Trench Lincs 1st March 2026

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Good Morning,

I have a very varied and mixed bag of topics for you this week. Of great importance, is Simon Roots’ account of volunteering at Nottingham General Cemetery, and the recent work by the City Council to cut back years of neglect to the brambles and undergrowth – it is amazing what has been found.

Melvin Dobbs reports from Leicester, and I have written pieces from my recent visits to Sleaford (again!) and to St. Mary’s church in Nottingham, where I spent a fascinating day with Andrew Thornton and Matt Colley.

March 2026 is the 110th anniversary of conscription being introduced in the United Kingdom for the first time. I think that this historic occasion is also worth a few words this week.

I hope you find something to enjoy.

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS.

Next event - Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch, WFA - Monday, March 23rd 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start - Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG.

March 23rd - Chris Finn presents "Aviation in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli Campaigns".

RFC forced landing on Gallipoli.

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Next Meeting - Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch, WFA – Thursday March 26th, 2026 - Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30 pm start - Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT.

March 26th - John Chester presents "Honour & Tradition".

The Great War saw men flock to the recruiting offices, ready to join up and go and fight the foe, led by our great military leaders. This talk takes a look at how tradition and honour affected some of the thoughts and ideas these leaders had on what constituted the way to 'do' this war, and how good some of their decisions weren't.

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The East Midlands (Nottingham) WFA branch will hold their next speaker event on Friday 13th March 2026 at 7.30pm. The branch meets at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Church Street, Ruddington, NG11 6HA.

The speaker on this night is Vern Littley and his talk is ‘The Royal Artillery 1914-15.’

Everyone welcome.

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The Leadenham Military History Group’s next meeting will be on Tuesday 24th March at 7.30pm at Leadenham village hall.

Again, this evening will be a two-part event.

SHOW and TELL: FROM CUT to THRUST by John Goacher. The evolution of British Army Swords and Swordsmanship in the 19th Century, with some genuine examples to look at.

PRESENTATION: THE LINCOLNSHIRE YEOMANRY by Michael Credland. The history of the regiment, particularly in the Great War. Richly illustrated including unpublished photographs.

Lincs Yeomanry - Full Dress uniform.

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The Friends of the Lincoln Tank Group commence their 2026 season in March. The venue, as usual, will be the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG with a 7.30pm start. Entry is £5, and everyone is welcome.

Thursday March 12th David Moore will speak about ‘The Chinese Labour Corps.’

The FoLT 2026 season of talks will commence on the Thursday 12th March when we welcome back our good friend David Moore. His presentation this time will be on the Chinese Labour Corps. In his own words:

“The Chinese Labour Corps is one of the lesser-known stories of the Great War. In 1916, both Great Britain and France began recruiting thousands of Chinese men as labourers. The presentation aims to provide an account of the recruitment, organisation, experiences and legacy of these men. Using some first-hand accounts from a recently discovered diary, the story of the Chinese Labourers will be looked at and the complexities of their service in Europe appreciated”.

As usual the venue for the evening will be The Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln. Doors will open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. An entry charge of £5 is payable on the door. Refreshments will be available at the bar and we will have our usual raffle. There is ample car parking available on site.

Don't forget, you do not have to be a member of FoLT to attend. Everyone, old, young, male, female will be welcomed. Just pop down on the night. I do hope you can make it and I will see you on the night.

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A third group who meet at the Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG, is the Lincolnshire Aviation Society. The next meeting of LAS will be held on Thursday 19th March 2026 with a start time of 7.30pm.

The speaker on this occasion is LAS Chairman, Chas Parker, who will speak about ‘Spotting in the Seventies.’

Given Chas’ background, I suspect that this talk will be about the Royal Observer Corps.

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The Peterborough Military History Group meets at the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery in Priestgate, Peterborough, PE1 1LF, on the second Wednesday of every month, 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

Everyone welcome, especially new faces.

March 11th Nigel Denchfield

'Digging Up Dad's Spitfire.' The talk covers Nigel’s dad and his time in the RAF. From training through to joining 610 Squadron towards the end of the Battle of Britain. He was then shot down over France to become a POW.

April 8th Andy Stuart

'Tales from the Great War.' The story of Arthur Walton, my grandad.

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Melvin Dobbs has been in Leicester and he writes; ‘I was out with my Godchildren during half term break in the City of Leicester, they along with their mother took me to visit an old Church (they know I love to explore these places and they enjoy the experience too). We came across a couple of interesting items with links to recent topics in Trench Lincs.

The Church in question was St. Mary De Castro, therein, was a Memorial Plaque to George Geoffrey Parmiter that had been removed from the redundant Church of St. Augustine, Newfoundpool, Leicester and placed within this church in October 2004. So that his name would not be forgotten. The plaque was re-dedicated on Remembrance Sunday 2004.

Whilst in the church, a brass plaque was spotted informing of a statue above the north door (outside) dedicated in thanksgiving for the preservation of this Church and those who worshipped here during the Second World War.

Strangely no other Memorial Plaques were to be seen dedicated to those parishioners who fought and survived or died in either of the Great Wars.

Whilst walking back to get some lunch we passed the Newarke Houses Museum (open Saturdays only*) and saw two imposing Cannons; and on closer inspection, found them to be Russian Cannons captured at Sevastopol during the Crimean Campaign by the Royal Leicestershire Regiment. ++

*Note to myself, visit this museum on a future Saturday!’

[++ Note to readers and Leicester Council Museum Department – The Leicestershire Regiment did not receive its ‘Royal’ prefix until November 1946. At the capture of the cannons at Sevastopol in the Crimean War, 1855, the regiment was officially known as the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot, having received its county status in 1786. Before then, and from 1751, they had been the 17th Regiment of Foot – Ed]

Thank you Melvin. I can also recommend a visit to Leicester for the King Richard III centre and the Leicestershire Regimental museum, which can be found at the Museum of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment, Newarke Houses Museum, Leicester, LE2 7BY – as mentioned by Melvin above.

I was taken aback by Melvin’s comment that the museum was now only open on Saturdays. I checked out the website, and the news is even worse. The museum is now only open on Saturdays between May and August, 11am to 4.30pm and on Wednesdays in the school holidays.

No doubt another council pleading poverty, whilst wasting millions elsewhere!

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Longer term readers of Trench Lincs will know of my attraction to Sleaford, its church, St. Denys, and the war memorial in the market place. The reason for this is the town war memorial was the basis and reason for my Masters Dissertation back in 2014, when I completed my MA in British First World War Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Whenever in Sleaford, I am somehow drawn to the memorial and the church in a way that it is difficult to explain. The names on the memorial mean a lot to me, and over the last 10 years or so, I have visited many of the cemeteries on the Western Front where the Sleaford war dead lie. In this topic, I know that I have a soul mate in John Dale, a man who has spent many years researching the Great War dead of Sleaford. John is a scion of the Dale family who were once, in the guise of Ward and Dale, one of the country’s leading agricultural contractors based in Sleaford.

John’s ancestor, W Dale, was a Sleaford Urban District Councillor who sat on the War Memorial General Committee until his untimely death in 1920, and I am very pleased to tell you all, that John’s daughter, Alice, has also inherited the bug for Great War history, and Alice is a very welcome regular attendee at the Royal Naval Club for WFA and FoLT talks.

One of the main characters in the historiography of Sleaford’s war memorial is a certain Mrs Alice Peake. Her husband, H A Peake, was a partner in the law firm, Peake and Snow. He was also a director of the Sleaford Steam and Laundry Company, Clerk to the area Drainage Boards, and a director of Sleaford Gas Company. A very typical profile for a man of the upper middle class in the Edwardian era.

Mr and Mrs Peake produced three sons. Henry was a pre-war regular Captain in the Essex regiment and he was killed in action on 3rd July 1916. [In the same attack that my great uncle was killed – Ed] Prior to this, his brother, Cecil, a Captain in the Lincolnshire Regiment was killed in a vile act of ‘Hun Treachery’ at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915, when a German officer, in the act of surrendering his pistol to Cecil Peake, opened fire killing Cecil. Cecil Peake’s men avenged his death by bayonetting the German.

The third son, Kenneth, was a Lieutenant in the 6th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment and he was killed in action at Chocolate Hill, Gallipoli, in August 1915.

When the time came to unveil the Sleaford war memorial at Whitsuntide 1922, the areas absent aristocrat, The Marquess of Bristol, had already turned down the invitation to unveil the memorial and pressure was brought to bear on the War Memorial General Committee, to ask Mrs Peake to carry out the unveiling, as she had lost her three sons.

Mrs Peake did unveil the memorial, but only after asking permission from her husband, such was the way of the world in the 1920s. Her efforts for the town, after the loss of all three of her sons, was unending. Mrs Peake and her fundraising efforts, produced the original 1920 brass plaque that still sits today inside St. Denys’ church……..

The original war memorial plaque in St. Denys' church contained 112 names. The fundraising was carried out by Mrs Peake. The town memorial which sits in the market place, contains 134 names.

Alice Peake was also the leading light for the local YMCA and with her husband, sat on the War Memorial General Committee.

As my dissertation shows, all men regardless of birth, were equal in death upon the battlefield, but the wealthier families were able to privately memorialise their family dead, in a way that the working class families could not.

The Peake family was no exception to this yardstick. The wealth of the Peake family allowed them to commission Sir (John) Ninian Comper, 1864-1960, a renowned Gothic Revivalist Ecclesiastical architect, to memorialise their three sons by the design and erection of a Rood Screen and Loft in St. Denys church. Comper’s other works include the design of the Welsh National Great War Memorial (1928) that can be found in Cardiff, and the Warrior’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey (1932) – his services were certainly not cheap!

The Rood Screen was unveiled by the Bishop of Ely, who was a family friend of the Peake family, and shows that the family desire to remember their sons was not restricted by the costs involved. No doubt the never ending post-war work that Alice Peake carried out within the town, was a defence mechanism to help her cope with the knowledge that her boys would not return.

The Peake memorial rood screen.

There are several other memorials within the church that are worth visiting, this one to the Sleaford Company of the Church Lads Brigade….

The 1915 Roll of Honour for all of the men of Sleaford who were in uniform at this time….

I had to take the picture at an angle because of the glare from the facing window.

And the Boer War memorial, which is very unusual for the era, in that it memorialises a female nurse, Lucy Feathers.

Next time you are in Sleaford, please do find 10 minutes to visit the church and the memorial in the Market Place. Their story is not a dry and boring tale as most folks would think.

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Last week, I was very pleased to hear once again from Simon Roots, not this time about his ancestors serving with the Canadian forces in WWI, but at a more local level, namely, his work as a CWGC volunteer at the Nottingham General cemetery.

Simon writes for us; ‘I was in my usual Sunday morning routine this week, sat on the sofa, cup of tea in hand, and enjoying reading the latest edition of Trench Lincs. As I read each article, I instantly recognised one of the names featured, the piece by David Moore about Private 4429 Roy Arbon, 57th Battalion Australian Infantry who died at the Bagthorpe Hospital Nottingham on 19th July 1916. [Trench Lincs 15th February – Ed] (Bagthorpe Military Hospital is now the site of NHS City Hospital on the ring road, some of the original buildings remain to this day.)

I instantly recognised Private Arbon's name because I pass by his grave, that is adjacent to the pathway from the Waverley Street entrance of the Nottingham General Cemetery, every time I visit the cemetery, which is at least once a week.

Just to give you and your readers some back story, I am a new CWGC 'Eyes On Hands On' volunteer at the Nottingham General Cemetery. Our primary role is to attend our designated CWGC graves at least twice a year and photograph the headstone, check for condition of the headstone and legibility of the serviceman or woman's details on the headstone, a clean if required, and ensure the area around the headstone is tidy and presentable. We look after not only the familiar CWGC headstones in the cemetery, but also the private headstones and grave where the family of the serviceman or woman has elected for a private memorial instead of the standard CWGC headstone. We do not however clean the private memorials. The local authority is responsible for the grounds and grave maintenance, the CWGC are responsible for the headstones. I attend at least once a week (frequently two days a week) as the site has suffered from lack of maintenance for a number of years, but see the update later in this piece.

There are currently four CWGC EOHO volunteers at the NGC, soon to increase to five. I look after 51 headstones/private memorials, with 52 internments, one grave is that of a father and son from WWI.

There are 353 CWGC graves for servicemen from WWI and WWII, the youngest being three servicemen aged 17, the oldest is aged 60. Including Private Roy Arbon, three servicemen were serving with Australia, five serving with Canada, and one Belgian soldier with an enamel Belgian crest on his headstone. One soldier, Private Albert Duke of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts. and Derby Regiment) died at home on Armistice Day. Ten of the burials are from WWII, 5 of which are of RAF servicemen. There are 126 servicemen named on the Screen Wall behind the Cross of Sacrifice, and they are buried in the plot immediately behind the screen wall and hedge. Their graves are not marked, and I am still trying to find information about where the actual graves are in this plot. These servicemen are buried up to six to a grave in this plot. A good number of the men buried in the Screen Wall plot were not from Nottingham, but receiving treatment in one of the military hospitals in Nottingham including Bagthorpe Military Hospital, the Nottingham General Hospital, Trent Bridge Council Schools and Cricket Pavilion Hospital and Berridge Road Military Hospital. The remaining 227 graves are what are called 'scattered' graves, as the name suggests, they are scattered around the 18 acres of the cemetery and not in a formal plot.

Site of the mass burial plot.

An unusual CWGC feature at Nottingham General Cemetery is a number of headstones with double, triple and quadruple inscriptions.

Examples of double, triple and quadruple CWGC headstones at Nottingham General Cemetery.

I started volunteering at the Nottingham General Cemetery last summer as the result of me writing to many people about the appalling, at the time, lack of maintenance at the cemetery. My wife and I had joined a CWGC Cemetery Tour of the Nottingham General Cemetery in May last year. We have done a good number of these tours at various cemeteries around the county. The state of the NGC was nothing short of criminal. It would transpire once I started volunteering for the CWGC and working at the cemetery, that not only were far too many CWGC headstones badly overgrown, once I got the CWGC records of the 353 servicemen buried at the cemetery, 20 were so overgrown by brambles that they were completely invisible. Their names were not being remembered in perpetuity. Totally unacceptable. The CWGC contacted me and invited me to become a new volunteer at the cemetery as part of a new volunteer programme they wanted to introduce at the Nottingham General Cemetery. I jumped at the opportunity.

Over the summer and autumn, I managed to clear and uncover the 20 hidden CWGC graves and headstones. I was joined towards the end of the summer by one of the other volunteers who, like me, visits the cemetery at least once a week to continue looking after the CWGC graves on our respective lists, but also the many family graves with a military connection that we have identified that do not come under the care of the CWGC because the serviceman is buried or commemorated elsewhere than Nottingham General Cemetery. So far, we have identified 133 family headstones/memorials where the serviceman is buried or commemorated elsewhere.

It was very satisfying to have cleared or tended all the CWGC graves at the cemetery and to make them all visible and accessible in time for Remembrance Day 2025. As a personal project, I have researched each of the 53 servicemen in the section I am responsible for. I am also in contact with relatives of 3 of the fallen on my section, one of whom I met at his great grandfather’s grave last month.

Nottingham General Cemetery covers 18 acres. The former owners of the cemetery, The Nottingham General Cemetery Company opened the initial 14-acre cemetery for its first internment in 1837. A further four acres was opened in 1845. There are in the region of 150,000 burials including as David pointed out, many graves to Nottingham's 'Great and Good' including John Player of the cigarette empire. Jesse Boot is buried at the nearby Church (Rock) cemetery and not Nottingham General, but I believe Jesse's father John Boot is buried somewhere at NGC. Charles Bell Taylor, Ophthalmic Surgeon (1829 – 1909) pioneer of cataract surgery, Haridan Palmer whose foundry cast the two replica cannons displayed at the Nottingham Arboretum across the road from the cemetery. The two replicas sit with two original canons from the Crimean War. The latest burial dates from 2016 and is of Miss Nora Morrison MBE (1917 – 2016) renowned Nottingham ballet teacher who is buried in the family plot.

There is also a separate burial section behind the hedge by the Screen Wall for the soldiers of the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. The original marble edging and some of the original steel post that would have held a perimeter chain still remains. As David also pointed out, there are two VC recipients, Robert Humpston VC (1833 - 1884) who was buried in an unmarked grave until a headstone was unveiled during a formal ceremony in September 2007, and Samuel Morley VC (1829 - 1888.)

Crimean War and Indian Mutiny plot.

The cemetery used to boast two memorial chapels, the location of one of the memorial chapels is now the cemetery car park, a lodge, and several buildings, all now demolished, but there is some evidence of these buildings around the site. The cemetery was closed to new burials in 1923 after it was discovered that the Nottingham General Cemetery Company was not burying bodies deep enough, too close together, and contaminating the water table. The only burials that were allowed after then were where a family plot already existed. The Nottingham General Cemetery Company went bust in 1929, taken over by the Crown and was subsequently sold to Nottingham Corporation in 1956 for one shilling.

In January this year, the local authority brought in a contractor to clear the whole 18 acres of the cemetery. The same company is clearing the neighbouring Church, or known locally as Rock cemetery, and the Basford cemetery. The transformation is remarkable. If you visited the cemetery last year, you would have been met by an overgrown wilderness. Many graves were heavily overgrown with ivy, tall grass, fallen branches, and large areas of bramble. A very large number of the graves at the cemetery were hidden underneath the bramble. Large swathes of the cemetery were inaccessible. Pathways were nearly impassable due to overhanging branches and brambles. If you visit now, you can visit 99% of the graves in the cemetery. There are still some that are buried under grass, or fallen on their faces due to grave subsidence. The local authority has committed to maintaining the site going forward.

An example of a CWGC grave last summer before I cleared them, and these were not the worst!

The bonus of the extensive clearance work is that we are now finding previously hidden graves with a military connection, leading to fascinating research projects. These previously hidden headstones are in addition to the CWGC we know about and look after, and are private family headstones where a serviceman who has fallen or is missing in foreign lands, is commemorated on the family headstone at the Nottingham General Cemetery.

There are far too many to mention, but a couple of examples are the family headstone commemorating Boy 1st Class Vincent Wheatley RN (1897 – 1914) who was a casualty of the sinking of HMS Bulwark on 26th November 1914 whilst at anchor in the Medway estuary, when stored cordite exploded, instantly destroying the ship and killing 750 crew. (There is a CWGC grave to P.O George Henry Kilbourn RN from Nottingham, who was also on HMS Bulwark when she sank, but his body was recovered.) Vincent is commemorated at the Plymouth Naval Memorial. His brother Reuben served with 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts. and Derby Regiment) killed on 9th May 1915. He has no known grave and is commemorated at the Ploegsteert Cemetery.

Former Nottingham lad, Private Arthur Gamble (1888 – 1917.) of the 46th Battalion (Saskatchewan Regiment) Canadian Infantry was killed on 11th April 1917 at Vimy Ridge and is buried in Givenchy-En-Gohelle Cemetery.

Wheatley family headstone.

Gamble family headstone.

The Nottingham General Cemetery is about half a mile from Nottingham City centre, and the Nottingham tram has a stop either side of the cemetery, at the University or High School tram stops. The tram park and ride is at the Forest Recreation Ground, (do not park at the tram park and ride unless you are using the tram, enforcement officers will issue enforcement penalties if you do not use the tram.) There is a small car park in the cemetery itself (where the Anglican Mortuary Chapel once stood) accessed by the Canning Circus entrance and driving under the clock tower and turning right. The cemetery is locked between 15.00 – 09.00 until April, when it will remain open until 18.00. There are places to eat and drink (including a good pub) within a 5-minute walk of the cemetery. I hope readers of Trench Lincs will take the opportunity to pay a visit to the Nottingham General cemetery and enjoy a walk round finding the interesting graves that are now available to see.’

Well done Simon. You are to be congratulated for your hard work to date, long may it continue.

Simon's excellent piece contained the names of two Victoria Cross winners, Robert Humpston and Samuel Morley. In the best TL tradition, here are their VC citations.

"A Russian Rifle Pit, situated among the rocks overhanging the Woronzoff Road, between the 3rd parallel, Right Attack, and the Quarries (at that period in possession of the enemy), was occupied every night by the Russians, and their Riflemen commanded a portion of the Left Attack, and impeded the work in a new battery then being erected on the extreme right front of the 2nd parallel, Left Attack. It was carried in daylight on the 22nd of April, 1855, by two riflemen, one of whom was Private Humpston; he received a gratuity of £5., and was promoted. The Rifle Pit was subsequently destroyed on further support being obtained."

Supplement to The London Gazette of 24 February 1857. 24 February 1857, Numb. 21971, p. 662

Robery Humpston received his VC from Queen Victoria at the first ever VC investiture.

"On the evacuation of Azimgurh by Koer Sing’s Army, on the 15th of April, 1858, a Squadron of the Military Train, and half a Troop of Horse Artillery, were sent in pursuit. Upon overtaking them, and coming into action with their rear-guard, a Squadron of the 3rd Seikh Cavalry (also detached in pursuit), and one Troop of the Military Train, were ordered to charge, when Lieutenant Hamilton, who commanded the Seikhs, was unhorsed, and immediately surrounded by the Enemy, who commenced cutting and hacking him whilst on the ground. Private Samuel Morley, seeing the predicament that Lieutenant Hamilton was in, although his (Morley’s) horse had been shot from under him, immediately and most gallantly rushed up, on foot, to his assistance, and in conjuction with Farrier Murphy, who has already received the Victoria Cross for the same thing, cut down one of the Sepoys, and fought over Lieutenant Hamilton’s body, until further assistance came up, and thereby was the means of saving Lieutenant Hamilton from being killed on the spot."

The London Gazette of 7 August 1860, Numb. 22411, p. 2934

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Simon's world of discovery then moved apace and I heard from him once again. Simon continues; 'It’s sod’s law that two days after I sent Jonathan my piece about the Nottingham General Cemetery, I was wandering around the newly cleared plots, and found the grave that led me to researching the amazing story of Lieutenant Colonel Charles McGrigor KH. Very kindly, Jonathan has included Charles McGrigor’s story to my original piece at short notice.

What amazed me as I investigated Charles McGrigor’s life, is that this decorated officer was buried not only in Nottingham General Cemetery, but that his grave had been hidden from public view for somewhere in the region of ten years. I mentioned Charles’ grave to a tour guide I know from the Nottingham Civic Society who said he did not know about the grave of Lieutenant Colonel Charles McGrigor, and he has been conducting tours at the cemetery for over ten years.

Charles McGrigor (also found recorded as McGregor) was born in Cromdale, Inverness-shire in 1778. Son of wealthy Aberdeen merchant Colquhoun and Anne McGrigor née Grant.

Charles married Anne Abernethy Mercer in Broughty Ferry, Scotland on 6th July 1813. Anne Mercer was born in India in 1794, the daughter of Captain William Mercer HEIC, who was killed in India in 1802, during a duel with the Right Honourable Andrew Ramsay, brother of the Earl of Dalhousie.

Charles McGrigor initially apprenticed to John Davidson, Society of Advocates in Aberdeen in 1792, but he never joined the society, giving up the profession to join the army. Charles was Commissioned as an Ensign in the 82nd (Prince of Wales Volunteers) Regiment of Foot in March 1795, promoted to Lieutenant in the 97th (Inverness-shire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot in May 1795. He was transferred to the 88th (Connaught Rangers) Foot and subsequently the 33rd (Duke of Wellington) Foot in January 1796. Charles exchanged to the 73rd (Perthshire) Foot in May 1799 and promoted to Captain with the 90th (Perthshire Volunteers) in July 1801. He became Brevet of Major with the 90th Foot in February 1809 and transferred as a substantive Major to the 63rd (West Suffolk) Foot in April 1812. He moved to the 70th (Surrey) Foot in August 1812 and became Brevet of Lieutenant Colonel with the 70th in June 1814. Charles became substantive Lieutenant Colonel with the Regiment in August 1823.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles McGrigor retired by sale of his Commission on the 24th September 1829. He had a long and varied career, seeing service in Guernsey, Canada, sailed on expedition with Sir Ralph Abercromby and was captured by the French and taken prisoner to Brest. He later served in India with the 33rd Foot during the Mysore Campaign and the siege of Seringapatam. He was also in India with the 73rd. Other service included the capture of Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1809 -10.

Charles was appointed a ‘Knight Royal of the Guelphic Order’(KH) in 1834. The Royal Guelphic Order was a Hanoverian Order of chivalry, instituted by then George, Price Regent who became King George IV.

Charles McGrigor ended his army service as Barrack Master in Nottingham. He died of asthma at his home in The Park, Nottingham on 15th March 1841 and was buried at the Nottingham General Cemetery on 20th March 1841.

Grave of Lieutenant Colonel Charles McGrigor KH.

Inscribed plaque of Charles McGrigors grave.

The plaque on his grave reads:

“SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF LIEUT. COLONEL CHARLES McGRIGOR K.H WHO DIED ON THE 15th MARCH 1841 AGED 63 YEARS. HE WAS FORMERLY IN THE 70th. 90th. AND 33rd REGIMENTS IN THE LATTER UNDER THE IMMEDIATE COMMAND OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. HE SERVED IN ALMOST EVERY QUARTER OF THE WORLD AND GAINED DISTINCTION IN MANY ACTIONS PARTICULARLY UNDER SIR DAVID BAIRD AT THE CAPTURE OF SERINGAPATAM. HE WAS AN HONEST MAN, A BRAVE SOLDIER AND A SINCERE CHRISTIAN.”

Charles and Ann had nine children during their marriage. Three of his sons had illustrious military careers themselves.

Lieutenant Colonel James McGrigor (1818 – 1863) born in Aberdeen and trained at the East India Company’s military academy at Addiscombe. Following in his father’s footsteps he was Ensign with 21st Bombay Native Infantry in 1839 and Captain in 1845. He served as Lieutenant under Sir Charles James Napier in the Sind Campaigns and briefly Adjutant of the Gujerat Irregular Horse. Brevet of Major in command of 21st Bombay Infantry at Karachi. In July 1858 James McGrigor was appointed Major of the 30th Bombay Native Infantry, and appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 15th Bombay Native in January 1862. James McGrigor was accidentally drowned whilst bathing in Aden on 28th June 1863.

Commander Charles Graeme McGrigor Royal Navy (1820 – 1885) born in Quebec, Canada joined the Royal Navy and progressed through the ranks, retired from the Royal Navy and spent his later years as a Naval Knight of Windsor at Travers College, Old Windsor where he died of bronchitis on 30th April 1885.

Lieutenant General Duncan John McGrigor Royal Artillery (Late Madras Artillery) (1834 – 1909) born in Devonport and trained at Addiscombe Military college in Surrey. He died on 7th July 1909 at his home in Reading.

And finally, another member of the McGrigor family to have had a distinguished military career, was Charles McGrigor seniors elder brother, Sir James Robert McGrigor. A whole piece could be written about Sir James McGrigor, but this is very brief abstract of his life. Born in Cromdale Inverness – shire on 9th April 1777, Sir James McGrigor was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and entered Marischal College, Aberdeen and graduated MA in 1788. He studied medicine at Aberdeen and Edinburgh. He joined the army in 1793 with the 88th (Connaught Rangers.) James McGrigor had a very distinguished career as an army surgeon serving under the Duke of Wellington, and serving with the Royal Horse Guards. In 1814, James McGrigor was knighted and appointed Director General of the Army Medical Department in 1815. He was created a Baronet of the United Kingdom in September 1830 and Honorary Physician to the Queen, made a Knight Commander of the Order of Bath KCB in August 1850, amongst other recognitions from an illustrious career. He is believed to be the man largely responsible for the creation of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He died of bronchitis at his home in Harley Street, London on 2nd April 1858.

Sir James Robert McGrigor 1st Baronet. KCB. FRS. FRSE. FRCPE.

What a remarkable family, and their story is now told once again, thanks to the hard work and dedication of Simon.

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On Friday 20th February, I had a very informative day in the company of Andrew Thornton and Matt Colley.

TL readers will know that Andrew is probably the country’s leading authority on all matters appertaining to the Old Contemptibles – those men of the original BEF who saw action in France and Belgium between 22nd August and 22nd November 1914.

When I conducted a tour to some of Nottingham’s significant memorials last October, Matt and friends came up from Peterborough, and one of our destinations was St. Mary’s church in the Lace Market area of Nottingham.

This was the parish church that the 7th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters (Robin Hood Rifles) worshipped at, and is therefore, the church that contains the Robin Hoods memorials dating back to the Boer War.

I know we featured this memorial last October, but as it's the Robin Hoods memorial, here it is again!

St. Marys was also the church that the Nottingham Branch of the Old Contemptibles held their services at, and when the time came, in the 1980’s to close the branch, due to there being insufficient OC’s still living, the branch Book of Remembrance and the branch standard were laid up in the church.

The Book of Remembrance was placed in a locked vault and during our visit last October, Matt asked if we could view the book at some point in the future.

The first problem was that the church authorities could not locate the key. Eventually, Matt received an email to say the key had been found and duly labelled and hence why we paid a visit a week last Friday.

As the vault was unlocked, we had to blow away the dust and cobwebs from the book, and I suspect, that we were the first people to look at the book since 1985.

As we turned the pages, we read all of the names of the Nottingham OC’s. The book contained their names, service numbers, regiment and date of death – starting in the 1940’s and finishing in 1985.

Andrew’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the names and their lives was a treasure to listen to, and on his phone, he had a vast number of photographs of OC’s which included many of the men featured in the Nottingham book.

Caunt, 20th Hussars.

Handley, 20th Hussars.

The pictures are a small sample of the pages, and I have included pages which contain men who served in the 20th Hussars, which was my grandfather’s regiment. My grandfather was not an OC; he did not arrive in Belgium until May 1915, but I suspect that all being Nottingham lads, they would most probably have known each other.

Another name that jumped off the page was that of Major General Sir Miles Graham. I can recall Sir Miles, as an old man, shooting pheasants with my father in the early 1970’s when I used to go bush beating as a lad. Sir Miles lived at Wiverton Hall, Tythby and he had a remarkable career serving nobly in both World Wars.

I found this biography on the internet.

Major-General Sir Miles William Arthur Peel Graham (14 August 1895 – 8 February 1976) was a senior officer in the British Army, renowned for his exemplary administrative and logistical leadership during the Second World War. Graham was born in Colchester, Essex, England, and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.

He began his military career in the First World War, serving initially with the Scottish Horse before joining as a lieutenant and acting captain with the 2nd Battalion Guards Machine Gun Regiment, where he earned the Military Cross for gallantry in action and was mentioned in dispatches. In the interwar period, he continued in the Life Guards and the Reserve of Officers, rising through the ranks to temporary lieutenant-colonel by 1941. During the Second World War, Graham's expertise in administration proved invaluable across multiple theatres. He served as General Staff Officer 1 and later Deputy Adjutant & Quartermaster-General with the 8th Army in North Africa and Italy from 1941 to 1943, followed by Chief Administration Officer for the same formation until January 1944. Appointed Acting Major-General in January 1944, he became Chief Administration Officer for the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, overseeing logistics for the Normandy landings (Operation Overlord), the advance through France and the Low Countries, and the final push into Germany. His role extended to the British Army of the Rhine post-war until November 1945, after which he retired in March 1946 with the honorary rank of major-general.

Graham's contributions were marked by innovative solutions to complex supply and accommodation challenges, particularly in supporting the Western Desert Force, the Sicilian invasion (Operation Husky), and the liberation of the Netherlands, where his planning ensured efficient administration and aid to civilians. For these efforts, he received numerous honours, including the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1942), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1943), Companion of the Order of the Bath (1944), and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1945), as well as foreign awards such as the French Légion d'honneur (Officier, 1944), the U.S. Legion of Merit (Commander, 1945), and the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau (Grand Officer with Swords, 1947). He was mentioned in dispatches five times (once in the First World War and four times in the Second World War).

Major General Sir Miles Graham in the Nottingham OC Branch Book of Remembrance.

Despite his remarkable career, Sir Miles Graham, was, I am sure, very happy in the company of the other ranks OC’s at branch meetings and events. The men of 1914 shared a precious common bond.

Sir Miles Graham as a Lieutenant in WWI.

Leaving St. Marys, I took Andrew and Matt to the Pitcher and Piano public house, which you may well recall was once the Nottingham United Reformed church. We had a quick lunch and I showed Andrew the war memorial stained glass window that resides in the ex-church, and which contains, the names of Lt. Colonel Lawrence Hind MC and Captain Roby Gotch. Hind and Gotch were respectively, the commanding officer and the adjutant of the Robin Hoods on 1st July 1916, and both were killed in action leading the first wave of men in the disastrous attack at Gommecourt on this day.

Detail from the window.

Hind and Gotch remembered.

Returning to the car, I drove Andrew and Matt to the Nottingham Southern cemetery (Wilford Hill), where Andrew informed us that there was a remarkable Old Contemptibles memorial plot. Andrew had an old black and white photograph of the plot, but after searching for well over an hour, and speaking with the cemetery groundsmen and managers, we could not locate the plot, and nor did the staff recognise it from the photo.

I can only sadly assume, that it has been removed. However, whilst walking in the memorial garden, I came across this memorial to Charles Garforth VC.

Charles Garforth won his Victoria Cross on the 23rd August 1914, he was of course an Old Contemptible, and featured in the book that we had looked at earlier in the day. The first five Victoria Crosses of the Great War were all awarded for actions undertaken on the 23rd August 1914, and were awarded to: Lieutenant Maurice Dease, Private Sidney Godley, Lance Corporal Charles Jarvis, Captain Theodore Wright and Corporal Charles Garforth. The awards to Dease and Wright were both posthumous.

Garforth became a prisoner of war at Laventie on 14th October 1914 and famously made three attempts to escape, reaching the Dutch frontier on one occasion before his re-capture. Repatriated in November 1918, Garforth immediately re-joined his regiment, the 15th Hussars, and served with them until 1922.

Being captured in October, Garforth’s war was a short war, but on 23rd August 1914, as the Germans attacked the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium along the Mons-Condé Canal, a troop of 15th Hussars was caught in a barbed wire entanglement near Harmignies, on the Givry road, five miles south-east of Mons. Disregarding enemy machine gun fire, Corporal C E Garforth dismounted and cut the wire. Twice later during the retreat from Mons he defied enemy fire to save men whose horses had been shot from under them.

Garforth’s official VC Citation reads: “At Harmignies on 23rd August he volunteered to cut wire under fire which enabled his squadron to escape. At Dammartin he carried a man out of action. On 3rd September, when under maxim fire, he extricated a sergeant whose horse had been shot, and by opening fire for 3 minutes enabled the sergeant to get away safely.”

Third Supplement to The London Gazette of 13 November 1914. 16 November 1914, Numb. 28976, p. 9374. Repeated in The London Gazette of 17 November 1914, Numb. 28977, p. 9403

As we drove back towards dropping Andrew off at the railway station, we parked up on Victoria Embankment, and took the short walk to the Nottingham City memorial, which I have featured on several occasions in TL, but it gives me the opportunity to share Mark Graham’s recent photo of the memorial, taken from the opposite bank of the river Trent.

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As we are now into March, it is a good time to look at the introduction of conscription for the first time in the United Kingdom. The Military Services Act came into being in January 1916 but it was March when the first men were officially called up for service, 110 years ago.

The introduction of conscription in the United Kingdom in 1916 marked a profound turning point in the nation’s conduct of the First World War. Until that moment, Britain had relied on a long-standing tradition of voluntary military service. The shift to compulsory enlistment under the Military Service Acts represented not only a military necessity but also a significant social and political transformation. It reflected the immense pressures of industrialised warfare and reshaped the relationship between the British state and its citizens.

When war broke out in August 1914, Britain entered the conflict with a relatively small professional army compared to the mass conscript forces of continental powers such as Germany and France. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), though highly trained, was limited in size. Under the leadership of Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener, a massive volunteer recruitment campaign was launched. Kitchener famously appealed for men to enlist for “the duration of the war,” and his image became iconic through the “Your Country Needs You” poster campaign. Initially, the response was overwhelming. By the end of 1914, hundreds of thousands of men had volunteered, motivated by patriotism, social pressure, economic incentives, and a widespread belief that the war would be short.

However, the optimism of 1914 quickly faded. The war on the Western Front became a brutal stalemate characterised by trench warfare, enormous casualties, and minimal territorial gains. Battles such as those at Ypres and Neuve Chapelle demonstrated the devastating human cost of modern industrial conflict. As the war dragged into 1915, voluntary recruitment began to decline sharply. Casualty lists lengthened, and the grim reality of life in the trenches deterred many potential recruits. Meanwhile, the demands of the war effort grew, requiring a steady flow of reinforcements.

The government initially attempted to address the recruitment crisis through moral pressure rather than compulsion. One notable initiative was the Derby Scheme, introduced in late 1915 by the Director-General of Recruiting, Lord Derby. Under this scheme, eligible men were asked to attest their willingness to serve when called upon. While it succeeded in registering many men, it failed to produce sufficient numbers for immediate deployment. By the end of 1915, it had become clear that voluntary enlistment could no longer sustain the army’s needs.

In January 1916, the government of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith introduced the first Military Service Act. Passed after intense parliamentary debate, it came into effect on 27 January 1916. The Act initially applied only to single men aged 18 to 41 in England, Scotland, and Wales (Ireland was excluded due to political sensitivities). Married men were temporarily exempted, reflecting both political compromise and social considerations. However, as the manpower crisis persisted, a second Military Service Act was passed in May 1916, extending conscription to married men within the same age range.

Although the Military Service Act had been passed in January 1916 and came into force on 27 January, March was when large numbers of single men were actually formally called up for military service. This included:

Single men aged 18–41 who had not previously enlisted.

Men who had “attested” under the Derby Scheme in late 1915 and were now mobilised according to their age groups.

The continued functioning of local tribunals, which heard exemption appeals from men claiming essential work, medical unfitness, or conscientious objection.

March 1916 therefore marked the practical enforcement of compulsory service, rather than just its legal introduction. It was the point at which Britain began systematically drafting eligible single men into the army.

The introduction of conscription was controversial and marked a significant departure from Britain’s liberal traditions. Unlike many European states, Britain had no peacetime conscription system and prided itself on its voluntary army. Critics argued that compulsory service infringed upon individual liberty and contradicted the principles for which Britain claimed to be fighting. Supporters, however, contended that the scale of the war left no alternative. The need to match the vast conscript armies of Germany and France was seen as essential to national survival.

The legislation also included provisions for exemption. Local tribunals were established to hear applications from men seeking exemption on grounds such as ill health, essential civilian employment, or conscientious objection. The treatment of conscientious objectors became one of the most contentious aspects of conscription. Some objectors were assigned non-combatant roles, while others who refused any form of service faced imprisonment. Their experiences highlighted the tension between state authority and individual conscience in wartime Britain.

Conscription had far-reaching social consequences. It broadened the army’s social composition, drawing in men from diverse backgrounds, including those who might not have volunteered under normal circumstances. It also increased state involvement in managing labour and industry, as exemptions were often granted to workers in vital sectors such as coal mining, shipbuilding, and munitions. Thus, conscription was intertwined with the wider mobilisation of the British economy for total war.

Politically, the introduction of conscription contributed to the fall of Asquith’s government later in 1916. Dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war and divisions within the Liberal Party weakened his position, leading to his replacement by David Lloyd George in December 1916. Lloyd George would go on to oversee a more centralised and efficient war administration.

In conclusion, the introduction of conscription in 1916 represented a watershed in British history. It signified the transition from a limited, volunteer-based military tradition to the demands of total war. Driven by necessity rather than ideology, conscription reshaped British society, politics, and the relationship between citizen and state. Though controversial, it ensured that Britain could sustain its military commitments on the Western Front and continue the struggle until victory in 1918.

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We finish as usual with a colourised photograph, but this time, courtesy of the IWM and Graham McCullum.

A South African nurse places a wreath on her brother's grave during the South African Brigade's memorial service at Delville Wood, 17th February 1918.

Private Dudley Beresford Hoole Fynn, Regimental Number 1387, was a volunteer in the 3rd South African Infantry, brigaded with 9th Scottish Division. The woman in the image is the dead soldier’s sister, Mildred Atherstone Fynn. Mildred was a Nursing Sister in the Royal Red Cross and serving in France during the war. This allowed her to visit her brother’s grave.

Dudley was the son of West White Fynn and Elizabeth Fanny Fynn nee’ Dick, of Redlands, Dohne, Cape Province. Born 11th of August 1895 at Redlands, Stutterheim, Cape. Descendants of the 1820 Settlers to the Cape of Good Hope. He was killed in action on the 16th of July 1916, aged just 20 years. Fynn’s remains were later moved to London Cemetery, Extension, Longueval.

Not only did West and Elizabeth Fynn lose Dudley to the Great War, but two additional sons, namely Lance Corporal Hedley Sutcliffe Fynn who died on the 20th of September 1917 in Flanders, aged 26. Hedley had previously been wounded at Delville Wood. The Fynn family also lost, Second Lieutenant Robert Charles Fynn who died 25th of March 1918 in the German Spring Offensive, aged 30 years.

(Photo source - © IWM Q 10677)

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In Memoriam the Lincolnshire Regiment 1st March.

1915

9440 Lance Corporal William Baldry, 1st Battalion, aged 20. Buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.

1916

18670 Drummer Rowland Heeson Dobdinson, 3rd Battalion, aged 16. Buried in Grimsby Scartho Cemetery, UK.

1917

266113 Private John Joseph Taylor, 13th Battalion, aged 57. Buried in Walsall Cemetery, UK.

1918

2211 Private James Nicholson Stobbart, Depot, aged 47. Buried in Bottesford (Scunthorpe) Churchyard, UK.

8122 Private C Walker, 3rd Battalion. Buried in Merville Communal Cemetery Extension, France.

1919

48040 Private H Whitaker, 23rd Battalion (49 Company Labour Corps). Buried in Cologne Southern Cemetery, Germany.

18966 Private George Anthony Hewson, 3rd Battalion, aged 29. Buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, UK.

1920

43990 Private William Oliver, Depot, aged 36. Buried in Audley Churchyard, UK.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

I have underlined above, the ages of Rowland Dobdinson, 16, and John Taylor, 57 – such a contrast.

Taylor served in the 13th Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment, a battalion that we do not often see mentioned. The Long Long Trail website notes: - 13th Battalion - Formed on 1 January 1917 from what had previously been the 28th Provisional Battalion. It had been formed in June 1915 from “Home Service only” personnel and was under command of 215th Brigade in 72nd Division until July 1917. Moved to Bedford in January 1917 and thence to Ipswich in May 1917. Disbanded there on 31 October 1917.

On a similar note, in 1919, Private Whitaker is noted as serving in the 23rd Provisional Battalion – again a battalion that didn’t exist for very long as it became subsumed into the Labour Corps.

Finally, knowing of my interest in the Nottingham City Territorial battalion, the Robin Hoods, Steve Baldwin sent me this cartoon.

I hope you all have a good week.

Until next Sunday,

All best wishes

Jonathan

www.jonathandhooghe.co.uk

e: trenchlincs@gmail.com

© Jonathan D’Hooghe