Bakers Selling Bread to German Prisoners

Chalgrave Church [Z1130/26/2]

Friday 16th August 1918: Another case involving the passing of food to German prisoners of war was heard today at the Woburn Police Court. This time Hockliffe bakers Walter Harris, aged 28, and his brother John Harris, aged 17, were charged with selling bread on June 17th to a prisoner of war at Chalgrave. John Harris was also summoned for a second offence which took place the following day. Evidence was given by Police Sergeant Dennis of Toddington, that on June 18th, as a result of something he had heard, he hid near a field where the prisoners were working at Lord’s Hill, Chalgrave. He saw John Harris drive past. Some of the prisoners whistled; Harris then turned back and served the prisoners with four half-quartern loaves. He challenged Harris, who admitted he had done wrong, but said he had sold the prisoners only four loaves although they asked for six. He also admitted serving the prisoners with bread on the previous day, when his brother Walter had been with him.

When interviewed Walter denied selling any bread, saying “I have never served a prisoner with bread and I have repeatedly cautioned my brother not to do so”. He admitted being with his brother, but said he had only held the reins of the cart and did not know whether his brother had served the guard or the prisoners. The prosecuting solicitor pointed out that if Walter had been aware of the sale it was a ‘contemptible wriggle’ to blame his brother. Such actions showed a ‘gross want of patriotism’, with the men seeming to care nothing for their country provided they could get a bit of extra money in their pockets. William Garner, a postman from Dunstable said he saw the baker’s cart on June 17th standing opposite a field gate with several German prisoners round it. They had a bag with them which he assumed contained bread, although he did not actually see any bread change hands. As Harris drove on he called out “You ought to get six months for serving German prisoners!” 

Sergeant-Major Richard Malone of the prisoner of war camp at Leighton Buzzard said there were forty prisoners in the camp at this time, who were being sent out in gangs of six with one soldier in charge. The prisoners had breakfast at 6 a.m. of biscuit, bread, jam, cheese and coffee. When they came back from work they had potatoes, meat or fish, and there was no need for them to buy bread except out of greed or for other purposes. He had received no complaints that they did not have enough food from the prisoners.

John Harris gave evidence that on June 17th the guard in charge of the prisoners had asked for the loaf of bread, had paid for it, and then went back into the field with the prisoners. The next day the prisoners had come out of the field with a bag and asked for six loaves, but he only sold them four as this was all he had in the cart. He had told the policeman he was very sorry if he had done wrong, but the guard had told him that he could supply the prisoners – Sergeant Dennis however denied that Harris had said this. Unfortunately the prisoners’ guard, Private Rumble, could not be called as he was in hospital with double pneumonia and was given little chance of recovery. The element of doubt over whether the guard had neglected his duty and told John Harris that he could sell bread to the prisoners made it impossible for the magistrates to decide on the case without his evidence. Due to Private Rumble’s illness the hearing was adjourned indefinitely.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 20th August 1918

Soldier Gaoled for Supplying Food to German Prisoners

Aspley Guise Woods 1921 [Z1130/3a/62h]

Friday 2nd August 1918: Private Frederick William Brock of the 383rd Motor Transport Company, Bedford has appeared at the Leighton Buzzard Police Court charged with supplying Quaker Oats to German prisoners of war from the camp at Woburn. Private Thomas Patrick Dasey of the Canadian Forestry Corps gave evidence that while he was working in the woods between Aspley Heath and Woburn on 16th July he saw Private Brock, who was driving one of the timber supply motor lorries, take a parcel from his van, carry it about 150 yards into the wood and place it behind some brushwood. Five minutes later he saw a German prisoner, who had been working nearby, fetch the parcel and take it away to where the prisoners were cutting pit props.

Private Walter Croft of the Royal Defence Corps said he was on sentry duty over the prisoners when Brock took the parcel into the wood. He saw the German prisoner drop the parcel behind a heap of pit props; he was 150 yards away, and thought the defendant could not see him. Private Croft reported the incident to Corporal Frederick Smith, who was in charge of the prisoner escort that day. Corporal Smith went to the prisoner and asked through an interpreter what he had received. He said it was bread. When asked to show it he produced a small linen bag with about one pound of Quaker Oats in it. Corporal Smith also found three full two pound packets of Quaker Oats under the prisoner’s cape. He claimed Private Brock had admitted to him having given these to the prisoner, but Private Brock said this was not true – he had said he put the parcel behind the brushwood, not that he gave it to the prisoner.  

Private Brock said he had bought the oats at Thirsk in Yorkshire in May due to a problem with rations. He had got tired of carrying them about with him so decided to pack them up and send them away, but found the postage too expensive. He had therefore simply walked out into the wood and dropped them where he expected they would be burnt with the brushwood. There were no German prisoners within 100 yards of the spot, and he did not know what had happened to the oats until the Corporal came and asked about them. When pressed Private Brock admitted that prisoners had asked him to procure things for them, but said he had refused. When asked why he did not give the oats away while he was billeted in Bedford he said it was because he knew no one there. When it was pointed out to him that throwing the food away was as serious an offence as to give it to the prisoners, he claimed he did not know what else to do with it.

An officer from the prisoners of war camp said there was reason to fear that this kind of thing was happening more often than it should, and that it tended to make the prisoners get out of hand. The Chairman of the Bench took into account Private Brock’s previous good character and sentenced him to three weeks imprisonment.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 6th August 1918

Frenchwoman Insulted at Luton

Employees outside works building at George Kent Ltd, 1916 [Z1306/75/17/18]

Wednesday 31st July 1918: At the Luton Borough Police Court today Marie Burnand, a Frenchwoman who is employed at George Kent’s works in Luton, and whose husband is serving in the forces, summoned another employee at the same works for using insulting language. She gave evidence that George Marsh, a 46 year old discharged soldier of St. Ann’s Road, called her a German, and said she was a spy and that her husband had gone back to Germany. On July 20th he had kicked the wheel of her bicycle on Farley Hill and created a disturbance. She resented this abuse as she was French and her husband was fighting for his country. George Marsh said he was sorry he had been in company in a public house, but alleged that Mme. Burnand had also created a disturbance. He was sorry if he called her a German. This was George Marsh’s 31st appearance in court, and he was known to be a violent man. As his last appearance had been in 1915 he was treated leniently and bound over for six months, with an order to pay costs.

Source: Luton News, 1st August 1918

Drunk Man Chases German PoWs

Peacock Inn, Lake Street c.1910 [Z1432/3/1/8/5]

Thursday 28th February 1918: William Dickins, a 60 year old labourer from Chalk Hill, Houghton Regis, has been charged with being drunk and disorderly on the highway at Leighton Buzzard on Tuesday. Police Sergeant Dennis said that Dickins was throwing his arms about in Market Square and a crowd of children had collected around him. Dickins was advised to behave himself and leave, but he went round to the back of the Peacock Inn where he said he had a gun. He was told he would not be allowed to have the gun and was asked to leave the premises, but he eventually had to be arrested and locked up. Earlier in the evening he had been seen running after German prisoners in Bridge Street; his conduct towards them had been very bad. Dickins said he remembered nothing about it and was sorry for what he had done. He had three sons serving the country and had got rather excited as one had just gone back to the front. The Chairman of the Bench noted that it had been five years since Dickins had last appeared in Court and fined him five shillings.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th March 1918

Two More German Prisoners Escape at Woburn

German prisoners marching along Woburn Sands High Street to work in Duke of Bedford’s woods, 1917 [Z887/2]

Saturday 15th December 1917: There has been another escape by German prisoners of war working at Woburn. Two prisoners were felling trees in the woods on Friday afternoon when they went missing. It is believed the escape was only made in order to get away from some other prisoners with whom they had differences and who had been making their lives uncomfortable  - after an escape has been attempted prisoners are generally sent to a different camp. The two men  were recaptured the same evening.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 18th December 1917

Luton Woman Abuses Stallholder at Bedford Station

Bedford Midland Road Station c.1905 [Z1306/10/41/22]

Wednesday 17th October 1917: Agnes Hitchens of Albion Road, Luton, has appeared at the Bedford Police Court, where she was summoned by Archie Kaufman, a Jew of British nationality who carried on business selling hats in the Arcade, Bedford. On September 3rd he was in the refreshment room at Bedford Station when Mrs. Hitchens dropped a book. As she picked it up she said, “I always drop my book in front of a German”. A few minutes later she came up to him and struck him on the shoulder, announcing several times that he was a German and ought to be strung up. He went out and spoke to a policeman but Mrs. Hitchens continued her complaints.

Mr. Kaufman told the court that he and Mrs. Hitchens had held adjacent stalls in a number of markets. When questioned he said that she had never complained that he showed indecent literature to young women in railway carriages, and he had not insinuated in the waiting room that she was a low, common woman. Another gentleman – a complete stranger to him - had thrown whiskey and soda over her after she spat in his face and called him a “dirty German” too. He denied that he himself had thrown the whiskey over her. A waitress at the restaurant agreed that the whiskey had been thrown by an unknown gentleman, who she believed to be an American, and not by Mr. Kaufman, who had ignored the woman until she followed him down the room, struck him lightly on the shoulder and charged him with being a German.

Although Mrs. Hitchens’ solicitor argued that she was in fact the injured party, and that having whiskey thrown in her face and over her clothes was much more serious than a tap on the shoulder, the Bench considered that a technical offence had been proved. Mrs. Hitchens was fined ten shillings, and the Chairman pointed out that the use of such language in a public place might have led to a serious outcome.

Source: Luton News, 18th October 1917

German Prisoners-of-War at Woburn

German prisoners marching along Woburn Sands High Street to work in Duke of Bedford’s woods, 1917 [Z887/2]

Thursday 13th June 1917: The commandant of the internment camp for German prisoners of war at Woburn has been asked if he would allow some of the prisoners to help with the work of potato spraying; this is now being recommended to allotment holders to help avoid blight. He was rather reluctant as he had in the past taken a great deal of trouble to arrange to provide prisoners as labourers, only to find out that they were not wanted after all. When they were employed in gardening and agricultural work experience showed that the prisoners proved very satisfactory, and he would expect to get permission from the War Office if application was made to him in good time. However, he was now “sick of the labour question” and did not intend to waste time pleading with people to employ the Germans. There was plenty of lumber work available for them.

While the German prisoners may make efficient and civil labourers, not all have been prepared to co-operate with their captors. Only a couple of weeks ago one of the prisoners escaped from Woburn Camp and the special constables had to be called out to search for him. He was spotted coming out of Copse Spinney in the parish of Battlesden apparently making for Watling Street, and was recaptured and returned to Woburn by two policemen.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th and 19th June 1917

Escaped German Prisoners

German prisoners-of-war marching through Woburn Sands, c.1917 [Z887/2]

Tuesday 5th December 1916: Leighton Buzzard has been on alert since hearing that two German prisoners had escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp at Woburn yesterday. Carl Schwartz and Paul Hubner, two inmates of the camp at Crawley Road, had been at work in Woburn Park felling and cutting timber. When the prisoners were marched back from the park to the camp just before dusk, the two men were found to be missing. The guard and all the Woburn special constables were called up and spent the night on duty. The men were spotted at Eversholt and near Tingrith, then a message was received at mid-day to say the missing prisoners were in custody at Luton. Without food or a change or clothes it was not anticipated that they would get far. Special constables were sent from Leighton this morning to relieve the exhausted Woburn men, but their services were not needed.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th December 1916

Sunday Morning Beer

Crown Inn (left) [Z1432]

Tuesday 29th August 1916: The 71 year old landlady of the Crown Inn at Leighton Buzzard, Mrs Margaret Gotzheim, has appeared at the Leighton Police Court following a raid on the Crown and an adjacent cottage, as a result of which she was charged with selling intoxicating liquors during prohibited hours, and for selling beer to a child which was not in a sealed container. Her case was heard together with those of two men and a women who were charged with being on licensed premises during prohibited hours and with sending a child for beer. Two of these co-defendants were Henry James Dover and his wife Amelia, a daughter of Mrs. Gotzheim, who lived next door to the Crown at 2 Bedford Street.

Police Superintendent Matthews wished to read the statement from Mrs. Nellie Mell of 78 North Street to the court, but the defending solicitor objected as she was present to give her own evidence. Superintendent Matthews complained that she was now a hostile witness making statements the opposite of those she made to his police sergeant. Mrs Mell admitted signing a statement but said she was not responsible for what she said as she was so upset; she was looking after two invalids and had not been to bed for thirteen weeks. The sergeant had come into the yard on Sunday morning as she was “doing her vegetables” without invitation. He asked what had been brought to her from Mrs Dover’s house and she said milk; she also said some beer had been brought, but did not say when. The beer had actually been brought round on Saturday evening but as she was upstairs with her invalids she did not find it and drink it until just before the police came. She agreed that by then the beer was rather flat!  

Evidence was given by the police to the effect that jugs full of beer were being taken from the back door of the Crown into the Dovers’ house next door, where they were being drunk or passed on to others. The situation was complicated by the reluctance of family members to give evidence which might support the police case. One of Mrs. Gotzheim’s forty grandchildren, Henry Charles Samuel, admitted seeing his aunt, Mrs Dover, drink a half pint, but said he had never seen any beer sold before opening hours on a Sunday. Another co-defendant, Mr. George Short, was found in the Crown Inn, but said he was delivering papers, as he had done regularly for several years; he denied having been served with anything although there were drops of beer hanging on his moustache. No beer was found by the police in the Dovers’ house. 

Mrs. Gotzheim’s solicitor pointed out that his client had a clear record except for one occasion the previous year when she appeared in court on a charge of travelling to Luton without permission while registered as an alien; this would not have happened except for the war and she had held a licence for 35 years without any problems. He argued that the police evidence was based on suspicion, and all the coming and going was natural enough when those involved were relatives. The whole case hinged on a jug found at Mrs. Mell’s and the half pint drunk by Mrs. Dover. Mrs. Gotzheim explained that her daughter normally cooked a Sunday joint for her as she had a gas stove whereas the Crown did not, and she usually gave her a glass of beer for her trouble. The magistrates concluded that there was insufficient evidence and dismissed the case.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th September 1916

Complaint Made Against German Teacher

Modern School, Bedford c.1910-1920 [Z1130/9/2/2/1]

Tuesday 29th February 1916: During an outburst of anti-German feeling in Bedford last May, moves were made to have Dr. M. L. de la Motte Tischbrock,  the naturalised German teacher at Bedford Modern School removed from his post, despite the protestations of the headmaster Mr. Kaye and the support of his pupils. To the annoyance of Mr. Kaye, information has now been deposited with the military authorities against the teacher. He writes with feeling to the informer:

“My dear Bradly[1]. To my intense surprise I have been officially informed that you have “laid an information” against Dr. Tischbrock to the military authorities here. I cannot conceive why, if you thought the information worth givein at all, you did not give it 18 months ago, nor why you have done it without a word to me. I have had a most difficult and delicate position in the matter, and this “evidence” ought to have been dealt with – whatever view one takes of it – at the beginning of the war, or at latest when the question of Dr. Tischbrock’s position, like that of other aliens, was first raised. Raising it now is to me inexplicable, but it certainly does not make the situation easier for me.”

Mr. Kaye has been asked by an officer of the 68th (Welsh) Division, now based in Bedford, to keep him informed if Dr. Tischbrock decides to go to America, or if he gets any other information about him which could affect the case.

Source: Letters of Cecil Kaye, BMS/CWK/82/5-6

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[1] No further information is given and it has not been possible to identify the informant. Dr. Tischbrock was forced to leave the school, although it is not clear at what date. Writing in the 1970s a former pupil said: “Hounded from B.M.S. in spite of Mr Kaye’s protests, he obtained for a brief spell a post at Manchester Grammar School. But becoming stone deaf, badgered from pillar to post, he turned to market gardening in Surrey, and met with a fatal accident when attempting to take too much of his produce to market on a bicycle. I do not know the year of his death but I am told that his widow died only recently at a very great age” [BMS/CWK/98/3; Tischbrock’s wife Lily died in 1971].

Escaped German Prisoners

Lieutenant Otto Thelen

Thursday 23rd September 1915: The people of Bedfordshire have been asked to keep their eye out for two German officers who escaped from Donington Hall near Leicester last weekend. It is believed that they left Derby on a Midland train heading south. A £100 reward has been offered for information which may lead to their arrest.[1] The two men are described as follows:

Otto Thelen, German Flying Corps: age 25, height 5ft 5in, stiff build, weather-beaten features, somewhat sallow complexion, grey eyes, fair hair (blonde), prominent scar in left part of forehead caused by a burn, clean shaven, believed wearing knickers and stockings, or grayish trousers, speaks English with a foreign accent.

Hans Keilhack, Naval Ober Lieutenant: age 23 years, height 5ft 10in, stiff build, black hair, very large piercing blue eyes, prominent cheek bones, finger missing from one hand, clean shaven, believed wearing knickers and stockings speaks English with a foreign accent.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 24th September 1915

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[1] The two men were arrested at Chatham on September 23rd. Lt. Otto Thelen proved a persistent escapee; in September 1917 he made a fourth bid for freedom [Source: Daily Mirror 27 Sept 1917]

Anti-German Rioting at Flitwick

The Avenue, Flitwick, c.1900-1920 [Z50/50/41]

Monday 13th September 1915: Anti-German rioting broke out in Flitwick last night when a group of soldiers from Bedford raided a house in The Avenue occupied by Mrs Knüttel (or Nuttall) and her son, who is said to be of German descent. Mrs Nuttall’s husband had lived in the area for eighteen years but was sent to the Three Counties Asylum last December suffering from general paralysis of the brain[1]. Since then his twenty-two year old son has taken on the responsibility of his father’s business.

Yesterday evening’s events may be a consequence of a paragraph printed in a weekly journal which questioned the loyalty of Mrs. Nuttall and her son. About twenty soldiers arrived in Flitwick from Bedford as the villagers were returning from Church and made their way to Avenue House as Mrs. Nuttall was alone in the house preparing supper. With ribald songs and curses the men challenged the occupants to come out then began to throw stones through the windows. Mrs Nuttall went upstairs and from a bedroom window begged “Please leave me alone. I have been eighteen years naturalised and there is nobody in the house but me”. Her pleas were ignored and heavy boulders were hurled through the windows. As she went downstairs a stone flew through the glass door, broke the hall lamp and narrowly missed her head.

As Mrs. Nuttall hid in the dark cellar the rioters forced open the door and demolished a cake left on the dining room table, while leaving the bread and butter untouched. A crowd gathered and the local policeman arrived. A gentleman who tried to restore order was challenged to fight. There were cries of “We don’t want the Germans here!” and “Where are the Germans? Fetch ‘em out!” punctuated by the sound of breaking glass. P.C. Gaylor eventually managed to get the men away from the house and found Mrs. Nuttall in a state of collapse. She was taken to a neighbour’s house and then with her son to spend the night with a relative. After the event thirty heavy boulders were collected from the rooms, almost every pane of glass was smashed, and furniture and flower pots were damaged.

Mrs. Nuttall was born in Germany but has lived in England since she was a girl and was naturalised when she came to Flitwick. She says she can only assume the attack was the result of the magazine article and has placed the matter in the hands of her solicitor. Her son was born in London, attended Bedford Modern School and has no connection with Germany. She felt it most un-English to be treated this way by strangers, but was thankful for the sympathy of her neighbours and the other residents of Flitwick.

Source: Luton News, 16 September 1915

German Landlady's Only Fault

The Crown, Leighton Buzzard, 2008 [ © BLARS]

Tuesday 1st June 1915: Margaret Gotzheim, aged 70, the landlady of the Crown Inn in North Street, Leighton Buzzard, has appeared at Leighton Petty Sessions today charged as an enemy alien with travelling more than five miles from her registered address on May 17th. Superintendent Matthews stated that on that day she went in a wagonette to Luton with her family, but was a German subject and had no permit. She had been seen and recognised by a police constable driving along George Street in Luton with her two daughters. Mrs. Gotzheim had registered as an alien in August and had been warned at the time that she was not to travel more than five miles without a permit.

Questioned by the chairman of the Bench the Superintendent said that there were three aliens registered in the Leighton Buzzard Petty Sessional Division and that Margaret Gotzheim had lived in the country for forty years. Her sons and daughters were all born here and are English subjects. She herself said that she had been in England for sixty years and remarked “Yes, I am German born, but that is the only fault I have got”. Mrs. Gotzheim pleaded guilty and was fined £20 with 6 shillings costs. She responded “I ain’t going to pay; I’m not”.

Source: Luton News 3rd June 1915

Difficulties of a German Teacher

Monday 17th May 1915: The increase in bad feeling against anyone of German nationality that produced yesterday’s violent demonstrations in Bedford has also caused people in the town to turn against the German teacher at Bedford Modern School. Although Dr M. L. de la Motte Tischbrock was born in Germany he is now a naturalised British subject. Writing to Mr. Cecil Kaye he says:  

“I have again heard that some people in our town have expressed doubt as to my loyalty, one person has gone even so far as to say I belonged to the German Secret Service. This is utterly untrue. I do not belong now nor have I ever belonged to any Secret Service at all, German or otherwise..”  

Dr. Tischbrock also wrote a letter to the Times declaring:

“Naturalized Germans are asked on platforms and in papers to state, whether they side with Great Britain or against her in this war and to prove their loyalty. I state at once that I side whole-heartedly with Great Gritain. I could not wish to see the downfall of this country, where I have lived as a guest for over 20 years, and where I hope to live for the rest of my life. And though born in Germany I should not like to see an army triumph which has burned Louvain, used asphyxiating gas and employed methods, which fill a decent man’s soul with horror and shame.”

 Mr. F. Palmer, the head of the school tried to ascertain the truth of the matter by consulting Dr. Tischbrock’s pupils and has today written the following statement:

“I called together the whole of Dr. Tischbrock’s senior German class on Saturday (May 15th) , and asked questions on two points. First, I found that Dr. Tischbrock has certainly never attempted to force “pro-German” views upon the class. He has indeed rarely spoken of the War at all; he expressed great shame when Reims Cathedral was bombarded, and condemned it as a wicked crime; he has said that the War is one of his greatest sorrows. I can hear of no further references.
 The second point was the attitude of the class towards Dr.Tischbrock. If anyone had hostile feelings, he hid them very well on Saturday, for the class was unanimous in hoping that Dr. Tischbrock should stay with us, and apparently resented all suggestion of ill-feeling towards him.”

 Source: Records of Bedford Modern School, BMS/CWK/82/2-4

Anti-German Demonstrations at Bedford

The Crown Public House, 2010 [BLARS]

Sunday 16th May 1915: This weekend Bedford has seen its first anti-German demonstrations. The first took place on Friday night at the Crown Inn, at the junction of Cauldwell Street and Britannia Road. The landlord, Mr Kasteleiner, although born in Germany is a naturalised British subject and has been the licensee of the Crown for around thirty years. His wife is believed to be of English parentage. Rumours passed around the town yesterday that the public house was to be attacked, and the demonstration began soon after nine o’clock. Windows and furniture were smashed, a slot machine was broken up and the money taken, bottles of whisky and cigars were thrown out, and the buffet at the back of the bar was destroyed. Part of the wall adjoining the pub was pulled down and the bricks used to carry out the destruction. Furniture elsewhere in the downstairs rooms of the house and other articles were carried away by bystanders. A piano was overturned and badly damaged. By the time the police arrived there was little they could do; order was not restored until after midnight.

Last night a second attack took place, this time on the premises of Mr. A. Scheuermann, a pork butcher, at 13 Tavistock Street. Mr. Scheuermann is also a naturalised British subject; one of his sons is with the British Expeditionary Force in France and his daughter is a military nurse. Although soldiers were on duty outside the shop the large plate glass window was broken. The crowd rushed the shop but were held back by the soldiers. Reinforcements were sent who closed off that part of Tavistock Street and prevented further damage.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 21st May 1915

In the Event of Invasion

Church Road, Wilstead 1914 [Z1306/134/6/1]

Saturday 8th May 1915:  A meeting has been held at which plans were made for an emergency scheme covering the villages of Cople, Willington, Cardington, Eastcotts, Wilstead and Elstow, to be put into effect in the event of German invasion. In each village a deputy has been appointed to the head of the Emergency Committee, Mr John Arnold Whitworth. Each deputy is to be sworn in as a Special Constable and to take complete charge of his village, appointing four men under him to take charge of live stock, tools, transport and food stuffs. Each will be required to carry out the following duties:

Live Stock – cattle, sheep and horses not required for transport are to be driven to Wilstead, enroute for Haynes, Millbrook and Woburn Sands. The man in charge should select a staff capable of driving and also destroying and rendering unfit for human food any animals the military requires to be destroyed. Horses fit for transport should be collected at the village centre.

Tools – the man in charge will require a staff with axes, ropes, saws, picks and spades for felling trees, making roads, filling ditches, collecting and fixing barbed wire or such other duties as the military may require. He will need to work closely with the man responsible for transport; together they should load up tools and wire and take them to the nearest centre.

Transport – all transport material should be collected at the nearest centre. Where required this should be loaded with items collected by the man in charge of tools.

Food Stuffs – a staff must be found to burn and destroy any supplies which are ordered to be destroyed, or to load such supplies as may be required to be moved.

Owners of motor cars and motor cycles should be asked to bring them to the nearest County Police Station, with as much petrol as they can carry. Mr Whitchurch wishes to be advised of the number of Boy Scouts or Special Constables required in addition to the local staff, who should be used as much as possible. The village deputies have been asked to impress upon the farmers the need to brand their stock for identification purposes.

Source: Notes made by John Arnold Whitchurch [WW1/EC1/3]

The Anti-German League

German Prisoners-of-War at Biggleswade, 1914-1918 [X758/1/5/144]

Sunday 18th April 1915: From the outbreak of the war Anti-German sentiment in Britain has been strong and appears to be on the increase. Since its formation earlier this month the Anti-German League has been gathering signatories for a petition against enemy aliens which will soon be sent to the House of Commons. A letter from a supporter has appeared in this week’s Bedfordshire Standard asking the women of Bedfordshire not to purchase German-made articles. The League is also appealing to its supporters to refuse to employ any German or enemy alien. The duty of British women is to encourage British industry and not to help the German economy in any way. It is suggested that a good first step would be to support and train British waiters so that hotels and restaurants will have no more need to employ Germans.

With the passing of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Order last week the Government is also tightening restrictions on enemy aliens . When this comes into force at the beginning of May it will make it obligatory for any hotel, inn, boarding-house or lodging-house keeper to maintain a register of all aliens over the age of 14 staying in his house. A signed statement of nationality must be provided by every person staying in such accommodation, whether they are an alien or a British subject, and aliens will be required to show all the particulars required for the register.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 16th April 1915 and 30th April 1915

A New Organ for Barton-le-Cley and a Coincidence

Church End, Barton c.1910 [Z1130/7/47b]

Wednesday 24th February 1915: The dedication of a new organ for St. Nicholas Church at Barton-le-Clay took place this afternoon. Lance Corporal Leonard Sturgess, who earlier this year described his stay in a Belgian church where there was a fine organ, is at home on sick leave and was well enough to be able to  pull one of the bells at the organ opening. Several Belgian refugees were present and when they saw the many bullet holes in his coat they acclaimed him as the “Barton hero”. Lance Corporal Sturgess himself survived the Battle of Ypres unscathed and has returned with the story of an extraordinary coincidence which came to his attention. Before the war an English tradesman lived next door to a German in London, where they were excellent neighbours. After the outbreak of war both were called on to fight for their countries – only for the German to be taken prisoner by his former neighbour!

Source: Barton-le-Cley Parish Magazine April 1915 [P21/3017]

Miss Pepita Eleanora Henrietta Ottilia Behrend

Former police station and court at Sharnbrook, 2013

Friday 23rd October 1914: A long time resident of Sharnbrook appeared at the Petty Sessions today charged with failing to register as an enemy alien. After war was declared it was rumoured that Miss Pepita Eleanora Henrietta Ottilia Behrend was of German nationality. Police Inspector Bliss made enquiries and found she had left England for Berlin on 30th July to visit relatives. He heard on 23rd September that she had returned to Sharnbrook. He paid her a visit and told her she would need to register under the Aliens Order 1914 unless she could produce naturalisation papers. She showed him a passport signed by the American Ambassador in Berlin and told him that she had returned to England as a British refugee. She admitted to him that she had relatives in high positions in Germany, one of them a countess. He told her that the passport was not sufficient proof of her nationality. She said that her father had been German and her mother Hungarian, but that she herself had been born in Upper Seymour Street, London. Inspector Bliss told her that she would need to obtain her birth certificate as proof and she agreed to do this.

Inspector Bliss visited Miss Behrend again on October 21st. She had tried to obtain a birth certificate, but although a search had been carried out no birth had been registered between 1863 and 1867 which matched her details. There was supposedly a letter accompanying the results of the search stated that compulsory registration of births and deaths was not in force until 1875, but Miss Behrend had lost this. She suspected her parents had failed to register her birth. She had older brothers and sisters, all born in Germany before the family moved to England in 1864. She herself was the youngest and the only child to be born here, and her sister recalled being present at her baptism at a church in the parish of St George’s, Hanover Square. Her second brother had registered as an alien but her eldest brother was a naturalised Englishman. She herself had not bothered to take out naturalisation papers as she always understood she was born here and believed herself to be a British subject. She had not realised the gravity of her situation and had not taken any legal advice as she thought it was simply a matter of finding out where she was born.

The Chairman recommended that Miss Behrend should obtain legal advice and remanded her in custody for a week. She pleaded to be allowed to go home but initially was told this was outside the power of the Bench. After some discussion and after hearing that Miss Behrend had lived in Sharnbrook for over ten years and that local men of substance would vouch for her she was bound over to appear again the following week and released.

Source: Bedfordshire Times 30th October 1914

Tea Wars

Notice posted in Luton News, 24th September 1914

Sunday 27th September 1914, Bedford: Since the war started shopkeepers at Thomas J Lipton's stores, including Lipton's in Bedford, have been telling people not to buy Lyons’ tea as the directors of the company are Germans and their profits will go to help the German war effort. Lyons brought a libel action against Lipton and as a result notices have now been posted in the newspapers stating that Lyons is a British company with British directors, shareholders and shopkeepers. Lipton’s agents and employees have been forbidden to say or publish anything suggesting that Lyons is German.

Source: Luton News 24/9/1914