Thefts by Soldiers Billeted at Southill

Men at Southill Station, 1920 [Z880/2]

Wednesday 7th July 1915: Two soldiers have appeared at the Biggleswade Petty Sessions today charged with stealing potatoes and peas worth 7 shillings and 6 pence from George Brown at Southill between 20th and 23rd June. Walter Kirby and Herbert Brown both pleaded guilty. Mr. Brown reported the theft to the police, estimating that he had lost half a bushel of peas and about 60 roots of potatoes. The Bench was informed that other charges had been laid against the men and decided to hear those before passing sentence. They were then accused of stealing five fowls from J. King and Sons, Southill on three separate occasions between 1st and 21st June.

Police Sergeant Marritt told the Court that he had met Kirby leaving the 2.38am train from Leeds on the morning of 28th June. Kirby, a Private in the Royal Engineers billeted at Southill, admitted taking the potatoes and peas and made a voluntary statement. He said had found the hens sleeping out in the open and took them home to be cooked. Another man was with him but he did not wish to give his name. There was also mention of a pheasant, which was not included in the charge. P. S. Marritt and P. C. Pedley met Brown at leaving the 3.38am train at Biggleswade on the same date. Brown at first denied any knowledge of the fowls or potatoes, but later admitted having the vegetables and one hen.

The soldiers’ landlady, Mrs. Lichfield of Southill, said that Kirby had been billeted with her for nine weeks and Brown for some time less. About five weeks ago she saw a fowl on the copper in her wash house which then disappeared; some time later she saw a pheasant which the soldiers ate. A week later there were two hens, which she cooked at Kirby’s request and ate with the men; then a week or two ago there was another fowl hanging outside the wash house door. She said the men had been sending parcels away but she did not know what was in them.

Henry Vellam, the farm bailiff for Messrs John King and Sons, had noticed on 26th June that some slats had been pulled off the hen house. Several fowls had been lost during June; two which were in the habit of roosting out and two others which were sitting on eggs had disappeared. He believed that between ten and a dozen fowls were missing. Kirby and Brown pleaded guilty to stealing the fowls. They were sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour for each crime, with the sentences to run concurrently. The Bench may have been more lenient for a single charge, but the theft of fowls was a serious offence and appeared to be part of a “systematic course of plunder”. It was hoped that after serving their sentence they would be able to return to their military duties. Mrs. Lichfield was told to think herself extremely lucky not be charged with receiving stolen goods.

Source: Biggleswade Chronicle 9th July 1915

Tragic Death of Mrs. Harriet Reeve

Ashwell Arms, Leighton Buzzard, c.1925 [WL800-1]

Tuesday 6th July 1915: A dreadful domestic tragedy took place in Leighton Buzzard yesterday evening. At around 7 pm the sound of a gunshot was heard at 8 Plantation Road, the home of William Benjamin Reeve and his wife Harriet. Soon afterwards P.C. William Clarke, who was on duty near the Stag public house, met Reeve in the street heading for his father’s house at 84 Church Street; he noticed that Reeve was covered with blood and his throat was cut. P.C. Clarke helped the injured man to Church Road and called for a doctor. His injuries were found to be severe and he was taken to the Workhouse Infirmary. Mrs. Reeve was later found sitting in a chair at her home, dead from a gunshot wound which had blown away her right bottom jaw and left a large hole in her right shoulder near to the neck. A double-barrelled muzzle loading gun was against the fence outside the house.

The inquest into the tragedy opened this afternoon at the Ashwell Arms. P.C. Clarke described how he had found Mrs. Reeve’s body. He told the Coroner that the right-hand top drawer in a chest of drawers was open; it contained a number of loose cartridges and an empty powder flask. On the top of the drawers was a powder flask containing powder. Both barrels of the gun found outside the house had recently been fired and the left hammer was cocked . A razor was also found on the ground, covered with blood. The middle of the blade was broken out, apparently due to coming into contact with bone. Mrs. Reeve’s hand was wounded as if she had tried to shield her face. The inquest was adjourned to 21st July. Mrs. Reeve’s funeral will take place on Thursday, with funeral arrangements being made by her employers, Mr. C. H. Aveline and Mr. John Phillips. She leaves three children, Lance-Corporal Charles Reeve, William Reeve and Miss Florrie Reeve.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer 13th July 1915; Bedfordshire Standard 9th July 1915

A 21st Birthday Party

Group of Wounded Soldiers [Z1078/1]

Monday 5th July 1915: A thoroughly enjoyable garden party has been held today by Captain Louis and Mrs. Ada Sillem of 12, Rothsay Gardens, to celebrate the 21st birthday of their daughter Joyce, an old girl of Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford [1]. The guests included about twenty-five wounded soldiers who were invited to share in Joyce’s coming-of-age celebrations; they were also provided with plenty of cigarettes by Captain Sillem. Mr. Harold Johnson performed a short and entertaining programme of comic and patriotic songs with amusing monologues, which was much enjoyed by the audience. Tea was served on tables on the lawn and was followed by games.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 6th July 1915

---

[1] The Dame Alice Harpur School newsletter of January 1924 records the marriage of Joyce Sillem to Leonard Parrack [Source: DAH9/1/7/12]

News from Barton, Clophill and Silsoe

Gassed, by John Singer Sargent (Wikimedia)

Sunday 4th July 1915

Barton-le-Clay

The annual School Treat is to be held in the Rectory Grounds on July 14th. There will be no sports or prizes this year as it has become impossible to raise the money, and if it could be raised there are too many other good causes to which it should be given. Another problem which will curtail outings this year is the lack of trains; no excursion trains are running, even to London.

Clophill

Sergeant Wootton and Jesse Titmas have both been suffering from the effects of poison gas. Sergeant Wootton has now recovered and returned to his regiment; he has also been recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

Silsoe

In November we heard that Captain Lumley Jones had been made a Member of the Legion of Honour and had been mentioned in dispatches. Since returning to his regiment after recovering from a bullet wound earlier this year  he has been awarded the Companionship of the Distinguished Service Order. He has also now been mentioned in dispatches no less than three times. A sergeant in the Essex Regiment recently home from the front made clear the high esteem in which his men hold Captain Jones saying “We would all go anywhere with, and do anything for him”.

Source: Monthly Magazine for the parishes of Barton-le-Cley, Clophill, Flitton and Greenfield, Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Westoning, July 1915 [P21/30/17]

Leighton Buzzard Boy Youngest Ever to Win DCM

Fire at the Bell Hotel, 1911 [Z1306/72]

Saturday 3rd July 1915: News has reached us a former pupil of Beaudesert School at Leighton Buzzard has become the youngest recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal [1], an award for conspicuous bravery second only to the Victoria Cross, at the age of just sixteen[2]. Rifleman John (“Jack”) Pouchot of the Queen’s Westminster Rifles won the DCM for his gallant conduct in trying to the save the life of a wounded comrade. A corporal went out at night to collect water but misjudged the time. As he returned dawn broke, leaving his silhouette clear to the German snipers. He was shot while still 50 yards from the trench. Rifleman Pouchot left the trench and crawled to the wounded man who had a terribly wounded face and was gasping for breath.  As he tried to apply the corporal’s field dressing  another comrade, Rifleman Tibbs, joined them. While trying to bandage the wounded man Tibbs was also shot and killed. Pouchot continued to apply first aid until the corporal died and he was ordered by an officer to return to the trench. Aged only 16 - and just 15 at the time he performed his heroic action - Jack Pouchot is believed to be the youngest man in the Army to receive the DCM. He is the grandson of Mrs Mary Holdom of Bletchley and the son of Emily Pouchot, the former landlady of the Top Bell Hotel in Leighton Buzzard who died tragically following a fire at the hotel in 1911[3] [4].

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette, 6th July 1915

---

[1] The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was awarded to other ranks; the equivalent decoration for officers was the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

[2] The newspaper article describes him as “in his eighteenth year”, but his birth was registered between April and June 1899. As the action for which he won the DCM took place in January 1915 he can only have been fifteen at the time. He remains the youngest ever recipient of this decoration.

[3] Records in the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives include correspondence about custody and access arrangements for Jack Pouchot after his parents separated in 1908. 

[4] Lieutenant John Auguste Pouchot, now with the Royal Air Force, was killed on 5th October 1918. His age is given by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as twenty. It appears from the CWGC citation that after his mother’s death he was fostered by Mrs Edith Hawksford of Kingston-on-Thames.

Soldiers Grateful for their Socks

The Cross, Great Barford, 1913 [Z1130/5/13]

Friday 2nd July 1915: Mrs. Moor’s Knitting Class at Great Barford has stopped for the time being, but class members continue to receive grateful letters from soldiers for pairs of socks sent out to the Front. Private H. Russell of the 4th Middlesex Regiment wrote to Florrie Hart: “Just a line to thank you for those socks. Have just come out of a long spell in the trenches, 27 days to be accurate, and was marched down for a bath and a change, not before it was needed. I was the lucky fellow to get yours out of the bag, hence these few lines. I have had a few pairs since I have been out here, but these are the first with any note inside, and I wish you the best of luck, the same as you wish me.” Bessie Webb has heard from two more soldiers of the same Regiment who both received her carefully made socks. One of them, Sergeant Holyoak, wrote: “I was the lucky man to receive the pair of socks you sent to our brave Tommies at the front. They came very acceptable after being in the trenches for a period of 26 days. I am glad to think that some of our good ladies at home still think of us, especially as some of us have been right through, and been out here for 8 or 9 months. The weather out here is a bit warm and makes our feet sore after a lot of marching.”

Source: Bedfordshire Times 2nd July 1915

Playing Cricket at the Front

Cricket team of 2nd Battalion, Beds Regiment c.1900 [X550/1/105/4]

Thursday 1st July 1915: Signaller F. E. Green of 42 Wenlock Street, Luton, has written from France where he is serving with No. 3 Battery of the Lincoln Royal Field Artillery. Even at the Front our boys are finding opportunities for their favourite sports. He describes how on Sunday afternoon they had played a cricket match against the 2nd Battery, who it appears have had plenty of time to practice their batting and bowling skills. Signaller Green says “I am afraid we were hopelessly beaten, but they had the advantage of us in the fact that their team has had practice practically every night for three weeks. Anyway, we had a good game, and hope to give them a licking next time.” On another occasion his battery had played two innings against the “Howitzers” with better success. Not only did they win, but they had a county cricketer – Joyce of Leicester – out for just two runs. Of course, it is not all fun and games. While they play shells scream overhead into the village behind. The soldiers anxiously watch the weather, hoping that the wind will continue to blow in the direction of the German lines and preventing new gas attacks. Signaller Green suspects that a decisive action is imminent as the artillery on both sides is increasingly active. He ends with the news that his battery are about to leave their position, with little chance of finding another with such good cover.

Source: Luton News 1st July 1915