|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
| Home | Business: Features | Pictures | See & Do | Community | RAs | History | Bulletin Boards | Site Index | ||||
|
||||
|
Epsom and Ewell - World War ILest We Forget
In 1914 Epsom was a small, self-contained town of 20,000 citizens. Ewell was a village of 4,000 inhabitants: so the borough was altogether about a third of its present size. People went to concerts and the newly invented moving pictures at the Public Hall, were loyal to a bewildering choice of eleven different churches and chapels, exhibited fruit and flowers at the Horticultural Association, read either of two local newspapers, played football, cricket and tennis, and belonged to dozens of Clubs, Brotherhoods and Orders. The big family names, such as Glyn or Bridges, no longer owned most of the land; tradesmen were in the majority on the Urban and Rural District Councils. In the new municipal Rosebery Park, children sailed their boats while their mothers waited to shop at Wheelers for drapery or Snashalls for fancy goods. Then came the war. The first reaction was one of panic. The banks closed down and people began stockpiling groceries. It was feared that the Germans would soon be on British soil and the Regular Army was insufficient to keep them back. Those with a taste for fiction got out their copies of Cheney's book on the Battle of Dorking, which told how the German army had menaced London before being turned back by Surrey volunteers. The Territorials were called up and the Reservists collected 3/- expenses from the Post Office before making a free rail journey to their enlistment point. A special recruitment meeting was held at the Public Hall, with a speech from Basil Braithwaite of Hookfield House on the call of duty. As the audience sang 'God Save The King', 27 young men walked to the front of the meeting to enlist. Out of some 5,000 men fit to bear arms in Epsom and Ewell, there would eventually be 3,500 who answered the call to the Colours. At the beginning of the war a few of them were Regulars or Territorials who had chosen a military life years before, but the majority were volunteers. They were stirred into action by appeals to local as well as national pride; Epsom would be in disgrace if her sons did not do their bit. Most of them left steady jobs and girlfriends, for the army was no longer seen as a refuge for ne'er-do-wells. Of those who died in 1914 (14 men) only one was a teenager, and he was in the Navy: William Wheeler, lost at the age of 18 when HMS Bulwark blew up. Local volunteers on the Western Front were mostly in their late 20s. Three days after the recruitment meeting, a fleet of 20 cars was provided by local gentry to take Epsom's heroes from the Town Hall to Kingston, where they were to enlist. The battalions of the New Army, as the stream of volunteers was called, were allotted to existing regiments: over sixty of these, hailing from Yorkshire to Dublin, had Epsom and Ewell members at different stages of the war. The local regiments were the Queens (Royal West Surrey), East Surrey and Middlesex but only a quarter of recruits chose them. Men rarely met up with their neighbours after enlisting: when the vicar, Bainbridge Bell, became chaplain for the 4th Army Corps he only came across two or three men from the old town and even his son (a Lieutenant in the Royal Munster Fusiliers, and winner of the Military Cross) did not catch up with him for months. The early months of the war were a time of confusion, as the supply of volunteers increased to swamp the provisions made for recruiting them. In the usual way it was expected that men with a private education would obtain positions as officers, issuing orders to their social subordinates: but several were unable to obtain commissions and they enlisted together to form the University and Public Schools Brigade. There were 5,000 men, drawn up in four battalions which were allotted to the Royal Fusiliers. The military authorities sent them to Epsom where they met with other soldiers already in training on the Downs - the 2nd (1st Reserve) Royal Fusiliers at Tattenham Corner Camp, and the Public Schools Special Corps in the paddock south of Durdans.The UPS billetted in Epsom, Ashtead and Leatherhead, contributing an unexpected £3,500 a week to local landladies. Within a fortnight of their arrival, the young men found themselves building a camp at Woodcote Park, in the grounds of the Royal Automobile Club. Realising that the men were wasted as privates, the War Office offered inducements for them to take commissions elsewhere and by November the Brigade was at half strength. The camp was finished in February 1915 and the UPS moved in, taking the military manuals, silver brooches and lightweight motorcycles sold to them by enterprising Epsom traders. The War Office, having at last issued them with rifles and uniforms, arranged for proper military training at Clipstone in Nottinghamshire, to which they were sent in May. The UPS continued until the Somme offensive, after which the battalions (what was left of them) were broken up to fulfill the urgent need for officers. On the outbreak of war a new wing at the Grandstand was requisitioned as a hospital. Most of the men were injured but not bedridden: for the Spring Meeting of 1915 (the last races held on the Downs for the duration of hostilities) they were helped out onto free seats. Meanwhile the War Office had commandeered the mental hospitals at Horton and the Manor. The previous inmates were transferred to London asylums and a thousand soldiers took their place. Most of these men were suffering from wounds inflicted by gunfire or shells; gas injuries and shellshock were present but infrequent and VD (contrary to rumour) was rare. After months of recovery it was hoped that men would transfer to a convalescent home; there was another destination for those who succumbed to their wounds, at the Ashley Road cemetery. Whenever possible, injured men from Epsom were returned back home. Ernie Brown (previously goal-keeper for Epsom Town) was cheered when he came off the hospital train. It pulled up at a West Street siding where the wounded could be carried into Ford ambulances. At first these were driven by military personnel, who were sent one by one to the Front: at length women drivers were enlisted. At the War Hospital the men filled 33 wards. They were dressed in blue to identify them as casualties and stop them sneaking off for a drink in the town. The original complement of nurses from the mental hospitals was retained, supplemented by trained medical staff (on higher wages) and in the last years of the war by officers forwarded from the American Medical Corps. After the departure of the UPS, Woodcote was converted for use as a convalescent hospital, beginning with the Main Avenue Camp along the Ridge and extending to the Farm Camp near the entrance. After the Gallipoli landing a stream of Australian and New Zealand troops came into Epsom, either wounded by Turkish machine gun fire or disabled by typhoid and dysentery. They had been brought on a long voyage aboard hospital ships to Southampton and sent up in rail convoys.Life in an English country town could prove constricting for those used to the outback. By January 1916 most of the men were ready to move on - two troopers were arrested for punching Inspector Pawley when he interrupted them and their girlfriends in Christ Church churchyard. Then after the Somme offensive casualties began to arrive in force. Woodcote had been selected as a Canadian base; within the month 3,000 men were brought in. By August the camp had been handed over to Canadian officers under Major Irving, in the interests of discipline: the men were bored, and not everyone was kept occupied with the baseball league, moving picture shows and eleven billiard tables. In the next year, when Vimy Ridge was taken at the cost of 11,000 men, Epsom saw the arrival of more hospital trains. Disillusionment with the war was spreading and there was growing friction between the Canadians and the Tommies on home leave in the town - especially as Epsom girls seemed to prefer the former. The last years of the war were conducted in an increasingly ruthless spirit. In 1916 conscription replaced voluntary enlistment, and a military tribunal screened those who sought exemption from it. Alfred Randall claimed to be the only man in Epsom who understood how to make mineral water, but they sent him off to the East Surreys all the same. Birch & Whittington were allowed to keep the last of their five linotype operators, otherwise how could they print the Council minutes? At Worcester Park Farm, 400 acres were being worked by two men. The shortage of manpower in the town meant that those who remained could bargain for wages; the Council carters pushed their pay up to 30/- a week. The snows of April 1917 lay undisturbed on the ground, since there was no-one left who knew how to use the snow-plough. Women's work had begun as an extension of the voluntary activities of people with leisure. They made surgical slippers for the wounded, put on concerts at Woodcote and Horton and stood in the pouring rain selling flags on Red Cross Day (£6,615 profit). But by 1917 women were occupying the paid sector. Instead of 2 postwomen - ladies on part-time duty - there were now 18 regular employees. Meanwhile in the kitchen, Government flour, mixed with beans and potatoes, made brick-like loaves and on one occasion the only meat in town was frozen shins, sent from the Food Committee depot. The influenza epidemic of October 1918 hit a weakened population, and the gravedigger was exempted from conscription because he was needed more at home. At the Armistice in November, rejoicing was tempered with a sense that the old world could never be brought back.
|
|
|
||
| Top
of page | Sponsors
| About Epsom and Ewell on the Internet is operated by Internetworks Ltd of Epsom as a service to our community. It is supported by local businesses appearing on our feature pages which is a cost-effective way of promoting your services to our community. We appreciate your feedback. Kindly notify any problems to the webmaster. Last updated |
||
|
|
|