WCA newsletter 161 August 2017

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INDEX ACRES 21 Art 15 Autumn Tidy 45 Bale Area Bus BACT 38 Bowls 39,41 Brish Legion, Royal 10 Brownies 11 Community Hall 25 Cricket 36 Draw 25 Editorial 3 F3 21 Fete 24 Football 35,40 Fred Milward 27 Friendship 29 Golf 39 Guides 11 Hearing 11 Horcultural 7 Hospice 26 Hub 18,19 Jumble 19,37 Library 17 Love in a box 17 Lunch Club 30 Methodist church 21 Parish Church 22,23 Parish Ch. Friends 13 Parish Hall 15 People's Page 9 Planning 46 Playgroup 34 Ramblings 16 School & Dates 12,32 Scouts 19 Surgery 8 Tennis Club 41 Tennis, Courts 41 W.I. 31 WCA Council 25 Window on Wesield 42‐45 WW1 5 Youth 30 Coffee Morning ~ every Thursday from 9 am Sky Sports & BT Sports Pool Table Monthly Quiz CHILDREN’S GARDEN PLAY EQUIPMENT LIVE MUSIC THE PLOUGH The Moor, Westfield TN35 4QR 01424 751066 Mari & Kate welcome you to this 17th Century Inn A family run pub with traditional values Home Cooked Food and Fine Ales FOOD SERVED Lunchtime: Tues - Sat 12 - 3 pm Sunday Lunch 12 - 6 pm Senior Citizens Lunch: Tues - Friday 12 - 3 pm £5.95 Evening: Tues, Wed, Thurs Fri & Sat 6 - 9 pm Curry Night every Thurs. Fish & Chip Night every Fri 6 - 9 pm Mondays - Open from 5 pm - Bar only Whitegates Retirement Home Westfield Lane Westfield TN35 4SB 01424 754865 You are cordially invited to WHITEGATES SUMMER FETE Saturday 9 September 2017 1.30 p.m. onwards Please contact Whitegates in advance if you will be attending as a Summer Buffet is provided - this will help with the catering. 4
IN REMEMBRANCE Kindly submitted to the WCA newsletter by Simon Knight with Ruth Carter FREDERICK GEORGE TAYLOR Private - L/9960 - Signals Section, 1 st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, attached 6 th (Poona) Indian Division Born 1891 in Westfield the third son of William Henry (farm labourer and waggoner on farm) and Mary Taylor of 1, Kent Street, Westfield. The 1901 census records Frederick living with his parents and four siblings at Norton’s Cottages, Kent Street, Westfield. Ten years later the census finds Frederick, then aged 19 years, living with his parents, five siblings and a boarder in four rooms at Norton Farm Cottages. Frederick was then working as a farm labourer. In mid-1912 Frederick joined the Royal Sussex Regiment. Two years later at the outbreak of war in Europe Private Taylor was serving with the 1 st Battalion in Peshawar, India (now Pakistan, near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass) as part of 1 st (Peshawar) Brigade, 1 st (Peshawar) Division, Indian Army. As an experienced signaler Private Taylor’s expertise would have been of use to the Expeditionary Force then serving in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). He was therefore transferred, with his section, to Basra, where they were attached to the 6 th (Poona) Indian, Division, then advancing west up the river Tigris. Frederick landed in Mesopotamia on 3 rd October 1915 in time to join General Townsend’s advance toward Baghdad. Townsend’s forces had made good progress up to this point having overcome all Turkish resistance as far as Ctesiphon, only 16 miles southeast of Baghdad. Here on 22 nd November 1915 the British and Indian troops of the 6 th (Poona) Division again engaged the Turkish army in a two-day battle that resulted in heavy casualties on both sides and the subsequent withdrawal of both forces. Following the battle General Townsend decided it was no longer feasible to continue the advance and that he should fall back on his lines of communication. Once the Turks realized that the 6 th Division was withdrawing they turned in pursuit bolstered by fresh troops. The pursuit continued until early December when Townsend decided that he would turn and stand at Kut-al-Amara – a small town in a sharp U-bend in the river which he could turn into an entrenched camp. Whilst the Turkish Army laid siege to the town Townsend waited for a promised relief column from Basra. Over the next few months several desperate attempts were made to break the siege, however, the weather, flooding and the determination of the Turks prevented the relief column from getting through. By April 1916, five months after they had entered Kut, conditions had deteriorated to such a point that surrender was the only option. Food had been rationed for most of their stay and toward the end they had been forced to eat their own horses – the Indian troops suffered the most as they refused to eat the meat on religious grounds. However, after five months of poor and insufficient rations every man shut up in Kut was in a deplorable condition. Some supplies were dropped from the air, but it was insufficient to continue holding out. On 29 th April the garrison in Kut surrendered, but not until all the war material artillery, rifles and communication equipment was made useless. The next day the men of the 6 th Division were marched out of the town some eight miles north to Shamran. Here they waited with little or no shelter in the blazing sun until the 6 th May when they began a forced march to Baghdad, although, in very poor health and with little medical assistance they managed to march 100 miles in eight and a half days. After arriving in Baghdad, and being paraded through the city, the men, now separated from their officers, were held in unsheltered enclosures in appalling conditions. Food and water was scarce if any could be had at all. Continued on page 6 5
Page 1 and 2: Westfield Community Association New
Page 3: Westfield Community Association New
Page 7 and 8: WESTFIELD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AUT
Page 9 and 10: From Sylvia Huggett, Westfield Hima
Page 11 and 12: westfield trees Specialist in all a
Page 13 and 14: Hastings Old Town 01424 721650 Fish
Page 15 and 16: Experienced cleaner for all your do
Page 17 and 18: A.M.B ELECTRICAL SERVICES Extra soc
Page 19 and 20: 1 ST WESTFIELD SCOUT GROUP hat a wo
Page 21 and 22: Meetings: September 21 at earlier t
Page 23 and 24: Westfield Parish Church Contacts: R
Page 25 and 26: Westfield Community Hall Workhouse
Page 27 and 28: Fred Milward - D Day Hero t is with
Page 29 and 30: Westfield Friendship Club On the ho
Page 31 and 32: Westfield WI Members connue to enjo
Page 33 and 34: Plough Pool This quarter the pool a
Page 35 and 36: Westfield Youth Football Club This
Page 37 and 38: JB MOWER SERVICES FOR THE SERVICE A
Page 39 and 40: Westfield Fellowship Golf Society T
Page 41 and 42: Martin Chandler Painting & Decorati
Page 43 and 44: May Council held it’s Annual Gene
Page 45 and 46: 45
Page 47 and 48: FREEHOUSE Main Road Westfield TN35

WCA newsletter 161 August 2017

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