On this day in 1918, Sergeant Henry James Hartnell died.

Sergeant 557

Henry James Hartnell MM

18^th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers

Died 31st October 1918

Aged 30

Henry James Hartnell was born in Crediton in 1888, one of the three sons of John and Elizabeth. John was a travelling signalman on the railways. Both John and Elizabeth died when they were young, barely 40: John in 1894 and Elizabeth in 1898. Because of the death of his parents, Henry was living in an orphanage in Warminster in 1901, whereas his brother, Stanley George, was following in his father’s footsteps and was working as a signal lad in Exeter. We have no information on the fate of his eldest brother, William.

Henry’s military records have not survived but the 1911 census shows him at the Lancashire Fusiliers’ depot in Bury, serving as a drummer. We know little of his service, but it is unlikely that he entered the France and Flanders theatre of war much before 1916, as his Medal Roll shows no entitlement to an award for earlier service there.

Badge of the Lancashire Fusiliers

His regiment, the 18th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, also known as the 2nd South-East Lancashires, was originally formed as a Bantam Regiment, composed of healthy men between 4 ft 10ins (140cm) and 5ft 3ins (160cm) tall. They were named Bantams after the small aggressive fowl which became their emblem. Height notwithstanding, the 18ths was heavily involved in many actions in 1918, including the First Battle of Bapaume, the Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Courtrai, leading up to the Battle of Tieghem, which was an integral part of the final advance in Flanders.
 

On the 31st October, an attack was led by 104th Brigade, with the 19th Durham Light Infantry on the right, 17th Lancashire Fusiliers in the centre and 18th Lancashire Fusiliers on the left. The entry for the day in the Battalion War Diary reads: ‘The Battalion attacked for the 8th time since September 28th and gained the objectives by 11am. A heavy barrage assisted the attack and opposition was slight. About 125 prisoners and a quantity of war material was taken including ........3 message dogs’. For the 18th, the action resulted in the loss of 48 men killed, 221 wounded and 49 missing in action. Henry was one of those killed and was buried where he fell initially but his body was subsequently exhumed for reburial in Plot V.D.3 at the Vichte Military Cemetery, about 30 miles east of Ypres. This cemetery was started in October 1918, by the burial officers of the 9th and 31st Divisions, and the remainder formed after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the neighbouring battlefields. Vichte now contains 236 Commonwealth burials from WW1, 60 of them unidentified. Henry would have been one of the later additions. CWGC records show that he was exhumed and reburied on 9th September 1920, with the macabre footnote that his body was formally identified from a standard army name tag recovered at the time of exhumation.

Henry Hartnell's headstone in the Vichte Military Cemetery

At the end of October 1918, Henry was awarded the Military Medal for bravery posthumously. This is given for acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire or for individual or associated acts of bravery which were insufficient to merit the Distinguished Conduct Medal. It was the Other Ranks’ equivalent to the Military Cross (M.C.), which was awarded to Commissioned Officers. There is no mention of the reasons why Henry deserved this award but it was officially gazetted in the London Gazette in June 1919.

Extract from the War Diary of the Lancashire Fusiliers detailing the award of the Military Medal to Henry Hartnell

It is unlikely that Henry ever visited Stoke Climsland. His connection with the Parish is somewhat indirect and took a lot of research to establish. It can only come through his brother, Stanley George, who had become the traffic manager for the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway. Stanley was based at the station in Kelly Bray and lived locally.


Henry's brother, Stanley George Hartnell

List of the effects left by Henry Hartnell

Walk from Steinville-on-Sea to Harlyn Bay

The prospect of good weather this afternoon saw us take advantage of it and get another stretch of the Cornish Coastal Footpath under our belts - or feet. We headed west to fill in a long-standing gap between Harlyn Bay and Padstow. We parked at Harlyn Bay, caught a bus into Padstow and walked back. The weather gods were kind to us, a little windy and temperatures hovering around 8/9C but clear and bright: just the right conditions for walking.

A linear walk up the Camel Estuary, around Stepper Point and then along the coast to Harlyn Bay. It had its moments but it was relatively easy going. My GPS gave it as 6.7 miles. One to do again sometime, possibly when the flowers are out in April/May.

Padstow Harbour near where we started and near where we bought a lunch-time pasty from the Chough Bakery. Very nice they were too.

Looking back down the Camel across the sands of Harbour Bay. We took a shortcut across these but that should only be done at low tide.

Lots of wind surfers out where the open sea meets the estuary, quite close to the infamous sand bank called the Doom Bar. The name gives its notoriety away.

The 40ft stone tower on Stepper Point, known as "The Pepper Pot", was built as a daymark - a navigation beacon for seafarers during daylight. At 240 feet above sea level, it is visible from 30 miles away. When it was built in 1830, the daymark cost the sum of £29. The money was raised by giving donors voting rights in the Harbour Association: one guinea would buy one vote.

One for lovers of dry stone walls. There is lots of slate around these parts and this leads to a traditional herring bone pattern in some of the walls.

It is common to come across benches with memorial plaques at points on our walks. This walk was the benchiest we've seen. There were loads of them. So many, in fact, that if they were placed end to end, we could have done the route without having to touch the ground.

We generally take time out to read the dedications but, on this walk, there were too many. Here's one as a token of the many. Frank Bakewell invited us to sit a while and enjoy the view. We did. Thank you, Frank.

Back to Harlyn Bay with the ice cream van on the beach. What a sky. Just one of many.

 

On this day in 1918, Saddler Ernest Henry Rowland died.

Saddler 966507

Ernest Henry Rowland

 53^rd Brigade

Royal Field Artillery

Died 28th October 1918

Age 29

Ernest Henry Rowland was born in Treskinnick Cross village, near Poundstock in 1889, one of the six surviving children of Richard and Elizabeth. Richard was an agricultural labourer and the family seemed to have moved with his work. In 1901 he was employed as a horseman in Dinnacoomb, Jacobstow and in 1911, he was living at Old Mill in Stoke Climsland and employed again as a farm labourer. At this time, Ernest was staying at Dannett farm near Quethiock and working as a waggoner for Joseph Wenmoth.

The marriage certificate of Ernest Rowland and Lily Wills in 1916

We know that Ernest enlisted into the army in Callington but do not know exactly when. But it must have been before 1916 as, when he was married on 15th January 1916 at the Registry Office in Launceston, his profession is given as ‘Saddler, Territorial Royal Field Artillery’ and his address as Barrack Lane, Exeter. He was married to Lily Wills from Luckett, whose brother, Edward John Wills, sadly died in a Prison of War camp in Germany on 24th October 1918, just four days before her husband. At this point, Ernest’s Service Number was 2269 but this changed to 966507 when all Territorial Service Numbers were reassigned to 6 digit format on 1st March 1917.

At some subsequent point, Ernest joined the 53rd Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and travelled to the Middle East, probably disembarking in Alexandria. His Brigade would have been formed of three battalions, responsible for medium calibre guns and howitzers deployed close the front line. The armaments were reasonably mobile and, as they were horse-drawn, the skills of Edward and other saddlers were very much needed. The 53rd Brigade was involved, as part of the 3rd (Lahore) Division in activities against the Ottoman Empire Eight Army, culminating in the Battle of Tabsor in modern-day Palestine on 19th and 20th September 1918, an engagement that effectively neutralised the enemy threat. During this battle, the 3rd (Lahore), together with the 7th (Meerut) and 75th Divisions attacked the entrenched Ottoman positions defending the Tabsor defences. These defences were located in the middle section of the front line, assigned to the XXI Corps. On their left the Battle of Tulkarm was being fought, with the Battle of Arara fought on their right. Together with the cavalry phase, these battles make up the Battle of Sharon, which, with the Battle of Nablus, fought by the XX Corps and Chaytor’s Force, have become known as the Battle of Megiddo. Megiddo developed into a major set piece offensive, when large formations of the Allied Egyptian Expeditionary Force, attacked and responded to the reactions of three Ottoman armies, each time following a predetermined plan. The offensive resulted in defeat for Ottoman forces in Palestine, Syria and the Transjordan.

After this action, the 53rd Brigade was involved in general clean up operations around Jiljulieh in Gaza and the unit’s war diary does not mention any activity with the enemy.

War debris in the aftermath of the Battle of Tabsor

What caused Ernest’s death a month after the last reporting of any fighting was not wounds received but pneumonia, as his death certificate records. Another victim of a virulent epidemic that killed millions towards the end of the conflict and beyond. He is buried in the Gaza Military Cemetery, just outside of Gaza City, where many men from various Casualty Clearing Stations and General and Stationary hospitals are also buried. It contains 3,217 Commonwealth burials from WW1, 781 of them unidentified.

The Gaza Military Cemetery at the end of WW1 and before the work of the CWGC

 

Ernest Rowland's headstone in the Gaza Military Cemetery

Ernest’s outstanding wages of £13 14s 3p and War Gratuity of £18 10s were sent to his widow, Lily, after the war.

Details of the personal effects left to Lily Wills

 

 

Lerryn to St Winnow's Church walk - again

A sunny October day and 'The Lerryn Walk' yet again. It must be the 4th or 5th time we've done this one but it doesn't pall with repetition. A quick post with a few photographs.

We started and ended in the car park on the quay at Lerryn. The straightforward route took us down Lerryn Creek to St Winnow's church and then back over the fields to our starting point. Just over 5 miles.

The low tide meant we could get to the other side via the stepping stones.

Autumn colours in Ethy Woods

Looking back up the creek. This is part of a ria, a flooded river valley, not an estuary. Although they look one and the same to the uninitiated.

Detritus from the Sweet Horse Chestnuts that are plentiful along this stretch.

Looking down to where the Creek joins the River Fowey.

Looking down the Fowey towards Fowey. Not pronounced Fowee but Foy.

From St Winnow's churchyard. Another essay in infant mortality.

A nice collection of headstones.

Hello, what's Annie carrying up the road from her kitchen?

Our pasty lunches, that's what. And very nice they were, too. Beef and potatoes from the farm and all assembled in Annie's kitchen next door. Served from a small caravan for the summer months only.

Who can guess what this is for?  Our initial guesses focussed on compressions of some sort. Apple press? Straw bale press? Which of us was correct? Find out below.

St Winnow's church. I've written about this before. It's got a great spirit of place and the waterside location gives sit a very special feel.

A view from inside the church.

A late flying Speckled Wood butterfly. The only one spotted in the walk.

Back over the steeping stones at the end. Still low tide. Have we ever been there at high tide?

Looking down the creek - again.

The mystery implement revealed. It's actually the plug that was used for the, now drained, mill pond. It was in use until WW2 when the water wheel for the mill was taken down and the metal used to support the war effort. Instead of the threads being for compression, they were actually there to aid the 'pulling' of the plug.

Bye, bye - until the next time we do this walk.

On this day in 1918, Private Edward John Wills died.

Private 240646

Edward John Wills

 1^st/5^th Battalion

Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry

Died 24th October 1918

Aged 25

Edward John Wills, often known as John, was born in Stoke Climsland, in 1894, the only son of John and Betsy Anne Wills. He was baptised in the local church on the 6th May of that year. He seems to have had at least thirteen sisters. John was a copper miner and he and his family lived in Treovis Mill and Broadgate. John died in early 1901 and the census for that year records his widow living as a pauper with her son and six daughters at Treovis Mill. She remarried in 1909 to Francis Dawe, who was a general labourer, and lived at Luckett House, Luckett. We can assume that Edward John attended Luckett school and left to work as a general labourer, as he is listed in the 1911 census as having general work in fruit gardens.

Details of Edward’s military service are sparse. He seems to have had two service numbers, an early one of 2965 and the later one of 240646. This was not an unusual occurrence when a soldier changed regiments: whether or not this was the case with Edward is not known. He did enlist into the 1st/5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry at Bodmin but we do not know when or where he entered service overseas. We do know, however, that he was at the Front when his battalion became embroiled in the Battle of Estaires, an engagement in the Battle of the Lys (7th-29th April). This was part of the German Spring Offensive, originally planned with the objective of capturing Ypres and forcing the Allied Forces back to the Channel Ports and out of the war. Extracts from the History of the DCLI will put the involvement of Edward’s battalion into context: ‘Orders were received to take up a line east of Merville.......But the whole of the draft were youths without any experience of real warfare and the change practically from the barrack-square to the firing-line against a well-trained, war-bitten enemy was a terrible experience. Nevertheless these youngsters did very well, playing their part nobly in holding up the advance of the enemy and helping to rob him of victory’.

The 1/5th had put up a splendid fight over 11th-13th April but their losses were very heavy. No less than sixteen officers and 467 other ranks were killed, wounded or missing. Edward was one of the latter, not missing but wounded and captured by the Germans.

Limburg Prisoner of War camp

After the war, the belligerent countries involved provided lists of prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which created an index card for each prisoner and detainee. Edward Wills is one of these and his record card tells us what happened to him after his capture. He was taken at Merville on 12th April 1918 and had sustained a wound to the thigh. From the battle zone, he was transported to the Prisoner of War Camp at Limburg. Sometime thereafter he was transferred to the hospital at Munster Camp (Munsterlager) where he died of pneumonia on 24th October 1918. It is likely that he was buried, initially, somewhere close to the hospital. His final resting place is the Commonwealth War Graves area in the Hamburg Cemetery, closer to the city of Hamburg.

Edward Wills' headstone in the Hamburg Cemetery

During the First World War, Hamburg Cemetery was used for the burial of over 300 Allied servicemen who died as prisoners of war. In 1923, it was decided that the graves of Commonwealth servicemen who had died all over Germany should be brought together into four permanent cemeteries. Hamburg was one of those chosen, and bodies were brought into the cemetery from 120 burial grounds, including 130 from the Munster POW camp cemetery. Edward would have been amongst those transferred and reinterred in 1923. He is buried in Plot IV. C7.


International Red Cross Committee entry for Edward Wills detailing his POW status, where captured etc.

International Red Cross Committee entry for Edward Wills detailing his death

Listing of the monies due to Edward Wills' family



Edward Wills' War Medal that was sold in Plymouth a few years ago.

   

On this day in 1918, Private Horace Johns Griffin died.

Private 318066

Horace Johns Griffin

Army Service Corps

Died 22^nd October 1918

Aged 19

Horace Johns Griffin was born in 1899 at Downgate, Stoke Climsland, the eldest child of Frederick and Laura (nee Johns) Griffin. He had two sisters, Ida and Hettie, and one brother, Frederick. Horace was a pupil at Stoke Climsland School. His father had been a grocer and draper in Chillaton at the time of the 1901 census and the family subsequently moved to Lower Downgate. Frederick died in 1908 and his wife then ran the grocery shop and post office next to the chapel there. In the 1911 census, Laura is listed as grocer and employer. Two live-in grocery assistants also feature in the census return for the household. If you look closely, there are residual traces of the shop’s sign still visible on the outside of the house.

The Griffins' shop in Lower Downgate taken in 1908. Is that one of his sisters in the photograph? If so, which one? The sign can still be made out on the front of the present house. The chapel is now closed and converted into a home. The area is pretty much the same today.

Horace’s Service Record is available and shows that he enlisted, at the age of 17 years 11 months, with the Royal Army Service Corps (regimental no. 318066) as a Private on 7th January 1917 for the duration of the war. His pre-war occupation was given as an apprentice engine fitter and he was sent to serve at the Motor Transport depots at Grove Park and Battersea. He was admitted to hospital in Battersea on 17th March 1918 with chronic bronchitis, the condition being ‘considerably aggravated by exposure. Rales (small clicking, bubbling or rattling sounds in the lungs) all over chest, especially right side where musical signs predominate. Has been losing flesh. Cough troublesome in the morning. Very debilitated’. He was subsequently deemed to be ‘no longer physically fit for war service’ on 1st October and was discharged on October 11th 1918. He died 11 days later in Downgate. His death certificate records the cause of death as pleurisy and chronic meningitis. He was buried at the Methodist Chapel in Venterdon, together with his parents Frederick and Laura, the latter dying in 1955.

The Griffins' family grave and headstone in the graveyard at Venterdon Methodist Chapel. I did try to give it a clean but did not try too hard as I was very conscious of not disturbing the lichen and algae growing there.

The barely discernible 'entry' for Horace Griffin

Horace’s illness and time in hospital are fully documented in his Service Record and it seems that, at some stage, he was classified as a Chelsea Pensioner. This may suggest that he might have spent some time in hospital there.

For a while, it was the custom of families to produce memento mori which were given to friends and relatives of the deceased. This is the one for Horace Griffin

Detail from Horace Griffin's death certificate. I presume he died in the shop in Lower Downgate