The marriage of George Marsh from Forge Lane to Grace Hepton from Gore Bank at the village church brought some joy in January. George Marsh served in the army, won promotion to sergeant and survived the Great War, although his brother Henry died of pneumonia while serving in Canada with the Ist Canadian Pioneers in 1916.
Most of the war effort in the village took the form of money raising activities at Holywell School under the direction of headmaster Mr Maltravers and his wife Ethel. The children organised bazaars, concerts and sales of work, they went carol singing and arranged house to house collections for the relief of victims of the war. In total they raised £44/19/4d. Meanwhile, the Holywell School League of Young Patriots raised £6/19/5d from house to house collections for the Penny Bandage Fund for Wounded Soldiers.
According to the Holywell School daily record book pupils of Holywell School were given a week off school in April to stage the fairy operetta ‘Briar Rose’ for the second successive year. This proved successful and raised money for the War Memorial Fund. Up to May 1917 £12/11/9d had been raised for the fund.
The Infant’s School collected £5/4/9d for Lord Robert’s Memorial Fund, the Sailors Home at Bristol, the Overseas Club, the YMCA Huts and £4/1/7d for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. They also sent sweet smelling lavender bags to wounded British soldiers hospitalised in France and Belgium with a message informing them that they were not forgotten in their homeland. Reverend Dicker later supplied twenty three missionary boxes to twenty three homes in the village to raise money. The Upchurch Girls Friendly Society also worked hard in the war effort and sent knitted socks to wounded soldiers at Bath Hospital.
The parish council were active throughout the year with war related matters. According to the parish council minutes for May 1917 they applied for a speaker to address parishioners at a meeting about the War Savings Association, in June they discussed the formation of a Food Production Society in the village and in October they wrote to the local MP and to GCO Thames requesting that air raid warnings be stopped at the request of parishioners. They were informed that the warnings could not be terminated and the rules would have to be adhered to. They also discussed the possible installation of a public telephone in the village for enemy aircraft warnings and for general use. Although a threat existed Upchurch did not experience any enemy aircraft or zeppelin attacks during the war.
News from the Front revealed that the Germans had captured Richard Turner Seager from a shell hole and taken him to Germany as a prisoner-of-war. Villagers sent food parcels to him when they heard news of his capture. The Germans put him to work cutting down trees but according to the Upchurch parish magazine he suffered foot sore from wearing wooden shoes, weakness due to lack of food and loneliness because of an absence of British servicemen to converse with. The Germans freed him at the end of the war. Later in the year John Searstree became the second Upchurch soldier to be captured and taken to Germany. He also survived and was freed at the end of the conflict.
As the numbers of Upchurch soldiers killed at the front increased, the body of Henry Thurley, a 21 year old corporal in the Buffs, was returned home in February and buried in the churchyard with full military honours. John Packer and Walter Hatton from Otterham Quay, Percy Hales from Horsham Farm, John Allen from Gore Bank, Bill Clark from Poot Lane, James Brown based at Chatham barracks and Edward Faulkner from The Crown pub were all reported killed. Up to August 1917 twenty seven Upchurch men had lost their lives in the war.
From July 1917 the bell ringers tolled the tenor bell in the church three times five for a sailor and three times four for a soldier. The age of the deceased was then rung. Families had to inform the church sexton Mr Giles about a war related death and give him a small fee for the bells to be rung.
On August 6th Seymour Wakeley from Rainham held a special tea in Wakeley Brothers Otterham Quay Granary for wounded servicemen from the Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham. About 100 people attended the event including Reverend Dicker and his wife. A committee led by Wakeley Brothers foreman Dennis Cheeseman organised it. After the meal sports events took place in the adjoining orchard followed by a hairdressing competition which apparently caused great amusement. After this songs, dances, music and games were held in the granary.
Annual events like the Empire Day celebrations in May continued to take place in the village. Unfortunately, in 1917 rain forced organisers to hold the event in the Infant’s School rather than on The Paddock. Ada Booty appeared as May Queen and Alfred Vant her consort. After pupils from the Infant’s School had performed dances, the flag was saluted and the National Anthem played. Mrs Hunter Dunn wife of the Bishop of Quebec then presented medals and certificates to pupils. She also donated £5 to the Memorial Fund. Later, on October 21st the Harvest Festival took place in the church when villagers contributed food items, mainly fruit, vegetables and flowers. Harvest offerings were given to blinded soldiers and sailors.
On December 16th 1917, the church held a memorial service for Tom Sifleet, killed on the Western Front while serving with the Buffs. Memorial services for Upchurch servicemen killed in battle were held in the church throughout the war.
According to the parish magazine of January 1918 decorations adorned the church at Christmas and carols were sung on Christmas Day afternoon and repeated the following Sunday evening as Upchurch residents prayed and hoped for an end to the war.
About David
David Wood was born and raised in Upchurch and is able to write from personal experience about many people and aspects of the village and of changes that have taken place over the years making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable book and a detailed historical study of the village. David's book ‘Memories of Upchurch’ is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + £3.50 postage and packing.
David Wood
