Sunday 1st August 1915

L. Cpl George Liddemore (see 9^th July) was admitted to Frensham Hall Hospital, suffering from synovitis (inflammation of a joint).

Saturday 31st July 1915

In Pontefract, Pte. Harry Holmes (see 8^th February), who was on final embarkation leave (see 19^th July) from 10DWR, was married to Alice Talbot; the couple already had six-month old son. Harry was due to return to Bramshott on 4^th August, but in actual fact would not report back until 1.45am on 6^th August, as a result of which he was ordered to forfeit three days’ pay. He had previously had minor brushes with military discipline, having been reported for being absent from church parade and for irregular conduct on parade.

Sgt. Harry Singleton, brother of original Tunstill recruit Robert Singleton (see 28^th June),serving with RAMC, arrived in France.

Friday 30th July 1915

Pte. Richard Butler (see 29^th July) found himself in trouble for the second consecutive day. On this occasion he was reported as “quitting 7 am parade without pemission”. His offence was again reported by Sgt. William Eley (see 29^th July) and Capt. Tunstill ordered that Butler should be confined to barracks for three days.

Thursday 29th July 1915

Pte. Richard Butler (see 8^th May) was reported by Sgt. William Eley (see 15^th May) as having been absent from parade at 2.15 pm. Butler had already had at least one brush with military discipline.

Cpl. Andrew Hermiston (see 6^th April) was promoted Company Quartermaster Sergeant.

L.Cpl. William Oldfield (see 25^th December 1914) was promoted Corporal.

Wednesday 28th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Tuesday 27th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Pte. Michael Hopkins (see 26^th July) wrote to Lt.Col. Hugh John Bartholomew, commanding 10^th Battalion (see 6^th June) explain the reason for his failure to return on time from his embarkation leave,

“I am sorry to have to inform you that I am in prison here (Armley Jail, Leeds) and that I cannot get back to my Regiment. Owing to being drunk, I took some money off a man and got locked up in Bradford and I have to take my trial at Leeds Assizes in November … they said they would inquire to you if I could have bail, and if you said I could they would release me while November Assizes, owing it it being my first time in prison. So I hoipe sir that you will let me have bail, as it is a long time is four months to wait trial when you have never been in trouble before”.

The circumstances were explained further in a letter to Lt.Col. Bartholomew from the Chief Constable of Bradford,

“I beg to inform you that Pte. Michael Hopkins was before this court this morning and committed for trial at the next Leeds Assizes, the date of which has not yet been fixed, but which in all probability will be held in November, on a charge of assault and robbery from the person. It appears that the prisoner went into a public house in this City at 8am under the influence of drink and followed the complainant into the urinal in the yard, seized hold of him, and extracted from one of his pockets the sum of 18 shillings in money; at the same time he struck the complainant with his fists and also kicked him whilst on the ground. Prisoner stated that he was drunk at the time and that he did take some money from the complainant, but did not know how much.

The Magistrate before whom the case was heard considered granting bail to the prisoner, but before doing so directed that these facts should be placed before yourself to ascertain whether you would be prepared to accept his return to the forces pending his trial. Of course he would not be allowed to leave the country before trial. I should be glad to have your views on the matter”.

Having received the letters, Capt. Charles Bathurst, Adjutant 10DWR (see 26^th July)  passed them on to Captain Robert Harwar Gill (see 14^th July and below) commanding ‘D’ Company, who noted “As the Battalion will probably have left the country by November, I am of the opinion that no good purpose would be served by allowing this man to serve with it before his trial. Should he so serve it would be possible for him to escape unless kept in custody, and as such he would be useless to us”.

On 31^st July Lt.Col. Bartholomew would make his formal response to the request for bail, “I have to inform you that owing to the expected early departure of this Battalion it is not desirable that Pte. Hopkins should re-join. The Officer in charge of Infantry Records, York, will issue the necessary instructions as to the Battalion Pte. Hopkins is to re-join on his release from custody”. 

Robert Harwar Gill was thirty-six years old and unmarried when war broke out. He had been working as a solicitor alongside his father in the family firm, Wallace Gill & Son, in Knaresborough. However, he also had fifteen years’ military service, as rehearsed in the Harrogate & Claro Times and Knaresborough Guardian (19^th December 1914):

“Lieut. R. H. Gill, who formerly was in the 2nd West Riding Regiment, has had considerable military experience abroad, and in various ways attained to a considerable degree of proficiency. He underwent a special course of maxim gunnery at Hythe, for which he holds a certificate; he was awarded a gymnastic and swordsmanship certificate at Poona; musketry certificate at Pachmarhi. He also passed “distinguished” in tactics, military engineering and topography at Ranikhet.

He began service in 1893 as a private in the 1st V.H. P.W.O. West Yorkshire Regiment. From 1893 to 1900 he served in the same regiment as 2nd lieutenant and lieutenant, and commanded cyclists of West Yorkshire Volunteer Infantry Brigade. He is the author of the “Military Cyclists’ Hand Book.” In 1900 he went abroad, serving as sergeant in the Volunteer Service Company and the 2nd West Yorkshire Regiment in the South African campaign, for which he has the Queen’s Medal with four clasps. He did some very useful work and received a Line Commission in the 2nd West Riding Regiment, dated 5th May 1900. From that year until 1906 he was serving in Burmah and India, and acted in various capacities. At one time he was Company Commander, then ad Adjutant, a Quartermaster, Station Staff Officer, while he acted as Cantonment Magistrate, and also commanded the Station at Dum Dum for about nine months. In 1906 and 1907 Lieut. Gill served with the West African Force (Frontier) in Sierra Leone and Northern Liberia. He commanded a company in the Kissi Expedition, and the posts at Kaure, Lehun and Loma. This expedition called for daring and resource, and Lieut. Gill was mentioned in dispatches. He resigned his commission in 1908”.

On the outbreak of war Gill, like Gilbert Tunstill, had committed himself to raising a contingent of volunteers, as reported on 8^th August 1914:

“Mr R. Gill (assistant clerk to the Knaresborough Justices) who served in the South African Campaign with the West Yorkshires and later commanded a company with the West African Frontier Force in the Kissi Expedition, has volunteered to serve in the Legion of Frontiersmen under Col. Driscoll, D.S.O. (head of the Legion of Frontiersmen) who has a force of 1,000 picked men. Mr Gill is in command of the Claro Unit of the Legion of Frontiersmen, and will be glad to receive applications from men who wish to serve. He has already 20 men, and hopes to raise at least 100 men from this district. Applications are preferable from men who have seen service, or have been abroad, and who are off all reserves”.

However, Gill was to be disappointed by the response of the War Office (26^th September 1914):

“Lieut. R. H. Gill, Knaresborough, who some time ago collected a body of men as a sub-unit to the Legion of Frontiersmen, and who offered the services of himself and men as mounted infantry, has received a letter from the War Office expressing regret that they cannot accept the offer. Prior to Lieut. Gill’s offer of men as mounted infantry the authorities had declined to accept the company as a detached unit. Naturally Lieut. Gill, who has gone to considerable trouble in keeping his fifty odd men in training, and in negotiating with the authorities, is very disappointed at the attitude of the War authorities.

The letter, however, concedes that the men would be accepted for enlistment into the new (Lord Kitchener’s) army, and would, if circumstances permitted, be allowed to serve together in the same unit. The communication suggested that Lieut. Gill should place himself in communication with the local Recruiting Officer, and endeavour to arrange accordingly. With regard to himself, he was recommended to apply for a temporary commission through the Officer Commanding the unit to which his own men would be posted.

Lieut. Gill is negotiating with Major Limber, and with the Officer Commanding Depot West Riding Regiment, Halifax.

Originally the men collected by Lieut. Gill to form the Claro sub-unit Legion of Frontiersmen, comprised fifty six N.C.Os and men whose ages averaged thirty three, and the majority of whom had seen active service. Some of these have tired of waiting have joined various regiments and detached themselves from the unit”.

Gill did then act as recommended and his progress was again reported on 3^rd October:

“Lieutenant Robert Harwar Gill (deputy clerk to the Knaresborough magistrates), who at the commencement of the war collected a body of fifty six men as a sub-unit to the Legion of Frontiersmen, some time ago received intimation that the men would not be accepted as a detached unit, and an offer by Lieut. Gill to serve as Mounted Infantry was also regretfully declined. In accordance with instructions since received from the War Office, Lieut. Gill has made arrangements to join the 11th Battalion West Riding Regiment with his men. The officer commanding the depot recommends him for a captaincy, and Colonel Trench, commanding the battalion, warmly supports the recommendation, having had Lieut. Gill under his command in Burmah and India.

The following letter was received by Lieut Gill from the War Office:- “I am directed to request that you will present yourself at the nearest military station at your place of residence for medical examination regarding your fitness for service. In the event of your being found medically fit, I am to request that you will proceed at once to Pirbright and join the 10th battalion West Riding Regiment for duty. On joining you should send to the officer commanding the above unit a medical certificate of fitness 20 for duty. If you are unprovided with outfit you should join with plain clothes and obtain uniform later.” The letter was addressed to “Captain” R. H. Gill.

The following reply has been sent:- “In accordance with instructions received in War Office letter, I have been in communication with the local recruiting officer (O. C. Depot, West Riding Regiment) who has recommended me for a captaincy in the 11th Battalion, which is commanded by Colonel Trench, who was my commanding officer in Burmah and India, and who endorses that recommendation. I have therefore made arrangements for my men and myself to join that Battalion as soon as they have room for us at the depot. I passed as medically fit at Halifax on 23rd inst., and forwarded completed particulars to the adjutant the same evening. In these circumstances I respectfully ask that we might adhere to the arrangements made, and that I might be gazetted to the 11th, instead of the 10th Battalion.”

The reply to this letter had not yet been received.

Lieut. Gill will be pleased to receive more men on application to himself at High Street, Knaresborough. He also wishes to state that those who have subscribed money to the unit, will have the same refunded on application to himself. The money was appealed for in the name of “Frontiersmen” and although the men are frontiersmen they are not going as such. Of course, the money already subscribed would be exceedingly useful to the detachment in providing small kit, underclothing and minor additional comforts. Some of it has already been expended on uniform and travelling expenses”.

In the event, Gill’s request to join 11DWR was rejected and he was indeed granted a temporary commission as Captain and joined 10^th Battalion.

Monday 26th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Capt. Charles Bathurst, Adjutant 10DWR (see 23^rd September 1914) wrote to Mrs. Ann Hopkins, mother of Pte. Michael Hopkins (see 26^th April), who had failed to return on time from his embarkation leave: “Your son has been absent from his Regiment since 22^nd. If you know of his whereabouts you are requested, in the interest of the soldier, to induce him to return to his Regimental duty forthwith”.

Sunday 25th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Pte. Charles Smith (12380) (see 1^st May) was reported as having been ‘drunk in Haslemere Road about 8.30pm’; on the orders of Major Lewis Ernest Buchanan (see 22^nd July) he would be fined 10s. and ordered to be confined to barracks for ten days.

Saturday 24th July 1915

L. Cpl. Fred Swale (see 7^th April) was confirmed in his post and began to be paid in accordance with his new rank, whereas his post had been previously unpaid. 

Pte. Thomas Butler (see 22^nd July) was reported by CQMS Thomas Doyne (see 6^th February) as having been, “not shaved when parading for picquet”; on the orders of Lt. Stephen Moss Mather (see below) he would be confined to barracks for three days.

Lt. Stephen Moss Mather was 24 years old (born 6^th March 1893). He had enlisted in the Notts and Derbys Regiment in October 1914 at which point he had been working as a shop assistant in Nottingham, though he was originally from Manchester. On 27^th November 1914 he had been commissioned Second Lieutenant and posted to 10DWR.

At home in Bradford, Amy Turner, wife of Pte. William Turner (see 2^nd June), gave birth to the couple’s first child; the baby girl would be named Amy.

The Burnley News carried a report about a fund-raising effort directed at equipping the former home of the Tunstill family for use as a war hospital. In 1903, Harry Tunstill, father of Gilbert, had moved from Montford Hall to his father’s even grander home at Reedyford House on the outskirts of Nelson where William had maintained a staff of ten domestic servants. However, in 1909 Harry began the construction, in the hamlet of Thornton Rust, near Aysgarth, of a new country house which he called Thornton Lodge and which would eventually become the family’s main residence. The exact point at which the Tunstills had left Reedyford has not been established, but it is clear from the newspaper report that the house was now in the hands of the local Corporation.

A PATRIOTIC EFFORT

A house-to-house collection is being made in Nelson today (Saturday) in aid of the equipment as an auxiliary military hospital of Reedyford House, formerly the residence of the Tunstill family and now the property of the Corporation. The local Co-Operative Society set a good example to the inhabitants on Thursday by their decision to present six fully-equipped beds to the hospital. Three of these are the gift of the general committee, the other three being presented by the education department, Women’s Guild, and the employees of the Society.

Friday 23rd July 1915

Pte. John William Thistlethwaite, one of Tunstill’s original recruits (see 8^th September 1914) was discharged from the Army on account of “general debility and pulmonary weakness”. He had originally volunteered one week after his younger brother, George, had enlisted. George had also subsequently been discharged on grounds of ill health (see 3^rd October 1914).

Tuesday 20th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Lt. Robert Stewart Skinner Ingram (see 18^th July) wrote to his Mother with news about leave and the Battalion’s future:

20^th July 1915

Longmoor Camp

Hants.

My Darling Mother

A Divisional Order came here last night that all Officers are to be given leave for a week and lists are in hand of the Officers of each Battalion away at a time. There is no choice, one has just got to it take when given or not at all. My leave is from 29^th up till the evening of August 4^th, the first anniversary of the Declaration of War. But I can almost certainly get away the evening before my leave starts, so I hope to be home some time on Wednesday night, July 28^th. Very much looking forward to being back. It will probably be for the last leave we can reasonably expect, except an odd night perhaps. General Babington, GOC, 23^rd Division now knows the date when we shall proceed overseas, though, as yet, the date is not public property. I do hope we are for Flanders and not Gallipoli. But most of our officers want to get to the Mediterranean. All leave is to be over by August 19^th. Our CO expects we shall be starting during the third week in August. Whether he has any certain information or whether it’s only his personal opinion, I don’t know.

Nothing further of Jack, and no news here. The rain has poured down for the last two or three days, which is not very pleasant in tents.

With much love

Your ever loving son

Robert

Home on Wednesday for seven whole days. What a glorious prospect.

Ingram’s comments about ‘Jack’ refer to to a friend of his from Harrow, 2Lt. Laurence Cecil Wilson, who had been severely wounded in action on 7^th July, while serving with 1^st Battalion Norfolk Regiment near Hill 60, south-east of Ypres.

L.Cpl. Alvin Edmond Tolley, home on leave from training with 10DWR, was married, at Christ Church, Sowerby Bridge, to Sarah Elizabeth Thorp. L.Cpl. Tolley was 33 years old; he had been born in Devon but had lived for a number of years in Sowerby Bridge. He had three brothers serving with 1^st/4^th DWR.

Thursday 22nd July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Pte. James Pickering (see 1^st March) was reported by Sgt. George Hebblethwaite (see below) and Cpl. Herbert Lawton (see below) “absent off pass from 11.55pm”; he would not report until reveille on 27^th July; on the orders of Maj. Lewis Ernest Buchanan (see 14^th May), he would be confined to barracks for ten days and forfeit six days’ pay. 

Pte. Thomas Butler was also reported as having not returned on time from his embarkation leave; he would return at 3pm the following day and, on the orders of Maj. Buchanan would be confined to barracks for three days and forfeit two days’ pay. Butler was a 29 year-old labourer from Keighley; he was married with one daughter. 

Pte. Matthew Woodward (see 22^nd June) was also reported, by Cpls. Albert Edgar Palmer (see 17th June) and Edgar Shuttleworth (see 13^th May) as not having returned on time from his embarkation leave; he would not return until 10pm on 26^th July and, on the orders of Maj. Buchanan would be confined to barracks for ten days and forfeit three days’ pay.

George Hebbelthwaite had been born in Mirfield in 1895, the third child of six born to Abraham and Harriot Hebblethwaite. Abraham was a farmer, his farm having been in the family for over 200 years. George attended Mirfield Grammar School where he excelled academically, completing his studies in 1911. In October 1912, George moved to Hulme Hall whilst studying for an Arts Degree at Victoria Manchester University. During his time at Hulme Hall, George was a member of the University Officer Training Corps (O.T.C.) and he would have been at the annual O.T.C. summer camp at the outbreak of War in August 1914. George had been appointed Lance Corporal in October 1914, Corporal two months later and Sergeant by March 1915.   

Sgt. George Hebbelthwaite

Image and information from http://www.ww1.manchester.ac.uk/roll-of-honour/george-hebblethwaite/

Herbert Lawton was a 36 year-old waiter from Huddersfield; he had enlisted in September 1914, having previously served six years with the territorials, and had been promoted Corporal on being posted to the newly-formed 10^th Battalion on 20^th September. He was a married man with four children.

Wednesday 21st July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Monday 19th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

In anticipation of a forthcoming order to go overseas, Divisional orders for leave were issued to the Battalion; all officers and men were to be granted one week’s leave, staggered over the next month, with all leave to be completed by 19^th August. It was reported that Maj. Genl. Babington had received definitive orders but that the orders were not yet otherwise known.

Sunday 18th July 1915

Lt. Robert Stewart Skinner Ingram (see 29^th June) wrote to his parents:

18^th July 1915

(Regimental headed notepaper)

Bramshott Camp

Hampshire

My Darling Mother and Father

Dear Ma’s letter came yesterday. I was very pleased to hear Ben Rhydding was a more wild place and that you liked it.  

News of Jack is not too good I’m sorry to say. Mrs. Wilson has been over to see him. So far they have not been able to move him from the Field Hospital. It may be some time before he will be well enough to be moved down to the Base. At present, poor old lad, he can’t talk at all. Whether he ever will be able to talk again remains to be seen as the bullet got him in the brain. 

There’s tremendous excitement here just now. Since Saturday morning, 2am, 69^th Brigade have been under orders to be ready to move at a moment’s notice to South Wales to suppress or keep in order unruly miners, or to protect black-legs. It seems to me the coal miners are almost entirely in the wrong. Why should they be allowed to make huge profits out of the war? If the government would take over the mines they could give the owners rather more than last year’s profits and give the miners a good rise and take the surplus profits for War Loan. 

With much love, your ever loving son

Robert

The potential move to South Wales never materialised as the strike was resolved within the next week.

Ingram’s comments about ‘Jack’ refer to a friend of his from Harrow, 2Lt. Laurence Cecil Wilson, who had been severely wounded in action on 7^th July, while serving with 1^st Battalion Norfolk Regiment near Hill 60, south-east of Ypres.

John George Waggitt (see 30^th March) was transferred to 5^th Artillery Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was the brother of Pte. Willie Waggitt (see 15^th July) who would serve with Tunstill’s Company.

Saturday 17th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

The whole of 69^th Brigade, including 10DWR, was ordered to be made ready to move at short notice to South Wales to assist in dealing with the miners’ strike which had been disrupting coal production in the area.

Friday 16th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Thursday 15th July 1915

9^th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment landed at Boulogne to begin their deployment with the BEF. In their ranks were many men with family and other connections with men of Tunstill;s Company. Among them was Pte. Willie Waggitt (see 22^nd March) who would later be transferred to Tunstill’s Company.

Wednesday 14th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Pte. George Frederick Barkham (see 17^th June) was reported by Cpl. Stockdale for ‘not complying with an order’; on the orders of Capt. Robert Harwar Gill (see 9^th July) he would be confined to barracks for seven days.

Tuesday 13th July 1915

Pte. Arthur Walton (see 5^th March) was reported as having ‘deserted His Majesty’s service’. A request would be made to the Leeds City Police to make enquiries at Pte. Walton’s home address and an officer would call on the 20^th to be told by Pte. Walton’s wife that her husband had ‘left home on the morning of the 19^th, stating that he was returning to his regiment’. Walton, however, would not in fact return and a new request would be issued to the Police on 2^nd August.

Pte. Ernest Wilson (11751) (see 30^th April) was reported ‘absent off pass’ from 11.55pm; he would return at 10pm the following day and, on the orders of Lt. Col. Hugh John Bartholomew, D.S.O., (see 29th June), would be confined to barracks for eight days and forfeit two days’ pay.

The father of 2Lt. Maurice Odell Tribe (see 3^rd March), Rev. Odell Newton Tribe died, aged 56.

Monday 12th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Sunday 11th July 1915

The Battalion remained in training at Bramshott.

Pte. Albert Nixon (see 19^th April) passed his trade test for appointment as a ‘cold shoer’; he had worked as a shoeing smith before enlisting in September 1914.

Saturday 10th July 1915

An article published in the Keighley News drew attention to measures which had been put in place by a local mill-owner both to encourage his workers to invest in war loans and also to reassure workers who had already volunteered to serve, or were contemplating such, that their employment with the firm would be protected. Several men who had worked for the Company had enlisted in September 1914 and had been among the Cowling recruits who had been absorbed into Tunstill’s Company (see 16^th September 1914). Prominent in the recruits had been John Hartley jnr., son of the owner of the Company and who worked as Company Secretary. He had already been promoted Lance Corporal (see 20^th December 1914)

COWLING FIRM’S PATRIOTISM

Messrs John Hartley (Cowling) Ltd, Acre Mill, Cowling are encouraging their workpeople to invest in the war loan by offering the 5s. and £5 bonds at a discount of 5s. on the £5. Those joining or who have already joined the Army or Navy will, on returning home, be given the option of restarting work with the firm as far as possible on their old work, or failing this the firm will give an equivalent in wages for the time being in work of a similar kind. Any skilled workman who enters a munitions factory for the duration of the war will have the same option on returning as those who have joined the Army or Navy.

Friday 9th July 1915

Pte. George Liddemore was promoted (unpaid) Lance Corporal. He had enlisted in Haworth on 18^th September and was one of the contingent of men who had been attached to Tunstill’s original recruits in September 1914 to form ‘A’ Company. George Liddemore was one of thirteen children of George Thomas Liddemore and his wife, Rose (Palmer). George (snr.) was originally from Kent and his wife from London but they had married in Leeds in 1884, since when they had lived in various locations across West Yorkshire. George (jnr.) had been born in the Queensbury area of Bradford. By 1911 the family was living in Bocking, between Haworth and Keighley. George snr. had died in the Summer of 1913. George jnr. was aged 20 when he enlisted and gave his occupation as ‘labourer’, although he had also worked as a porter for the Midland Railway Company. His father had worked as a carter for a coal merchant, whilst most of the family had worked in the local cotton mills. George had previously served two months (dates unknown) with the Northumberland Fusiliers, but had been discharged as medically unfit.


Pte. Francis Wilson Stockell was reported by L.Cpl. Frank Bounds (see below) and Sgt. Henry Carrodus (see 10^th June) as being “absent from tattoo until reporting at 10.20pm”; on the orders of Capt. Robert Harwar Gill (see 22^nd June) he was to be confined to barracks for three days. Pte. Stockell was a 29 year-old fish and poultry dealer, originally from Middlesbrough, he had lived for many years in Bradford. He had volunteered in November 1914; he was married with one son. L.Cpl. Bounds was 25 years old and from Wakefield.

Thursday 8th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Wednesday 7th July 1915

Corporal Tom Pickles (see 17^th April) was again promoted; he became Acting Sergeant with the Machine Gun Section.

L.Cpl. John Knowles (see 1^st May) was promoted Corporal.

Tuesday 6th July 1915

10DWR remained in training at Bramshott.

Pte. John Henshall (see 22^nd April) was sentenced to 10 days’ detention; the nature of his offence is unknown. 

Pte. John William Saunders (see 11^th September 1914) was released from the Army in order to resume his previous employment with Messrs Thomas Lister & Co. Brassfounders, Perseverance Brass & Iron Works, Brighouse.

Monday 5th July 1915

A payment was authorised to the relatives of Pte. Harold Greenhow (see 18^th December 1914) who had died from pneumonia whilst in training with Tunstill’s Company. A sum of £3 12s 9d, due from his army pay, went to his mother, Margaret, even though it was noted that the payment was based on “Will in favour of mother; validity doubtful”. It was subsequently noted that this was the only payment made to the family; payment of a war gratuity was “not admissible; under six months home service”.

Sunday 4th July 1915

Tunstill's Company remained in training at Bramshott.

Saturday 3rd July 1915

Priestley wrote a long letter home to his family. He was complimentary about the surrounding countryside and recommended it as an area for a future family holiday. Amongst other observations about life in Camp, he commented on the Camp cinema, and the unfortunate fact that films often seemed to break. He was also clearly impressed with the new Battalion Chaplain, Rev. Wilfred Leveson Henderson (see 22^nd June), “Instead of having one chaplain for the whole Brigade, every Battalion has one now. Ours is the Rev. W.L. Henderson, M.A.,, a young man and quite a ‘sport’. He spends a great deal of time in our Recreation Room, talking to the men and playing rings etc.”. He also referred to more pressing matters regarding his training, “We are going to sleep in the trenches next week. They are teaching us all the new methods of warfare now, bomb throwing, sniping etc. … The country for miles around is devoted to military use”.

Friday 2nd July 1915

Lance Corporal Frederick Griggs, a former member of Tunstill’s Company, (see 28^th June) rejoined 2^nd Battalion West Ridings, in reserve, near Dickebusch, having been wounded a few days previously.