𝄞 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. 𝄞
2018
Swindon Remembering 1914-18 Mike Pringle The History Press 2014
Swindon Town 1895-2015 Paul Plowman Footprint Publication 2015
Swindon Town 1879-2009 Paul Plowman Footprint Publication 2009br> Swindon Town On This Day Andrew Hawes Pitch Publishing 2010
And finally, two letters from my brother-in-law, Rod Smith:
Sat 19th May ‘18
Dear Stu,
Hope you will be able to make sense of the enclosed photos.
To speed things up, I took photos of photos already in my album and these you will be able to trim to suit your requirements. The others were spares I already had in hand. The ones at Preshute and St Katherine’s are in beautiful settings.
Regarding the grave of William Gosling V.C. at Wroughton, I think he was a sergeant in the Royal Artillery during WW1 and was awarded the V.C. after saving his men by picking up and throwing out a bomb which had landed amongst them …
Good luck with the project …
Rod
Mon 21st May ‘18The copyright of the owners of the images used are acknowledged.
Dear Stu,
You asked for comments on War Memorials to go with the photos and the best I can do is offer my thoughts on what they mean to me.
Often when roaming the hills I pass through or end up at fairly remote villages and without fail each one has its own memorial to men and boys who lost their lives in WW1.
What touches me is the thought of the heartache each one represented and in some villages the same surname occurs several times indicating that some families lost all their loved ones in that terrible war. Sometimes the memorials are set in the most idyllic spots which makes it all the more sobering and shows how far reaching were the tentacles of war.
What you might like to use as related interest is the story of my own Great Uncle Alfred Child, a Swindon man serving with the 2nd Wiltshires who died on the Somme aged 21 in October 1916.
My mother, then a little girl of 7 years old came down to breakfast one morning to find her Mother in tears. When asking what was wrong she was told ‘the wicked Germans have killed poor Uncle Alf’.
The memorials show us that tragic little scenes like that were happening day after day in those dark days.
Regards,
Rod
Stuart Butler
I wrote this after contacting STFC and Northampton Town FC. I arranged a ceremony for Walter Tull, first officer of colour in the British Army, KIA 1918, when Swindon entertained Northampton in 2018. Walter had played for Spurs and Northampton before volunteering. He was so loved by his men that they went out into No Man's Land to try and retrieve his body. We had a reading from a Northampton supporter and Swindon teacher at the Cenotaph before our walk of Remembrance. The bells of Christ Church pealed for us. It was utterly moving. The constant, pelting rain seemed appropriate.
But we hope you will enjoy slipping down some wormholes of time on this website.