You might think that here in Woodcutts, where so little happens, there are few decisions to make. You would of course be wrong. Perhaps some remember that great old actor A.E.Mathews who had life all sorted out in his retirement. He insisted on being given the Times in bed each day, so that he could read the obituaries, then making his own decision and in his own words, “If I am not in them, I get up.” Mind you it hasn’t got that far for me yet, I do get up most mornings, but I don’t read the Times.
However, I do have to cope with the unknown, for example until last night, I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to find a “Maria” of sufficient ability to take up the role in the new Andrew Lloyd-Webber production. I am not saying that I would have been a natural choice but you have to keep your options open.
The other possibility is of course the job at No.10, when it becomes vacant. Again I understand that I am not a natural there either, but who knows? There would be a big problem if I did get the job, as everything I write would be under the Official Secrets Act. This would mean that any articles I write for the Downsman, could not be published for fifty years. You see the dilemma that it leaves me in? Especially if my country needs me.
We must leave the mundane things of life for now and look at what is happening in the countryside. It has been a remarkably different year from all others, which I have known during my forty odd years. Each year there is a differing response to our climate by most of our flora, which has huge repercussions on the fauna. For example if the shrubs and trees come into leaf very early, birds, mammals and insects can nest, breed or simply awaken from a dormant or near dormant state that much earlier or miss their breakfast. For those that oversleep, they can be put in a very difficult position, for instance the bud eating birds that rely on the early, very nutritious buds to feed their young. Finches are obvious examples, for instance how would you feel if some one offered you the rough outer leaves of a brussel sprout plant, instead of the highly nutritious, miniature brussels. Mind you, finches don’t eat brussels much but they do eat such things as the beautiful, nutritious fruit buds of the apple trees and related species. Birds and mammals normally can change their diets to a large extent to compensate for climate changes, whereas many of our insects are very specific in what they eat. If they leave their pupa stages at the normal time of year they may find their only source of food is past the edible stage or completely gone before they have got up. (Not many insects read the obituaries.)
If these insects don’t survive, then many of the insect eating birds go hungry as do other bigger predator types. Without the right number of specialist insects, certain plants don’t have their flowers visited and fertilised, resulting in no seed for the following year. An example here, is the fact that so many gardeners complained this year, that their runners beans were flowering but not producing beans. Nature is marvellous but very complicated and if we are to cope in the future we have to think about changing our lifestyles. This is not something to be put off, nor will the problem go away if we recycle, travel on buses instead of cars, turn off the computer or television when not in use, even bath with a friend or agree to have a wind turbine farm next to the village, these are not either or situation, they all as well as many more need addressing now. What is needed is a complete life style change for all in the modern developed world.
Maybe runner beans did fail this year at the expected peak time, but mine have certainly made up for it since. Many other wild plant species have also had wonderful fruiting time and resultant bumper seed harvests. The Telegraph (please note not the Times.) actually printed a long article about the oak’s prolific acorn harvest, while suggesting that pigs will benefit from this. Although I know of no one who tries to fatten porkers on acorns nowadays. I have eaten raw acorns and enjoyed acorn coffee and from these experiences would imagine that the resultant pork and bacon would have a particular flavour all of their own. Certainly a consistent product that would satisfy the supermarkets’ very stringent code would not result.
The oak is by no means alone in it’s bumper harvest, others are the sloe, the beech masts, the ash keys, maple keys, blackberries, elder berries, hornbeam berries, hawthorn haws, hips of dog roses, wayfaring tree berries and of course the most magnificent of all the spindle berries. This is not in any way a complete list, as hazel nuts come immediately to mind, but the two I have noticed the most are the ash and the spindle.
To all chalkland dwellers, the spindle means so much. Its name is derived from the use of its wood to make spindles for the spinning industry of the past. But what it is better know is the colouring of both berries and autumnal leaves. The berry starts a very insignificant green which turns through a greenish red/pink to a wonderful bright pinkish red, which when seen on a sunny winters morning is a sight never forgotten. Spindle occurs naturally on chalk and as a result is often one of the species selected when downland is replanted with trees.
On the Rushmoor Estate, who own much of Woodcutts, where the replanting and conservation are taken very seriously, spindle trees occupy many places in replanted areas.
A photograph in black and white cannot do this beautiful species justice, but as John Constable said “I see beauty in everything.” So please use your imagination. You will have to take my word about the colours, but at least you can see the fruit that it is bearing. In some cases the weight of the fruits are too much for their respective trees. In the photograph the weight of the leaves and ashkeys after a very heavy rainstorm was simply too much for the tree and down came the limb. The tree is possibly some twenty years old and the amount that has broken adrift will certainly badly affect the future of this tree. You will see from this, that a very heavy crop is not necessarily a benefit to the plant, or for that matter the humans who live near it or use it in some way……………
Sorry for the interlude, but I had need of a coffee, or if I was more honest I had lost the envelope on which I had made some notes about butterflies and a plant in flower.
During a warm sunny period on Friday 15th.September, I was not too surprised to see two red admirals on the wing, ( If I get the job at number ten I won’t be able to talk openly about red admirals.) but after so much wind and rain I thought that they must be remarkably hardy, but what I was surprised to see was a female pale clouded yellow, a little worn around the edges, but definitely a clouded yellow. She is obviously aware of global warming. What was surprising to me was it was the first I had seen this year.
Having left the butterflies behind, I wandered on towards home and was amazed to see at the side of the path, a field scabious, looking as bright as a button, obviously not very long opened from the bud stage. Its foliage was a pleasant lighter green which suggested the whole plant was younger than it should be.
2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
During the month of February 1917, an extraordinary event took place on the Western Front; the German generals ordered their armies to retire to new defensive positions ten miles back from the line that had been so doggedly defended and fought over throughout the Battle of the Somme. At a stroke the Wehrmacht had voluntarily given up over 1,000 square miles of territory, an area greater than the limited gains achieved in the last months of 1916. Such generosity came at a price for as the allies commenced filling the void left by their enemy all that they found was a wasteland of systematically wrecked fortifications, cratered roads and poisoned water supplies. In the words of Martin Middlebrook, the eminent historian and author of The First Day of the Somme, ‘they (the allies) would have to start all over again’.
But, whatever criticisms may be levied against the allied Generals responsible for the direction of offensive operations, an overall lack of confidence, and what might be achieved by yet another massive assault on the enemy, would be disingenuous. Both Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (his elevation from the rank of general had been promulgated on the 3rd of January, 1917) and his French counterpart General Robert Nivelle were hopeful that after the awful setbacks of 1916, their plans for 1917 should swing the war very much in their favour.
For the British their first major offensive of the year commenced on the 9th of April, 1917, with a determined assault on the recently constructed defences of the Hindenburg Line in front of Arras, one of the many focal points being Vimy Ridge on the northern extremities of the front and which would be taken at tremendous cost in lives by the Canadians. However, the theme of this profile narrows the panoramic sweep of battle to the actions of the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, of which a young Maurice Jesse was a part. His parents lived in the cottage, across the High Street opposite The Roebuck, from where his father, Arthur, according to the 1901 Census, traded as a coal dealer (a Kelly’s Directory for the period expands the Census entry by describing him as a ‘coal merchant, haulier, cartage contractor, furniture remover & farmer’). Maurice’s name appears on the same Census, though family legend suggests he joined the army (his service records shows that he enlisted at Devizes) while under the age set for normal conscription. Whatever the case may be, April 1917, found him south-south-east of Arras prepared and ready to leave the battalion’s trenches as soon as the artillery barrage lifted from their immediate objectives. For several days the battalion war diary had been reporting unseasonable weather (the 1st/4th Royal Berkshire, holding the line at Villers-Faucon above Roisel experienced heavy overnight snow on the 3rd/4th followed by further falls on the 4th) though conditions improved as the eve of the forthcoming offensive drew near.
And so it came to pass that D company of the 2nd Battalion went into action at 0130 hours in the morning of the 9th with 100 men, under the direction of Lieutenant N Frisby, attacking enemy positions near a mill on the Henin to Neuville-Vitasse road. This assault was not part of the main action, but a measure of the enemy’s determination to stand and fight was soon gauged and with casualties mounting and their company commander wounded, Lieutenant Bearne was ordered to advance his platoon towards the mill in order to give covering fire as D Company disengaged and retired to their start line. By this time 20 year old Lieutenant Samuel Reginald Parsons of Heavitree, Exeter, was dead and 35 other ranks would take no further part in the main assault, still to come.
It is not possible for me to say if Private Jesse was killed at this time as his company details are not recorded and, therefore, he may have lived to see the pale light of dawn when the entire front erupted in a clamour of no little urgency with battalions leaving their trenches at 0530 hours to begin the battle for the Hindenburg Line. What happened over the next few hours is best told in the words of the battalion diarist:
‘… the main attack on the Hindenburg Line commenced. Neuville-Vitasse and St. Martin- sur-Cojeul, the villages on our flanks, were captured, and at 1138 a.m. the 21st Brigade attacked with the 2nd Wiltshire Regt. on the right, the 18th King’s (Liverpool) Regt. on the left, and the 19th Manchester Regt. in support. The distance between the assembly positions of this Battalion and their objective varied between 2,000 and 2,400 yards. The Battalion advanced in artillery formation, the first wave being composed of ‘A’ company on the right and ‘B’ company on the left, the second wave was composed of ‘C’ company on the right and ‘D’ company on the left, each wave consisting of 2 lines of 2 platoons per company. Considerable hostile shelling was experienced throughout the advance, which became intense as it proceeded, causing heavy casualties before the attackers came in sight of their objective. To reach the objective (namely the Hindenburg Line) two sunken roads had to be crossed, at which considerable resistance was offered but was soon overcome, a machine gun and several prisoners being captured on the first. Between the first and second sunken roads the attackers came under fire from several machine guns, which together with the shelling formed a considerable barrage. The advance continued up to the enemy’s wire, but by this time the ranks of the attackers were considerably depleted. The wire was found to be damaged but not cut sufficiently to allow troops to enter the trenches.
This last sentence reveals an all too familiar story for it was the failure on the part of the artillery to smash the enemy wire that led to the appalling loss of life on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. In part this failure came about through the high percentage of dud shells that failed to explode but, and in time for the Arras offensive, the artillery had received large stocks of an improved shell fused to detonate on impact rather than explode below ground. Nevertheless, in many places along the front battalions were coming up to the wire only to find that clear passages had not been created and were thus unable to maintain their advance behind the protection of the creeping barrage. With the enemy now emerging from their deep shelters, the sharp staccato burst of rifle and machine gun fire rang out, forcing the attackers to seek whatever cover they could find in the mass of shell craters that littered the ground over which they had come. With forward momentum stalled, the diary continues:
‘The few unwounded men left took cover in all available shell holes, but eventually had to retire to the sunken road running from Neuville-Vitasse to St. Martin-sur-Cojeul, where they dug in on the eastern bank.
In effect, the battalion was practically back from where it had started in the mid-morning. And their troubles were not yet over as heavy, and accurate, counter fire from enemy batteries began to find its mark:
‘… causing further casualties. By this time most of the officers had become casualties, only three remaining, 2/Lieuts H. C. Clark, F. J. London (but see below) and T. W. Glynn. These officers collected all the unwounded men, 90 in all, and consolidated the position. Some little time afterwards two companies of the 19th Manchesters arrived in support, and also dug in on the same road. This position was held until the evening, when two companies of the 16th Manchesters came up and took over the position. After relief the remnants of the Battalion marched back to Switch Lane, south of Mercatel (a kilometre or two west from their early morning start line).
The total casualties sustained by the Battalion in the attack, not counting those previously sustained in the attack on the mill, was Captains 2, Subalterns 12, other ranks 328. These were made up as follows:- Capt R. W. Brown, 2/Lieuts W. H. Balkwill, E. T. Horton, S. T. Horton, A. C. Clake and C. H. Merriman killed, and Capt C. W. Ward DSO, Lieut L. H. Bearne, 2/Lieuts C. S. Gray, D. J. Campkin, G. H. Kelly, A. V. S. Grant, H. S. Edmonds, F. J. London and A. S. Carter (att 21st TM Battery) wounded.’
It is no exaggeration to say that for the Wiltshires the 9th of April, 1917, had been an exhausting day with, sadly, very little to show for their undoubted courage in trying to capture, and hold, their objectives. In terms of overall losses in manpower, it had been their worst day since the 18th of October, 1916, when, in the wake of one of the many sharp encounters that come within the parameters of the Somme offensive, 14 officers and 350 other ranks are recorded in the diary as casualties.
The next day the survivors remained in the area of Mercatel and, after darkness fell, a party of volunteers ventured out into the morass of what 24-hours previous had been the main battle area to recover ten soldiers who had been terribly wounded and whose pitiful cries had had to go unheeded until nightfall. It is further noted that the bulk of the enemy had carried out a general retirement, leaving behind just a few observation posts to monitor the British intent.
For Private Maurice Jesse no headstone marks his grave for his remains were never found and his name is commemorated in perpetuity on Bay 7 of the Arras Memorial. Laid out to the design of Sir Edwin Lutyens with sculpture work by Sir William Reid Dick, this impressive memorial stands in the Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery on the Boulevard du General de Gaulle in the western part of Arras and approximately 2 kilometres west from the town’s railway station. In total 34,738 names are inscribed on the Bays which commemorate all British, South African and New Zealand service-men who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and early August 1918, and who have no known graves. Similarly, and in respect of the Australians whose bodies could not be found, their names are recorded on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial sited in the neighbouring Department of the Somme, while the Canadians who died storming Vimy Ridge and could not be identified, they are commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, a total of 11,167 names being recorded – most having fallen in the fierce fighting that marked the first day of the Battle of Arras.
A few months ago, BBC Television put out a documentary suggesting that the Battle of the Somme was not the awful disaster that history would have us believe and in its conclusion stated that all the objectives of the first day had, by November 1916, been taken and that the lessons learnt twixt the start and end of the offensive would stand the Allies in good stead for the remainder of the war. I am afraid this was not the case for not only were many of the first day objectives still in German hands at the end of 1916, but as those who went into action on the 9th of April, 1917, found to their cost enemy wire was notoriously difficult to destroy and, as on the 1st of July, 1916, thousands, like Private Maurice Jesse, died as a consequence.
Postscript. It pleases me to say that the High Street cottage is still in the Jesse family, while Robert Maurice Jesse (his middle name was given in memory of his uncle) and his daughter Sarah are stalwart members of our local Post Office.
Looking through an olde evergreen book, dated 1989 I came across a piece on village signs. The village sign at Sixpenny Handley perpetuates the period of pre-decimal currency. The name is derived from two ancient hamlets Saxpena and Hanlega (Hill or the sword and high pastures). However, as time passes younger generations may well wonder what the “6d” represented. I don’t know about anybody else but whenever I’m burying anything I still think in terms of good old pounds, shilling and pence. Just as I always weigh items in pounds and ounces, measure lengths in feet and inches and pour liquids in gallons and pints. Talk to me about grammes, litres and other metric measurements and you might just as well speak in a foreign language and we’re still saying it 16 years on.
If this is correct, then is it really more than coincidence?