Monday 1st March 1915

23^rd Division completed their march from Aldershot to Folkestone, covering the final 16 miles from Maidstone into Folkestone. The Brigade had covered a total of around 110 miles in seven days’ unbroken march.


Writing home to his sister, Edith, L. Cpl. Wright Firth (see 11^th January) told her how he “arrived at Ashford from Maidstone, 19 miles. We go today on our last march. We passed Lord Kitchener yesterday. 15 miles today. Feel fit and well.” Wright Firth had enlisted on 7^th September, before Tunstill’s recruiting campaign had begun, and had been one of the first three men from Earby (along with Ptes. William Digby Stockdale and Walter Robinson (14753)) to volunteer; all had been posted to 10^th Battalion but not originally to ‘A’ Company. However, all were closely associated with the Earby volunteers who had been added to the original ‘A’ Company. Wright Firth was 21 years-old when he volunteered and was one of eleven children of Squire and Clara Firth; he had been working as a twister in the local cotton mills before joining up. William Digby Stockdale was 21 years old and had worked as a weaver at Messrs. Shuttleworth’s Victoria Shed, Earby. Walter Robinson was 22 years old and had worked as a weaver for Messrs. J. S. Watson and Sons., Albion Shed, Earby. Both Stockdale and Robinson were from Thornton-in-Craven.

Priestley described his sense of exhilaration and achievement: “We started off this morning from Ashford with clenched teeth, and had the finest march of all. We passed through miles of Kentish hopfields, and then, through a cleft in the Downs, we caught a glimpse of the sea – the sea! – and a huge cheer went up from the long, weary ranks. We walked five miles on the edge of the sea and it was glorious for it is Spring here. We passed through Hythe, then Sandgate, and finally reached Folkestone, a beautiful town, full of large hotels and boarding houses”.

The passage of the Battalion through Folkestone provoked comment in the local press as Captain Hildyard, commanding Tunstill’s Company (see 19^th September), was a local man. Under the headline “A Popular Officer”, the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate and Cheriton Herald reported:

"With the troops who passed through Hythe on Monday was Captain H.R. Hildyard of the Yorkshire Light Infantry (sic). Captain Hildyard will be remembered by all as the promoter of our Cricket Weeks in years gone by. On Monday he was heartily greeted, not the least by a little group who took up their stand on the steps of the General Post Office; a family group it was and a happy one too. But perhaps the first greetings were those offered by Hythe’s Town Clerk, a colleague of Mr. Hildyard in regard to matters affecting the Hythe lifeboat. With other friends, the Town Clerk (Mr. B.C. Drake) awaited the regiment in Red Lion Square, and as Captain Hildyard – mounted on horseback and wreathed in smiles – approached, so were several hands raised to foreheads, and looks of pleasant recognition exchanged. Well, it may be of interest to mention that when the War broke out Mr. Hildyard’s services were first of all refused by the authorities. But our energetic friend was not discouraged; he kept trying, and at the same time was one of the ambulance class being drilled in the grounds of the School of Musketry. I am told that he is a very popular officer with the men under him, and we who know him can quite believe that”.

Hythe Post Office (2014)

Red Lion Hotel, Hythe (2014)

Pte. James Pickering would be admonished for “overstaying his pass from 11am until 8pm on 3^rd March” whilst at Aldershot; it is not known why he had not gone with the rest of the Battalion to Folkestone. He was a 34 year-old miner from Sheffield and had enlisted in September 1914 and been posted to the newly-formed 10^th Battalion.