Good Morning,
Welcome to this week’s edition which still has an antipodean flavour with further news from New Zealand and news from my son in Australia.
We are now in the final run up to Christmas and I hope that you all have a very happy and merry festive season planned in the company of your family and close friends.
Happy Christmas!
NEWS & EVENTS
Here are the first events of the New Year at the various organisations in our locality.
Advance Notice of Winter/Spring 2025 talks at Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, Western Front Association.
The Branch will continue to meet during 2025 on Monday evenings at The Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG. However, please note that by popular request we have made a major change to our meeting times. As from January 2025, doors will open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. We hope this will allow more time for those of you who spend the day grafting hard to get home, have a bite to eat, and travel to the venue without rushing. Furthermore, the later time will mean there is less traffic to contend with. Note we do not hold a meeting during the month of May.
January 20th – John Chester presents “German Atrocities in 1914”.
February 24th – Andy Stewart presents “Armistice Day 1918: Where the guns didn’t stop”.
March 31st – Andrew Moody presents “The Great War on the Silent Screen”.
April 28th – Alex Keyes presents “The Easter Uprising – The Irish Perspective”.
June 2nd – Joanna Costin presents “Answering the Manpower Question”.
July 7th – Annual General Meeting followed by The Chairman’s Annual Lecture by Mike Credland. Subject to be advised.
Advance notice of Winter/Spring 2025 talks at Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, Western Front Association.
The Branch will continue to meet during 2025 on Thursday evenings at Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT. Meetings are held in an ante-room of this pleasant, and modern venue. It’s warm in winter, cool in summer, and we continue to serve free refreshments at the end of the meeting. However, please note that due to the fact we cannot monitor the entrance doors from the ante-room, you will need to ring the doorbell to gain admission as the doors are kept locked in the evenings for security reasons. But, don’t let that put you off attending this small, but friendly branch. If you live within reasonable travelling distance, drag yourself away from the boring old gogglebox and enjoy the convivial atmosphere of our meetings, make new friends, and learn something new.
January 23rd – Jonathan D’Hooghe presents “The 6th Lincolns at Gallipoli, and the Post-War Controversy”.
February 27th – Andy Stewart presents “Armistice Day 1918: Where the guns didn’t stop”.
March 28th – Steve Warburton presents “First In, Last Out: Brig-Gen C H T Lucas (87th Brigade, 29th Division) at Gallipoli”.
April 24th – Andrew Moody presents “The Great War on the Silent Screen”.
May 22nd - Grant Cullen presents “The First Air War”.
June 26th – No talk this month. Instead, the Branch takes advantage of the light evenings for its annual “Out & About Evening”. Details to be advised.
July 24th – Jerry Porter presents “Goodnight Darling – God Bless You – Heaps of Love, Mother”.
A more detailed description of all of these talks will, of course, be published nearer the time. In the meantime, please put these dates in your diaries.
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I am delighted to announce that going forward into 2025, TL will now also be advertising all speaker events for the East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch. Branch chairman, John Beech, would be delighted to see any TL readers who live south of Lincoln and may fancy a drive over to St. Peter's church rooms, Church Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HA on a Friday night for a 7.30pm start.
Speaker Programme 2025
Meeting Date:
Speaker: Subject:
10 January Jonathan D’Hooghe ‘The 6th Lincolns at Gallipoli and the Post War Controversy.’
14 February Scott Lindgren 'Ocean Greyhounds: the Battle of Dogger Bank, 1915'
14 March Simon Keable-Elliott Robert Keable and the South African Native Labour Corps
11 April Shaun Higgins ‘Strange Meetings’ – The life of Wilfred Owen in his own words.
9 May Grant Cullen Tragedy at Quintinshill - May 1915
13 June Nigel Atter The 8th Lincolns at the Battle of Loos
11 July Chris Johns ' "Dear Billie" - killed on flying duty' - The changing role of Castle Bromwich (Birmingham) airfield in the Great War
8 August Roy Larkin London’s Buses that Stayed at Home
12 September Stephen Barker Nobody’s Heroes – 8th East Lancs in the Great War
10 October Spencer Vignes 'The Life & Death of Leigh Roose, Sportsman & Soldier'
14 November Prof. Jessica Meyer 'From No Man's Land to Auxiliary Hospital: Evacuating the Great War Wounded'
12 December Tim Lynch 'The Enemy Within: Germans in Britain 1914-18'
Lads of the 20th Hussars decked in Mistletoe and choosing Christmas lunch!
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The 2025 Season of Talks for the Friends of the Lincoln tank Group are confirmed as below. All meetings on a Thursday night at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, with a 7.30pm start time.
March 13th - Richard Pullen "The armament of the MKIV tank and its crew.”
April 24th - David Moore "Taking Refuge - 16th Tank Battalion graffiti at Gouy-en-Artois.”
June 12th - Andy Burn "Fray Bentos, the action, the crew and the film.”
July 31st - Alwyn Killingsworth "Lt. Bond and tank 743."
Sept 4th - Andrew Thornton "The Old Contemptibles Association"
Oct 30th - Peter Jacobs "For King and Country.”
Dec 4th - "Show and Tell - Xmas buffet.”
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The Leadenham Military History Group has now successfully completed its first year and will meet again in 2025 on a Tuesday night in Leadenham Village Hall at 7.30pm.
Tuesday 28th January – “Introduction to War Gaming in 2025.” – Ed Sisson; followed by;
“The My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.” – Sean McCabe.
Tuesday 25th February – “The Air Battles in the North of England, 1940. This will be an interactive workshop – participation is encouraged but if you just want to come along and listen, then that’s fine too.”
[Please excuse the typo last week. 28th January is a Tuesday not a Thursday – Ed]
46th Division Christmas card.
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You may have noticed that the Friends of the Lincoln Tank website has been compromised by hackers. Here is a statement from the Chairman, Richard Pullen.
‘A warning to anyone trying to use the Friends of the Lincoln Tank website, it has been hacked and taken over by cyber-squatters. It is now filled with nonsense links, which will undoubtedly contain all kinds of computer viruses. The website doesn't get a great deal of traffic and we were planning to close it down sometime soon anyway, but just a warning, stay clear of the old site. Friends of the Lincoln Tank now have no claim to the site, are not responsible for the current content and cannot be held responsible for any problems you may have if you click on the links. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but annoying as this is, it is unfortunately out of our hands.’
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Thanks to John Shipton and Michael Doyle, please find links to newsletters for a little additional Christmas reading.
Jonty Wild has also let us have the link to the latest Herts At War newsletter.
Please click on the link below
20200616 Newsletter
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On Wednesday 18th, I attended along with Steve Williams, Ray Sellers et al, the service of remembrance held at Carlton Scroop golf club. The overall attendance was excellent and the service and unveiling of the new memorial were of the highest order.
The service and memorial unveiling was to remember those American servicemen who perished in a tragic mid-air collision that occurred on December 18th 1944 between a B-24 and C-109 operating from nearby RAF Barkston Heath.
Both the RAF and USAF were in attendance and there were plenty of top brass from RAF Cranwell including the station commander, Group Captain Tina Jessup.
Special mention must be made of David Bristow. A resident of Carlton Scroop, David has been the driving force behind this project. He has extensively researched the accident and the crews involved and this led to him writing a book about the collision and spearheading the erection of the memorial.
On the day, RAF Cranwell provided an Honour Guard and a ‘bugler’ [Trumpeter in reality – Ed] and words were spoken by David Bristow, a Lieutenant Colonel of the USAF, the crew names and addresses in America were read out, then, an RAF Padre and a Rabbi conducted the service followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial which had been unveiled by relatives of crew members killed in the accident.
It really was a splendid ceremony, and after the event, I spoke with Group Captain Jessup and congratulated her on the turnout and asked that she pass on my congratulations and thanks to all involved.
David Bristow told the story of the fateful accident.
A USAF Lieutenant Colonel spoke about the sacrifice of the two crews.
The memorial was unveiled by relatives of the crew members.
The Padre and the Rabbi conducted the service.
The Honour Guard saluted Last Post and the silence until the first bar of Reveille.
Wreaths were laid.
The memorial in all of its splendour. Three explanatory panels mounted on local Ancaster stone.
The Americans were well represented.
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Melvin Dobbs was an attendee at last Saturday’s Lincoln WFA Christmas Lunch held at the White Hart hotel in Lincoln…………
………………..and Melvin goes on to say; ‘First, thank you and the Committee for an excellent Christmas Lunch and meeting at the White Hart Hotel, and an excellent Quiz too, though it will be the last time I shall listen to Richard Woodall with his answers, methinks he just might say the same about me! [The quiz was won yet again by Mike Credland! Who will take up the challenge for 2025? - Ed]
Before the lunch, I took advantage of going into the Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene (near the Hotel) and took a couple of pictures of memorials within.
The lighting was poor and could I not fully make out the 3 names on the wood panel of the Roll of Honour, their names are not on the memorial tablet of those that fell, so are these 3 survivors, if so a very poor ratio.
A little while ago in Trench Lincs, there was a discussion regarding modern memorials to the World Wars, and I attach another picture of a modern memorial at Long Itchington, Southam, Warwickshire along with some notes from a booklet which was on display in the church.
When the Second World War broke out, the cannon was broken up and sent as scrap for the war effort.
The man beside the cannon was Sidney Lee a disabled war veteran who was related to some of those killed in WW1.
The modern memorial has 54 falling bronze leaves to represent the men who fell in both World Wars.
Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year to you and all our readers of Trench Lincs.’
[Thank you Melvin, and a Very Merry Christmas to you too – Ed]
Long Itchington.
William Banbury, died of wounds 16th September 1914.
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Andrew Sayers has been in London where he visited the Royal Mail and Mail Rail museum.
Mail Rail - The Postal Museum Click on this link.
Apparently the mail rail ran from 1927 to 2003 and whisked mail under London during these years. Now it is a very child friendly tourist attraction alongside the Royal Mail museum, which as Andrew found out, contains a number of references and memorials to the 8th Battalion The London Regiment (The Post Office Rifles).
Thank you Andrew, it sounds like a good day out for the New Year.
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My eldest son Robert, has lived in Australia for some 13 or 14 years now. As a result, I have visited him on several occasions and it is not until you visit Australia, that you really comprehend the size of the country.
Robert lives in Kununurra, which is located in the very north east of Western Australia, close to the border with Northern Territory. His company head office is in Darwin, which is a 500 - mile drive from Kununurra, and Robert, with his family, drove up to Darwin this week to attend the company Christmas party!
After a few nights in Darwin, they have now set off to drive to the east coast south of Brisbane, for a three week Christmas holiday on the beach. The drive from Darwin to the coast is 2,000 miles! – to give you some context, that is like driving from Lincoln to Athens in Greece. [They have now safely arrived - Ed]
I have been tracking Robert’s progress and on Tuesday this week, he arrived at Winton in Queensland. Sharing my interest in military history and memorials, Robert sent me a couple of snaps of the splendid town memorial that he found in Winton, and some superb photos of this old outback town, which reminded me of a 1920s film set – not much has changed over the years. I am delighted to share them with you.
Robert with my Aussie grandsons, Alfie and Wulfie - in the pub of course.
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Staying with the ANZAC theme, I was very pleased to visit the Wellington cricket museum at the Basin Reserve on my recent trip to NZ. There were many items in the museum of interest to a cricket lover like me, but one that I think will interest Trench Lincs readers is this 1940s cricket ball, hand made by ANZAC Prisoners of War during their captivity, so that they could play cricket to while away their time in captivity.
You will see that it is beautifully made with narrow rope wound around a central core, I assume. The skill of men in captivity, without tools, to make such a ball really does take your breath away. Thank goodness, one of the POW’s had the foresight to bring it home with him at the end of the war.
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As promised, please find some pictures that I took at the Peter Jackson inspired, Omaka Aviation museum near Blenheim. Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre Click on the link.
The museum consists of two large halls, one dedicated to each world war. The bulk of the exhibits belong to the film producer, Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, They Shall Grow Not Old etc.), and I understand that only a lack of space at the current time limits the display of his collection.
Like the Shuttleworth collection in Bedfordshire, many of the aircraft are in full working order, and there are several flying days planned at Omaka for 2025.
It was a real treat to spend some time there.
Original Breguet 14 WWI (French)
DH2 Pusher. (British)
DH4 (British)
Fokker Eindecker (German)
Taube (German)
Richthofen's flying circus of Fokker Drei Deckers (German)
Diorama of the death of Manfred Von Richthofen. But who shot him down?
Richthofen's body is pulled from the wreckage as the Australian troops cut souvenirs from his plane and steal his boots! There is a film show at the museum of Richthofen's first funeral at Bertangles.
Halberstadt D4 (German)
The remarkable story of NZ's air ace, Keith 'Grid' Caldwell. After a mid air collision, he climbed out of his aircraft, piloted it externally until he was near the ground, jumped to safety, walked to the nearest trench, found a dug out, entered and asked for a stiff drink!
Caproni (Italy)
Morane Saulnier (France)
Nieuport 27 (France) in a tree!
Pfalz (German)
Siemens Schuckert (German)
RE8 (British) As flown by the late Rob Glover's father, Dennis.
I will feature the WWII aircraft next week and then the museum's non-aircraft exhibits in the first edition of 2025.
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The Empire countries of India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada etc. served with distinction in both world wars, and so did Ireland in WW1, despite the growing clamour for Home Rule and eventual independence.
We have all heard of the proud Irish regiments who served in 10th, 16th and 36th Divisions, but I have to admit that my geographical knowledge of the historical recruiting grounds has until now, not been that good.
Therefore, I was delighted to come across this photo this week, courtesy of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Facebook page and I am pleased to share it with you.
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IN MEMORIAM – The Lincolnshire Regiment 22nd December.
1914
7627 Private G O’Dougherty, 2nd Battalion. Buried in Rue Petillon Military Cemetery, France.
1915
12811 Private Arthur Ernest Hufton, 7th Battalion, aged 23. Buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium
Lieutenant L H Bowen, 1st Battalion. Buried in Cabaret Rouge British cemetery, France.
1916
Second Lieutenant John Livingston Barnicot, 1st Battalion, aged 19. Buried in Vermelles British Cemetery, France.
25358 Private Edmund Ernest Tucker, 1st Battalion, aged 28. - Ditto. –
15420 Private G A Hitchcock, 6th Battalion, aged 29. Buried in Varennes Military Cemetery, France.
1917
41735 Private H Ansell, 8th Battalion, aged 29. Buried in Netley Military Cemetery, UK.
45515 Private W J Jackson, 11th Battalion. Buried in Blevet Farm Cemetery, Belgium.
3736 Private W Bilton, 3rd/5th Battalion. Buried in Grimsby Scartho Cemetery, UK.
47145 Private G Orpin, 16th Labour Company, aged 30. Buried in Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Belgium.
33465 Private J Thompson, 2nd Labour Company. Buried in Duhallow ADS Cemetery, Belgium.
22883 Private Joseph Arthur Carter, 1st Battalion, aged 30. Buried in Tincourt New British Cemetery, France.
1918
62392 Private C R Wilshaw, 1st Battalion. Buried in Caudry British Cemetery, France.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Christmas is always a good time for humour and as I have a number of ex-gunners as friends, I hope this makes you smile as much as I did!
So from my dug out to yours...........
......Good cheer, good company and good food for all of us..........
Finally, for this week, I wish everyone of you a Very Happy Christmas, and I thank all of you for your continuing support and fellowship in a subject that means so much to us all over 100 years later.
(Photo courtesy of Colour by CJS)
Until next week,
Kind regards
Jonathan
Email me on: trenchlincs@gmail.com
© J C J D’Hooghe.
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