the
GADDESDEN DIARYRemembrance Supplement
1918-2018
WINTER 2018-19
www.littlegaddesden.org.uk
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
The Legion Remembers
A hundred years ago the war, that was to end all wars, was over. Out of the
aftermath of the worst war the World had known, the Royal British Legion and
the Poppy Appeal were founded
to support those in need. A
century later there are those
who still need that support.
The aim of the event in October
was not only to commemorate
the end of hostilities but also to
highlight the intervening years
of the century in which the
World changed forever. All
families have their own stories
to tell; not only of the residents of Little Gaddesden a hundred years ago but also
those who live in the village today. We wanted to provide the opportunity for
people, of all ages, to come
together to share their memories.
Throughout the exhibition it
became very clear we had
unearthed a wealth of interest
and people were spurred on to
revisit, or even discover, long
forgotten memorabilia or artefacts
of their own.
The comments received, both on
the day and since, have been very
complimentary and very much
appreciated by the hard working individuals who contributed to the exhibition.
May I, on behalf of the Little Gaddesden Branch of the Royal British Legion, thank
all those concerned for their invaluable contribution, support and attendance
which guaranteed the success of the event.
In conclusion, I ask your continuing support for the Royal British Legion and for
the Poppy Appeal. It is important that we continue to honour our sacred promise,
not only to the casualties of two world wars, but also to the generations since
then that have made the ultimate sacrifice - We Will Remember Them.
Air Cdre J B Mitchell, CBE, AFC, RAF (Ret’d)
President of the Little Gaddesden Branch of The Royal British Legion
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
ORGANISING TEAM
Wendy Mitchell Karen Skinner Lyn Hyde Glenda Cooper
EXHIBITORS
Richard and June Abraham Ray and Eve Domeney Anne Isherwood
Jenny Birks John Mitchell Stuart Green John Allen
Lyn Hyde David and Anne Heard Jane Dickson
Mike Walsham Andrew Sheard Doug Adams Rob Irving
Karen Skinner Sarah Gall Chris Mawhood Tim Cooper
Alison Townsend Great Gaddesden School
ARTWORK and PUBLICITY
Bill Paterson Virginia Westmacott Karen Skinner
CATERING
Glenda Cooper
Virginia Westmacott Jane Murray Carolyn Wise Monica Tisdale
MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY
Kevin Smith Phil Richardson
SCHOOL LIAISON
Shaun McCarthy Jo Bushe Rev John Russell
MEET and GREET TEAM
Anne Wooster Josie Jeffrey Paul Woods
DISPLAY BOARDS
Courtesy of Mick Thompson and Ashridge House
DISPLAY MATERIAL
Wyevale Garden Centre, Great Gaddesden
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
Richard Abraham
My small exhibit included a 1914-18 photograph of my maternal Grandfather,
Alfred Fear (Somerset Light Infantry & Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry) in his
Hospital Blues, having been invalided back from the trenches before going back
and fighting in both battles of the Somme. He lived until the age of 87.
Also on display were two of his Second World War Medals - the 1939-45 Defence
of the Realm Medal and his Special Constabulary Long Service Medal with 1940
Bar, along with a photo of my mother's Godmother in her Nursing Auxiliary
uniform. 1916.
Finally, my paternal Uncle, Sergeant Kenneth James Abraham’s, Royal Air Force,
1939-45 Medal, awarded posthumously - he died in an aircraft accident in 1944
- together with the Under Secretary of State for Air by Command of the Air
Council citation, which accompanied the Medal, to his parents.
Doug Adams and Rob Irving - Race to the sea
We have made a number of visits to the Western Front
and the last trip was actually driving the front line,
well the October ‘stalemate’ 1914 line.
We drove to ‘km 0’ on the French, Swiss, German
border - a full day of travel and then walked that area.
We then headed north following the front from
Pfetterhaus through the Vosges hills up to the bloody
battlefield of Le Linge, and on to the reinstated trench
systems of Massiges.
Chemin des Dames, which almost saw the French
army capitulate in mutiny was our next stop. The tiny
hamlet of Vingre where in 1914, six French soldiers
were ‘selected’ by straw poll for not defending with
sufficient bravery and shot at dawn - their final letters home bear testament to
the lack of justice - before wending our way via Cambrai.
The northern part of the front is where the British lines at the Somme and Ypres
are better known - the cemeteries at Tyne Cot and Lijssenthoek are so reflective
you pause for some while.
The race to the sea ends in Nieuwport where the Belgian king took the decision
to open the canal gates and flood the land to halt the advancing Germans.
880 kilometres of reflection.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
John Allen - My Father’s War
My Father joined the RAF in August 1941, aged 32. He trained as an equipment
officer and munitions specialist. In May 1942 he was despatched to RAF Tura in
Egypt, to a unit which was
unloading bombs and
ammunition from barges on the
Nile for storage in the caves which
had been created in quarrying
rock for the Pyramids. His arrival
coincided with the peak of the
German advance into Egypt, so
much of the supplies must have
been used in RAF support for the
8th Army fight back.
In January 1943, with the
Germans and Italians in retreat in
North Africa, he was transferred to Kenya, where the main role seems to have
been supply of equipment for a squadron of Catalina flying boats which was
looking for submarines in the Indian Ocean. He was overseas for 3 years and 3
months, returning in August 1945 to serve a further year in the UK, including a
spell as Commanding Officer of a Camp for Italian prisoners of war at an, as yet,
unidentified site.. His long service overseas was recognised by a ‘Mention in
Despatches’ in June 1945.
Jenny Birks
Jenny grew up in occupied Jersey and her exhibits included a number of
fascinating insights into life under
those most difficult circumstances.
In particular, Jenny showed the
remains a radio receiver which her
father had kept, so that the family
could listen to news from London
on the BBC. It was kept hidden
under the floorboards but
discovery would most certainly
have led to him being shot.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
Tim Cooper
My table contained a miscellany of Scouting and other books and documents
pertaining to the two World Wars. The highlight was the Scout Group Diary,
written by Bridget Talbot, covering the period from its foundation in 1911 to
about 1919. It lists the names of all the Scouts and Scout Masters from 1911 to
1919, many of whom served in the Army and the Navy in WW1, some of whom
never returned…
Jane Dickson
The display on local men who fought in the First World War and survived had
been researched intermittently over the past four years (and with increasing
determination as the exhibition
approached) starting with the
names on the Church Roll of
Honour. Using local and internet
resources and information and
photos kindly provided by
descendants, the aim was to work
out who these men were -
villagers, those who had married
into the village, Ashridge
servants, men who had come for
work - then to piece together
some details of their life stories. Pre-War professional soldiers, Territorial
Volunteers, boys who joined the Royal Navy aged 14 or 15, young men who
volunteered at the start of the war and those who clearly did not want to fight at
all were all represented. In the process of researching the Roll, another 20 men
were found whose names could now be added to it.
Eve Domeney
Our display was to show what happened regarding the Arctic Conveys and other
Campaigns which men like my Dad Wilfred Birdseye were sent to in the Second
World War.
Stuart Green
20 year old Alan Green was completing RAF Officer training in Torquay on 14th
November 1940, the night his home city of Coventry was obliterated by the
Luftwaffe. Keen to ‘have a go back’, Alan travelled to Canada for airborne training,
before joining 218 squadron Bomber Command.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
Alan went on to carry out 22 missions in Wellingtons and Stirlings including the
first 1000 Bomber raid on
Cologne, attacks on the battleship,
Scharnhorst, and a top secret
mission to bomb the Skoda factory
in the Czech Republic.
He was shot down twice, first time
in friendly fire and then over
Holland, after which he became a
Prisoner of War in Stalag Luft 3,
famous for the Great Escape!
After the “long march” of 1945 he was eventually liberated by the Russians,
although he sadly died in 1976, aged 56.
Stuart Green (Alan’s son and LG resident since 1996)
David and Anne Heard
With Anne’s father, who fought in World War II,
and my grandfather, who died at Passchendaele
in World War I, we had a common interest in war
history.
This led to a decision to track down the
memorials of those who died in World War I, and
later World War II, and whose names are on the
Little Gaddesden memorial.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
Whilst visiting WWI battle areas we were able to
collect various items relating to the war, such as
spent bullets, bits of larger shells, an old Army
boot, an Army helmet, etc., all found on the battle
fields. In addition, we purchased
other items of interest such as
Princess Mary’s Christmas
boxes to the troops from 1914,
one of which still had some of
the original contents, death
plaques sent to the family when
a serviceman died, and
examples of trench art.
Anne’s mother had made a
collection of her family’s
memorabilia from the time of WW2. This included Anne’s ration books and
identity card, her Mickey Mouse gas mask as an evacuee etc., with newspapers
of the time.
Christine Mawhood - Women in Two World Wars
Women working and volunteering in many different organisations and Home
Front Life.
My mother’s typical three roles with cards and ID tag My aunt’s work with UNRRA
- United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration - in post war Germany.
Wooden items made by displaced persons at Wentorf and Government reports
from information gathered from Women’s Institute members leading to welfare
reform.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
John Mitchell - Lightning
The RAF’s Lightning was the air defence aircraft that was fundamental to NATO
winning the Cold War. Neither the Soviets nor the American military had an
aircraft of comparable performance. Its rapid start capability, stunning
acceleration and superlative rate of climb made it the ideal interceptor to counter
the Soviet’s frequent and confrontational infringement of UK airspace with their
long range offensive aircraft. Aircraft were kept at five minutes’ readiness, in UK
and the RAF element in Germany, 24/7, year in year out, to counter this threat.
It was a demanding role but there was also the opportunity for other, perhaps
less onerous, activities which included performance demonstrations at airshows,
16 aircraft formation over London for Winston Churchill’s funeral and several to
celebrate HM The Queen’s Birthday. There were frequent detachments to Cyprus,
and beyond, during emergencies using tankers for air to air refuelling or less
frequent opportunities to attack specialist high threat targets similar to the U2.
I thoroughly enjoyed my 35 years’ service in the Royal Air Force and never
regretted my choice of career. One of the more extraordinary experiences was
being alone in the cockpit of my Lightning above 84,000 feet altitude, just east of
Edinburgh, the exceptional visibility allowed me a clear view of the curvature of
the planet as well as an unhindered view of Scotland and most of England. All
this in a clear sky and sunlit silence; a memory I will treasure until my dying day.
Andrew Sheard - Greg’s War
Andrew displayed some of the material from the Greg’s War collection
(see gregswar.com), which was
the subject of a Gaddesden
Society talk in April 2018.
Greg was Andrew’s grandfather,
and a pilot in the RFC and RAF in
the closing months of the First
World War, flying above the
Western Front. He flew RE8s in
artillery liaison patrols, locating
targets and directing the fire of
our artillery onto hostile
positions. This was the principal
role of the air forces in the Great War - a role that has to a large extent been
undeservedly forgotten today.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
Karen Skinner and Sarah Gall - Animals at War
Animals have always played a major part in British life as friends, companions
and helpers. What, until recently, has gone largely unnoticed is the significant
part they have played supporting our military and civilian service personnel in
all the major conflicts of the last 100 years.
The exhibition showed, through a video, the appalling conditions in which these
brave animals lived and
worked and how they lost
their lives (8 million
horses, 1 million dogs and
thousands of pigeons in
World War I alone) as well
as the many ways in
which they have been,
and continue to be, of
service.
Sarah managed to
persuade (don’t ask how)
the Household Cavalry at
Windsor to lend us one of
their saddles from Word War I and a roll of honour highlighted some of the
animals awarded the prestigious PDSA Dickin Medal.
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
‘Goodbye Old Man’Fortunino Matania (1881 - 1963)
The Soldier’s Kiss
Only a dying horse! Pull off the gear,
And slip the needless bit from the frothing jaws,
Drag it aside there, leave the roadway clear-
The battery thunders on with scarce a pause.
Prone by the shell-swept highway there it lies
With quivering limbs, as fast the life tide fails,
Dark films are closing o’er the faithful eyes
That mutely plead for aid where none awaits.
Onward the battery roll, but one there speeds,
Heedless of comrade’s voice or bursting shell,
Back to the wounded friend who lonely bleeds
Beside the stony highway where it fell.
Only a dying horse! He swiftly kneels
Lifts the limp head and hears the shivering sigh
Kisses his friend. While down his cheek there steals
Sweet pity’s tear; “Goodbye Old Man, Goodbye”
No honours wait him, Medal, Badge or Star,
Though scarce could war a kindlier deed unfold;
He bears within his breast, more precious far
beyond the gift of kings, a heart of gold.
Henry Chappell
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018
The Gaddesden Diary Remembrance Edition 1918-2018