Soldier Killed by Runaway Horses

Soldiers at Biscot Camp [Z1306/75/16/14]

Friday 3rd December 1915: The inquest has been held today at Luton Court House into the death of a soldier at Biscot Mill camp on Tuesday evening. Private William Griffith Williams of the 3/4th West Lancashire Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, a 23 year old soldier from Southport (Lancashire), was standing with a group of men who had just been dismissed from the stables on the right hand side of the road close to the stables. It was a few minutes after 5 o’clock and was growing dark. He was standing with Driver John Edward Williams and another young man name Welch lighting up cigarettes. Driver Williams looked up and saw a pair of horses attached to a van just twenty yards away and galloping towards them at full speed. He shouted and jumped to the right with Private Williams while Welch ran left. When he got across the road he turned and saw Private Williams underneath one of the horses. Another soldier, Driver James Donoghue of the 3/1st Welsh Royal Field Artillery was also knocked down and was taken to Bute Hospital suffering from shock and bruising. The unconscious Private Williams was taken into the huts and the doctor sent for. By the time the doctor arrived the young man had died.

The horses had been standing outside the bread stores attached to a van in the charge of Driver Richard Gooch, who was standing at the horses’ heads while the van was being unloaded. A motor van on military work with the Army Service Corps passed by, startling the horses and causing them to bolt. Driver Gooch lost his hold on the horses and was knocked over by the wagon. He ran after the horses, managed to get onto the back of the wagon and tried to get hold of the reins. When he found this was not possible he jumped off. Unfortunately it was too dark for the group of men standing in the road to see the horses until they were almost upon them. The driver of the motor van, Corporal William Herbert Crowley, said he was driving very slowly at the time. The jury agreed with the Coroner that it was a tragic accident for which nobody was to blame and returned a verdict of accidental death.

Sources: Bedfordshire Standard, 10th December 1915; Luton Times 10th December 1915

Flag Day for Wounded Horses

Scottish horse riding through Cople, 1914 [Z68/1]

Tuesday 14th September 1915: A flag day is being held in Leighton Buzzard today in aid of the R.S.P.C.A. fund for wounded horses. The committee is asking the public to “Buy a flag and help a horse”. It is said that 85% of horses treated in R.S.P.C.A. hospitals will be cured. Those who contribute can therefore do so in the assurance that their money will be well spent both in preventing suffering and in helping our forces. This is the only fund of its type recognised by the Army Council and carries out work of national importance.  

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 14 September 1915

Runaway Wagon at Biggleswade

Shortmead Street, Biggleswade 1913 [Z1306/16/18/1]

Monday 2nd August 1915: An accident which could easily have had tragic consquences occurred in Shortmead Street, Biggleswade this morning. The horses pulling a transport wagon belonging to the Signal Section Royal Engineers ran away from elsewhere in the town and bolted down Shortmead Street.  A cart belonging to Mr. Humphreys, a carrier from Northill, was standing outside Messrs. Woodall and Co.’s premises with Mr. Humphreys’ son inside. As the wagon passed the cart the horses and pole separated from it. The wagon caught the cart, totally wrecking it; the boy inside was extremely fortunate to escaping injury.

After hitting the cart the wagon ran on a few more yards, wheeled round and crashed into the bay window and glass door of Mr. W. Marsh’s house. Damage estimated at £6.10s was caused both to the window and door and to a quantity of antique china. Two little boys who were sitting on the doorstep had a miraculous escape. One suffered a slight injury to his foot and the other a grazed face. The horses ran on down the street until one fell near the Bridge, after which they were both secured. The wagon was only slightly damaged.

This was the second incident in the same area in three days. On Saturday an army van was being turned nearby at such a speed that the horses ran into the iron fence and hedge of Mrs. Pope’s house. The horses’ heads and legs together with the van pole were shot up into the air above the hedge and fence. It took about a dozen men to rescue the horses and get them and the van back into position. They went on their way apparently none the worse for the escapade.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle, 6 August 1915

Horses Burnt to Death at Luton

Fire engine outside Luton Town Hall after Peace Riots, 1919 [Z1306/75/10/23/20]

Wednesday 19th May 1915: The Luton Fire Brigade were called out this afternoon to a fire in a military stables occupied by the 4th Home Counties Brigade Ammunition Column. The stable, opposite the Steam Laundry in Dunstable Road, was well alight when the motor fire engine arrived. When the fire broke out in the forage stores there were twenty horses in the stable; two of these were burnt to death. The rest had been rescued by the time the Fire Brigade arrived, but unfortunately two other horses had suffered such severe burns that they had to be destroyed. Four more were badly burned.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette 25th May 1915

A Blind Soldier Recovers His Sight

18th Hussars on patrol, 21 August 1914 [Wikimedia]

Sunday 25th April 1915: Corporal Matthew Fowkes of Bedford has returned with a thrilling story about the recovery of his sight following a wound which left him blind for six months. Corporal Fowkes first volunteered for military service with the 3rd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment during the Boer War when he was 19 and employed at the Queen’s Engineering Works. After the war he returned to work at Messrs Allens, but subsequently joined the 18th Hussars. During the retreat from Mons in August last year he was struck on the back of the head by a shrapnel bullet. This killed the wounded comrade he had stopped to save and knocked him on to the railway line so that he lost his top teeth. He was able to find his own troop, and his fellow soldiers prised the bullet out of his skull. They were surrounded and made a dash for it along a steep bank. A shell hit his horse and they rolled down the bank together. His spine and stomach were severely injured, his right ankle smashed and his right knee dislocated.

After twenty-six hours Corporal Fowkes was found by a Belgian doctor stripped of everything but his pants by the Germans, who had left him for dead. When he late came to he was blind and a prisoner of war. While in hospital he made plans to escape wearing women’s clothing, helped by a Belgian nurse. These plans were interrupted on 5th January when he was operated on for his stomach injuries. Following this he was included in an exchange of prisoners and by February 19th he had been repatriated to Millbank Hospital. At three o’clock on the morning of February 21st he woke with a start, and realising he could just distinguish  the dimmed electric light in the ward he let out shouts of delight.  By morning he could dimly distinguish those passing the windows. He was then taken into the operating room and given electric shocks; from then on his eyes have grown gradually stronger.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 30th April 1915

[1] Corporal Matthew Fowkes appears to have subsequently lived in at 17, Stonegate, York. The York Prisoner of War Roll ofHonour gives his army number as 6451 and records that he was captured on 24 August 1914 and repatriated 19 February 1915. 

An Exercise in Good Manners

Scottish horse riding through Cople, 1914 [Z68/1]

Monday 24th August 1914 (Bedford): The Highlanders are still in town and are an ever present topic of conversation. Among the Bedford girls they are already winning a reputation as good dancers and good singers. The townsfolk may be a little too appreciative as the local newspaper carried the following notice:  “We have been asked to express to the people of Bedford the Commanding Officers’ grateful recognition of the many acts of kindness bestowed on their men, and to express the hope that the townsfolk will refrain from buying the men intoxicating liquors”. Whatever their drinking habits the behaviour of the men has so far has been entirely gentlemanly. An employee at the newspaper offices was cycling on a country road when he met a company of Scots exercising their horses who were taking up the entire road. The officer asked if he wanted to pass, then ordered the troops to clear the way for him.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 21st August 1914 and 28th August 1914

Missing Horses

RAMC band marching in Bedford 1914 [Z1306/12/5/41]

Sunday 9th August 1914 (Luton): Since the war started the army has been commandeering the horses it needs from the town. Requisitioning parties have been at work all week, and have not always shown much regard for the owners' feelings. A local doctor had his horse seized from outside his door: its hooves had been branded even before it was moved away from the house. 

Some organisations have been more successful than others. The Royal Army Medical Corps found itself in particularly difficulties. Representatives of the RAMC had been round the town and sourced all the horses they needed but had not actually requisitioned them. When they went back to claim the horses they found other parts of the army had got there first. In the end the RAMC were forced to leave town without the animals they needed.

Source: Luton News 13th August 1914