Stafford in the Great War

CHAPTER 1

The War on the Home Front

On learning of the declaration of hostilities Staffordians from all walks of life came forward to contribute actively to the war effort. This was reflected in the plethora of volunteer groups that quickly emerged.

The Volunteer Training Corps

The first of these units, established by 15 August, was the locally inspired Civic Corps (re-named the Volunteer Training Corps from 1 December 1914), later commanded by Lord Stafford. The Corps’ role was initially to assist with recruitment drives. They ran their own munitions shop and rifle range, which helped to foster marksmen needed in the services.

Men of service age who did not volunteer for active service risked being accused of being ‘shirkers’. Across the country men were pressured into the forces, and those who were believed to be trying to avoid their ‘duty’ were presented with white feathers, an accusation of cowardice. In September 1915 the Staffordshire Chronicle reported:

Strict limits are being put on those who wear war workers and other badges. If a man is seen wearing a Volunteer Training Corps badge he has been proved either under or over military age, or unfit for military service.

Every man you meet should be either in khaki, wearing an official war workers badge, a Volunteer Training Corps badge, or a Special Constable’s badge.

The article added a warning note: ‘Wearing unauthorized badges may mean incurring heavy penalties, and men of military age should take serious warning.’

The Stafford Volunteer Battalion

The drive for volunteers for the pseudo-military units continued throughout the war and Staffordians were rarely found wanting. However, the momentum could not always be maintained and, very late on in the war, on 9 March 1918, the Staffordshire Chronicle carried an appeal by the mayor of Stafford for more men to come forward to support a unit known as the Stafford Volunteer Battalion. Stafford was apparently significantly short of its anticipated complement of 250 men. The feature noted that the county had four Infantry Volunteer Battalions at Stoke, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Stafford. The mayor was reported as saying that if the shortfall was not made up, then: ‘The Commanding Officer would be under the painful necessity of reporting to Field Marshal Lord French that the people of Stafford and district were not prepared to resist an armed invasion of this country by the Germans.’ The terms of service in the Home Defence unit were said not to be onerous: ‘A man upon joining puts in 14 drills of one hour each per month, or two more drills might be performed on the same day. After being passed as efficient, which 99 per cent of the men could do in two months, the number of drills was reduced to 30 in three months, a very valuable concession.’

The Cadet Corps

Field Marshal Lord Kitchener predicted a three-year war. If the early rate of attrition experienced in 1914 was to continue, then the military would require a vast pool of the country’s youth to reinforce and maintain the army at full strength.

Stafford had a thriving Cadet Corps. This was formed in April 1915, and was for 15 to 18-year-old boys. From 12 June it became attached to the 6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment and was known as the Territorial Cadet Corps. With two companies, the Corps, which met at Corporation Street School, had 125 cadets in its ranks by September 1915.

The Cadets received military instruction under Captain Kidder and wore khaki military style uniforms. The boys underwent drill and made route marches carrying 28lb backpacks, building up their fitness levels, and undertook battle training at Hopton Heath and Stafford Castle.

Twice a year members of the Corps were assessed by a regimental sergeant major from the 6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment. He selected individuals who could be fast-tracked into the services. The boys received an official letter from the War Department six months before their 18th birthday, giving them an appointment with a health inspector at a regimental centre. Those who were passed as A1 immediately received a call-up for military service.

The Staffordshire Chronicle of 19 February 1916 reported that a joint parade of the Stafford and King Edward VI Grammar School Cadets was held in the Market Square before both units marched to the Brocton Camp for a demonstration of the use of Mills bombs:

On arrival at the camp the Cadets entered the trench system, and a most interesting demonstration as to the value of bombs was given to the Cadets, this practical demonstration being accompanied with the explosion of many of the bombs now being used at the Front.

The demonstration also included the blowing up of a railway line, the bursting of mines, and the breaking down of barricades between trenches, all by the means of high explosives.

After the bombing demonstration was over, Captain Janion and Lieutenant Dexter personally accompanied the Cadets through the trenches, explaining how they were dug, and the reasons for their formation, and the use of the various dug-outs, communications trenches etc.

One former cadet, Percy Smith, recalled the demonstration: ‘One was a hand-held grenade, from which you had to withdraw the pin, and then throw it. The other was one that you placed in a trench catapult.’

The Staffordshire Chronicle of 15 August 1918 reported that the Cadet Movement in the county proposed that the County Volunteer Regiments should be re-designated the 1st or 2nd Volunteer Battalions of the North or South Staffordshire Regiments, as the case might be (instead of being referred to as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th Battalions of the Staffordshire Volunteer Regiments). Under the existing format ‘A’ detachment of the 2nd Battalion met at Stafford’s Newport Road Drill Hall.

The Volunteer and other Corps

Another, quite separate, organization was the Volunteer Corps. This eventually comprised three battalions: the North Staffordshire (Stoke), the Mid-Staffordshire (Stafford) and the South Staffordshire (Wolverhampton) Volunteer Corps. There were two local companies: No. 1 (Stafford) Company Mid-Staffordshire Volunteers was composed of 18–30-year-olds, while No. 2 (Stafford) Company was made up of 30–55-year-olds.

Other organizations mentioned in the press included the West Stafford Corps, which had a rifle range at Kingston Hill and was served by a munitions factory on Lloyd Street, and the Staffordshire Volunteer Regiment. Filling the void left by the posting overseas of the Territorials was the Stafford Volunteer Training Corps. This unit was essentially a forerunner of the Home Guard. They had an indoor range at Backwalls.

Fundraising for the War Effort

The country had gone to war to uphold the neutrality of Belgium. Consequently the papers were full of stories of atrocities committed against Belgian civilians. One of the town’s earliest fundraising campaigns was for the relief of the Belgian refugees, some of whom were re-housed in Broad Street in late 1914: ‘Hospitality is being extended to seven Belgian refugees in Stafford. Large numbers of Belgian subjects, driven from their homes by the ruthless Germans, whose inhumanity to unoffending people is a standing disgrace to civilization.’ By April 1915, the Stafford Refugee Committee had housed fifty-eight Belgian citizens, mainly along the Newport Road.

Meanwhile, on 7 August 1914, Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales made an urgent appeal in The Times for a national fund to provide financial support to the dependants of Reservists who were called up. This effectively launched the first nationwide appeal and the people of Stafford were quick to join the fundraising efforts, co-ordinated by the town’s mayor. Public support for the troops was overwhelming and by midnight the Palace had received £250,000. Within a week what became known as the National Relief Fund had reached £1,000,000 (a staggering amount of money, when you consider that £1 in 1914 is the equivalent of about £60 today).

Naturally, the troops in training and at the front were high on the agenda. When it came to fundraising on their behalf, money and comforts were forwarded via official channels. In Stafford fundraising was carried out by numerous individuals and groups. One early example was the Castle Tavern’s proprietor who asked his regulars for tobacco and cigarettes which were distributed among Stafford men serving overseas. In advance of Christmas 1914, local bakers provided cakes and Christmas puddings for the troops.

There were frequent appeals in the press for families to supply details of men who might welcome a parcel. Batches were sent to the 6th (Stafford) Staffordshire Battery, as well as to local men serving in the 1/6th and 2/5th Battalions of the North Staffordshire Regiment and the Staffordshire Yeomanry; all were still at that time on home soil.

Fundraising continued throughout the war, and when there wasn’t a particular national campaign to support, Staffordians came up with their own ideas for good causes. Meanwhile, with troops convalescing or under training locally, there were always opportunities to provide home comforts, leading to weekly articles in the press headed ‘Entertainment for the Wounded’ or ‘Soldiers Entertained’. One such event was reported in the Stafford Newsletter of 20 November 1915, and it may be seen as representative of the hundreds held in and about the town during the hostilities:

The Baptist Church at Stafford held a Tea Morning for soldiers, 150 of whom attended, enjoying refreshments and entertainment. The get together was organised by ladies of the Baptist Church and the refreshments provided at cost.

A concert was to be held at the Borough Hall in aid of wounded Belgian soldiers. The event was sponsored by the Mayor of Stafford, while the majority of the performers were themselves Belgian.

Fundraising usually took the form of auctions, tea mornings, dances, concerts and jumble sales. Occasionally, however, war-related artefacts formed part of an exhibition which the curious paid to view. In September 1916, the press carried the following story: ‘The original letter written by Lord Kitchener, making his historic appeal to the nation for a million men for the British Army, will shortly be on view in Stafford, proceeds to the Red Cross Fund. Also on display were curiosities from the battlefields loaned by locals.’

War Relief Funds

Stafford’s factory workers were prominent in raising money for war charities, setting up and administering their own funds. Most notable among these were the Dormans’ War Relief Fund, the Bostock’s War Relief Fund and that of Siemens Brothers. This did not stop their workforces from collecting for their own adopted charities and contributing to the national campaigns.

A concert ticket for a Grand Khaki Concert held on Wednesday, 6 December 1916.

A selection of flag day pins.

By January 1916, Edwin Bostock & Co., boot and shoe manufacturers (later Lotus Shoes), employees had contributed nearly £500 to the National Relief Fund, with a further £400-plus to the Red Cross, Hospital Fund, Allied National Relief and other war funds. The company had put £200 aside to give assistance to workers invalided out of the services who were no longer able to provide for their families.

Special flag days were held throughout the war. These raised money for all types of military and other charities. The press fostered friendly competition between factories or streets to see who could raise the most.

War Savings Groups

While fundraising brought in hundreds of thousands of pounds for charitable work, another source of revenue for the war effort came from war bonds, which could be redeemed for a modest profit to the investor once they matured.

The sale of war bonds and certificates was a vital part of the government’s fundraising drive. Factory workers were encouraged to invest part of their wages in the government bonds, all of the town’s bigger establishments taking part in the scheme. There were many drives throughout the war, one following close on the heels of the last, but all received a warm reception with the people of Stafford hitting their targets.

Stafford Aeroplane (Tank) Week was part of a national campaign held between 4 and 9 March 1918. The idea was to feature a British Mark IV tank, still something of a novelty, to help raise money for the war effort, but not necessarily to purchase tanks, as the title implied.

An Aeroplane (Tank) Week meeting in the Market Square.

The programme for Aeroplane (Tank) Week.

Stafford’s goal was set at twenty-seven aeroplanes (each of which cost £2,500) with an overall target of £67,500, or £2 10s. per head. As usual the people of Stafford were not found wanting and exceeded their target and raised over £145,000. The Staffordshire Chronicle noted: ‘This week all classes in the town who have a spark of patriotism in their constitution have come forward to contribute the money they could spare for the purpose, as the street motto puts it of saving those who are saving them. They have stumped up well.’ The editorial explained how during the evenings throughout the week there had been a slide-show in the Market Square ‘for the most part treating of aeroplanes and their work in the war’.

An Aeroplane Week endorsement stamp.

The National Savings Committee had access to only eight tanks (six of which were: 113 ‘Julian’, 119 ‘Old Bill’, 130 ‘Nelson’, 137 ‘Drake’, 141 ‘Egbert’ and 142 ‘Iron Ration’) and these toured the country during 1917–18. The tanks were already committed elsewhere and so ‘an excellent imitation of one of these modern novelties of warfare’ was manufactured by Siemens Brothers Electrical Engineering Works. This was displayed in the Market Square throughout the period of the bond drive. All of the war bonds and war savings certificates purchased during the week were impressed with a special commemorative stamp of a Bleriot-type monoplane.

In addition, in keeping with the town’s goal to supply the RAF with new aircraft, W.H. Dorman & Co. Ltd arranged for an aeroplane to be displayed in the Market Square, while Royal Flying Corps (RFC) photographs were exhibited at the Borough Hall on the Tuesday, along with a searchlight and other military hardware.

The Staffordshire Chronicle of 2 March 1918 reported:

The first day’s business amounted to £11,275. The Post Office authorities had established an office in the Corn Exchange at the Shire Hall, and certificates have been on sale at tradesmen’s shops and licensed houses during the week.

On Tuesday evening a large audience assembled in the Borough Hall. A lantern lecture on the history and work of the aeroplane was given by Sergeant Chateris, of the New Zealand Rifles.

The first two days of the drive had raised a total of £31,434. During the lecture given on Tuesday evening Dormans’ management ‘issued a challenge to the workpeople of other concerns in the town, including the boot operatives, to raise a larger sum in War Saving Certificates (in proportion to the number employed) than any other works in the town’.

Crowds gathered in the Market Square on Wednesday, when the mayoress, Mrs Young, addressed the ladies present. Mr Young, also present, revealed that he had laid down the challenge to the Mayor of Newcastle, stating that ‘Stafford would do better than Newcastle’. One of the guest speakers at the rally was ‘Ray Bee, the holder of the DCM and the French War Cross, [who] made a spirited appeal on behalf of the boys at the Front. The day’s events (Wednesday) and activities raised a further £9,459.’ The report continued:

On Thursday evening further addresses were delivered from the summit of the ‘Tank.’ The total received at the close of business for the day was £51,143.

We understand that Messers Dormans employees had, up to yesterday, subscribed about £6,000 and that Messers Bostock’s employees had contributed £5,000. Messers Siemens’ employees are also going strong, the firm have themselves subscribed £50,000 during the week [across their various factories, not just in Stafford].

Meanwhile, Edwin Bostock & Co. offered ten £5 war bonds and 200 £1 war savings certificates in a lottery, tickets being issued with every certificate sold. ‘The returns from different schools in the town show that a sum of £5,750 has been contributed; but the returns have not all been received, and it is expected that over £6,000 will be subscribed.’

An Edwin Bostock & Co. plaque (in the name of Lotus Shoes Ltd).

As a footnote to this and the many war bond campaigns carried out in the county town, after the war it was announced that Stafford was to be one of the towns ‘awarded’ a tank in recognition of its fundraising. Like many other towns, Stafford does not appear to have ever received its reward.

Comforts for the Troops

Women and children played a key role in the volunteer sector. Local women led a number of funds, including the Stafford District Comfort Fund, the Stafford Ladies’ Comfort Pool, the Berkswich Women’s War Association and the League of Honour. Assisted by local schoolchildren, they collected reading material, clothing, cigarettes etc. for the troops, POWs and for those invalided out of the services. Groups worked together to knit woollen mittens, scarves and balaclavas, which were collected and sent off to troops.

All of the local factories regularly collected cigarettes, chocolate, clothing, books and other items to send to the troops at the front and to those held as POWs, the press regularly announcing their safe delivery to the troops.

Women’s Units

The war was a massive drain on the nation’s resources, particularly its workforce. In order to combat the effect of the loss of often skilled industrial and agricultural labour, women were encouraged to take on jobs that for decades had been the male preserve. These included roles in heavy industry and farming. Over 950,000 women undertook dangerous work in the munitions factories, many of which were in Stafford. This figure was eclipsed by the number involved in agriculture.

The Staffordshire Chronicle of 10 April 1915 carried the following announcement:

The scheme which has been devised by the Board of Agriculture has met with a ready response in the Midlands from women who are prepared to take the opportunity of making themselves useful on farms in order to help make up for the very serious shortage of workers on farms all over the country. The first course of instruction which has been arranged by the Harper Adams Agricultural College commenced on Wednesday.

All the women are resident in the college, and the work milking, dairy-work, feeding stock, rearing caves and pigs, field-work, and poultry.

The first who have entered the course look a very efficient and capable set of women who should put the information they acquire at the college to useful account.

The need to replace the agricultural workers lost to the services eventually spawned a number of organizations: the Women’s Forage Corps (WFC), established in 1917 to produce forage for horses, the Women’s Land Army (WLA), the Women’s National Land Service Corps (WNLSC) and the Women’s Legion (WL), all of which had an agricultural focus.

The WLA was formed in 1917 to meet an urgent need to replace the tens of thousands of farm labourers who had been conscripted. It has been said that at the time Britain only had provisions for three weeks and was potentially on the verge of starvation.

An advert appeared in the Staffordshire Chronicle of 4 May 1918:

Women’s Land Army. Women of Britain! The nation’s Food Supply depends on You! Enrol today in the Women’s Land Army, and help to secure food for all. Women’s Land Army Appeal for 30,000 women will be held in the Borough Hall, Stafford, on Wednesday, 8 May at 8pm.

A Land Army advertisement.

Women had a major part to play in uniform too. A number of women’s organizations operated directly alongside the services, sometimes within shelling range of the enemy. These included the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), which assisted the RAMC and had members serving in France from October 1914. Seventeen members of the FANY earned the Military Medal for gallantry under fire.

Other women’s organizations existed to support the war effort. The Volunteer Aid Detachment (VAD) ferried the wounded and worked in hospitals, both in Great Britain and overseas. The Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) was established in 1917 and its 57,000 members carried out a variety of military ancillary roles, 6,000 of them seeing service in France. Similarly, the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) and Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) performed an ancillary role for the air and naval forces.

Stafford’s Industry and War Work

By 1914, the Siemens Brothers Electrical Engineering Works was the single largest employer in the county town. Naturally as a German company there were several German nationals among the senior managers and foremen working at the factory. A number of German Reservists from the works were interned in York for the duration of the war.

The Staffordshire Chronicle of 8 August 1914 reported that the company’s works, which had been closed during the previous week for annual holiday leave, would reopen as usual on Monday (the 10th). It was further noted that a number of Germans were employed by the company, including Mr E.O. Keiffer, general manager, and Mr Donati. In a potentially damaging blow to the factory Mr Keiffer, a lieutenant in the German reserves, had left on Tuesday, 4 August to rejoin his regiment.

There was initially some controversy surrounding the firm, particularly as they manufactured instruments for Royal Navy vessels. Mr Keiffer had overseen the company’s important Admiralty contract and consequently there were concerns raised that this might have been put in doubt.

An open letter, addressed to The Right Honourable Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, was published in the Staffordshire Chronicle of 5 September, giving assurances that the Admiralty work would not be compromised and that the nonnaturalized German managers and members of the workforce were no longer working in the factory.

The Siemens Brothers’ works, like other businesses within the town, faced another pressing issue – a drain on its skilled workforce. During the first fortnight of the war over 300 workers had enlisted. These losses must have damaged production figures, something that was reflected across the country. Consequently, measures were later taken to make some roles ‘reserved occupations’. This meant that workers in these jobs would only be allowed to enlist under very special circumstances.

Agriculture

The German fleet was deployed to blockade Great Britain and deny the country food and munitions. Agricultural production was therefore just as important as the manufacture of arms and ammunition. Local farmers formed meat, poultry, egg and vegetable production committees, regulating the collection and distribution of produce. While farmers supported many local charities, collectively they formed the British Farmers’ Red Cross Fund.

Rationing

Rationing was introduced on 1 January 1918, with ration books being issued from 15 July of that year. The Stafford Food Control Committee, following government guidelines, brought in regulations governing the sale and stockpiling of many foodstuffs. From 25 February tea was officially rationed to 1¼oz and butter or margarine to 4oz (per person, per week). Everyone had to be registered with a single butcher and had a weekly allowance of 1s. 3d. worth of meat.

In 1917 the game laws were suspended, meaning that tenant farmers could shoot any game on their land. While wild rabbits and other game were off ration, the committee heard a number of cases of over-charging. Unfortunately, the public were reluctant to make their complaints official as they were registered to individual butchers and grocers. One case which did go before the committee fell at the first hurdle because the evidence (i.e. the rabbit) had been eaten.

Horses

The British Army relied heavily on horses for transportation as well as for their cavalry and artillery units (according to the War Book 200,000 horses would be required on mobilization). Because of the importance of horses to the country’s economy a regular census of stock was taken. The government knew how many of every class and age of horse there were, and in whose ownership. Notices went up in and around the town ‘impressing horses’ for military service. Locally, the requisitioning of both work-horses and thoroughbreds for the Stafford Battery, the Staffordshire Yeomanry and other military units meant that no one’s stables were spared. It was reported that ‘in one case the stables of a prominent gentleman, who resides a mile or two from Stafford, were depleted of every animal, with the exception of a pony and an aged horse’.

The Staffordshire Chronicle of 8 August 1914 reported that horses were rounded up and temporarily paddocked on the Grammar School field. Here they were branded with the government stamp, before being put through their paces and assessed: the better quality horses being selected as ‘mounts’, the remaining serving as beasts of burden, hauling wagons, various types of transport and field-guns. As many as 6 million saw service during the war. Very few of those donated or requisitioned for the war effort ever returned to Great Britain.

Lord Sandon, of the Stafford Battery, took his own horse, Christ Church, to war. In pre-echoes of the story behind the film War Horse, Lord Sandon wrote a letter to The Times in February 1934, shortly after Christ Church’s death (on 15 December 1933), extolling the virtues of his mount. He remarked that while other horses panicked when under fire, Christ Church remained calm. On one occasion a field gun became bogged down and the gun crew was under fire. Lord Sandon recalled how his horse ‘was standing very still with head erect and ears cocked, listening to the bullets whining all around him’. His mount was not, however, without faults. In his letter, Lord Sandon recollected that he used to eat anything that came within reach, while keeping its master on his toes through the habit of unseating him without apparent reason. Christ Church was buried in the grounds of Sandon Hall, his head, tail and hooves being preserved in the entrance to the hall.

CHAPTER 2

The British Expeditionary Force, 1914

Across Europe, on both sides