2nd May 1916 - Missing Yeomanry - Reports of Casualties

Rolling Casualty Count: 3106

At the Front:

1st Batt: men training from 9.00am until 3.30pm.

2nd Batt: men were allowed a quiet day in billets.

Yeomanry/cavalry: Spirits are rather low after the 2nd battle of Gaza and the infantry settled down to trench warfare in front of Gaza. Difficult to water the horses as water supply at the White Mosque at Magan is under artillery fire and watering parties are constantly shelled.

On the Home Front:

Farmers’ Gifts for Relief in 1871 and 1916: During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 farmers in Worcestershire subscribed £962 for providing seeds for the stricken French peasants, out of a total of £52,000 raised throughout the country. Today they have a similar call upon their generosity made by the Agricultural Relief of Allies Fund, established by the Royal Agricultural Society, but the Worcestershire total as yet stands only at £179. This Fund has already distributed seeds and implements worth several thousands of pounds among French peasants, but it has set itself the task, on behalf of British farmers, of assisting ruined small-holders in Belgium, Serbia, and Poland, as well as in France, to resume cultivation of their lands when the opportunity arises. It is on the plots of these small holders that the battle for our continuance as an Empire is being fought, and agriculturalists in this country are therefore asked to give all the support they can to their less fortunate brethren in Allied countries.

Missing – Yeomanry Casualties: Corpl. W.R. Garland, son of Mr. T. Garland, of Claines, aged 20. He joined after the outbreak of war and had been at the front for over 12 months. He has another brother, Trooper W.J. Garland, in the same squadron, of whom no news has yet been received; Sergt. H. Barnes, son of Mr. Barnes, of the Hawford Inn, and husband of Mrs. Barnes, who is now living with her father at the Lamb and Flag Inn, Worcester. He has been in the regiment for over three years and at the front for over 12 months.

A conscientious objector at the City Appeal Tribunal was concerned in the management of a miniature rifle range.

Canon Rawsley suggests that school children’s Whitsuntide and summer holidays should coincide with the needs of the farmers.

Home from Canada – and Service – Alfred Morris, Upton Snodsbury, and Percy Merry, White Ladies Aston, were charged with failing to comply with the provisions of the National Registration Act, 1915. Both men pleaded guilty. P.C. Bainsbridge stated that he called on both men and asked if they had been registered. They said no, and he advised them to do so, giving full instructions on what to do. When he called on them a second time, they told him they had not registered, and did not consider they were bound to do so, as all particulars were taken when they landed at Liverpool. Mr. Harrison said the men went out to Canada, Morris in 1913 and Merry in 1912. They returned home to see their parents in the autumn, and were unaware of the existence of the Registration Act. They were not desirous to escape the Military Service Act, as they did not come under it, not being ordinarily resident in England. They proposed to join a Canadian Regiment, and they would undertake to register at once. The Bench fined them £2 each.

Fred West, Camp Hill Road, Worcester, was fined 5s. for having a dog without a name on its collar. P.C. Cook proved the case.

“Pimpernel” Day: The Secretary of the Worcester Infirmary has received £100, part of the proceeds of the “Scarlet Pimpernel” Flower Day.

War and Economy: On Monday evening a meeting was held at the Guildhall, when Miss Zoe Hawley gave and address on the economic aspect of the war, and explained the various ways of investing in the War Loan…Miss Hawley, having quoted Napoleon’s dictum that “War is Money,” said England had a threefold task in this war – to hold and keep command of the seas, to raise and equip armies and place them wherever they were necessary to fight the Germans, and to help the Allies with finance and equipment. If France and Russia were to continue the struggle they must be financed by England. We had lent 316 million already to the Allies and Dominions, and we had to find another 450 million during this year. She urged the necessity for the people of the country to lend their savings to the Government for the conduct of the war.

Yeomanry Casualties: Included in the list of casualties published by the War Office are the names of 22 Yeomanry officers. Several of these were reported, unofficially, some days ago. The casualties include the Commander (Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Charles John Coventry) and Sec.-Lieut. W. Basil Chamberlain, the only surviving son of Mr. Walter Chamberlain, Cobham, Surrey, and cousin to the Lord Mayor of Birmingham (Alderman Neville Chamberlain).

Annoyance: George Carpenter, 3, Lich Street, was summoned for playing tip-cat in Lich Street to the annoyance of passengers. P.C. Jeynes said that he had cautioned the boy. George Albert Leek said that he had had several windows broken. Defendant was fined 1s. –Wilfred Bunn, 3 Court, Friar Street, was summoned for a similar offence, but did not appear.

Information researched by the WWWW100 team.