"Lambs to the Slaughter" - A view of WW1 by Private Edward Tidridge

Welsh Newspapers

The National Library of Wales offers free on-line access to the newspapers of Wales. I visited the website while researching my Welsh grandfathers, both of whom served in World War 1 in the 1st Monmouthshire Regiment and 7th Battalion South Wales Borderers. While I was searching the site, I thought it was worth entering the surname Tidridge, as I knew there was a Tidridge family in Swansea. I came across two fascinating newspaper articles on Edward Tidridge, a soldier at the start of the World War 1, who was wounded in the first few weeks of the war.

Edward Tidridge’s WW1 Story

On August 4th 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. The two newspaper articles about Edward were written just 2 months after World War 1 began. The articles told the story of Private Edward Tidridge from Swansea, who was in the Somerset Light Infantry when war was declared. The 1st Battalion Somerset Light Infantry was stationed at Colchester at the start of the war but were quickly mobilised and was among the first few groups of soldiers to leave England for France. On 22 August 1914 they landed at Havre and fought in the battle of Le Cateau, on 26th August, during the retreat form Mons.

In the article Edward recounted how they sailed across the channel, travelled by train, then marched 20 miles and then the regiment were quickly sent into action. Although Edward had been a soldier for 11 years he was unprepared for the horrors of this war and he described how awful it was “to hear the moans of the wounded and dying”. The battalion were forced to retreat to a village which was soon shelled by the Germans, including a shell landing on the church flying the Red Cross flag. They were ordered to leave the village and Edward was lucky to escape the shelling, but in the retreat he became separated from the regiment for four days before being reunited with them.

He went on to describe being 20 miles from Paris when the new order came again to advance. He described the horrors of war as the regiment drove the Germans back. “It was awful” he said, “The men marched for hours and were only allowed ten minutes' rest. The noise and din during the fighting was terrible”.

Edward and his comrades were in trenches for about four days. He said they suffered terribly, with the rain and the cold. On Tuesday 15th September 1914 they were supported by the guns of the French Artillery, at first the French guns were successful at shelling the Germans with no return of fire. The next day was not so lucky, the Germans returned the shell fire killing 8 French artillery men. The shells smashed into the trenches where the men of the Somerset Light Infantry were, killing an officer and 3 privates, with 10 privates wounded. Edward was among the wounded. He received a shrapnel wound to his foot. In addition, the trench gave way under the shell fire and Edward was buried for four hours before he was dug out. This was 16th September, the battalion only landing in France less than four weeks earlier.  Edward’s description of the last advance to positions along the Aisne reads, "We were led like lambs to the slaughter; it was slaughter, too; we had our work cut out. Fellows were being mowed down right around.”

Injured Edward was first taken to a village convent, then travelled by road and rail to a hospital where he was treated. He was transported to England by ship along with 1200 other men. Here he was taken to Southern General Hospital, University Buildings in Edgbaston, Birmingham before being allowed home to Swansea, returning home just 7 weeks after the start of war.

Newspaper Articles

The above is a summary of two articles in the Swansea papers. Please follow the two links below to The National Library of Wales to read the first-hand accounts of this soldier’s experiences of war. They are moving accounts of life in World War 1, one from a letter written by Edward and one from an interview with a reporter..

Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder 3rd October 1914

The Cambrian Daily Leader 3rd October 1914

Edward Tidridge of Swansea

From census records I believe Edward James Tidridge was the son of Alfred Tidridge and Jane Wakely, although his unconfirmed date of birth was before they were married. According to his military records, he was born in February 1886 in St Mary’s Swansea. However, I have been unable to find any birth record for Edward, with any spelling variation of the surnames Tidridge or Wakely, even allowing for the fact that he may have lied about his age. His brother Alfred Tidridge was born in Swansea in December 1889. The 1891 census records him as Edwards James Tidridge Wakely born in Swansea; the 1901 census records him as Edward Tidridge and future references are under Edward Tidridge. Edward joined the Glamorgan Royal Garrison Artillery on 23 April 1903 with his age given as 17 years 2 months, service number 2180, rank gunner, previous occupation labourer. On 2 February 1905 he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry. On the 1911 census he was a Private in the Somerset Light Infantry stationed in Malta.

After these newspaper accounts, written at the start of WW1, no records have been found for Edward (I have searched Tidridge and Wakely and all spelling variations). There is no marriage, no death record and no WW1 medal card, which should have been generated for all soldiers of WW1.

So, what happened to Edward? Did he go back to France with his regiment? Was he invalided out of,  the army? Did he emigrate and that is why there are no further records? Unfortunately, I have no answers to these questions.

If you can provide any further information about Edward, please  get in touch.
email:  titheradgegenealogy@gmail.com

World War 1 Conscription and Conscientious Objectors

Conscription

In August 1914 England declared war on Germany and appealed to the men of Britain to volunteer for the army. Lord Kitchener’s famous “Your Country Needs You” poster encouraged a million men to volunteer by January 1915. However, by the start of 1916 the number of men volunteering had decreased, and men were urgently needed to replace those that had been killed or injured. Until 1916 England had always had a volunteer army but volunteers could no longer supply the men needed. On 2 March 1916 conscription (compulsory active service) was introduced and all single men aged 18 to 41 were forced to join the army, unless they were in an essential home occupation, were medically unfit or were a clergyman or teacher. By May 1916 this was extended to married men and extended again in 1918 to include men aged up to 51. Conscription was unpopular and there were demonstrations against it, but despite this over 2 million men were conscripted into the army. 

Conscientious Objectors

For some individuals joining an army and fighting was an abhorrent thought and it was against their beliefs to engage in war, believing life was sacred and killing someone was wrong. These individuals became known as conscientious objectors. Some of these joined the army under protest, agreeing to serve in non-combatant rolls such as stretcher bearers in the front line; others were forced to join the army and were sent to the front line in France anyway where refusing to follow an order could result in the death sentence; others were subject to court martial and imprisoned in the United Kingdom. Those that refused compulsory service were called absolutists, they were usually drafted into military service and if they refused to obey an order from an officer they were court martialled. Thousands of Conscientious Objectors were tried by court martial. To see if a member of your family was as conscientious objector go to the Imperial War Museum’s website “Lives of the First World War” where you can search a database of over 17,000 conscientious objectors.  

It was while “remembering” family members on this website that I came across the name “Charles Edward Titheradge”, listed as a conscientious objector. I had previously seen some of his military records, so I knew that he was imprisoned in Winchester for refusing to obey an order and that he had no medal card, but had not realised the significance of the information.

Charles Edward Titheradge 1890 – 1932

Armed with this new information I wanted to find out more about Charles, an individual who held such strong beliefs that war was wrong that he was willing to endure the very harsh treatment given to conscientious objectors rather than go against his principles and beliefs.

Charles Edward Titheradge was the son of James Henry Titheradge and Alice Butterworth and the grandson of Lewish George Titheradge. He was born on 29 May 1890 in the Pancras district of London. Charles had two younger brothers, Percival born 1896 and Walter born 1898. I believe both brothers joined the Essex Regiment in 1916. 

On the 1901 census Charles was living with his parents and two brothers at 60 Arlington Gardens, St Pancras, London. By the 1911 census the family had move out of central London and were living at 55 Brookdale Road, Walthamstow Essex. On the census Charles is shown as a decorative draughtsman.

On 2 April 1916 Charles married Catherine Louisa Armitage at the parish church in Walthamstow.  Their address was 106 Leucha Road, Walthamstow.

Charles Titheradge – the war years

When conscription began in 1916 Charles would have been among those who were called up. Men could apply to local Military Service Tribunals for exemption from conscription, but not many appeals were upheld. Unfortunately, the records for most of these tribunals were destroyed after the war by the order of the government. We know Charles was a member of the “No Conscription Fellowship”, NCF, an organisation to support those who objected to taking up arms. We can assume Charles was a pacifist who believed it wrong to kill another human, but whether this was a religious or moral stand is unknown. His appeal to the Military Tribunal was unsuccessful, and therefore he was called for military service.

Charles refused to comply with conscription and consequently was arrested on 25 May 1916. He appeared at the Magistrates Court and as an absentee (one who had refused to arrive at the army) he was handed over to the army. He was enrolled in the Rifle Brigade on 29 May 1916 service number 19675.   His service papers have the words “enrolment Record” crossed out and replaced with “Record of service” and the words “fitness of service on enrolment” changed to “fitness of service on joining”.  Charles would not sign the enrolment form. He refused to obey the order of a senior officer for which he was court martialled. His military records show he was convicted by the civil power of “Absentee Military Service Act” on 29 May. On 30 May 1916 he was convicted by District Court Martial, the charge being that when on active service disobeying a lawful command given by his superior officer. He was sentenced to one year Imprisonment with Hard Labour.

On 14 June 1916 Charles was sent to the Civil Prison in Winchester. Life was tough for conscientious objectors in prison, and 69 conscientious objectors died in prison.  Hard labour was the most severe sentence the courts could issue. The prisoners were put in solitary confinement for the first month and were not allowed to communicate with anyone. They were let out for half an hour exercise a day, but no communication was allowed. Charles’s records show that he spent nearly 3 months in prison in Winchester.

The records for 5 September 1916 reads “Transferred to Class W Army Reserve, Army orders 203-1916”. Class W reserve was used as a means of getting thousands of Conscientious Objectors out of prison and into useful civil employment. Charles became part of the home office scheme administered by the Brace committee which sent 250 conscientious objectors from prisons to Dyce Camp in Aberdeen at a quarry. The men were still in the army but had been released on condition they performed work of national importance – in this case breaking up granite to produce stones for roads. Most of these men were not use to physical labour and the work was tough. They were put up in a tented camp in poor conditions made worse by the weather. After the death of one of the prisoners the camp was closed down in October 1916. It is not clear what happened to Charles at this time whether he went back to prison or sent to work somewhere else.

The next entry in his records shows that on 23 November 1917 he was discharged from the army as no longer fit for service due to a condition Otitis Media which affects the middle ear. The doctors thought this was the result of a childhood illness. His total service was 1 year 179 days.  It is noted in his records that his pension entitlement was disallowed for misconduct and that he had no medal entitlement. On discharge his address was to be 48 Bunyan Road, Walthamstow and his intended employment a decorator of furniture / cabinetmaker.

Charles Titheradge – after the war

Life was probably hard for Charles after his release from the army. The war time prejudice against conscientious objectors continued for many years after the war.  Conscientious Objectors were nick name “conchies”. There was a stigma attached to being a conscientious objector - people regarded them as cowards and their families often suffered abuse as well as the men. The men were often despised for their views. These attitudes continued for many years after the war e.g. some job advertisements said no conscientious objectors should apply.

Charles continued to live in the London area until 1932 when he died on 8 August 1932, aged just 42 at 88 Ainslie Wood Gardens, Chingford, Essex. He was buried at Chingford Mount Cemetery on Saturday 13th August 1932. Probate records show he left £695 to his widow Catherine. Catherine and Charles had no children.

Catherine married again in December 1937 in Essex to Frederick C Conyard and lived until 1975, she died aged 84 in Southend-on-sea.