Magazines Wanted for Soldiers

Cover of Sketch magazine, 12 May 1915 [Wikimedia]

Thursday 30th May 1918: The Superintendent of the Church Army soldiers’ hut in Dunstable Road, Luton, has written to the Luton News as follows:

“Sir, Will you very kindly allow me a short space in your paper to appeal on behalf of the Church Army soldier’s hut in Dunstable Road, Luton? We are in great need of illustrated weeklies, such as “Sketch”, “Tatler”, “Sphere” etc., and magazines of all kinds. Perhaps some of your readers will pass theirs on as soon as they have finished with them. A regular weekly supply would be greatly appreciated by the soldiers. A chest of drawer is also urgently required for the use of the Hut. I shall be very pleased and thankful to hear if somebody can spare or sacrifice one.”

Source: Luton News, 30th May 1918

Farmer Fined for Wasting Food

Swedes (from Wikimedia)

Tuesday 28th May 1918: Farmer John Dancer of Leighton Buzzard has appeared today at the Petty Sessions charged with permitting foodstuffs to be wasted. Proceedings were taken at the direction of the Ministry of Food. The Beds War Agricultural Executive Committee arranged a routine inspection of Mr Dancer’s farm at Heath and Reach on March 12th, and found a very large quantity of swede turnips lying about in fifteen small heaps, each containing about 1½ cwt of the vegetables. Mr. Dancer stated that he had pulled the turnips last November and covered them with leaves, but had not put any earth on them. Many were found to be frost bitten, and at least half were useless as food for either man or beast. Two other witnesses confirmed the poor state of the turnips, with one in no doubt that it was “simply the result of sheer carelessness”.

Mr. Dancer said he took the farm ten years ago and it was managed by his son William. He had heard that turnips kept better in small quantities and were not affected by cold or wet. Both he and his son thought the best way to preserve them was to cover them with leaves. However, another farmer, John Hopkins, stated that the best way to keep swedes was to cover them with dirt. Two other witnesses spoke on Mr. Dancer’s behalf. Walter Mills said he had bought some of Dancer’s turnips to feed to his pigs and none were bad. Another farmer, Arthur Syres, had also bought some of the swedes and their condition was “very fair for the time of the year”. After some consideration the Bench found Mr. Dancer guilty and imposed a £5 fine.  

Source: Luton News, 30th May 1918

Death of Private John Quick

Saturday 25th May 1918: The mother of Private Francis John Quick of the Middlesex Regiment, who died of wounds earlier this week, has received the following letter of sympathy from the Captain of his Company:

“I had known Private Quick for a very long time, and always considered him, both as a soldier and a sportsman, one of the best men I ever had in the company. He was wounded whilst on a bicycle carrying an important message, and it will possibly be some slight consolation to you to know that the whole thing occurred just outside one of our officers’ messes, where he received immediate attention and was in hospital within 20 minutes. I visited him in hospital about 10 minutes later and stayed with him until the doctor was ready to dress his wounds properly. Your son was quite conscious and able to speak to me and did not seem to be suffering greatly. His last words to me were “cheerio!” and I promised to visit him again next day, which I did, but unfortunately he had passed away a few hours earlier. All who came in contact with your son after he was wounded are high in their praise as to his conduct throughout. Within the last hour I have been over to visit his grave. It is all very peaceful, many miles from the line. He lies amongst many of his late comrades, and the cross next to his bears the name of a Captain in a very famous division. It is a beautifully kept ground and you may feel quite sure in your mind that your son’s grave will receive every necessary attention.”

Mrs. Quick lives at 92, Bassett Road, Leighton Buzzard. Her son was twenty years old and serving with the 11th Entrenching Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 28th May 1918

[1] Private Quick is buried at the Duisans British Cemetery at Etrun, near Calais.

Bedford Pig Clubs

Two prize pigs in Brown & Merry Bedford sale yard c.1910 [BMB13/2]

Thursday 23rd May 1918: A pig raising scheme in operation in the Queen’s Park area of Bedford is looking extremely promising. The Queen’s Park Pig Club began with a meeting held on March 19th to discuss setting up a society for the purpose of buying, breeding, housing, feeding and fattening pigs, with each member to receive a share of the bacon produced. Twenty members contributed some capital, and during the Easter holiday they built two large pigsties with brick floors in Quenby’s field, off Bromham Road. Alongside the sties they also put up a building for storing foodstuffs, with a copper for boiling the feed. The idea rapidly became very popular, and within four weeks of the initial meeting the Club had acquired seventeen pigs and had around sixty members, many of whom are employed at the Queen’s Engineering Works.

On joining the club each member pays £3 to cover the cost of buildings and the purchase of pigs. There are already plans to build four more sties, each with a sleeping apartment and a forecourt. Members pay a weekly subscription towards the cost of feeding and looking after the pigs, including the services of an experienced pig-keeper. A collecting tank has been bought and swill is to be collected from the Club members’ houses and from the Allen Institute. The Club has also reserved a plot of ground on which to grow food for the pigs. Manure produced by the pigs is to be sold to the members at a nominal fee, which will no doubt benefit their allotments. Liquid manure is being collected in a sump, so that nothing is wasted. A member of the Club is a well-known local butcher, who will provide advice and experience when necessary, and it is proposed to insure the pigs. Each member is expected to receive half a pig in the autumn. Any profits from surplus meat will be used to replenish or increase the stock of pigs.

Proposals have also been made for a  Pig Club for the east side of town. This club proposes to set a minimum membership of sixty. The cost of building sties is thought to be prohibitive, but premises suitable for fifty pigs are available to rent. At the current time another forty names are required to make the scheme viable.

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 26th April 1918 and 31st May 1918

Elstow Tractor Discovered in Palestine

Bedfordshire Regiment men with Saunderson tractor

Monday 20th May 1918: A group of Bedfordshire Regiment soldiers serving in Palestine found a surprising link with home in a village recently captured from the Turks. Corporals Fred Kendall of Wilstead and R. E. Shadrake of Bedford, Private Edward Doughty and some other Bedford boys, found a Model V Saunderson tractor on a farm in the village. Corporal Shadrake wrote to Mr. Saunderson and enclosed a photograph of the machine:

“A few weeks ago we took a village from the Turks, which was found to be a German Colony, called Wilhelma. One of the first things we saw was a ‘Saunderson’ Tractor made at Elstow Works. I thought it would interest you to know that a few Bedford boys have had memories of her native place brought before them by the sight of this tractor so many miles from home.”

It appears that Corporal Kendall had helped to make the machine, and the mark of Private Doughty’s father was on the spokes of the wheel. Private Doughty writes that the tractor, which was sent out to Palestine eighteen months before the War, was in fairly good order except that the cylinders had been removed.

Source: Bedfordshire Times, 24th May 1918

New Wage Scales for Farm Workers

Farm labourers at Prebendal Farm, Bedford c.1910 [PU246/90]

Friday 17th May 1918:  Following a meeting of the Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire District  Wages Committee earlier this week, the following scales of payment for boys, girls and women working on farms in Bedfordshire are to be recommended to the Wages Board:

Boys aged 14 – 13 shillings for a working week of 54 hours in the summer and 48 hours in the winter, with overtime of 4 pence per hour

Boys aged 15  – 16 shillings per week with 6 pence per hour overtime

Boys aged 16  – 20 shillings per week with 7 pence per hour overtime

Boys aged 17  – 26 shillings per week with 8 pence per hour overtime

Able-bodied women aged over 18 – 4½ pence per hour [1]

Girls aged 16 and 17 – 4 pence per hour

Girls aged 14 and 15 – 3 pence per hour

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 21st May 1918

[1] This is a similar rate to the wages recommended for 16 year old boys.

Luton Town Footballer Killed in Action

Arthur Wileman

Tuesday 14th May 1918: The news was received today by Mr. S Arnold of 44 Kenilworth Road that Luton Town footballer Arthur Wileman has been killed in action. Mr. Wileman’s wife had lived at that address for some time both before and after her marriage; she is now at her home in Somerset. No further details have yet been received.

Arthur Wileman came from a footballing family at Newhall, South Derbyshire. He began his career with Newhall Swifts, before he and his brother joined Burton United, where they gained reputations as dangerous forwards. From there they moved to Chelsea, but were not successful there and after two seasons they moved on. Arthur spent a season with Millwall before joining Luton Town in 1912. Although on the small side he was a strong player with great shooting power. In 1913-14 he scored 33 goals for the club, becoming their second highest scorer. He was one of eight men from Luton Town who joined the Footballers’ Battalion in December 1914. Due to an injury to his knee he was not sent to France until 1916, when he transferred to the Royal Sussex Regiment. In February last year the Club Secretary received a letter from him from the Front, where he was serving with another Luton player, Arthur Roe. He was promoted to acting sergeant major, and just before Christmas was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry. He turned down the offer of a commission, preferring to remain in the ranks.

Source: Luton News, 16th May 1918