Ernest Titheridge and World War 1

George and Georgina Titheridge and their 8 children
Ernest is sitting on his mother's lap. Taken about 1902

In the previous blog I told the story of Ernest Titheridge’s Bravery Award in World War 2. While researching Ernest’s life I discovered this story about Ernest in World War 1.

The Titheridge Family 

Ernest was one of ten children born to George Titheridge and Georgina Hannibal over a 17-year period. The family moved around the London area quite a lot during this period but also spent a few years in Wales. Son George died in infancy and daughter Rose died aged seven. Ernest was the youngest of the family born on 6 May 1900. He died on 8 November 1976 at Wandsworth, aged 76. A faded family photograph can be seen on the left and his family tree can be seen at this link. 

George and Georgina's children were

• Ruth born 1883 in Stoke Newington; died 1971
• George David born 1884 in Stoke Newington; died 1885
• Samuel born 1885 in Abergavenny; died 1957
• Mary born 1886 in Newport
• Lily born 1888 in Edmonton
• Joseph born 1889 in South Hornsey; died 1917
• William Henry born 1892 in Hackney; died 1851
• Daisy born 1895 in Wandsworth
• Rose born 1897 in Lambeth; died 1904
• Ernest born 1900 in Lambeth; died 1976

World War 1 

By the start of World War 1 the family were living at 61 Stockwell Park Road, Brixton. George and Georgina’s surviving sons were Samuel aged 29, Joseph aged 25, William Henry aged 22 and Ernest aged 15.

William had joined the army in 1909 and was in the 13th Hussars. By December 1914 he was already fighting in France. His story has already been told in  a previous blog and his photograph, in uniform, can be found at this link .

Ernest’s brother Joseph joined up to the Sussex Regiment in October 1914 and in February 1915 his eldest brother Samuel joined up to 4th London Regiment.

This left 14-year-old Ernest at home with his parents and four sisters Ruth, Mary, Lily and Daisy. On the 5 May 1915 Ernest volunteered to join the army in the 23rd Battalion London Regiment. He was just one day short of 15 years old and lied about his age. On enlisting he gave his age as 19. Could he really have convinced the recruiting office that he was 4 years older than he was? Or were they so desperate for men that they turned a blind eye to this? We do not know why Ernest joined up; maybe he was unhappy at home, maybe he missed his brothers, maybe he wanted to be a grown up like his brothers or maybe he felt he should be defending his country against the Germans. Despite his youth Ernest was a good soldier and within 3 months was promoted to Lance Corporal and by 1 January 1916 he was promoted to Corporal, no mean feat for a 15-year-old.

Georgina's Action

One can only imagine the anguish of his mother Georgina, she had three sons in the army and then the fourth underage child joined up. However, he had been in the army 15 months before she acted to stop him being sent to war. Perhaps at first, she was happy for him to be earning money in the army; perhaps she was happy and proud for him to fight for his country; perhaps she didn’t know he had joined the army. Perhaps it was only when she realised the full horror of the war and the extent of the casualties being reported in the newspapers that she took action. It was some time in September that Georgina contacted the army authorities informing them that Ernest was under age and on 27 September 1916 he was stripped of his rank and reverted to the rank of Private. Georgina must have been told she had to write to formally request his release and had to produce evidence of his age. This would have proved a little difficult because for some unknown reason Ernest’s birth had never been officially registered. In Ernest’s Army Records is the letter written to the army authorities on 30th September requesting the release of Ernest from service on the grounds he was under age. Enclosed with the letter were his school certificate, and a declaration of his age. The letter reads


37 Angell Road
Brixton
SW

September 30th 1916

Dear Sir

Re my son Cpl E Titheridge 

I wish to claim his discharge from his Majestys Army on account of his youth. I enclose particulars of his birth as near as can be obtained as he was not registered. My motive for doing this is that I have three sons now serving in the Army.
Furthermore it is the boys wish.

I remain yours truly

Mrs Titheridge


As a result of the letter on Ernest was discharged from the army on 13 October 1916 when he was was just 16 years and 4 months, having served in the army for 1 year and 162 days. His official records show the reason for discharge as “having made a misstatement as to age on enlistment”. Fortunately, he had not been sent to fight in France.

His character report on his discharge papers says,
"He has been a clean, industrious and capable youth and is a willing and reliable worker."

His mother must have been so relieved when her youngest son was released from the army. Was he pleased? I’m afraid we don’t know. I have only discovered the story from his army records not from his family.

The 23rd Battalion London Regiment 

One of the best things I found when researching this story was a group photograph of the NCOs of the 23rd Battalion London Regiment, taken towards the end of 1915, which included a picture of Ernest. Ernest is in the back row the 7th person from the right. The picture can be seen at this link.

The Brothers' War

His brothers suffered mixed fortunes in the war. Joseph was killed in action in 1917, while Samuel was discharged wounded. William Henry was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for bravery. A link to William’s story is given above and you can read Joseph’s story at this link.

Boy Soldiers in World War 1

I wondered if Ernest’s story was unique. My research into this question revealed the statistics that it is estimated there were as many as 250,000 boys under the age of 18 in the army in World War 1. Their motives for joining up included patriotism, escapism and adventure. The rules were that men had to be 18 to join the army and a minimum height of 5-foot 3-inches tall with a minimum chest measurement of 34 inches. Ernest was in good health, 5-foot 6-inches tall and had a thirty five and a half inch chest, so he passed these joining criteria. Recruiting sergeants were paid for each recruit, so if the other criteria were met the age was often overlooked. There are stories of children as young as 12 joining up. I read the story of one boy who joined at 13 and died a year later at Ypres, aged 14. You can read more on the subject at this BBC link.



If you can add more to Ernest’s story, please get in touch.