Thursday 1st October 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Wednesday 30th September 1914

Walter Morrison declared that it was his intention to offer financial support to Tunstill's Company in supplying them with appropriate 'comforts'. (Rumours had been circulating that he would be supporting the Skipton Company of the Territorial Battalion).

Tuesday 29th September 1914

The King and Queen, accompanied by Princess Mary paid a visit to Frensham Camp, “to the great delight of all ranks”.

The Times reported that, "On the Common some 10,000 troops were drawn up, and alighting from his car the King passed down the lines of the entire camp. His Majesty was heartily cheered on leaving."

Henry Clifford Harvey**, commented on the royal visit in a letter home which was subsequently (3^rd October) published in the Keighley News. 

KEIGHLEY MEN AT FARNHAM

AN APPEAL TO THEIR FELLOWS

The Mayor of Keighley (Mr. W.A. Brigg) has received the following letter from Private H.C. Harvey, No.2 Platoon, A Company, 10th Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, Frensham Camp, Farnham, Surrey:

“I am taking the liberty of writing to you to let you know that all the ‘Pals’ who enlisted at Keighley are having a fine time here, and are very grateful indeed for all the kindnesses which were shown them in the shape of blankets, cigarettes etc. We are progressing A1 in our new sphere of life, and think that every young man who possibly can should enlist at once. The food and sleeping here are excellent, and I am only expressing the view of every one of us when I say that anyone who says the life of Kitchener’s men is hard is a man with whom work does not agree. We cannot speak too highly of the place where we are encamped. As regards our officers, they are perfect gentlemen, our captain and colour-sergeant realising that we are people who have left decent homes and good positions in order to serve our country in time of need. We especially wish to convey our thanks to Captains Tee and Lansdale for the way we were treated whilst under their charge. We have today (many of us for the first time) been lucky enough to see our King and Queen and watch them as they walked openly about the parade ground. Our idea of writing this is to obtain, for our country, men who are, as you know, at this critical time, very much needed”. 

A postscript says, “Please convey our thanks to the YMCA for their kindnesses”. 

**Henry Clifford Harvey was 20 years old (b.16^th December 1893) and had been working as a telephone operator before enlisting. He was the only son (though he had two sisters) of Walter and Ida Harvey, who lived in Spencer Street, Keighley.

Pte. Harry Waller also commented on the royal visit and gave other details of his life in camp in a letter to his parents. He was a 22 year-old plumber from Todmorden.

“I am still in the pink. We are in tents, twelve in one tent, two sleeping together with four blankets and a waterproof ground sheet. We are as snug as bugs in a rug, although it is a bit nippy washing in Frensham Pond at 5.30am. I have received the parcel from York Street and thank them for it. The King, Princess Mary and Lord Kitchener inspected us yesterday (Tuesday)”. In a further letter written a few days he would add, “I am still in the best of health and stil busy. Hardly time to wash. Will you please send me some soap as we cannot get any decent here and have to pay dearly for it. Have had a ripping time, have not seen any rain yet. Our daily routine is: 5:30 Reveille; 6:00 Parade – have one hour’s doubling and finish with a ¼ mile sprint; 7:00 Breakfast, boiled aggs, bacon or boiled ham; 8:00 Parade, drill till 11.30; 12:00 Dinner, meat, potatoes and either peas or beans; 1:30 Parade, drill till 3.30; 4:00 Tea, jam or sausage; 5:00 Parade and go for a route march of 5 to 10 miles. After route march, go for a swim in Frensham Pond, which is about 2 miles by 1 mile and nowhere deeper than 4ft. 6in.; 9:30 Lights Out. This is glorious country, all moor and pine woods”. In a further postcard he added, “Just off on a night attack, 7:00 to 12:30. Rumours of us going to south of France for winter. Have been served with another coat”.

Pte. Harry Waller

An article which would be published in The Brighouse Echo on 9^th October also referred to the royal visit: ‘Writing from Frensham Camp a local member of the West Riding Regiment says, “It is very hot in the daytime but fearfully cold at night. Last week we had the King and Queen, also Princess Mary, to visit us. There were 15,000 soldiers, so we were very strong. The moors are very big where we are camping. There is only a small village outside and the people are very patriotic. Many times people visit the troops and distribute cigarettes and fruit amongst them. The country round is most beautiful”.

QMS Joseph Henry was posted to 10DWR. He was a 51 year-old clerk, originally from Bradford but living in Sheffield. He had previously served more than twenty years with the West Ridings and with the Royal Garrison Regiment, rising to the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant. He had attested from the Special Reserve the previous day and had immediately been re-appointed to his old rank. He was a widower and had four children.

Ptes. Robert William John Morris and Joseph Ellis Woodcock were appointed Acting Sergeant; both were ex-regular soldiers. Morris had served 12 years between 1895 and 1907. He was 37 years old, from Bermondsey, married with two children, and had been working as a post office mail porter. Woodcock was a 54 year-old merchant from Mirfield; he was married, with four children.

Monday 28th September 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.,

Sunday 27th September 1914

The Company remained in training at Frensham.

Cpl. Henry Herbert Calvert was promoted Pioneer Sergeant. He was a 45 year-old assurance agent (working for the Prudential Assurance Company) from Halifax; he had previously served 14 years in the Territorial Army and had re-enlisted on 15^th September and had immediately been appointed Corporal on account of his previous experience. He was married with two children (a third child had died in infancy). Although under age at the time (he was born 6^th February 1898), his son, Sydney Evans Calvert, would join the Royal Engineers in 1915.

Mark Flockhart was mobilized from the Army Reserve and signed his attestation papers. He was a 41 year-old dyer, originally from Selkirk but had been living in Bradford. He had previously served with 2^nd Battalion Scots Guards and was therefore appointed Sergeant and posted to 10DWR.

Saturday 26th September 1914

Another cause of some concern and disaffection in the early days at Frensham was the catering arrangements. The official Divisional History passes only brief comment, noting that, in the absence of sufficient Army cooks, “the messing arrangements were almost entirely carried out by the well- known firm of Messrs J. Lyons & Co, so that the majority of the men were always available for training”.

The Battalion History was rather less sanguine, noting that, “At this time there were no battalion cooks so arrangements were made with Lyons & Co to cater for the troops. I have read that this arrangement was very satisfactory. It might have been to the gilded staff. Ask the lads!” 

Priestley was even more forthright in a letter to his family; “There is only one canteen for all the camp and consequently the place is packed and everything is sold. They do not take money in the canteen, we have to pay with tickets. Up to the present there has been no pay given out, but if things do not alter here, there will be serious trouble. It is very beautiful country around here, wooded and hilly. When I arrived here I was surprised to find the weather very hot, and no trace of autumn in the landscape. I understand, however, that it is frightfully cold at night”.

Friday 25th September 1914

Pte. Frank Harrison (3/11632) was admitted to Connaught Hospital, Aldershot, for treatment for gonorrhoea; he would remain in hospital for 12 days before being discharged to duty. He was a 21 year-old wire cleaner from Brighouse and had enlisted in Brighouse on 7^th September; he was on the National Reserve having previously served in the East Yorkshire Regiment (details unknown).

The Brighouse Echo published a letter written by Pte. Joseph William Henley (see below) describing his experiences and the conditions at Frensham Camp over the previous few days:

“Private Joe Henley of No.1 ‘D’ Company of the West Riding Regiment – an employee of Messrs. Turner & Wainwright, Brookfoot – has amused many Brighouse audiences in his capacity as ‘Professor Len Lee’, ventriloquist. He is now a member of Lord Kitchener’s Army and has interested many friends with the following letter which he has forwarded from Frensham Camp, Farnham. “We left Halifax”, he writes, “on Friday last at 6.30 am, the first stop being (illegible), where we dined. We had beef sandwiches, and we enjoyed them I can tell you. We had two great big slices of dry bread with meat. We stayed there about half an hour, then off again and here we are. We are (illegible) miles below London and 37 miles from the coast. We are just outside the village of Frensham, right on the moors. The next village higher up is the prettiest little place I ever saw, all country lanes and hedges. We marched through this place on our way to the camp which is nine miles from Aldershot. I suppose this place will be very bleak in winter, and they say we are here for ten weeks, so we have some cold weather to face. The first night we had to sleep on the bare ground with two blankets each, 12 in each tent, but now we have got waterproof sheets for the floor, so we are alright. The first night I felt the damp strike through and I had a cold next morning, which has not left me yet, but otherwise we are fine. On Sunday we had sausage, and this morning we had a couple of boiled eggs, so you see we are living like fighting cocks. The dinners are similar to those we had at Halifax. The tea is much better and we can put our own sugar in the tea and sometimes we get butter. The bread and the plates are clean. Some of the chaps say the meat is horseflesh, but I don’t care if it’s elephant, I can eat it. When you have done about three hour’s training you are ready for anything. The training is very strict. We are up at 5.30 every morning and on parade at 6.30, breakfast at 8 o’clock, dinner at 12 o’clock, tea at 4.30, bed at 9 and lights out at 9.30. I can tell you, it feels cold when we turn out first thing in the morning. We go down to the lake to wash ourselves. It is a splendid stretch of water, about a mile long and the beach is all sandy, like Blackpool. I only wish I had been here all the Summer, the sun is warm during the day but it is chilly at night and morning. We have to put in about eight hours a day at training and this week myself and nineteen others of our Company are on picket, which means that we must not leave the camp for a whole week, as we may be called up for duty. There are 700 of us in our regiment and four or five other regiments, about 5,000 men altogether, so you can guess there is a few to feed. The catering is done by Lyons & Co. Ltd. We have three big tents for dining and lots of cooking kitchens. The cooking is all done by steam. They have a lot of pans for boiling water and potatoes etc. They are just like toffee pans. We have not got any uniforms yet but expect them any time, and no pay yet. Some chaps have been here a month and had no pay, so they are cadging all day long”.

Joseph William Henley was a 25 year-old 'sugar boiler' from Brighouse.

The concern over uniform and the appearance of the men made a considerable impression on a number of commentators who looked back later: 

“We were rather a motley crew. One man was wearing a khaki tunic, blue trousers, brown boots and a bowler hat. A few had red tunics. Most men had come in old suits and they were soon in rags” (from the Battalion History). 

“No proper uniform was issued although many men wore old scarlet militia tunics issued to them at Halifax and these, combined with green Homburg hats, striped trousers and check waistcoats frequently produced very striking effects … a Company on parade presented the most motley and grotesque appearance” (from the Divisional History).

 

The distinctive and distinguishing feature of Tunstill’s Men was their wearing of their white and red “Kitchener’s Man” brassards. Looking back many years later, John Habishaw recalled that, “we were the only company in the whole of the camp who had them, and we became known as ‘Kitchener’s Pets’”.


Gilbert Tunstill passed the medical examination required to support his application for a commission.