Sapper Foy, Gillingham 1917

Ernest Bracewell wrote "Sapper Foy, Manchester" on the back of this photo.  It was taken at the Parisian Studios, 161 High Street, Gillingham in 1917 or the beginning of 1918.

 

Sapper Foy was one of Ernest Bracewell's fellow sappers undergoing training with the Royal Engineers in 1917.  He looks very young and the only Sapper Foy in online military records who seems to fit the bill is Herbert William Foy, b 1896 in Salford - his regimental number was 299446 and Ernest's was 299440 which fits the theory that they joined the REs around the same time.

If I've got the right man, Sapper Herbert William Foy was born on 3 August 1896 and was the son of Peter and Dora Foy who were living at 63 Duke Street, Manchester at the time of the 1911 census. Herbert had left school by then and was following in his father's footsteps, working as an apprentice brazier and sheet metal worker.

It looks like he survived the war and died in Salford in 1974.

Sources: military, census and death records on www.ancestry.co.uk.

John Joseph Jefferson, Royal Field Artillery

Ernest Bracewell's collection of photos includes one of a lad with fair hair in hospital blues with "Joe Jefferson" written on the back. Another photo shows an unidentified teenage soldier and two younger boys. Comparing the two photos, I'm sure the teenager in the left hand photo below is Joe.

I think Joe is John Joseph Jefferson, the younger brother of Ernest's friend Coates Jefferson. Joe was born on 21 December 1897 in Meanwood, then a rural area on the edge of Leeds. He was the third son of Hodgson Coates Jefferson, a dairyman, and his wife Eleanor. The censuses for 1901 and 1911 show the family living on Tunnel How Hill, Meanwood (known locally as King Alfred's Castle). However by 1911 Joe had left home and was living not far away on Magson's dairy farm in Moortown where he helped deliver milk. He later trained as a blacksmith which looks to have stood him in good stead when he came to join the army.

Joe enlisted in King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry on 8 September 1914 at the tender age of 16, using his first name of John, before being transferred to A/95 Brigade, Royal Field Artillery on 19 December with the rank of driver and roll number 88395. On 18 April 1915 he acquired the rank of shoeing smith and he left for France in September of that year with A/97 Brigade.

The left hand photo above, showing Joe in his Royal Artillery uniform, was probably taken at some point in 1915 before he went to France. The boys sitting in front of him must surely be his younger brothers Albert and Fred. Albert would have been 11 or 12 in 1915 and Fred 9 or 10.

Joe rejoined A/95 Brigade on 30 August 1916 but returned to the UK shortly afterwards and spent the following year in the reserves - first with 5C Reserve Brigade at Charlton Park, Woolwich and then 4B Reserve Brigade (from 1 March 1917) with the rank of gunner. On 7 August 1917 he was transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery as a driver (with a new roll no. of 183751) before being posted to India on 24 September 1917 - he joined 68 Howitzer Brigade a couple of months later on 26 November. He wasn't in India for long as he was back in the UK on 14 January 1918, joining the Marine Expeditionary Force to begin with and then moving to 384 Siege Battery a month later. He became a shoeing smith once again on 8 January 1919. He spent some time in South General Hospital Birmingham around 27 May 1919 - this may well have been when the photo showing Joe in hospital blues was taken.

Joe was demobbed on 11 July 1919 but re-enlisted with the Royal Field Artillery on 3 October 1919 and went on to serve in the Black Sea and Egypt.  He was certified as a 1st Class Shoeing Smith and 1st Class Carriage Smith in 1921 and qualified as a 1st class farrier before transfer to the reserve on 2 October 1925.   Joe's address on being demobbed was in Hounslow.

I am not certain what happened to Joe in later years but a John J Jefferson married in Lewisham in 1927 and was still living in that area after WW2. Coates Jefferson, Joe's elder brother, also lived in the south east after WW1- he married Sarah Smith in Kent in 1917 and settled in St Mary Cray.  Younger brother Albert played rugby league for Bradford Northern.

Sources: censuses, birth/marriage/death records and military records which are available on www.ancestry.co.uk and birth/marriage/death records from www.freebmd.org.

Asiago Plateau, June/July 1918, daily life at the Cesuna Tunnel

This photo was taken by an Italian officer June/July 1918. The location is a railway cutting leading to the Cesuna Tunnel, just behind the front line on the Asiago Plateau in northern Italy. The tunnel was used to shelter battalions held in reserve.

The two men in the centre of the photo, minus helmets, are Italian and the face at the window of the sandbag hut is Sapper Harold Atkinson (no. 277413) of Section 2, 54th Field Company, Royal Engineers. Sapper Ernest Bracewell, whose face had swollen up like a football due to a gum boil, is lurking in the shadows to the left of Atkinson. The soldiers in kilts were described by Ernest as "a tough bunch of the 2nd Gordons - and I mean tough" who had taken over the Cesuna section of the front line on 15 June 1918.

The hut housed a Petter Junior oil engine which powered a dynamo providing lighting in the tunnel for specified periods each day. The chimney of the engine is sticking out of the roof on the left. Next door was another shed used as a cookhouse.

54th Field Company had arrived on the Asiago plateau on 5 April 1918 and were based at Magnaboschi, a mile and a half from the front line near Cesuna. They were withdrawn on 30 May 1918 and, when the Austrians attacked on 15 June, were undergoing training at Mt. Grumo (just to the north of the village of Pedemonte Grumolo, near Thiene). Up on the plateau, the enemy made some inroads but were successfully repulsed after some hard fighting.

The REs arrived back at Magnaboschi on 24 June 1918 and the following morning, Ernest, Atki and another sapper called Francis were despatched to the tunnel to operate the engine.

Although things had quietened down at the front, there was still the odd gas alarm or rumour of imminent attack to keep everyone on their toes.  Ernest recorded that they lay ready all night on 30 June (his birthday) expecting another raid.

Although the engine hut was "cosy", the tunnel itself was "draughty and rat-infested". When an ammo dump blew up nearby, throwing Atki off his feet, the wooden superstructure in the mouth of the tunnel was disturbed along with a rat's nest. Ernest watched the mother transfer her litter of baby rats to safety on the other side of the cutting and didn't have the heart to kill her.

A group of the 2nd Gordons were standing around the mouth of the tunnel when the Italian officer arrived with his camera and an English-speaking orderly. The officer took a photo of the tunnel entrance (possibly this one at http://www.cesuna.it/archivio-notizie/98-foto-archivio-scozzesi-in-galleria.html) and Ernest and Harold asked if he would take a photo of their hut as well. He agreed and his orderly returned with the photo a week later.

Ernest was not short of advice on how to treat his gum boil and the 2nd Gordons recommended their battalion dentist. Having suffered the pain of fitting his swollen face into a gas mask on 11 July, he knew could put it off no longer and visited the 2nd Gordons' first aid station, finding "a brawny kilted six-footer" who "turned out to be a broad Cockney". Sitting the patient on a dentist's chair (consisting of two Mills bomb boxes with rope handles to hold onto), the dentist took a pair of forceps from his tunic pocket, got Ernest in a head lock and extracted the tooth with some difficulty. He was keen to remove the tooth next to it as well but one was enough for Ernest.

The sappers took turns to walk to Magnaboschi each day to draw rations and rum but it turned out they had a supply of rum closer to hand. Three or four rum jars had been abandoned near the hut and everyone assumed they must be empty. One day Ernest decided to take a look and found one was about a third full. Suspecting a practical joke, he removed the cork and smelt the contents - rum. He poured a little out - it looked like rum. He poured a drop in his palm - it tasted like rum. It was rum! Needless to say, that evening "the sound of song was heard in the land" until the Adjutant of the resident infantry battalion sent his orderly to tell them to be quiet or he'd have them arrested. They took the hint and slept soundly.

The little pencil drawing of the entrance to the tunnel was done by Ernest during a quiet moment.

The three sappers were recalled to Magnaboschi on 24 July 1918 and found that their spell at the tunnel had been a lucky break. The rest of Section 2 had been put to work repairing gaps in the barbed wire where the enemy had broken through. With no wiring gloves, their hands had been lacerated with many cuts turning septic. This depleted the ranks so much that only Ernest, Atki, Francis and the NCOs turned out on parade one morning.

The Cesuna tunnel is still in existence, close to the site of the old station (now demolished) and forms part of a walking/cycling route. Several recent photos of the tunnel can be found on the internet and one end is visible on Google Street View on the Via Ka Balla, just to the right of the Bar-Restaurant Baita-Jok and opposite a children's playground.


Sources:
Papers of Ernest Bracewell;
War Diary of 54th Field Company Royal Engineers;
MacKay, Francis, Asiago, 15/16 June 1918, Battle in the Clouds and Woods; Pen and Sword Books, 2001.

54th Field Company Royal Engineers, Italy 1918

This photo of a group of tanned Royal Engineers belonged to Sapper Ernest Bracewell of 2 Section, 54th Field Company RE. It shows members of the company in 1918, somewhere in northern Italy. Ernest explains on the back that he had wandered off and doesn't appear in the picture.  However he helpfully added the names (or nicknames) of quite a few of his comrades - although not the middle row for some reason. From his handwriting, the notes were probably written at the time or not long after. The note on the bottom was written in later life.

So the back row comprises (L to R) : "Marie" Studholme, Bert Charman, Jimmy Keyes, "Matey" Castleton, "Boss" Friend, Brent, Jock Webster, Atkinson, Alf Watts, and "Busty" Hill.

Then in the front row we have (L to R) : Cyril Full, "Yorkie" Harrop, "Young" Jack Cobb, "Tug" Wilson and Jack "Fruity" Newton.  Despite all the nicknames it has been possible to find out more about at least some of the men in the photo. 

Marie Studholme

I think this must be 2nd Corporal Samuel Wilson Studholme, no. 146600 from Heathwaite nr Windermere whose papers show he was a member of 54th Field Company RE. It was probably inevitable that he would be given the nickname Marie after the Bradford actress Marie Studholme who had appeared on Broadway in the 1890s. Samuel (b.1888) was a carpenter and joiner and married in November 1915 just before he joined up. He died in Westmoreland in 1971.

Jimmy Keyes

Jimmy was referred to by Ernest as "Sapper Jimmy Keyes of London Town". I haven't been able to track Jimmy down - there was Sapper James Frederick Keyes but he was killed in 1917.  He might be Driver James Keys (no. 52689) but I'm not certain that's the right man.  It may be that James was his middle name or that Jimmy was just a nickname.

Matey Castleton

WW1 medal cards include one for Sapper William Caselton (rather than Castleton), no. 18045 who had served with 54th Field Company RE since 1914. This must surely be Matey who Ernest described as a "regular soldier and fine war sapper". Matey was born in 1886 in the Bromley area in 1886 where his father, Edward, was a bricklayer. By 1911, the Caselton family had moved to Plumstead although Matey was not with them - he had joined the Royal Engineers and was stationed in South Africa with 55th Field Co.

Matey had been the section cook since 1914 but he got into trouble when he and his pal Jock (probably Jock Webster, shown in the above picture) heard that a party of Italian Pioneers stationed near 54th Field Coy in Magna Boschi (Asiago Plateau) had a supply of grappa which they were prepared to sell to the British lads. Matey and Jock paid the Italians an evening visit with the result that the whole section  of 32 men went without their breakfast the following morning and Matey lost his job.

After the war he returned to Plumstead where he lived at 91 Alabama Street (a house shared with other members of his family) until his death in 1931.

Boss Friend

Boss has one chevron on his sleeve indicating he was a 2nd corporal (RE equivalent of a lance corporal). He could be Bert Friend, no. 480570, whose medal card describes him as A/2/Cpl, or possibly George W Friend, also A/2/Cpl or Willie Friend No 84075, 2/Cpl.

Brent

Brent has two chevrons on his sleeve so he was a corporal. I wonder if this is Frederick Edmund Brent - a photo posted on Ancestry could be the same man in later life and a Frederick E Brent was in the Royal Engineers (no. 255257).  However Frederick E's medal card just gives his rank as Driver and not Corporal.

Jock Webster
No further details about Jock except that he was probably Matey Castleton's best mate in 2 Section as mentioned above.

Atkinson

Ernest's papers only referred to Atkinson or Atki and didn't give his first name.  However, the Worcestershire council website provides a helpful list of Absent Voters in 1918 including Sapper Harold Atkinson,  no. 277413, 54th Field Company, Royal Engineers.  It looks like Harold was born in Evesham, Worcestershire on 21 Jan 1890 and was living with his parents William and Maria in Nursery Road, Worcester in 1911.  His occupation is given as wood-turner.  Harold survived the war and appears to have died in Worcester in 1974.  

Alf Watts

Ernest had a note of Alf's address in Coventry (East St) which enabled him to be tracked down in parish records and censuses. Alf was Alfred Joseph Watts who was born in Coventry in 1895 to parents Harry and Elizabeth. He had an elder brother, also Harry, born in 1891. Alf's father was a cycle fitter in 1911 although Ernest mentions elsewhere that he was running the Peeping Tom pub in Coventry in 1918.  It looks like Alf married Beatrice Alice Swann after the war and died in Coventry in 1958.

Busty Hill
Busty Hill was Ernest Hill, a carpenter from Parish Land Farm, Spraxton (near Bridgwater) in Somerset. He was the son of William and Mary Ann Hill of Waterpits, Spraxton and had married Susan Pocock in the last quarter of 1917. Sadly Busty Hill did not survive the war - he died on 1 November 1918 (of Spanish flu according to Ernest Bracewell) and was buried in the military cemetery in Cremona.

Cyril Full
Cyril was Cyril Henry Victor Full, no. 168126.  He was born in 1897 in Totnes, Devon and was living with his grandparents at 1 Eiffel Place, Totnes in 1911. Cyril survived the war and married Edith Jeffery in 1923. He died in Birmingham in 1973.

Yorkie Harrop

Yorkie has an inverted chevron on his sleeve denoting a good conduct award.  He looks to be one of the older members of the group.

"Young" Jack Cobb

Ernest had written Jack Cobb's address in his notebook - the entry says "W J Cobb, Bradfield Cottages, Easthorpe, Southwell, Nottinghamshire. A search for "Jack Cobb" from Nottinghamshire drew a blank in military records, the 1911 census and birth records so it looked as though he was officially a John rather than a Jack. There is a 12 year old John Cobb in Easthorpe in 1911 who seems to fit the bill.  He was the son of George and Annie Cobb of Easthorpe and birth records for 1898 show his name was registered as John William. According to medal records, John W Cobb was a Sapper in the Royal Engineers, no. 487246 (it looks like Ernest got the initials the wrong way round in his notebook) and he was subsequently transferred to the Notts and Derby Regiment.  Jack survived the war and, as far as I can tell, died in the Newark area in 1969. 

Tug Wilson

Unfortunately Tug's surname is too common for him to be tracked down easily. I'll keep working on it.

Jack "Fruity" Newton

Ernest's papers included Jack Newton's address in 1918/19 which was 9 Mottram Road, Stalybridge.  My best guess as to Jack's identity is that he was John Newton, the elder son of Edwin and Sarah Elizabeth Newton who lived at 73 Stocks Lane, Stalybridge, about 5 minutes walk from Mottram Road, in 1911.  

Jack was born in Stalybridge in 1895 and by 1911 was an apprenticed to a tin smith.

He was back in Stalybridge by 23 January 1919 as he sent Ernest a postcard of Early Bank Wood, Stalybridge bearing that date which said he was reporting to Chatham.  It was addressed to "Sapper Well Braced" and signed "Kind regards, Chummily yours". 

Source: papers of Ernest Bracewell and information available on ancestry.co.uk, findmypast.co.uk and freebmd.org.uk.