A Subdued Christmas

Leighton Buzzard Post Office, Church Square c.1915 [Z1306/72/3/5]

Wednesday 25th December 1918: Christmas is being celebrated very quietly in Leighton Buzzard. The loss of so many men since last Christmas, and the absence of so many other still with the Armed Forces, has dampened spirits. The bells of All Saints Church have been rung every evening this week, a welcome sound after previous Christmases when the bells were silenced. There are relatively few visitors in the town and, unusually in recent times, very few soldiers in the streets. At Leighton Buzzard railway station there has been slightly more passenger traffic than last year, but considerably less parcels traffic, most of the usual contents of Christmas hampers being either rationed or unobtainable. The shopkeepers have been busy this week, and there has been a revival in the use of Christmas cards, making work for the staff of the Post Office. The mail on Monday of last week was one of the largest in bulk ever sent from Leighton Buzzard, with eleven letter bags despatched on the evening mail train.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 31st December 1918

News From Woburn

Royal Oak, Woburn c.1900 [Z50/135/66]

Monday 12th March 1917: Woburn has lost two more men to the War. The family of Christopher Robinson of Woburn has been notified that he has died while held by the Turks as a prisoner of war. Before the war he was India, and was sent from there to Mesopotamia. He was taken prisoner at Kut last year while serving with General Townsend’s force, and had not been heard of since.[1]  

The parents of nineteen year old Private Bert Indge have heard that their son was fatally wounded last month. They received the following letter from Private Berry, formerly the licensee of the Royal Oak at Woburn:

“I feel I must write and tell you how sorry I am for your loss. Bert was in the same company as I, so that I used to see him every day. I shall miss him very much, as he was the only one from Woburn in the battalion beside myself. He was a good lad and was always cheerful, and his Sergeant, who was killed the same day, always spoke well of him. I was not in the fight myself, as I have been one of the company cooks since Christmas, but I saw Bert’s mates when they came out. They told me he did not suffer any pain, and that he died with a smile, and I hope it may be some consolation to you know that he died happy.”

At the Woburn Cottage Hospital Rifleman Thomas Bramall, a Warrington man serving with the King’s Royal Rifles, has succumbed to his injuries. His foot had been amputated, but he recovered enough to be able to get out again. However, septic poisoning set in and he died with his parents at his bedside. The Duke and Duchess of Bedford have sent them their sympathy.

Two more Woburn men have answered their country’s call this month. William Cook, who has been through a training course at Ampthill Camp and has now reached the age of eighteen, and Mr. Fred Clapham, the rural postman for Eversholt and Tingrith.  has joined the army. His postal duties are now being carried out by two young ladies from Woburn.

Sources: Luton News, 8th and 15th March 1917; Leighton Buzzard Observer, 20th March 1917

[1] Christopher Robinson died on 6th September 1916, and is buried at the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery in Iraq.  

Appeal for Books for the Troops

Z1306/10/17/1, View of the General Post Office on Dame Alice Street, Bedford, c.1911-1918 (Bedfordshire Archives & Records Service)

Tuesday 20^th February 1917: Mr Lewin, the Postmaster of Bedford, has received a letter from the Postmaster-General making a renewed appeal for members of the public to send books and magazines to the troops via the Post Office. This scheme had gone very well until Christmas, when there was a considerable reduction in material received by the Post Office. Currently, only 600 bags per week are being received, and the target is 1,500 bags per week. Sir Douglas Haig is a big supporter of the scheme, writing:

‘Those who have not visited the Army in the field can scarcely realise what books have meant during two years of war to men in the trenches, in billets and in hospitals. So I hope those at home will buy books very freely…and having read and enjoyed them, as freely pass them on to the “Camps’ Library” for circulation amongst the troops'.

Leaflets have been issued pointing out that books and magazines can be handed over the counter to any Post Office, unwrapped and unaddressed, and there is no postage to pay. Most of the material is sent to the Camps’ Library, the organisation recognised by the War Office for the distribution of literature. So far, the Camps’ Library has dealt with over 8,500,000 publications and requires 75,000 a week to meet the demands of the various theatres of war. It is hoped that existing supporters of the scheme will induce others to participate and make the donation of books and magazines a ‘war habit’. 

Source: Bedford Record 20/2/1917

Tragic Year of a Luton Father

Rifleman Arthur James Gaunt

Monday 23rd October 1916: Mr. Edward Gaunt of12 Hartley Road, Luton has heard that his 20 year old son Rifleman Arthur James Gaunt has been killed in France. Rifleman Gaunt was a former Luton telegraph boy who transferred to Harrow as a postman before enlisting with the Post Office Rifles (8th City of London Rifles). This is the third bereavement suffered by Mr. Gaunt in less than a year. His wife Lucy died last autumn, and his ten year old daughter Esther died earlier this year.

Source: Luton News, 26th October 1916; Registrations of Deaths

Biggleswade Soldier's Views on Rifles and Conscientious Objectors

Biggleswade Post Office c.1910-1920 [Z1306/16/32/1]

Sunday 26th March 1916: Rifleman Bert Tasker of the Post Office Rifles [1], a former employee of the Biggleswade Post Office, has written a letter home in which he explains the intricacies of a rifle and expresses his less-than-flattering views of conscientious objects:

“I am now on my last course of musketry, and expect to go out at the end of April. Musketry is very interesting if one has become a real soldier and wishes to learn everything there is to know about a rifle. There are over 100 parts to our rifle, so you see it wants some memory to remember them all. The lads in our hut have just had a good laugh at some of the excuses that the ‘conscientious objectors’ have made in different parts of the country. What do you think of them? I don’t know whether Biggleswade contains any but my opinion of such people is that they are traitors to their religion as well as to their country. For a man to say he would not defend his own mother and loved ones from the Huns if England had been in the position of Belgium is absolute cowardice and rot. No man who has any love at all for his own flesh and blood could stand idle and see an enemy such as the Germans come into the country without taking up arms against them. I think I should be quite right in saying that no Englishman loves war: I haven’t met a single soldier yet who enlisted just for the fun of having a season at ‘man shooting,’ but thank God there are some millions of men who believe in taking up arms to protect their homes and their loved ones.”

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 24th March 1916

---

[1] Second Lieutenant Herbert Edwin Tasker, of the 6th Battalion, London Regiment (City of London Rifles), was killed on 22 August 1918, aged 24, while attached to the 19th Battalion.

Boys Damage Telephone Lines at Potton

Gamlingay Road, Potton [Z1306/91/9]

Saturday 4th March 1916: Reuben Yerrill and Edward Hutchinson, two errand boys from Potton, were summoned to the Children’s Court in Biggleswade for attempting to break insulators on telegraph poles on January 9th. Special Constable Ernest Jones was on duty in the Gamlingay Road at 3.45 p.m. when he saw the boys throwing stones at a broken insulator and in the direction of the telegraph wires and poles. Florry Tear said she was walking along the road at the same time and saw the boys throwing the stones.

A Post Office official said that during the last six months 21 insulators had been broken between Wrestlingworth Cross Roads and Gamlingay on a newly erected line. Each cost 5½d and replacing them caused considerable expense. The damage also often stopped communication along the line. The case was brought as a warning and the lads were discharged with a caution.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle, 3rd March 1916

Postwomen Begin Work

Luton's Postwoman, November 1915

Tuesday 21st December 1915: To alleviate the labour shortage caused by the war the Post Office has taken on a number of postwomen. A reporter who spent time with a lady learning the ropes in New Bedford Road area of Luton tells us, “She walks along very briskly, and appeared quite a home with her bag and bundles of letters”. At Woburn Miss Ethel King has taken her brother’s place and in now delivering letters in the town. The mid-day delivery has been discontinued and the residents of Woburn are not only receiving two deliveries a day. A second postwoman, Miss May Skinner, is expected to begin deliveries imminently.

Source: Luton News 5th November 1915; Leighton Buzzard Observer 21st December 1915

Aspley Guise Postmaster Charged with Theft

The Old Post Office, Aspley Guise, c.1910 [Z818/4]

Saturday 18th December 1915: Thomas Poland, the postmaster of Aspley Guise, was brought before a special court at Fenny Stratford this morning and charged with stealing two diamond rings from a registered postal parcel which was in transit at Bletchley Central Post Office. On hearing the charge Mr. Poland stated “I am absolutely innocent of the crime”. The accused, who is a married man and a property owner, had been a clerk and telegraphist at Bletchley and had only recently been promoted to the Aspley Guise postmastership. Bail was granted in the sum of £100 with two sureties of £50 each.

Sources: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 21st December 1915

Theft of Letters by Post Office Employee

 Cheapside, Luton with Post Office on left, c.1905

[Z1306/75/10/12/3]

Wednesday 10th November 1915: Post Office cleaner Charles Johnson of Tennyson Road has appeared at the Luton Borough Sessions where he was accused of stealing a letter containing three ten shilling notes and three stamps. Following complaints Mr. Hill of the Post Office Investigation Department had been sent to Luton to keep watch. On 4th November he made up a postal packet containing the notes and stamps, addressed it to Mrs Edwards at Lilley and posted it at 12.35pm in the letter box near the counter at the General Post Office. Frederick William Smith, a sorting clerk and telegraphist, was also observing Johnson. At 12.55 he saw him go to the stamping table holding a duster and examine the letters lying there. He picked them over, felt them, then took something from the table and put it in his pocket. Johnson then turned to the sorting table and put something under his apron. As a cleaner he had no right to touch any letters. As instructed Mr Smith went to the letter box and searched for the letter addressed to Mrs Edwards but could not find it.

A detective from the Metropolitan Police was also on watch. He saw Johnson wrap a number of letters in a piece of newspaper. He called him to the Postmaster’s Room where Mr. Hill cautioned him. He denied knowing anything about the missing letter and agreed to turn out his pockets. The detective found a ten shilling note in his trouser pocket and twelve unopened letters in his apron. When Johnson’s home was searched £23 in gold, £4 in silver and twelve ten shilling notes were found in a locked box under the bed. The hearing ended with Johnson committed for trial at the Beds Assizes. As these will not be held for two months he was allowed bail.

Source: Luton Times 12th November 1915

A Gift from Luton

Luton Town Hall 1908 [Z1306/75/10/23/11]

Thursday 3rd June 1915: A meeting has been held at Luton Town Hall to discuss setting up a fund to provide parcels for prisoners of war from the Luton area. The idea for the scheme came from Miss Gurney of Henlow Grange. Funds were now being organised in various counties, but it was felt that Luton should have a local committee rather than be part of a county-wide scheme. There was a belief, firmly expressed by the Town Clerk, that Luton men would appreciate a gift sent direct from Luton and provided with Luton men a great deal more than if it came from the county of Bedfordshire as a whole.

The initial proposal was to send fortnightly parcels to men of the Bedfordshire Regiment only, but a strong case was made for sending them to all prisoners from Luton. This amounted to fourteen men in total, eight from the Bedfords and six from other regiments. One of the Bedfordshire Regiment men and one of the others were next-door neighbours, which would make any decision to focus only on those serving with the local regiment particularly difficult. There was some reluctance to duplicate efforts being made elsewhere. The prisoners included men from the wealthy Rifle Brigade, but no information could be found as to whether they were supplying parcels to their own men. Altogether 180 men of the Bedfordshire Regiment were believed to be prisoners, although only 20 to 30 had their homes in the county. Bedford intended to provide parcels for 30 to 40 of these men and it was proposed that Luton should do the same. Agreement was reached that Luton men would be given priority, whatever their regiment, and any remaining funds should be used to send parcels to other men of the Bedfordshire Regiment.

A unanimous decision was taken to set up a committee to organise the provision of parcels. . It was clear from letters arriving that the standard of living for prisoners of war was not high. Whereas nothing could be done for the men who had fallen in battle they could at least help to ease the lot of those who had sacrificed their liberty.  It was suggested that donors should be asked to provide gifts in kind as well as money. A list of useful articles was read to the meeting, with the inclusion of insect powder raising a chuckle. The Post Office would assist by taking parcels up to 11 pounds in weight without charge and the American Express Company would take them from 11 pounds up to 112 pounds

Source: Luton News 4th June 1915

Regimental Postman Gaoled

British Postal Order, 1908 [Wikimedia]

Wednesday 12th May 1915: Lance-Corporal John James Halse of the 2/4th Leicesters, a soldier billeted in Luton has appeared at Luton Borough Court today charged with stealing a postal order of the value of two shillings. Lance-Corporal Halse has been employed as a regimental postman, whose duty was to collect letters from the General Post Office and distribute them. Complaints had been received that letters were going astray and Halse came under suspicion. When his belongings were searched an opened letter addressed to a man in the Lincolnshire Regiment was found. The letter contained a postal order marked Grimsby. Lance-Corporal Halse pleaded guilty and admitted stealing other postal orders. A Lieutenant appeared as a character witness, saying Halse was previously of good character.  The guilty man asked for leniency, explaining that he had previously fought in the Boer War and wanted to get to the Front. However, the Bench took the view that the breach of trust was of such a magnitude that prison was the only option. Halse was sentenced to one month in gaol with hard labour.

Source: Luton News, 13th May 1915

Dunstable Postman Killed

Herbert Edward Sharp

Friday 12th March 1915: News has been received that Mr Herbert Edward Sharp of Alfred Street, Dunstable was killed in action in Belgium on 22nd February. Mr Sharp was born and lived for much of his life in Kensworth and was well known in the area. After working as a farm labourer he went to London and enlisted in the Grenadier Guards about fourteen years ago. He spent three years with the regiment, during which time he served in the Boer War although it is believed he was not involved in any fighting. When he left the Guards he returned to Bedfordshire and became a postman in Dunstable, from where he took the mail to Markyate and Flamstead. As a reservist he was called up at the beginning of the war and went to Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force. He married Emma Ada Bradwin in 1909 but did not have any children. In addition to his wife he leaves a grieving mother and two sisters. As Mr Sharp was a regular correspondent his family feared the worst when his letters stopped, and their fears proved well-founded. His half-brother Arthur Hall of Kensworth is serving in France with the Army Service Corps.

Source: Luton News 18th March 1915

On the Edge of War

The Post Office in Cheapside, Luton with a horse and wagon outside, c.1908-1914 [Z1306/75/10/12/4]

Tuesday 4th August 1914 (Luton): It appears almost certain that within hours Great Britain will be at war with Germany and its allies. An ultimatum has been issued by the British government that will expire at 11p.m. tonight. Since Germany has already declared war on Russia and France and refuses to accept the neutrality of small, helpless Belgium it is surely inevitable that Britain will also be forced to declare war. 

In Luton today it would be easy to imagine that the war had already begun. The town is full of soldiers in uniform as reservists leave to rejoin their regiments. An announcement has been made that the General Post Office will stay open all night to give the reservists an opportunity to withdraw any money they need before they leave. The Territorial (volunteer) soldiers of the Fifth Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment have been at their annual training camp at Ashridge, but yesterday they were ordered to break camp and march back to Luton. They marched for four hours in the pouring rain, arriving back in town soaked through. The South Bedfordshires were told by their commanding officer, Major Brighten, to go home for the time being, but this morning they were ordered to mobilise.

Source: Luton News 6/8/1914