News from Eaton Bray

High Street, Eaton Bray c.1905 [Z1306/39/2/2]

Saturday 27th April 1918: News has been received in Eaton Bray of two deaths, a prisoner and a wedding. Mr. Lewis Ruffett has been informed that his son, Private Fred Ruffett of the Bedfordshire Regiment was killed on 24th March, only two weeks after returning from leave. Private Ruffett had enlisted under the Derby Scheme in February 1916 and was sent to France in April 1917. His brother lost a leg in France eighteen months ago. Corporal Charley Chanin of the Lancers was killed in action a day earlier, on 23rd March. Corporal Chanin enlisted at the beginning of the war and served in Ireland during the 1916 rebellion. The mother of Lance-Corporal William Neville has received a card from her son telling her that he is now a prisoner of war at Cassel, in Germany. He was the first man from the village of Eaton Bray to join up, in September 1914.

Happier news comes from Canada, where Miss Annie Hebbes, the second daughter of Mr. J. A. Hebbes of Eaton Bray has marries Mr. H. G. Tice of Truax, Saskatchewan. The wedding took place at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on 22nd March. The bride’s brother, who has been farming in Alberta, Canada for some years was present. The new Mrs. Tice was formerly the assistant matron at Leighton Buzzard Workhouse.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 30th April 1918

German Raid on Ramsgate

Unexploded Zeppelin bomb, 1916 [Wikimedia]

Tuesday 21st March 1916: Mr. Reuben Parrish of Gravenhurst and his wife have received a dramatic letter from their son Cyril. When the war broke out Private Parrish was in Canada and he joined the Canadian Forces. He was wounded on active service in France and is now recovering at the Canadian Hospital in Ramsgate. Yesterday there was a terrible German air raid on the town which he describes in vivid terms:

“It is Sunday night and I have just come in from chapel after an awful day. I will tell you why. The Germans have been here today and have dropped some bombs. One of them fell on our hospital about 2 o’clock. I and my chum were out for a walk and saw two planes over our heads, and the next minute we heard something like a shell coming down. We rushed into a house, and we had hardly got inside before a bomb came through the roof with awful force, and shattered the house a good deal. We were both knocked down and shaken up a bit, but otherwise not hurt. I have had a lot of near shaves in France, but that is the nearest I ever had or ever want. Another bomb fell higher up and killed a man and five little children who were going to Sunday School. It was, sure, a sad sight. They were blown to pieces, and it upset me more than I ever was in France. Well, we will tray and forget it, but I don’t want them to come here again just yet. My face doesn’t get much better, and I am going to have my eye examined this week to see what they can do for it.”

Source: Luton News 23rd March 1916

Shackleton Brothers of Leighton Buzzard

Friday Street, Leighton Buzzard c.1925 [WL800/2]

Sunday 20th February 1916: John and Sophia Shackleton of Friday Street in Leighton Buzzard now have five of their seven sons serving their country, with the two youngest prevented from doing so only by their age – in the case of 16 year old Harry, this is despite his best efforts to the contrary! The family is also known by the name of Wise and at least one of the sons is believed to be serving under that name. Their record of service is:

First Class Stoker John William Shackleton: The eldest son of the family, aged 30, he served in the Navy for five years and was working at the Wire Works when he was called up to return to the sea. He is now serving aboard H.M.S. Caesar.

Private Joseph Shackleton (or Wise) had served seven years with the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment and was a reservist when the War began. He was sent out to France in September 1914 and was at the battles of the Marne and the Aisne. In November 1914 he was wounded in the shoulder by a bullet, but made a good recovery and returned to the Front early last year. He was home for seven days’ leave in November.

Private Samuel Shackleton emigrated to Canada eight years ago when he was only 16 years old. When the War broke out he joined the Army raised in Canada for the defence of Britain. Although he joined for home service only, after a time his sense of patriotism inspired him to take the Imperial Service obligation. He is now training at Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the Canadian Highlanders. He is the only one of the brothers who is married.

Gunner Charles Shackleton has been serving in the Royal Garrison Artillery for three years. After some time stationed in Wales, he is now helping to defend one of the Empire’s most important strongholds.

Stoker George Shackleton followed his eldest brother into the Navy in April 1915. After serving on H.M.S. Ness he is now in port waiting to be posted to another vessel.

Harry Shackleton, the youngest of the brothers, enlisted in the 3/5th Bedfordshire Regiment when he was only 15. After serving for nearly a year at Windsor and Halton Park his age was discovered and he was sent home in January. To his disgust he is now employed sand-carting, but hopes to go to sea. Unfortunately his time in the army means he is prevented from doing so.

Source: Luton News, 24th February 1916

Lucky Escape for Private Parrish

Hospital Ship Anglia [Wikimedia]

Friday 26th November 1915: Brave Gravenhurst soldier Private Cyril Parrish of Gravenhurst exclaimed cheerfully “Come on, boys; take my rifle, I am going for a little holiday” when he was hit by a bullet while guarding a trench. Seriously wounded when the shot entered the side of his neck just below the ear he was unconscious for four days. However Private Parrish’s bad fortune turned to good when his evacuation to England was delayed as there was no room for him on the hospital ship Anglia; as the Anglia crossed the Channel on 17th November carrying 390 wounded officers and soldiers it struck a mine and sunk within fifteen minutes with the loss of 134 men. Private Parrish is now waiting for an operation at Taplow Red Cross Hospital. His mother has visited and found him very ill but most cheerful. The young man was in Canada at the outbreak of the war and joined the 2nd Canadian Battalion.

Source: Luton Times, 3rd December 1915

A Mountie from Maulden

Mountie Reginald Brown 

Saturday 30th October 1915: Before the War Corporal Reginald Brown was following an unusual career for a man from Maulden, as a member of the Royal North-West Mounted Police in Canada. When the War began he returned home to England and rejoined his former regiment, the Grenadier Guards. Earlier this year he was seriously wounded at Laventie; after a lengthy convalescence in hospital he returned to the Front. Unfortunately news has not reached Maulden that he is in hospital at Rouen, having been wounded for a second time. It is understood that he is making a good recovery from a shrapnel wound over the right eye. His younger brother, Sam, is also on active service with the Army Service Corps.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 29th October 1915

Lost with the Lusitania

RMS Lusitania (Wikimedia)

Monday 10th May 1915:  After last week’s terrible news of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania off the coast of Ireland [1] it now appears that two Luton men are among those lost. Thomas Edward George Bodell, the son of Mr Thomas Bodell of Clarendon Road, Luton, emigrated to Canada ten years ago and was returning to Britian for the first time. He was travelling with his wife and their two year old son. None of their names have appeared on the lists of survivors and it must now be assumed that they are among the victims of the disaster. Mrs Bodell’s brother has travelled from Cardiff to Queenstown in Ireland to try to identify his sister and her family, but so far without success. Thomas Bodell attended Waller Street School in Luton. He then served an apprenticeship at Hayward, Tyler and Co. and worked in London for a time before leaving for Canada, where he went into business as a brass and electrical fittings maker in Toronto. He was a former secretary of the Luton Amateur Football Club. His father says his 33 year old son had disposed of his Canadian business and was returning to England with the intention of enlisting.

Mr Robert E. Dearbergh, who was travelling as a saloon passenger on the Lusitania, is also believed lost. His brothers carried on one of the leading plait businesses in Luton for many years, although he himself has lived in New York for some time. His brother, Fred Dearbergh of St. Albans, has also travelled to Queenstown but has found no trace of the missing man. Mr. Dearburgh, a bachelor aged 52, last lived in Luton some twenty-five years ago. A well travelled man, he was considered an accomplished linguist. He was returning to Britain to place his abilities and experience at his country’s disposal.

Source: Luton News, 13th May 1915; Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Citizen, 18th May 1915

[1] The Lusitania was torpedoed on 7th May 1915, with the loss of 1201 lives.

---

[2] More about the sinking of the Lusitania and the Lutonians lost in the disaster can be found on the Luton WW1 website.

Bromham and the Battle of Neuve Chapelle

Bromham Garage c.1925-1930 [Z50/21/11]

Saturday 27th March 1915:  The village of Bromham has suffered a blow with the death of Private Charles Vintner of the Grenadier Guards during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle earlier this month. Private Vintner is the second Bromham man to be killed in the war. He was the brother of P.C. Vintner, the Bromham constable, and leaves a widow and young children.[1] A veteran of the Boer War, he had worked before the war for Mr F. Collins of Bromham Garage.

The son of the Bromham vicar, Canon Browning, writes from the Front where he is serving with the 19th Alberta Dragoons (Canadian Contingent). He describes the battle, during which his unit was part of the mobile reserve:

“The gun-firing was very heavy; there were some big naval guns, very big ones indeed. We watched the aeroplanes being shelled; I don’t know whether they were British or German, as we could not see the guns which were doing the shooting. None of them succeeded in hitting the mark; one of our aeroplanes was brought down, but that was through getting into the line of fire of one of our own ‘Big Lizzies’. We watched the Germans shelling a church about a mile from us the other day: they fired four shots, but none of them hit; they always seem to shell churches. Some of them around are full of shell-holes; one time they scored a bull’s-eye by landing one plum in the middle of a big church clock. This afternoon we are going to play the Yorkshire Hussars, if we can find a football. We have not yet experienced any of the very acute discomforts of war, like the poor fellows in the trenches.”

Souce: Bedfordshire Standard 26th March 1915

---

[1] It appears that Charles had married Ethel Hardy in 1911. She gave birth to a son, Charles in the summer of 1915, so must have been pregnant at the time of her husband’s death.

[2] Naval guns mounted on railway trucks were located at Croix Blanche

Left Flapper Slightly Dented

Woburn Abbey riding school in use as a hospital c.1916 [Z141/5]

Saturday 13th March 1915:  An article has been published in The Times describing the success of initiatives taken by the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. The Duke was responsible for setting up the training camp at Ampthill, and they have permitted the conversion of the tennis court and riding school at Woburn Abbey to provide a hospital described as “one of the most comfortable and well-equipped hospitals in the country” of which it can be said that “to anyone who needs to learn how best a war hospital should be organised and managed, a visit to Woburn is a liberal education”.  We are told that “the buildings have been transformed. Windows have been pierced in the riding school and the largest ward is here. There is a well-appointed cook house; a room full of baths with a plentiful supply of hot water; an operating-room; a dispensary; store-rooms, and, in fact, everything that can be required for the comfort of the sufferers, including a reading-room.“

The villagers themselves have also been contributing to the war effort. The girls of the Council School have given thirteen shillings and sixpence to the “something to smoke” fund. At St. Mary’s Church a collection has been taken in aid of the Mission to Seamen after the Reverend E. Eland of Antwerp reported on the work it carries out for the benefit of our sailors, whose efforts have been so vital for the country’s war effort. Woburn men are doing their bit in the forces. Arthur H. Simmons, a former employee of the Park Farm Office who left England for Canada nearly two years ago, has been wounded while at the Front with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He has written from a hospital near Paris describing his condition as “left flapper slightly dented”.

Sources: Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette, 2nd March 1915; Bedfordshire Standard 12th March 1915