BRIXHAM in the GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918 › onewebmedia › WWI_Booklet_Low… · The Great War€was a military conflict that involved 28 nations from€around the world. Many millions

There were no radios or televisions in those times. The people of the town learnt about the build upto the war in the newspapers. Ralph Gardner, a Brixham schoolboy, overheard adults talking about”a nasty man called Kaiser Bill” (Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany). He remembered ladies gathering inthe streets, worried about their husbands being called up.

Mobilisation

The reality of war, especially in the trenches of the Western Front (Belgium &France), was to prove very different……

Many young men were keen to join the army believing the war would “all be over by Christmas” andthey would miss the excitement and chance to play a part in defeating the Hun (the name given to

the German soldiers).

The Great War was a military conflict that involved 28 nations from around theworld. Many millions of people were killed or badly injured. When the Armistice

was signed on 11th November 1918 the world had changed forever.

On Sunday August 2nd 1914, even before warwas officially declared (on August 4th)Brixham’s Post Office delivered telegrams tomen of the Royal Naval Reserve, calling onthem to mobilise. Over 50 Naval Reservists leftBrixham that very day, on special trains forDevonport. The Army Reservists left town onWednesday August 5th

A nationwide call for 100,000 volunteers to jointhe army was made by Lord Kitchener onAugust 11th 1914, with the slogan “Your Kingand Country Need You”. On September 3rd 40men enlisted in Brixham and by the end of 1914over 200 had left to serve in the army, with afurther 400 in the Royal Navy.

1914 - 1918“Britain and Germany at War” was the headline in The Brixham

Western Guardian on 4th August 1914.

.

BRIXHAM in the GREAT WAR

“Like being in Hell - only worse!”

Letter from Harry Sydenham,

Corporal in the 90th Canadian

Regiment, to Furzeham School pupil

Albert Jeffrey Pope.

Post mark France 4h November 1915

“…We have been having

some very wet weather here

lately & our trenches have

several feet of water….

…We have to go in for 4

hours to help repair the

trenches where they have

fallen in and pump the water

out. There are lots of rats in

there… and we have to

keep our heads low, or a

German sniper would have

us.”

Life in the trenches revealed by letters and postcards, sent home by Brixham soldiers

The following extract is from a letterwritten by Lance-Corporal T.G. Hewsonof the 4th Dragoons which waspublished in the Brixham WesternGuardian Newspaper, Nov 5th 1915

“We spent time in thetrenches last night, it was likebeing in Hell - only worse,with shells and bullets flyingall around us. We wererelieved in the morning for awhile, but shall be at it againdirectly. Tell Rev. Harry that Iam still thinking of his sermonsand shall look forward tohearing more yet.”

“... I am still alive. We have

had several turns in the

trenches and made our

acquaintance with German

bullets & shells…

For 12 hours on the night of

February 25th we were up to

our knees in mud and water

and by the morning we were

bitterly cold, especially our

feet….”

Post Card from Walter Albert (“Bert”)

Grover to Miss Dorothy Shrives

, sent from France 9th.March 1915

A typical day’s work for the official rat catcher and his dog.

Brixham Women in the War

In 1917, Miss Boxer joined the Women’s Legion andserved in France as manager of the Machine GunCorps Officers’ Mess. Later, she was promoted toHead Forewoman in the Directorate of Forestry,supervising gangs cutting trees. Horses were used todrag away the cut-down trees for sawing up intosections. Huge quantities of wood were required fortrenches, military railways and the vast army camps.

Packing explosive (TNT) into artilleryshells was extremely dangerous workand the women becameknown as “canaries”from the yellowing oftheir skin resultingfrom exposure toTNT dust.

Nurses and soldiers outside the hospital.[Mary to the right of the nurse with the belt buckle].

Nellie was the daughter of Charles Atwill Shrives, a Brixhammonumental mason. She volunteered as a munitions workermoving to London in 1915 to work in the Woolwich Arsenal.Living quarters for the women munitions workers wasprovided in the nearby Ladies Hostel,Well Hall Road, Eltham.

Mary, a trained nurse, worked in Brixham’sCottage Hospital from 1917 - 1918 helpingto look after convalescing wounded soldiers.

Head Forewoman Olive Boxer, directing operations.

Munitions worker Nellie Maud Shrives

Brixham Children Play Their Part

Every week during the war about 12 million letters and parcels were delivered to soldiers serving onthe front line across the English Channel.Between 1914 and 1918 the boys of Furzeham School sent 296 parcels to men on active service, thegirls’ department presented Christmas parcels to wounded soldiers who were convalescing inBrixham. Soldiers on leave visited the school and gave talks to the pupils as well as donatingsouvenirs from the battlefields.After the war, the school set up an exhibition of memorabilia collected during the war years.

The leader of Brixham Sea Scouts, Jabez Lake, organisedthe boys into coastal patrols on the lookout for enemyactivity. Patrols went out every day after school. Oneevening in May 1916 a troop discovered a badlydecomposed body near Mansands. They dragged it ashoreand brought it back to the mortuary at Brixham. Later, onthe 4th May, one of the scouts, Alan Sanders Brokenshire(aged 14 years) after a short illness, died of meningitis. Hewas afforded a “full ritual of a scout funeral” attended byover 70 scouts in full uniform, and his coffin covered in theUnion Jack.

Photo: Alan Brokenshire (on the right)with his younger brother Tom.

Christmas card sent with Furzeham School parcel.

The Sea Scouts were taught semaphore, a method ofsending messages using coloured flags. A scout from thetroop, who went on to serve as a signaller in the army, usedthe semaphore when his telephone equipment failed on thebattlefield.

Horse Power During the fighting huge amounts of artillery, ammunition, food and water

supplies had to be moved from place to place.In August 1914 the army had only 80 motor vehicles. Guns and supplies were

mainly transported by horses and mules. Horses were also needed by thecavalry regiments.

Army Veterinary CorpsBy the end of the war in 1918, the British army employed an amazing 1 million horses and mules

on the battlefields. These animals endured horrendous conditions. Many were wounded byArtillery shell splinters and machine gun bullets; they were poisoned by gas or suffered from

exhaustion and exposure to cold and damp. During the war on the Western Front over 256,000animals died but over 520,000 had been healed and saved by the Army Veterinary Corps, which

earned the right to be called the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in 1918.

“No doubt you will wonder what theRemount section is. We are not in thefiring line but just a little way back. Whenthe artillery goes into action, they lose alot of horses. This is where we come in….They send to us and we supply(replacements). Mules play an importantpart in this war and we always haveplenty in stock.”

WITH THE REMOUNTS

“CALL THIS A REGIMENT -

IT’S MORE LIKE A BALLY WILD BEAST SHOW!”

Training horses & mules for war service was sometimes difficult!

Brixham born Trooper Squires and his horse

In 1914 The British Expeditionary Force needed150,000 horses but only had 20,000. Extrahorses had to be obtained by the Army’sRemount Department who trained them readyfor transportation to Belgium and France.Remount Commissioners regularly visited townsthroughout Britain to select and buy anysturdy horse, aged five years and upwards.In Brixham, inspections of local horses by theCommissioners took place at Bolton Cross.On 3rd September 1914, the Brixham WesternGuardian newspaper reported that “a batch ofhorses“ had been commandeered by theMilitary Authorities during an inspection.In the 24th May 1917 issue it was reported, thata horse belonging to local brewers Astley &Harvey had been taken for army service.

Letter from Private E Crang (from Brixham) on active service in France,Published in the Brixham Western Guardian Newspaper 14th Feb 1918.

German Submarine (U-Boat ) Menace

Brixham fisherman George Bridge was the cook on board the Terminist, when on 28th November1916 a single German submarine, U-Boat UB37, suddenly surfaced among the fleet whilst it wasfishing in an area known as the “eastern scruff” (25 miles W.S.W. of Portland Bill). The submarinefired on the fishing fleet. The Terminist managed to escape when the crew cut away the trawlinggear. Other trawlers, including the Sea Lark, Provident and Amphitrite, were not so lucky and weresunk by the shelling or scuttled by explosives placed on board by the German sailors. Fortunately,no fishermen lost their lives, all escaping in their small boats.A ship’s cat on one of the trawlers however, drowned when the ship sank. This cat had been with thecrew for over 12 years and was much missed.

Crew of Brixham sailing trawler GRATITUDE,being questioned by the U-boat that has captured

and sunk their vessel.

May

Commander

Leonora

Amphitrite BM-248Avance

Provident BM-291

Irex BM-11

Rion BM-257

Rosebud BM-187Day Spring BM-201

Gratitude BM-25

General LemanAddax BM-301

Varuna BM-43Perseverance BM-76

Ibex BM-27

Reindeer BM-3Sea LarkBM-13

Oryx BM-332

Idalia

Vulcan

Cariad BM-225Torbay Lass BM-264Ocean’s Pride BM-48

Onward BM-265Veronica

Curlew BM-227

Monarch BM-215Energy BM-165

Boy Dennis BM-247Precedent BM-324

Pursue BM-56

Consolation

Pemier BM-129

Muriel Franklin BM-159

Catena BM-299

Dorado

Favourite BM-240

Concord BM-91

Ethel BM-190 Clematis

Tor Bay

Brixham

N

KEY

Brixham trawlers sunkby U-boats during 1916September - November.

Brixham trawlers sunkby U-boats during 1917January - December.

Brixham trawlers sunkby U-boats during 1918January - February.

In 1915 German U-boats (submarines) started to blockade Britain, sinking all vessels, includingfishing boats. For safety, Brixham trawlers sailed to their fishing grounds in fleets. Without armed

escorts, over 30 of the 300 Brixham trawlers had been lost by the end of the war.

“Air Station” on Berry Head

In 1918 there was a Royal Air Force kite balloonobservation post in the “old fort at Berry Head”.The balloon was attached by a long rope to theheadland. Airmen would go up in an open basketslung under the balloon and look out for enemysubmarines and mine-laying ships off the coast.If spotted, the airman reported the position of theenemy vessels to Royal Naval ships, which thensailed out of Dartmouth to intercept them.

on the look-out for German U-boats &mine-laying ships.

In October 1918, ten of the Berry Head airmenbecame seriously ill with the flu and were sent toBrixham Cottage hospital. This highly infectiousdisease was passed on to the hospital’s nursingand kitchen staff. In town, the local schools andcinema were closed to prevent the spread of thedisease. Although the symptoms were severe,not everyone who caught the flu died. However,25 people did die from influenza in Brixham,including Captain Henry Rowe (Royal Engineers),who was buried in Brixham’s Parish Churchyardwith full military honours.

In 1918 influenza killed over150,000 people in Englandand Wales. Worldwide over

500 million were infectedand over 100 million of themdied (mostly young adults).

Brixham Heritage MuseumOld Police Station,

New Road,BRIXHAMTQ5 8LZ

Tel: 01803 856267E-mail: [email protected]

Introducing Brixham In The Great War © Brixham Heritage Museum 2014Research: Louise Cresswell, Philip L Armitage, Janet Petit, Hilary Emms

with Samantha Little, Mike Miller, Vivian Mifsud & Steve SoperText: Philip L Armitage & Janet Pettit

Design & Illustration: Rose Coulton & Nigel CoultonBrixham in the Great War Project funded by Heritage Lottery

Further information on the Brixham In The Great War Project is availableon our website

www.brixhammuseum.org.uk

Brixham War Memorial was unveiled and dedicated Sunday 30th April 1922.“For the perpetuation of the memory of the Brixham sailors and soldiers

who made the supreme sacrifice during the Great War 1914 - 1918”Among the names recorded is that of William Lear (Devonshire Regiment) killed May 20th 1915

(aged 16 years).The memorial was erected by local stonemason Charles Atwill Shrives - father of Dorothy & Nellie Shrives

mentioned on Pages 2 & 3 of this leaflet.

Brixham’s War Memorial