Tuesday 1st December 1914

The whole Battalion, including Tunstill’s Company, at last left Frensham to march the seven miles to their winter quarters at Oudenarde Barracks, North Camp, Aldershot. The Battalion shared its barracks with 11^th West Yorkshires.
 

Lance Corporal William Jones (see 4^th November), one of Tunstill’s most-experienced ex-regulars, was promoted Corporal.

Monday 30th November 1914

Plans for an imminent move to barracks at Aldershot were made even more urgent by a period of stormy weather and fierce gales which blew down many of the larger tents at Frensham and caused a considerable amount of damage. Writing some years later, an anonymous officer of the Battalion remembered the stay at Frensham rather more positively than would likely have been true of most of the men:

“The last week of November was very stormy and several of the larger dining tents and the hospital and post office tents were blown down so that the meals had to be issued in the men’s tents. This was a decidedly good experience for some of the men who, up to this time, had never taken the trouble to look after themselves. Throughout the whole period at Frensham the behaviour and keenness of all ranks was excellent. Many of the officers were South-countrymen and they had amusing experiences while trying to learn to understand the Yorkshire dialect. One such officer was somewhat non-plussed in his efforts to discover a particular man’s name as having entirely failed to make out what the man said, he was still further defeated by the fact that the man could not spell his own name and announced himself as a poor speller”.

 

Sunday 29th November 1914

Corporal John Henry Hitchin (see 12^th October), who had been the very first volunteer to respond to Tunstill’s appeal, completed his application for a temporary commission and passed his medical examination.

Saturday 28th November 1914

The weekly edition of the Keighley News carried a report of the efforts of three local young women  in supplying cigarettes to local recruits in training, including the men serving with Tunstill:

“Miss Mabel Rothera, Miss Doris Mitchell and Miss Cissie Stell, of Keighley, have sent 1,000 cigarettes to each of the following camps: 6^th Battalion West Riding Territorials at Trentham; 10^th Battalion West Riding Regiment at Frensham, Surrey; 8^th Battalion West Riding Regiment, Grantham; and a parcel to Aldershot. The young ladies are still collecting and will be glad to receive subscriptions, however small.

In a recent issue of the “News” it was stated that only one firm in the town could send tobacco and cigarettes free of duty to the soldiers at the front. A correspondent writes pointing out that any tobacconist can do this, the Government having granted the concession for the duration of the war. The only firm of tobacco manufacturers in the town are sending a large quantity of their goods direct to the front”.

Friday 27th November 1914

J.B. Priestley again wrote home, and, on this occasion, despite a renewal of very wet conditions, his letter suggested he was in rather better spirits, prompted, it seems, by his renewed optimism about a move for the Battalion away from Frensham.

“It is pouring down and has been practically all day. Indeed, we have had a lot of rain these last few days and now the camp is a sight for the gods. Mud, mud everywhere – nearly knee-deep in some places. Pools all over the place! It is a mess! Everything is wet and crowded.

We are going to Aldershot on Tuesday – half the battalion in barracks, the rest billeted out – and then, after a week or so, the two halves will change quarters*. I think there is no doubt about it this time and I certainly hope not. These last two or three weeks have knocked a lot of enthusiasm out of the men. Still we keep fairly cheerful on the whole and have our jokes and songs. It takes a great deal to dampen youthful spirits. It is very cold at night, we light a great number of candles and make the tents look a bit more cheerful”.

He also described the services provided at the YMCA tents as “magnificent work” – selling buns, coffee and the like and often staffed by wealthy ladies from the district.

*Priestley’s reference to half the Battalion being in barracks and the other half in billets would not be the case immediately but would indeed be introduced in mid-December when the Battalion began more intensive Company training.

 

Thursday 26th November 1914

Concerns over conditions for the troops stationed at Frensham reached the floor of the House of Commons when a parliamentary question was asked by Mr. Jowett, MP for Bradford West:

He “asked the Under-Secretary of State for War (John Tennant) if he is aware that recruits stationed at Frensham Camp are writing home to their friends complaining of the conditions under which they have to spend the long winter evenings in camp, without fires or seats, and therefore always miserable and often sick; and if he will take steps to remove the cause of these complaints?"

Mr. Tennant replied that:

“No complaints have been received from the friends of troops stationed at Frensham, and the medical reports as to their general health are very good. These troops will be moved into barracks in a few days”.

Whatever the truth of his comments regarding complaints, Tennant’s promise of a move away from Frensham would indeed be made good within the next week.

Wednesday 25th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Tuesday 24th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Monday 23rd November 1914

In a postcard written from Frensham Priestley reported that, "Orders for going to Aldershot have been cancelled and we are still at Frensham and may be here all winter. It is very cold but frosty weather is better than wet".

Ernest Cooper became the first of the original recruits to arrive in France for active service. He had enlisted with the Keighley recruits who had joined Tunstill's Company. He was 20 years old and had been working before the war as a clerk in a local worsted factory. Quite why he had been transferred is unknown but at some point during training he had been posted to 2nd Battalion West Ridings, which had originally arrived in France on 16th August. The Battalion had been engaged in heavy fighting since their arrival and had already suffered 250 men killed and many more wounded. Cooper was almost certainly among the draft of 201 men who joined the Battalion on 2nd December. The details of Ernest Cooper's subsequent service are unknown, but he was eventually transferred to the Labour Corps before being formally transferred to Class Z for discharge on 26th March 1919.

Sunday 22nd November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Saturday 21st November 1914

10DWR remained in training at Frensham.

Lt. Herbert Victor Stammers (see 17^th October) was attached for duty with a Motor Machine Gun Battery (details unknown).

Friday 20th November 1914

The West Yorkshire Pioneer carried a report regarding Arthur Metcalfe; he was the elder brother of Albert Mawer Metcalfe, (see 27th August) one of the Cowling volunteers who had joined Tunstill’s Company.

COWLING

A PRISONER OF WAR

Mr. Arthur Metcalfe, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. Metcalfe, Woodland Street, Cowling, is a private in the 2^nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers. He served 8 years and was a bandsman. He has been two years in the reserve and has held positions in the Bradford Fire Brigade and latterly in the Bradford Police Force. He was called up at the beginning of the war, and was taken prisoner in the retreat at Mons. He is at Sennelager, Germany. He reports the treatment of prisoners as satisfactory.

A similar report appeared next day in the Keighley News.

 

Thursday 19th November 1914

Pte. Harry Harris (see 10^th November) was commissioned Temporary Second Lieutenant and joined Tunstill’s Company.

Wednesday 18th November 1914

The statement by Priestley in his letter of 15^th November that the Battalion would into barracks at Aldershot proved unfounded as they remained at Frensham.

Tuesday 17th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Monday 16th November 1914

Pte. Carl Parrington Branthwaite, (see 6^th November) one of Tunstill’s original Settle recruits, who had been taken seriously ill in October and had been treated for some time at Thornhill Isolation Hospital, Aldershot, was formally transferred to 11^th (Reserve) Battalion. He would remain in England and continued to be treated for his illness.

 

Captain Lewis Ernest Buchanan (see 19^th September) was promoted Major and became second-in-command (under Colonel Crawford) of 10^th Battalion.

Sunday 15th November 1914

J.B. Priestley again wrote to his family. He assured them that he was himself feeling rather better after his recent bout of illness (see 11^th November). However, he remained contemptuous of the doctor he had seen, referring to him as “an ass”, who prescribed only “medicine and duty” and referred to the death of one recruit who had died just hours are having seen the doctor and being sent back to duty.

He also relayed information which he had received from ‘a reliable source’ that the Battalion would move on Wednesday (18th November) to Oudenarde Barracks at Aldershot. He reiterated his belief that he would be home on leave before the end of the year; “I feel sure we shall get leave at Christmas or New Year, and I shall come home, of course”.

 

Saturday 14th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Friday 13th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Thursday 12th November 1914

James Boothman, who had volunteered at Grassington on 12th September, was formally discharged from the Army on the grounds that he was 'not likely to become an efficient soldier', with no further detail recorded. He had been a member of number 4 platoon, under the command of Lt. Dick Bolton (see 1st November). He returned to the family farm at Fell View, Burnsall.

(James Boothman married Esther Lister in 1925 and they had two sons. Esther died in 1972 and James in 1975).

Christopher Frederick Tate (known as ‘Fred’) was also discharged, again with no details specified other than that he was ‘not likely to become an efficient soldier’. He was one of the Ilkley recruits who had joined Tunstill’s Company prior to their departure for Halifax on 21^st September.

The fact that many young men lied about their age in order to join the army under-age is well-known. It is less well-known and acknowledged that other men under-stated their age in order to enlist. Fred Tate is one such case. When he completed his attestation at Ilkley on 9^th September Fred declared himself to be aged 34; in actual fact he was then 44 years old and too old to join. It is of course impossible to be certain of Fred’s motivation for concealing his true age, but the relative financial security of life in the Army may well have played a part. Fred had been lodging in various towns across Yorkshire for the last twenty years and making a living firstly working in dyeworks, and more recently as a slater. In 1914 he was living in Bolton Bridge Road, Addingham.

According to subsequent proceedings recorded when Fred was attempting to claim a pension from the Army, he had suffered some degree of ill-health since his late twenties, when he had begun “to have a cough and pain in his right side and became short of breath”. However, Fred claimed that he “was in a perfectly healthy condition when he joined the Army, but, during the short time he was in the Army he took a severe chill owing to being kept for a considerable period in his wet clothing without a change of any kind”. He further claimed that when he “reported sick he was not taken to hospital but discharged”. His obvious discontent at the standard of medical care, echoes the comments made by Priestley (see 11th November).

Having been discharged, Fred returned home but was soon admitted to Otley Union Infirmary where he was treated and found to be suffering from TB; he was to remain in hospital for the next year.

Lance Corporal Robert Cresswell (see 12th October) was promoted Corporal. Before the war he had been a policeman at Giggleswick and was clearly held in some regard.

Wednesday 11th November 1914

Conditions in the tented camp at Frensham were becoming increasingly difficult (see 28th October) with heavy and persistent rain through the early part of November. What must have been the general disaffection among the men was reported in a letter home by J.B. Priestley. He had himself been ill and was highly critical of the camp medical staff for in his view simply dispensing 'pills and powders'. He went on to describe conditions;

" I feel wild with the authorities for keeping us here so long … It is miserable in camp during the evening; the YMCA tents are good in their way for reading and writing, but they are vastly overcrowded. So on these cold, drizzling nights, we sit huddled in our tents, and often the prospect is so dreary that we lie down in our blankets about 7 o’clock and try to sleep … They have no right to keep us here so long. I don’t think there is a camp in England treated so badly. Some days ago I read in the ‘Daily News’, an article complaining in no measured terms about keeping recruits in camp”.

Priestley had been told that there were plans for a move to barracks at Aldershot on 22^nd November.

Tuesday 10th November 1914

Harry Gilbert Tunstill was promoted Captain (from Lieutenant) and Dick Bolton promoted Lieutenant (from Second Lieutenant).

Capt. Harry Gilbert Tunstill, dated December 1914

There were also promotions for other officers of 10th Battalion. James Christopher Bull was promoted Captain ('D' Company) and Second Lieutenants Leonard Hammond (Transport Officer) (see 18th September) and Alfred Percy Harrison ('B' Company) were both promoted Lieutenant.

Harry Harris, then serving as a Private in the Public School's Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, was passed as medically fit in accordance with his application for a temporary commission (see 9th November). He was to become one of the original officers with Tunstill's Company.

 

 

At the Conservative Club in Settle the Rev. A.J. Whyte of Hellifield delivered a lecture entitled "England's Danger from the German Menace"; the meeting was chaired by Thomas Brayshaw, who had done much to support Tunstill in his recruitment drive.

 

(Image courtesy of Giggleswick School)

 

Monday 9th November 1914

The family of Joshua Crossley received a letter from Gilbert Tunstill giving details of their son’s funeral, which had taken place at Aldershot five days previously (see 4^th November).

Harry Harris, then serving as a Private in the Public School's Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, secured the endorsement of his Commanding Officer in support of his application for a temporary commission (see 5th October). He was to become one of the original officers with Tunstill's Company.

Pte. Patrick Conley reported himself as having suffered a strained muscle in his left leg; on investigation by a Medical Officer, the injury was declared to be ‘trivial’. Conley was not a member of Tunstill’s Company but, like many of Tunstill’s Company, he was from Keighley, where he had enlisted on 7^th September. He was 32 years old and originally from Hyde; he was married, with four children, and had been working as a slater.

Sunday 8th November 1914

A memorial service for Pte. Joshua Crossley, who had died on Tuesday 3^rd, was held at Holden Congregational Chapel, near the family home at Cottams Farm, near Bolton-by-Bowland. The event was reported at some length in the Craven Herald:

“A service was held at the Holden Independent Chapel in memory of Private Joshua Crossley, of A Company, 10th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Crossley, of Cottams, Bolton-by-Bowland, whose death at Frensham Camp occurred last week. There was a crowded congregation and Mr. Knight, the pastor, based his remarks on Samuel II., 10th chapter and 12th verse - 'Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God; and the Lord do that which seemeth Him good.' He said the four striking thoughts in the text were courage, sympathy, reverence and resignation. By courage we understood prompt action in the face of great danger. The nation called in the hour of danger for men of courage. Joshua Crossley like all his comrades loyal to his King and Country responded to that call and gave his life. By sympathy we understood that which forgets self but thinks and acts for others. Was not that the sympathy that had prompted the young men of to-day? They did not say, "I hope someone will help," but "I will do my own part." Then let those who cannot go to the front do their part and show our sympathy at home by our prayers and practical support. The choir very touchingly gave the special hymn entitled 'For the men at the front' by John Oxenham.

Holden Congregational Chapel

Writing in the Slaidburn Parish Magazine (December 1914), the Rector, Rev. J.C. Garnett, remembered both Joshua Crossley and Walter Isherwood (see 31^st October);

“You will know that two of the young men who left this valley for the service of their King and country have died while in training. Walter Isherwood and Joshua Crossley are names which we will never forget. They were both keen to do their best, and were imbued with the right spirit, and, had they been spared, they would have proved themselves good and brave soldiers. God, however, called them away and we must bow to His will. They both deserve any honour we are able to give them. We gave Walter Isherwood, as far as we could, a military funeral, and the many who attended it did so out of real sympathy. Joshua Crossley had a military funeral at Aldershot. Many wreaths were sent in both cases. They were two fine lads and both were members of my Men’s Bible Class. They were always bright and cheerful and we are poorer in their death. We can ill afford to lose such. To their loved ones and friends we offer our very deep sympathy. May God bless them and comfort them in their sad hour”.

Saturday 7th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Friday 6th November 1914

News of the deaths of both Pte. Walter Isherwood (see 27^th October) and Pte. Joshua Crossley (see 3^rd November) was reported in the weekly edition of the Craven Herald:

THE SETTLE COMPANY - Two Deaths

“We regret to record that the Settle Company of Lord Kitchener's Army (formed by Mr. H.G. Tunstill) has lost two good men in Pte. Walter Isherwood, of Newton-in-Bowland, and Pte. Joshua Crossley, of Bolton-by-Bowland. Both were in No. 1. platoon of the 'A' Company of the 10th Service Battalion, and none were more appreciated or will be remembered with more pride. They have sacrificed their lives for their country's good just as much as if they had fallen in the fighting line. They died of pneumonia and measles. There have unfortunately been four cases of measles in the Settle Company, but with the exception of two men in hospital suffering from this disease, the health and spirits of the men are excellent. It is almost inevitable that in a body of men some will succumb to the disease, and the unfortunate result named above is much regretted. With these exceptions the Settle Company has had a wonderfully good bill of health. The Company is still at Frensham Camp, Farnham”.

 

The other two men reported to be still in hospital were Harold Greenhow and Carl Parrington Branthwaite. Greenhow had volunteered at Bolton-by-Bowland (see 14^th September) and Branthwaite had also been among the earliest recruits to the Company, enlisting at the meeting held at Hellifield (see 8^th September). 

On the same day the Craven Herald also carried news of a consignment of socks and mufflers delivered by Geraldine Tunstill to the recruits at Frensham. This would be just the first example of an on-going fund-raising and support effort which was to be co-ordinated by Geraldine and a group of local supporters and would continue to provide a range of ‘comforts’ to the men over the following months.

GIFTS FOR THE SETTLE LADS

Mrs. H.G. Tunstill has taken down for distribution to the O.C. West Riding Regiment at Frensham Camp nearly 300 beautifully made socks and knitted scarves. The men were most grateful and greatly appreciated not only the articles, but the kindness of those who had made them for their use. The gifts included – Settle War Relief Fund, 100 pairs of socks; Miss Atkinson (pupils at Technical School, Settle) 25 mufflers; Mrs. Abbott, Settle 4 pairs of socks; From Otterburn (per Mrs. H.G. Tunstill) 11 pairs of socks and 53 mufflers; from Hanlith and Kirby Malham (per Mrs. Illingworth) 38 pairs of socks and 22 mufflers; from Slaidburn (per Mrs. King Wilkinson) 18 mufflers; Arncliffe and Littondale (per Miss Hammond) 8 pairs of socks and 8 mufflers; Hellifield (per Miss Russell) 5 mufflers; total 161 pairs of socks and 131 mufflers.

 

Thursday 5th November 1914

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Frensham.

Wednesday 4th November 1914

Pte. Joshua Crossley, who had died the day before, was buried at the Military Cemetery at Aldershot. Gilbert Tunstill subsequently wrote to the family:

"I have just returned from the funeral of your son Joshua. I need not tell you how I sympathise with you, and how deeply I regret the loss of one who put in his lot with me. He had a soldier's funeral. Three volleys were fired over the grave, and the last post sounded. His coffin was wrapped in the Union Jack and borne from the hospital to the cemetery on a gun carriage. He gave his life to his country in its hour of need, and no man can do more. The number of his grave is 1743 in the Soldiers' Cemetery, Aldershot."

The memorial plaque received by Joshua Crossley's family after the war.

  

Pte. William Jones (see 9^th September), who had volunteered at Long Preston was appointed Lance Corporal; hee had extensive military experience, having served 12 years in the Regular Army (1900-12).

Pte. Richard Farrar was appointed Lance Corporal. He was a 33 year-old ‘teamer’, originally from from Carnforth but had been living in West Vale, near Halifax; he was married with two children. He was a former regular soldier and had also served five years with the South African Constabulary.

Pte. Arthur Edward Hunt was appointed Lance Corporal. He was a 24 year-old baker, originally from Stroud but had been living in the village of Grasscroft, east of Oldham and had enlisted in Huddersfield; he was married with one child. 

Tuesday 3rd November 1914

Tunstill’s Company suffered a second death arising from the outbreak of measles which had occurred in October. Joshua Crossley, like the first victim, Walter Isherwood (see 27^th October) was just 16 years old. He had enlisted at the meeting held in Grindleton (see 16^th September). Like Isherwood, Crossley’s death was stated to be a result of measles and pneumonia. The news was conveyed to his family by telegram the same day.

Joshua Crossley
(from Craven's Part in the Great War)

Monday 2nd November 1914

J.B. Priestley wrote home to his family with news of his progress. In addition to commenting on the deteriorating weather conditions and the effect which that had been having on the men at Frensham (see 28^th October), he also reported that “still wilder rumours circulate as to our ultimate destination: India, Egypt, South Africa, France, but it just depends on how things progress with our troops at the Front. No one knows anything definite. I hope to be home for a few days at Christmas”.