Out in this month's Essex Life magazine:
Part of a series by Pen & Sword Publishing that focuses on individual towns in the Great War, Chelmsford in the Great War is a fascinating book that has been written by someone who is clearly fascinated by a global conflict that had a huge impact on local life.
Chelmsford in the Great War provides an account of the local men who went off to fight, but in the manner of all good books about World War 1, Jonathan Swan doesn't forget the people who were left behind and has written a book that will be a great addition to any local historian's collection.
Tuesday 26 May 2015
Sunday 24 May 2015
Private William Peel Myers of Bradford - update
This is spooky - I made another ebay acquisition this week and discovered that it is a third postcard from William Myers to his sister Hilda. This one is dated July 17th 1917, which now means that Willie was in Chelmsford for at least five months.
Saturday 23 May 2015
Great article in the East Anglian Daily Times...
...and I didn't write it! Many thanks, Steven Russell!
Thursday 21 May 2015
Another review...
This is from Amazon:
"I have to admit some bias here. I was born in Chelmsford and apart from stints at university and in India, have lived in the city for most of my life. Furthermore, I am a keen student of military history and met many First World War veterans in and around Chelmsford in the 1980s. They would have loved to have seen this book.
"Jonathan Swan has done a first rate job with this book. It's a book that has appeal both to those interested in the First World War and to those who are interested in Chelmsford. There is plenty in here that I was unaware of and the easy narrative is well-supported by early maps, photographs and street plans of Chelmsford. I found the latter particularly interesting and, for instance, had never realised that there were originally "Wellington Cottages" at the end of "Waterloo Lane". That harks back to an earlier conflict of course but Jonathan certainly knows his stuff when it comes to the First World War and there are useful chapters on the Volunteers (The so called "Gorgeous Wrecks" who seem to be a generally forgotten home army), The Specials, Camps and Airfields, Joining Up, Trade and Industry, and so on.
"This is a book that can be easily dipped into and out of and, having read a number of books in this series, I have to say that to date, this is by far the best. But then again, as I said at the start, I am biased. All bias aside, the author has done his research well and above all, this is a very readable book. It's one thing to dig out the facts, quite another to offer them in such a compelling manner.
"I gather the book has been selling well in and around Chelmsford. Long may that continue, and I hope it reaches a wider audience than Essex. It certainly deserves to do so."
"Jonathan Swan has done a first rate job with this book. It's a book that has appeal both to those interested in the First World War and to those who are interested in Chelmsford. There is plenty in here that I was unaware of and the easy narrative is well-supported by early maps, photographs and street plans of Chelmsford. I found the latter particularly interesting and, for instance, had never realised that there were originally "Wellington Cottages" at the end of "Waterloo Lane". That harks back to an earlier conflict of course but Jonathan certainly knows his stuff when it comes to the First World War and there are useful chapters on the Volunteers (The so called "Gorgeous Wrecks" who seem to be a generally forgotten home army), The Specials, Camps and Airfields, Joining Up, Trade and Industry, and so on.
"This is a book that can be easily dipped into and out of and, having read a number of books in this series, I have to say that to date, this is by far the best. But then again, as I said at the start, I am biased. All bias aside, the author has done his research well and above all, this is a very readable book. It's one thing to dig out the facts, quite another to offer them in such a compelling manner.
"I gather the book has been selling well in and around Chelmsford. Long may that continue, and I hope it reaches a wider audience than Essex. It certainly deserves to do so."
First reviews...
A letter received via Pen & Sword:
"I’ve just finished reading your book on the First World War in Chelmsford. I’m an Essex ex-pat, having lived over here very happily for fifty years, but always homesick for Chelmsford – people can’t understand how anyone could miss Chelmsford! We’ve visited frequently and although all my relatives are gone, I still have many friends there. I was brought up in Chelmsford/Springfield/New Hall (I was there during the WW2 bombing) and was at the High School 1950-58.
"I want to congratulate you on the magnificent and scholarly work and to tell you how much I enjoyed reading it, as I’m sure so many others will. I buy most books about Chelmsford’s history and once I had started this I could hardly put it down.
"Main reasons were of course my familiarity with the town in much later years, and the town as I knew it (ie before new roads, demolition and expansion). Not much chance of being in horse-drawn cart bringing milk churns in from Boreham through the town centre nowadays! I could therefore relate to so much description, and was delighted with the level of detail you managed to convey. Your inclusion of so many maps was brilliant.
"Another fascination was reading so many names I knew – and in some cases knew the people referred to – and many would probably have been the grandfathers or great-uncles of people I knew at school. We had a Margaret Horsnell at CHS in my time, I think, and perhaps she was connected with Alick. My own family connection with this war was from elsewhere in Essex, but some of my older relatives were working at Marconi’s."
"I’ve just finished reading your book on the First World War in Chelmsford. I’m an Essex ex-pat, having lived over here very happily for fifty years, but always homesick for Chelmsford – people can’t understand how anyone could miss Chelmsford! We’ve visited frequently and although all my relatives are gone, I still have many friends there. I was brought up in Chelmsford/Springfield/New Hall (I was there during the WW2 bombing) and was at the High School 1950-58.
"I want to congratulate you on the magnificent and scholarly work and to tell you how much I enjoyed reading it, as I’m sure so many others will. I buy most books about Chelmsford’s history and once I had started this I could hardly put it down.
"Main reasons were of course my familiarity with the town in much later years, and the town as I knew it (ie before new roads, demolition and expansion). Not much chance of being in horse-drawn cart bringing milk churns in from Boreham through the town centre nowadays! I could therefore relate to so much description, and was delighted with the level of detail you managed to convey. Your inclusion of so many maps was brilliant.
"Another fascination was reading so many names I knew – and in some cases knew the people referred to – and many would probably have been the grandfathers or great-uncles of people I knew at school. We had a Margaret Horsnell at CHS in my time, I think, and perhaps she was connected with Alick. My own family connection with this war was from elsewhere in Essex, but some of my older relatives were working at Marconi’s."
Saturday 16 May 2015
Private William Peel Myers, 5th Yorkshire Regiment
Interesting postcard showing Broomfield Road, dated 1917. The pub is, of course, the Compasses, a much smaller building than it is today. The wall on the right hand side can still be seen, and the Cedar of Lebanon brushing the top of the wall now towers over the road. The 'x' marks the area where the author of the postcard was billeted, one of the big houses like Rannoch Lodge.
And then a standard postcard of the High Street, junction with Springfield Road.
Both of these postcards were sent by the same man, 'Willie', to a Miss Hilda Myers, of Hill Crest, Carlton Drive, Heaton, in Bradford. From the language used in the letter Hilda seems to have been young, and in the Broomfield Road card there is a mention of Mother and Father. A search on ancestry.co.uk throws up a William Peel Myers, aged 13 in the 1911 census, and living at the Hill Crest address with Hilda and parents William and Clara Myers. Father was the managing director of the family firm of S. P. Myers & Co Ltd, a worsted manufacturer in Bradford.
William junior's military records still exist. He attested shortly after his eighteenth birthday in October 1915, under Lord Derby's Group Scheme (ie not conscription); and was called up on 9th May 1916, when he joined the 2/5th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. He was sent to France on the 3rd of August where he joined his unit in billets.
The big question is what was William doing in Chelmsford in late 1917?
It would appear that he suffered a number of health problems. In addition to scabies he suffered from impetigo and was hospitalised in Cheltenham in November 1916 and after another attack in June 1917 his medical category was downgraded to B1. His eyesight also caused him problems and in October 1917 he found himself at the military ophthalmic centre no. 19 at Chelmsford. It was at this time he sent his two postcards to Hilda.
Unfortunately we have no records of this important medical facility. There were several of them around the country, including Lincoln, Manchester and Nottingham, and a number were attached to Casualty Clearing Stations in France. From what we know of the medical personnel at the Chelmsford and Essex Hospital there were no ophthalmic specialists there, so we might conjecture that the military hospital at Oaklands might be the location. According to the British Medical Journal these were set up in early 1916 'at important stations in the various commands'.
By January 1918 William had been fitted with spectacles and was sent back to France with the 1/5th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. In May the Germans launched a major offensive which advanced rapidly through Belgium and France. William was taken prisoner and was reported missing on the 27th May. He spent the rest of the war at Sprottau prisoner of war camp in in lower Silesia, Poland, and was repatriated in January 1919. Thanks to his father's efforts, he was released from military service the next month to return to his job as a clerk and assistant manager in the family business.
William Peel Myers died in December 1980 at the grand old age of 83. He was just one of thousands of men who passed through Chelmsford during the Great War.
And then a standard postcard of the High Street, junction with Springfield Road.
Both of these postcards were sent by the same man, 'Willie', to a Miss Hilda Myers, of Hill Crest, Carlton Drive, Heaton, in Bradford. From the language used in the letter Hilda seems to have been young, and in the Broomfield Road card there is a mention of Mother and Father. A search on ancestry.co.uk throws up a William Peel Myers, aged 13 in the 1911 census, and living at the Hill Crest address with Hilda and parents William and Clara Myers. Father was the managing director of the family firm of S. P. Myers & Co Ltd, a worsted manufacturer in Bradford.
The big question is what was William doing in Chelmsford in late 1917?
It would appear that he suffered a number of health problems. In addition to scabies he suffered from impetigo and was hospitalised in Cheltenham in November 1916 and after another attack in June 1917 his medical category was downgraded to B1. His eyesight also caused him problems and in October 1917 he found himself at the military ophthalmic centre no. 19 at Chelmsford. It was at this time he sent his two postcards to Hilda.
Unfortunately we have no records of this important medical facility. There were several of them around the country, including Lincoln, Manchester and Nottingham, and a number were attached to Casualty Clearing Stations in France. From what we know of the medical personnel at the Chelmsford and Essex Hospital there were no ophthalmic specialists there, so we might conjecture that the military hospital at Oaklands might be the location. According to the British Medical Journal these were set up in early 1916 'at important stations in the various commands'.
By January 1918 William had been fitted with spectacles and was sent back to France with the 1/5th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. In May the Germans launched a major offensive which advanced rapidly through Belgium and France. William was taken prisoner and was reported missing on the 27th May. He spent the rest of the war at Sprottau prisoner of war camp in in lower Silesia, Poland, and was repatriated in January 1919. Thanks to his father's efforts, he was released from military service the next month to return to his job as a clerk and assistant manager in the family business.
William Peel Myers died in December 1980 at the grand old age of 83. He was just one of thousands of men who passed through Chelmsford during the Great War.
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