Hythe in the Great War

By Stephen Wynn

The book looks at the military aspect of the war, from the town's perspective, looking at such matters as how many men from the town had become casualties, year by year, and the knock on effect that had on their families. It looks closely at those mentioned on the towns War Memorial, and where relevant, their families as well, because many families had more than one son go off to fight in the war. It looks at the part the town actually played in the war, such as the British Armies School of Musketry and the number of men who were trained there before being sent off to fight in the war, and put in to practice what they had learned at Hythe.

Also explored is everyday life in Hythe, people simply going about their day to day existence and what constituted normality during war time.

On 25 May 1917, 23 German Gotha bomber aircraft carried out raids over numerous Kent towns including Hythe, where a total of 19 bombs were dropped, which by doing so, brought the war directly to the townspeople. If anybody needed reminding that there was a war going on, the events of 25 May 1917 were that and more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Apr 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781473865358

Stephen Wynn

Stephen is a retired police officer having served with Essex Police as a constable for thirty years between 1983 and 2013. He is married to Tanya and has two sons, Luke and Ross, and a daughter, Aimee. His sons served five tours of Afghanistan between 2008 and 2013 and both were injured. This led to the publication of his first book, Two Sons in a Warzone – Afghanistan: The True Story of a Father’s Conflict, published in October 2010. Both Stephen’s grandfathers served in and survived the First World War, one with the Royal Irish Rifles, the other in the Mercantile Marine, whilst his father was a member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during the Second World War.When not writing Stephen can be found walking his three German Shepherd dogs with his wife Tanya, at some unearthly time of the morning, when most normal people are still fast asleep.

Book preview

Introduction

The Cinque Port of Hythe is situated on the south coast of Kent. It is a small coastal market town bordering onto Romney Marsh, and is part of what is today the district of Folkestone and Hythe.

In the eleventh century, Hythe was such a prominent town that it was defended by not one, but two castles – both of which still exist to this day. Saltwood is today a private dwelling, and Lympne is used for functions such as corporate events and weddings.

Saltwood Castle.

Lympne Castle.

The town has the eleventh-century church of St Leonard’s, which includes a bone store, or an ossuary, one of only two surviving examples to be found anywhere in England. It contains some 2,000 skulls and 8,000 thigh bones. There is nothing gruesome about it; it was just the practice of the time for old skeletal remains to be removed to make way for new graves. In 1348 Hythe was struck by the Black Death, which remains to this day one of the most devastating pandemic outbreaks in the history of mankind.

According to Edward Hasted in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (1778-1799), a French fleet sat off Hythe in 1293 and proceeded to land some 200 men. Sadly for them, they were met by a group of townsmen, who were more than prepared to defend their families and town. In the ensuing fight, every one of the French sailors was killed and the rest of the fleet turned tail and returned to France, leaving their dead colleagues behind.

The town’s name originates in Old English and means haven or landing place. The Town Hall dates back to 1794. The town’s Royal Military Canal runs for twenty-six miles, from Seabrook, through Hythe, across the northern edge of Romney Marsh, to Winchelsea. It is more than thirty feet wide and was intended to repel invasion during the Napoleonic Wars.

At about the same time as the canal was built, so were several Martello towers along the coast. These were part of the same defensive system. They were formidable structures, with walls some thirteen feet thick, and big enough to hold twenty-four men and a large cannon on the top. The towers were never needed for the purpose for which they were built, but they were used extensively during both the First and Second World Wars as signaling stations and coastal defenses. Three have survived at Hythe. One has been a private dwelling for many years, the other two are owned by the Ministry of Defence.

The School of Musketry, which played such a big part in readying men for fighting on the battlefields of the First World War, dates back to 1853, when it was established by Lord Hardinge. It still exists today as part of the British army and is known as the Small Arms School Corps. It is responsible for maintaining soldiers’ proficiency with the use of small arms, support weapons and range management.

It’s first instructor, in 1853, was Colour Sergeant MacKay of the 19th Foot, and its first commanding officer was Colonel Hay. By September 1855 a Corps of Instructors had been established, consisting of 200 men. Once they were trained they did not remain at Hythe but were dispersed to the numerous depot battalions and regiments around the country, although three instructors always remained at Hythe.

Hythe School of Musketry.

Hythe School of Musketry.

CHAPTER 1

1914: Starting Out

Despite the outbreak of war, one of the main talking points for the townspeople in September 1914 was the commencement of the new Hythe bus service. The six new red buses were owned and operated by the Folkestone and District Road Car Company and allowed for a bus to run every thirteen minutes, but the intention was to have a bus running every ten minutes. The new number one route ran from the Junction Station, via Blackbull Road and Sandgate Road, to Hythe. The fare was 5d one way, with intermediate fares available at 1d, 2d, 3d, and 4d, dependent on the number of stops. The fare from Folkestone town hall to Hythe was 4d.

The war was bound to affect this new-found mobility eventually. In July 1916, with no end to the war in sight, petrol was rationed for the first time. The government introducing a fuel tax which doubled the cost of a gallon of petrol from 6d to a shilling. If the bus companies wanted to remain in business, they had no option but to pass on this increased cost to their customers.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer had somehow estimated that he would make £1 million from his new petrol tax, but he in fact made very little. Even if private car owners could afford to purchase petrol, there was little if any available. The only people who could obtain petrol were commercial concerns, such as bus and road haulage companies, doctors, vets, and sanctioned officials.

People used enterprising means to make their fuel allowance last that little bit longer. People added paraffin to their petrol, and even raided their drinks cabinets to add spirits such as gin and whiskey. Some managed to use coal or gas.

The Hythe borough magistrates bench sat on 11 August 1914. The Mayor, Councillor J.G. White, was chairman. The first case of the day involved a James Vidler, who did not appear in court. He had been summonsed for refusing to quit licensed premises when ordered to do so. Mr Chittenden, the landlord of the Duke’s Head Inn, gave evidence to the court that he believed Vidler had, subsequent to his offence, joined the army. The bench decided to adjourn the matter until the next sitting of the court so that it could be ascertained if this was so. The 1911 census shows a 16-year-old James Vidler living at 35 Frampton Road, Hythe, with his parents, his brother, his sister and his step-sisters. His occupation was shown as van boy. The British Army’s Medal Rolls index cards record three men with the name James Vidler, one of whom served in the Army Service Corps as a driver and who first arrived in France on 4 September 1915.

Some of the magistrates asked Police Sergeant Smith if any Special Constables were due to be sworn in that day. Smith said that he understood a meeting had been called to select suitable candidates. One of the magistrates mentioned that the previous day at Seabrook Court, twenty-four Special Constables were sworn in, none of whom were from Hythe. As if by magic, a Mr William Harold Fox suddenly appeared, requesting to be sworn in as a Special Constable. He had tried in vain to do the same at Dover and Sandgate but had been unsuccessful as both towns had sufficient volunteers already. Mr Fox was expediently sworn in as a Special Constable for Hythe.

Councillor John James Jeal then said that he thought Hythe was being dilatory where Special Constables were concerned. Mayor White did not concur, saying that as he saw it the people of Hythe were working very hard in various ways to help with the war effort on the home front and that he did not feel the townspeople were being at all dilatory.

A Mr Charles Blogg appeared before the court to answer a charge of being drunk and incapable. Police Constable Shepherd informed the court that at about 7pm on the evening in question he was on duty near the post office when he found the accused lying on the ground. As he was both drunk and incapable of looking after himself, he took the man into custody. Mr Blogg told the court he was sorry and had simply allowed himself to become a little over excited about the war. Police Sergeant Smith gave evidence that Mr Blogg was a respectable, hard-working man. The court gave the defendant the option of paying a fine, which included costs, of 2s 6d, or seven days imprisonment. He chose the fine and paid it immediately.

On 11 August 1914 the funeral took place of Mr W.P. Osborne at Horn Street Cemetery. He had died suddenly the previous Friday at the post office. The funeral was semi-military – Osborne had previously served with the Grenadier Guards. Since living in Hythe he had done casual work but due to poor health had been off sick. During the Christmas period of 1913 he had been employed as an auxiliary postman by Hythe Post Office, which is how he came to be in the post office when he died. Because of the war no gun carriage was available to take his Union-Jack-draped coffin to its final resting place, so a hearse collected it from his home at 23 Ormonde Road. The cortege was followed by two carriages and thirty-five members of the National Army Reserve under the command of Captain J.B. Tunbridge, six of whom acted as bearers. It was headed by the Hythe Town Band led by Mr George Griffiths, despite many of bandsmen having already been called up for war service. The band played Beethoven’s funeral march. A service was held in the cemetery chapel, conducted by the Wesleyan Reverend Whiting. Mr Osborne’s widow led the mourners, which included their son Philip, who was serving with the Royal Engineers. Mr Osborne’s elm coffin bore the inscription ‘William Philip Osborne. Died 7th August 1914, aged 43 years.’ There were numerous floral tributes from family and friends.

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and eight days later there was a meeting of the local Relief Committees held at Hythe Town Hall. The first meeting was that of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families’ Funds, chaired by Mayor White. Others present included Lady Ruggles-Brise, in her Red Cross nurse’s uniform. In a week the fund had received £108 1s in donations, while the General Distress Fund had raised £103. There was a discussion, led by the mayor, on what to do with the monies. The choice was to either keep and manage the funds locally in Hythe, or to send them to the central organization at Maidstone. Lord Harris felt it was selfish for the town to keep the funds for themselves. The secretary of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families’ Association said that he would have no difficulty allocating all of the funds to deserving cases within the town. The mayor, who had previously been in favour of keeping the funds in the town, on hearing what the centre had been doing, changed his mind, and stated that he was in favour of the monies being sent to the central fund. Lady Ruggles-Brise, whose husband was Major General Sir Harold Ruggles-Brise, was of the view that the people of Hythe would donate more money if they felt it was a local fund for local families.

Sir Harold had served during the Second Boer War, receiving his commission as a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in 1895. He received his first of ten mentions in dispatches for his work at Belmont on 22/3 November 1899. On 30 August 1911 he was promoted to colonel and appointed commandant of the School of Musketry at Hythe. During his tenure, the school went on to play a crucial role in training instructors who in turn taught the soldiers of the British army to shoot effectively. Their instruction was so good that in the early part of the war the Germans thought the British possessed large numbers of machine guns, when in fact they possessed hardly any. On the other hand he came in for criticism due to a delay in developing anti-aircraft machine guns. On 2 November 1914, during the First Battle of Ypres, he was badly wounded and sent home to England for treatment and recuperation.

Royal Garrison Artillery - Howitzer - Lydd.

Returning to the meeting in Hythe, Alderman Scott believed Hythe ought to distribute the monies they raised amongst their own needy families. The Reverend Dale was of the opinion that the money wouldn’t go very far as it was, so what was the point of sending it to the centre at Maidstone, he asked. The mayor pointed out that other places in Kent who had decided to send funds to the centre at Maidstone would be giving more than Hythe, while those places would not perhaps have so much distress in their midst. How he had arrived at that assumption was unclear. Towns and villages all over Kent would suffer tens of thousands of killed and wounded by the war’s end. After more discussion it was finally agreed that the monies would be donated to needy families of Hythe and be administered by a local committee.

At another meeting Mr Drake, the Town Clerk, confirmed that the General Distress Fund stood at £103 15s, and similar discussions ensued. It seems somewhat strange that just eight days after Britain had declared war on Germany, discussions were taking place about what to do with monies that had been raised out of public donations. It is abundantly clear that nobody had any real grasp of the enormity of what participating in the First World War would bring in the way of distress and hardship to thousands upon thousands of families.

A meeting took place at Moyle Tower Gardens on 13 August 1914 in support of Kitchener’s ‘Call to Arms’. It had been arranged by Mayor White, who was a farmer and a coal merchant and lived at ‘Springfield’ North Road. Nearly all the members of the council members were present along with many of the towns prominent residents. The mayor began by saying that the call to arms had been sounded across the country and he hoped that the men of the town would not be backward in coming forward to answer the call, as they had done in centuries past when the need had arisen to defend the nation. He then introduced Mr Henry Fielding Dickens, an eminent King’s Counsel and son of Charles Dickens. Dickens pointed out that this was a critical time in the nation’s history and every individual needed to stand up and be a true patriot. This was a time for people to be united and not allow themselves to be divided by class. He was proud of his father, not because he was famous, but because he was a man who was against oppression, a man who stood on the side of the weak against the strong. He appealed to the men of Hythe and the rest of Kent to answer the call to arms, as generations of gritty Kent men before them had done in similar times, and he hoped that this grit and determination