Munition Worker Fined for Drunkenness

Waller Street, Luton c.1905 [Z1306/75/10/60/3]

Monday 14th October 1918: Amy Lawson, aged 25, a munition worker lodging at 63 Church Street, Luton, has pleaded guilty to having been drunk and incapable in Waller Street last night. Police Sergeant Matsell said that he had found her helplessly drunk at 11.30 p.m. He lifted her up but found she could not stand, and with the help of Inspector Janes he got her to the police station. Miss Lawson is a single woman from Rochdale working at George Kent’s, who has been lodging in Luton for eight weeks. She expressed her sorrow for being in such a position and agreed to enter into a bond to abstain, however she was a “frequenter of public houses” she was fined ten shillings and no bond was imposed, the magistrate appearing to be concerned that it would simply lead to her getting into more trouble.

Source: Luton News, 17th October 1918

Last Messages from Dying Soldiers

Corporal William Hart

Friday 11th October 1918: News of her husband’s death came as a great shock to Mrs. Elizabeth Hart of Caddington. Her husband, Corporal William Hart of Caddington, was badly wounded in the left arm on Sunday 22nd September. His arm was amputated to the elbow, but he was able to write a message to his wife with his right: “My love to all; keep smiling”. However, he succumbed to his injuries and died in hospital at Rouen on 1st October. A former stoker at the Luton Gas Works, Corporal Hart had joined the Army in October 1914. He was invalided home and spent a year in a London hospital. He had only been back in France for eleven weeks when he received the fatal wound.

Twenty one year old Private Bernard Bone of New Town Street, Luton, has also died of wounds. Before the war he worked for Messrs. Kent and was a member of the Territorials. He served with the East Anglian Royal Engineers until a recent transfer to the Cheshire Regiment. He had been wounded three times and had suffered from trench fever. The chaplain of the Canadian Casualty Clearing Station where he died wrote to his mother: “He was struck by a shell from the enemy causing bad fractures of both legs, and his hands and face were slightly wounded. The fearful shock to his whole nervous system was an alarming factor. He was quite cheerful at first. Everything that the best surgeons and nurses could do was done for your dear boy … When I asked him what message I should send to you he simply said, ‘Give her my love and tell her that I did my duty for God and country, and if God sees fit to take me I am not afraid of death.’ … He saved others; himself he could not save.”

Source: Luton News, 17th October 1918

Equal Pay for Equal Work?

Frederick George Kellaway, M.P. (Wikipedia)

Wednesday 9th October 1918: Bedford’s Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions, Mr. Frederick George Kellaway has today given a speech to the Women’s Liberal Association at Bedford in which he expressed the hope that there will be peace by Christmas … “I shall be disappointed if we do not have peace by Christmas, but we shall be better able to secure peace by Christmas if we proceed on the assumption that we have a long war before us”.

He went on to address the question of whether women should receive equal pay for equal work. The way in which women had become so important to the war effort was unexpected. In 1914 there were a quarter of a million women in the industries that were most needed for munitions – over 100,000 in metal work and engineering, and 15,000 handling explosives or in the chemical trades. It was these factory trained women who had joined munition works in great numbers, and their skills and ability to train others had made possible the replacement of men by women. Before the war women’s wages were about ten shillings a week; these had now risen to about 35 shillings for the same number of hours, and working conditions were much improved.

However, the rise in prices meant that this increase was not as great as it appeared. There was also the argument that where strength was required women could in most cases not do the same work as men. Experience suggested that about five women were equivalent to three women. Also women often learned one particular job, but did not have the overall knowledge of a man who could turn his hand to anything. He believed that women should indeed have equal pay, “if they do the same work as the men, of the same quality and of the same amount, with the same expense to the employer for supervision, and for what I may describe as overhead charges”. After the war women’s labour must not be used to enable employers to make larger profits than if they employed men, and must be of a kind which would not injure their physical health. He believed there was a great future for women in industry, but the claims of the returned soldier must come first.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 11th October 1918

Leighton Buzzard Casualties

North Street, Leighton Buzzard c.1911 [Z1306/72/12/6]

Sunday 6th October: The tide of the war appears to have turned in favour of the Allies and there is real hope that victory is in sight; however, the toll of those killed and wounded continues to rise. Second Lieutenant Vivian Willis, of the Leighton Buzzard solicitors firm W. G. and V. V. Willis, has been wounded while serving with the Tank Corps. He had a lucky escape when a piece of shell flattened a whistle and a watch in his breast pocket and passed down his side, wounding him in both arms and the right thigh, side and hand. He is in hospital at Epsom and is expected to make a complete recovery.

Leading Seaman Frederick Brazier of 3 Friday Street was badly burned in the face, arms and body while serving on a naval ship three weeks ago. He is in hospital at Deal and although the burns are healing it has now been discovered that he has a broken left arm. He has served fifteen years in the Navy and was home on leave from the Mediterranean just a few weeks ago. His wife visited him in hospital and found him cheerful. The son of another resident of Friday Street, Private Harold Butcher of the Suffolk Regiment, is convalescing from the effects of gas. He served for six months in France before being sent to Palestine two years ago, and had only returned to the Western Front within the last three months.

The families of two soldiers now known to have been killed in action have undergone very different experiences, with one enduring a long wait and the other a sudden loss. Private Joseph George Jordan, the husband of Mrs Daisy Jordan of Ivy Cottage, Vandyke Road has been missing for virtually a year. She has finally been notified by the War Office that he is believed to have been killed on or soon after 9th October last year.[1] Mr. and Mrs. George Day of 27 Hockliffe Road have heard that their nineteen year old son, Trooper Cyril George Day, was killed on 5th September, only three weeks after arriving in France.

Sadly enemy action is not the only cause of death for soldiers serving in France. Private Alfred Joseph Dudley, whose parents live in North Street, joined the Army two years ago, and as his fitness only fell into the Class B1 category he was placed in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Service with the Field Ambulance appears to have been too much for his constitution, which was never strong, and he has died of dysentery. He leaves a widow and a three year old daughter.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 8th October 1918

[1] The Commonwealth War Graves Record for Private Jordan gives his date of death as 9th October 1917. He is commemorated at the Tyne Cot Memorial, indicating that his body was never found.

Medal Presentation Ceremony Held in Bedford

Entrance to Russell Park, Bedford c.1905 [Z1130/9/9/31]

Thursday 3rd October 1918: This morning a medal presentation ceremony has taken place in Russell Park, Bedford. A large number of troops marched through the town shortly before 11 o’clock, headed by two bands of the Royal Engineers. The medals were presented by the General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lieutenant-General Sir C. L. Woollcombe. The General was slightly late arriving as his car broke down between Bedford and Luton. The Mayor and Mayoress of Bedford and their daughters were also present.

The medals awarded included two  Distinguished  Conduct Medals. One was awarded to Corporal H. L. Bavington of the Hertfordshire Regiment but presented to his mother, as her son had since died of his wounds. The citation read: “For conspicuous gallantry in action. He led a bombing party with great gallantry, and rendered valuable assistance in the consolidation of the position. He has at all times set a splendid example.” The second was presented to Sapper W. J. M. Baldy of the Royal Engineers “for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He kept up communication all day while under fire from several directions, and in spite of casualties among the signallers. He did consistent good work during a long period.”

Other medals awarded at the ceremony included the Belgian Croix de Guerre to Sapper J. McKeown of the Biggleswade Depot; and the Military Medal and Bar to Sappers J. Layton, A. Lough and A. H. Cornwall. Twenty one men received the Military Medal and one the Good Conduct Medal. One of the recipients was Sergeant George Gazeley of Westoning,  one of the “Old Contemptibles” who first joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1904 and served in India. As a reservist he was called up at the beginning of the war, and by October 1915 had already been wounded three times. He is now permanently disabled after being badly hit in the leg last year. Two other Bedfordshire Regiment men, Sergeant Bertie Pettingell of Hitchin and Private George Henry Musgove of Kempston have also been serving since October 1914; Sergeant Pettingell enlisted when he was only 17 years old.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 4th October 1918

Landlord Refuses to Rent House to War Widow

24 Cardiff Road, Luton, with two children at the gate, 1910 [Z1306/75/10/7]

Saturday 28th September 1918: A soldier’s widow has written to the Luton News describing the difficulty she has encountered in trying to find accommodation for herself and her two children. She signs herself “the insulted one”, and it is clear that her situation reflects disgracefully on landlords who refuse to rent property to the widows of those who have given their lives in the service of their country:

“I am the widow of a soldier who was killed in France little more than a year ago. Since his death I have put my furniture in store and have been living with my friends. But there is nothing like a home of your own, however kind one’s friends may be, and lately I have been trying to find a house so that I could have a place to myself once more. On Saturday last I heard of a house to let which would meet my need, so I called on one of the most reputed house agents in Luton and made application for it. Having stated my reason for calling, the agent asked, “Where does your husband work?” I relied that he did not work anywhere. He died in France. “Oh,” said the agent “That’s enough: I shouldn’t let my property to a soldiers’ widow!”  I produced my former rent book to prove my respectability, but he would not even look at it. He then asked, “Where do you work?”  I told him. He then said “If you can get your master to take the house, and he cares to sublet it to you, he can do so, but I shouldn’t care to let it to you!”  I leave it to your readers to judge the quality of the person who can talk like this while he pursues his business and enjoys the comforts of his home unmolested only because brave men have sacrificed their lives and the comfort of their dependents. But what I want to know is this: Am I and my two children, and every other woman and her children, to be debarred from having a home of their own simply because our husbands have fallen in the country’s cause? If so, our husband’s death is our disgrace, and instead of dying to make a bad world better they have made it worse for those they loved most. I do not deny the right of any landlord to let his property to whom he will, neither do I object to him trying to secure himself in his rent; but when the sole ground of his refusal is that one is a solder’s widow, it is surely time to protest, not only for oneself, but for the thousands of others who hear a like reproach.”

Source: Luton News, 26th September 1918

Injured Girl Awarded Compensation

Ward at Bute Hospital, Luton 1913 [Z1306/75/5/3]

Thursday 26th September 1918: A claim for compensation has been brought at the Luton County Court by Susan R. Webb of 116 Hartington Street, Bedford. Miss Webb was feeding an automatic machine at George Kent’s Biscot Road works in Luton on 6th July 1917 when her cap was caught by the cogs and her hair and head were drawn into the machine, causing a severe scalp injury. She was in the Bute Hospital for six weeks and part of the skin of her leg had to be grafted onto her head, which was left largely without skin. As a result she was a nervous wreck and currently practically incapable of doing any work.

The firm had paid Miss Webb twenty five shillings a week until 12th April, and the claim was for lost wages since that date. They had offered her light work at 33s 9d per week, with half the difference between that rate and the amount she had earned before the accident. Unfortunately the girl had to go into a room next to the one in which the accident took place, and her nerves were so badly effected that it was impossible for her to work there. She was offered work in the canteen, but that was over-run by large numbers of girls and Miss Webb did not take that position. She applied for non-factory work looking after a child, but the mother would not trust a women in her condition; she was also refused work at another factory. On the doctor’s advice she got work at a nursery as a fruit picker, but was never able to earn more than 8s 9d, and the work made her giddy. During her evidence Miss Webb several times burst into tears.

In evidence for the company, Dr. Lloyd of Luton said he had found no organic disease and was of the opinion that the girl unintentionally exaggerated her feelings. He agreed that excessive noise would increase her nervousness, but suggested she would get used to it in time, and argued that even though she said she had been unable to do it work on the land would be the best thing for her. The Judge was not impressed by this witness. In his judgement he agreed with another doctor that the girl was not capable of doing any substantial work, and awarded her £1 3s 5d a week compensation with costs. However, the case made him regret there was no way to compel such unfortunate persons to do work which would prevent them brooding over their misfortune.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 27th September 1918