The Wheatsheaf

1916

February May July August September October

21st February

In the wake of conscription, the first tribunal meets to hear appeals:
‘Oh. Don’t you take him from me, gentlemen, I shall be left alone.’
And, ‘A month’s exemption was granted’ for ‘a carriage fitter, and widower with three children.
He said that he cooked the meals and made the beds’.

𝄞
All night long I hear you calling,
Calling sweet and low;
Seem to hear your footsteps falling,
Ev’ry where I go.
Tho’ the road between us stretches
Many a weary mile,
I forget that you’re not with me yet
When I think I see you smile.
Chorus:
There’s a long, long trail a-winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the nightingales are singing
And a white moon beams.
There’s a long, long night of waiting
Until my dreams all come true;
Till the day when I’ll be going down
That long, long trail with you

May 5th

HMS Hampshire goes down off Orkney. Lord Kitchener dies, as do men of Swindon who are in the crew:
William Saloway and Arthur Marshall.

May 21st

‘Daylight Saving’ introduced at 2 a.m. – ‘but of course the public put their clocks forward an hour before going to bed on Saturday evening.’

25th May

Ted Murphy, STFC, North Staffs Regiment, dies of head wounds at the King George V Hospital, Lambeth, aged 35.

‘Middle of the year’

The War Office acquires land between Gorse Hill and Stratton for a new munition works.

July 1st The Battle of the Somme

𝄞
Bombed last night, and bombed the night before.
Going to get bombed tonight if we never get bombed anymore.
When we’re bombed, we’re scared as we can be.
Can’t stop the bombing from old Higher Germany.
They’re warning us, they’re warning us.
One shell hole for just the four of us.
Thank your lucky stars there are no more of us.
So one of us can fill it all alone.
Gassed last night, and gassed the night before.
Going to get gassed tonight if we never get gassed anymore.
When we’re gassed, we’re sick as we can be.
For phosgene and mustard gas is much too much for me.
They’re killing us, they’re killing us.
One respirator for the four of us.
Thank your lucky stars that we can all run fast.
So one of us can take it all alone.

13th August

The Wilts Battery of the 3rd Wessex R.F.A. at Vimy Ridge, ‘was for twelve hours shelled with eight-inch shells; the bombardment was witnessed by His Majesty the King from Mont St. Eloy, and he sent two aides-de-camp the next day to ascertain how the Battery had fared, believing that they must have been annihilated … A week later the Battery was subjected to a gas attack …’

22nd August

Edward Bevan killed when submarine HMS E16 goes down off Yarmouth.

16th September

SWINDON versus FLYING CORPS (Farnborough)

Ground 4d Boys 2d
Grand stand Gents 1/2 Ladies 7d
The Flying Corps included players from Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton,
Millwall, Fulham, Bolton, Maryhill and Oldham.

𝄞
The bells of hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling,
For you but not for me,
And the little devils how they sing-a-ling-a-ling,
For you but not for me.
Oh death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling,
Oh grave, thy victory?
The bells of hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me.

19th October

A future mayor of Swindon, William Robins, loses his brother, Harold, killed at Dunkirk.
William is a C.O. and a pacifist.
Another objector said ‘He could not take the military oath to kill anyone … contrary to his religious belief … objected to military service of any kind.
He was quite willing to help in saving life in his private capacity, but he could not take part in any duties in a military capacity …
had held his present views … since July, 1912 … asked that other points … should be heard in camera … After considerable discussion and argument … the applicant was granted conditional exemption.’

𝄞
Hush, here comes a Whizzbang.
Hush, here comes a Whizzbang.
Now you soldiermen get down those stairs,
Down in your dugouts and say your prayers.
Hush, here comes a Whizzbang,
And it’s making right for you.
And you’ll see all the wonders of No-Man’s-Land,
If a Whizzbang, hits you.

Streets get darker; shops close earlier; shop lights shaded – the Defence of the Realm Act.
Restrictions on drink such that ‘treating’ whereby ‘a man buys a drink for his wife when he buys one for himself’ is technically illegal.
Church bells cease ringing for evening service from November onwards at Christ Church, too, ‘lest their notes should be a guide to some prowling foe in the air.’

𝄞
Up to your waist in water, up to your eyes in slush,
using the kind of language that makes the sergeant blush,
Who wouldn’t join the army? That’s what we all enquire.
Don’t we pity the poor civilian sitting by the fire.

(Chorus)
Oh, oh, oh it’s a lovely war.
Who wouldn’t be a soldier, eh? Oh it’s a shame to take the pay.
As soon as reveille has gone we feel just as heavy as lead,
but we never get up till the sergeant brings our breakfast up to bed.
Oh, oh, oh, it’s a lovely war.

What do we want with eggs and ham when we’ve got plum and apple jam?
Form fours. Right turn. How shall we spend the money we earn?
Oh, oh, oh it’s a lovely war.

The railway works commences its war time role: producing locomotives, wagons, trucks, carriages, water carts, shells, cranes, fuses, guns, gun carriages, ammunition wagons, limbers, bombs, stretchers …
And with so many troops passing through the town in transit, the mayor, again: ‘To ask all householders on whom soldiers may be billeted to do the best they can for the men and to give them a kindly welcome. It will mean some inconvenience, but I am sure we are all willing to put up with this in this great national emergency.’
‘I’ll do my best for him, Sergeant, I’ve a boy of my own joined up and billeted somewhere’; ‘I’ve no one who could go in my own family, and so I’ll do my best for those who are going to fight for us’.

𝄞
On Sunday I walk out with a Bo’sun.
On Monday a Rifleman in green,
On Tuesday I choose a ‘sub’ in the ‘Blues’,
On Wednesday a Marine;
On Thursday a Terrier from Toot Hill,
On Friday a Midshipman or two,
But on Saturday I’m willing, if you’ll only take the shilling,
To make a man of any one of you.

Schools such as Westcott Place, Ferndale Road, Clarence Street and the Higher Elementary are turned into barracks.
5,000 camped out at Chiseldon and Draycot Foliat. Constant traffic from Swindon Junction up Victoria Hill to the MSWJR at Old Town, and then on to the branch line. Worries that some onlookers gazing out from the bridge over Devizes Road could be spies lead to the parapet being raised and obstructed with new fences.
Lord Kitchener sends a telegram on the subject of the construction of the Chiseldon camp:
‘ … I should like you all to know that it is fully recognised that they, in carrying out the work of helping to supply accommodation for the troops, are doing their duty for their King and country equally with those who have joined the army and active service in the field.’

𝄞
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,

And smile, smile, smile,
While you’ve a Lucifer to light your fag,
Smile, boys, that’s the style.
What’s the use of worrying?
It never was worthwhile, so
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.

The 1st Wiltshire Battalion’s trench was only 30 yards from the German, ‘and was only a big ditch full of water and mud’; the 2nd Battalion was 300-400 yards from the German position: ‘A kind of informal truce was arranged … both on Christmas Day and Boxing Day between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., during which the English were chiefly employed in recovering and burying their dead, and conversations were held between members of both armies; the doctor says, ‘One of the soldiers recognized a German who had been working with him in Yorkshire; they were apparently old friends, and had a long talk together.’ I wonder if any STFC supporter, by then in uniform, kicked a ball anywhere out there in no man’s land in those kick-a-bouts of legend? But it is very likely that George Bathe of STFC witnessed some of all this (he is buried at Kemmel Cemetery – see 20th January 1915).

The Wheatsheaf

𝄞 They were called in from the glen,
And the country found them ready
At the stirring call for men.
Let no tears add to their hardship,
As the soldiers pass along,
And although your heart is breaking
Make it sing this cheery song:

Keep the home fires burning
While your hearts are yearning,
Though the lads are far away,
They dream of home.
There’s a silver lining,
Through the dark clouds shining,
Turn the dark cloud inside out,
Till the boys come home. 𝄞

Stuart Butler

𝄞 They were called in from the glen, And the country found them ready At the stirring call for men. Let no tears add to their hardship, As the soldiers pass along, And although your heart is breaking Make it sing this cheery song:

Keep the home fires burning While your hearts are yearning, Though the lads are far away, They dream of home. There’s a silver lining, Through the dark clouds shining, Turn the dark cloud inside out, Till the boys come home. 𝄞

Stuart Butler

𝄞 They were called in from the glen,
And the country found them ready
At the stirring call for men.
Let no tears add to their hardship,
As the soldiers pass along,
And although your heart is breaking
Make it sing this cheery song:

Keep the home fires burning
While your hearts are yearning,
Though the lads are far away,
They dream of home.
There’s a silver lining,
Through the dark clouds shining,
Turn the dark cloud inside out,
Till the boys come home. 𝄞