Sinking of the Aragon

RMS Aragon, 1908 [Wikimedia]

Saturday 2nd February 1918: Warrant Officer J. Watson of the Royal Engineers, an Old Boy of Bedford Modern School was on board the troop ship Aragon when it was torpedoed and sunk outside the harbour at Alexandria on 30th December. On 1st January he wrote a letter to his father at Bedford describing his experiences that day:

“Sent you a cable yesterday saying that I had arrived safely, but it is after swimming for my life, and I had lost everything I possessed except the clothes I stood in. I never thought I should tramp roads without boots on, but I did last Sunday. The scenes I have just gone through have been awful and most heart-rending. We were torpedoed in sight of our destination, and after those thousands of miles safely. I thank God I am safe with a whole skin. I was twice torpedoed, first on the transport close to which I stood, and again on the destroyer which I mounted to the deck.[1]  After the destroyer was torpedoed I waited a bit, and then dived over the heads of a large number of fellows already struggling in the sea. I thank God for my powers of swimming, which I think saved my life. I swam 100 to 150 yards with all my clothes on except boots, but it seemed like three or four miles. I selected a trawler, and managed to arrive in an exhausted condition, but recovered after a time, and gave a hand to help the trawler men, who were hauling the poor chaps in, but some of them did not survive.”

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 8th February 1918

[1] Many of the Aragon’s passengers were rescued by the escort destroyer HMS Attack, which was itself torpedoed. Of 2700 men and women aboard Aragon, 610 were lost, including the ship’s captain and twenty five men on their way to reinforce the 5th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. 

Edgar Mobbs Challenge Cup

Bedford Modern School c.1910 [Z1130/9/2/2/1]

Sunday 4th November 1917: A general meeting of subscribers to the Colonel E. R. Mobbs Memorial Fund has been held at Northampton, at which it was unanimously decided that a challenge cup should be provided for Bedford Modern School. The cost of the cup is not to exceed £50. A sum of £500 is to be given to the East Midlands Rugby Union, and the remainder of the fund is to be used to provide a permanent memorial to Colonel Mobbs after the war. 

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 2nd November 1917

Edgar Mobbs

Edgar Mobbs [Image source: Wikimedia]

Monday 15th October 1917: Donations of £1,800 have so far been received from subscribers to the memorial fund set up following the death of former England Rugby international player Lieutenant-Colonel Edgar Mobbs on 31st July. An in memoriam souvenir booklet published for the benefit of the fund includes the following interesting letter written by a fellow old boy of Bedford Modern School, 2nd Lieutenant N. Spencer, with the heading “How he charged to certain death”:

“I was F.O.O. in the stunt, and went over the top and saw Mobbs. Perhaps I was one of the last officers he spoke to. Anyway, my last sight of him is something that will be worth remembering of him in the old Bedford Modern School. We had waited three hours for the time to come, and the rain, mud, etc., well, the papers tell you all this. Then the minute came – forward through seas of mud and terrific shelling … I was right behind Mobbs, introduced myself to him just before the hour as an old B.M.S. boy, and talked about Rugger and R. C. Stafford. In the tornado of hostile shelling he got ahead, and, seeing a number of his men cut down by an undiscovered machine gun strong point, he charged it to bomb it – certain death under such a terrific hail of shell – and he went down. I have seen men, and good men, but for a man of his standing and his rank it was magnificent. I sat down afterwards in a captured dugout, and instead of that picture, I saw the old three-quarter in his own “25” get the ball from a crumpled up scrum and go clean through scrum and on. The same man, the same determination, a born leader.”

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 12th October 1917

Wedding at Bedford

Banksia Roses (Wikimedia, Creative Commons)

Wednesday 25^th April 1917: A wedding of considerable local interest took place today at St Mary’s Church, Bedford. The bride was Edith Florence Killick, youngest daughter of Caleb Killick of Bedford. The bridegroom was Captain Ernest James Howard of the Royal Flying Corps, eldest son of Mr and Mrs Howard of Essex. Miss Killick was a member of the Bedford branch of the Red Cross Society and did valuable work for the Society over a considerable period of time. She also assisted the Clerk of the Borough Tribunal ably.

The bride was given away by her father and was simply attired in a dress of ivory crepe de chine and serge, with hand embroideries in cream and silver. She carried a bouquet of pink carnations and white heather. The bridesmaid looked pretty in pink crepe de chine with a wreath of Banksia roses. The mother of the bridegroom wore a dress of black silk and carried a bouquet of Parma violets. Following the reception, the happy couple left for Bournemouth. The presents included a framed engraving from the Chairman of the Bedford Tribunal (the Mayor), a silver cream jug and sugar basin from the Town Clerk and a canteen of cutlery from the bridegroom’s fellow officers at Farnborough.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 4/5/1917

Edith Killick attended Bedford Modern School for Girls. Her wedding is recorded in the Old Girls' Association Newsletter of January 1918, held at Bedfordshire Archives (see under 'Personalia' below)

DAH9/1/7/6, Old Girls' Association Newsletter, January 1918 (Bedfordshire Archives & Records Service)

Schoolgirl Death - Inquest at Cardington

Z1306/24/6, Kings Arms, Cardington. View from Cople Road, 1922 (Bedfordshire Archives & Records Service)

Friday 20 April 1917: Today an inquest resumed into the death of schoolgirl Jennie Evans. It took place at the Kings Arms, Cardington, and was presided over by the Deputy Coroner for the County. Jennie attended Bedford Modern School and was reported missing from her home on George Street, Bedford, on 14^th February. Her body was found last Sunday in the river. Dr A.F. Goldsmith testified that no signs of violence were found on the body, though the body was decomposed from having been in the river for so long. Both hands were clenched and it was his opinion that the girl had died by drowning. It was likely that the girl did not suffer from melancholia, the clenched hands indicating that she had attempted to save herself.  

On the morning of the 14^th February, there were missed signs of Jennie’s fate. One witness stated that he had noticed a schoolgirl’s hat floating along the river at the foot of the weir. He reached it easily and plucked it from the water to see if there was a name in the hat. Having found none, he hung it on the fence, assuming it would be reclaimed. Another witness stated that he had seen what he thought was a horse rug floating in the river and had no inkling that it could have been a body.

The body was recently discovered at Fenlake Barns, wedged against a tree. Jennie was fully dressed, wearing gloves and had a ribbon in her hair. She was wearing a blanket overcoat, a gym suit and lace-up boots. Since 22^nd February, the river had been searched by police, but a school bag had not been found. 

The girls’ mother testified that Jennie was 17 years old, but looked younger. She was never melancholy or depressed and was fond of studying, particularly art. She used to admire the little island by the river and intended to paint it. She was happy at home, punctual at school and well-liked. On the 14^th February, Jennie left home at her usual time of 8.30am, as she liked to get to school ten minutes early, and she often took the route by the river. Jennie’s art mistress, Miss Jones, testified that Jennie was of above-average ability and that she had given her class homework that involved studying the river.

In summing-up, the Coroner said there was no doubt in his mind as to the verdict, that of ‘accidental death’, which the jury returned.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 20/4/1917