ‘Barnsley Pals - A History of the 13th
and 14th Battalions of the Yorkshire and Lancaster Regiment
1914-1918’, which has recently been re-published in hardback
and was also part of the team that developed the format for
the Battleground Europe series of guidebooks. Jon edited the
military magazine ‘Battlefields Review’ for two years and was
responsible for re-designing and re-branding the publication.
He is currently the editor of the WFA journal, ‘Stand To!’
Jon has been involved in several radio and TV programmes,
including a documentary on Reading’s VC Trooper Frederick
Potts and is currently helping raise money for memorial to
the VC in Forbury Gardens, Reading. He lectures on military
history topics to a variety of audiences ranging from schools
to university groups and institutions nationally. Jon has
tutored courses for the Continuing Education Departments
at both Reading and Oxford Universities. He is a member of
the WFA and of the Guild of Battlefield Guides and has led
battlefield/genealogy tours to the Western Front, Normandy,
the Falklands and the World War Two Channel Ports.
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