Tynedale in the Great War

By Brian Tilley

The remote moors and valleys around Hexham in Northumberland have been producing fighting men for countless millennia. From repelling invading Romans and Vikings, to locking swords with William Wallaces rampaging Scots, and the lawless days of the Border Reivers, the men of Tynedale have always rallied to the cause. So when Kitcheners call went out in 1914, Tynedales farmers, estate workers, pitmen and the gentry flocked to the colours in their thousands.Pitched straight into the front line against battle-hardened German troops just a week after landing in France in 1915, the Tynedale-based Territorials, the 4th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, acquitted themselves so well they received a personal commendation from the Allied Commander in Chief, Sir John French. And what of those who were left behind to face the constant threat of the sinister Zeppelins, escaped German prisoners lurking in the heather and the outraged accusations of shirking and cowardice?Extensive and painstaking research into the impact of the conflict on Hexham and the wider Tynedale district, both on the front line and on the home front, has produced this fascinating and absorbing account of a district at war.Letters back home from the trenches, soldiers diaries and reports in the local press paint a vivid picture of what it was like to face the withering fire of German machine guns, the choking clouds of poisonous gas and to suffer the devastating loss of fathers, sons, husbands and sweethearts, as tales of unbelievable heroism and Northumbrian humour abound.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jan 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473864009

Book preview

Chapter 1

1914 – The gathering storm

THERE WERE FEW men better at dispensing death from the back of a galloping horse than Charles Beck Hornby.

A military career spent mostly in India had made the Hexham landowner an expert at the arcane sport of pig sticking, when giant forest wild boar were pursued through the undergrowth on horseback and speared with a lance. The conventions of pig sticking dictated that ‘as a startled or angry wild boar is a fast runner and a desperate fighter, so the pig-sticker must possess a good eye, a steady hand, a firm seat, a cool head and a courageous heart’.

As such, it was encouraged by the army in India, and Hornby was one of its supreme exponents. It was also in India that Hornby earned his nickname ‘Butcha’ – not from his pig sticking exploits but from his youthful looks – butcha is Hindi for ‘Little One’.

The inexorable march of technology was already making warfare a more long distance and less personal pursuit by the outbreak of the First World War, and meant that the days of the cavalry charge were all but done. But Bangalore-born Captain Charles Beck ‘Butcha’ Hornby, of Sandhoe Hall, which stands overlooking the Tyne on the outskirts of Hexham, still had time to give the cavalry charge one last hurrah in the opening days of the war, and write his name into the history books.

For ‘Butcha’ Hornby is credited with spilling the first drop of German blood in hand-to-hand conflict of the war, as well as leading the first cavalry charge by British troops on European soil since the Battle of Waterloo 99 years earlier.

To call it a cavalry charge is perhaps a little grand, but what is true is that by the end of the skirmish early on the morning of 22 August 1914, Hornby’s cavalry sabre was decorated with German blood. Hornby was the 4th Dragoon Guards’ adjutant for three years from January 1911 and, on the outbreak of the First World War, he was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force as second-in-command of C Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards.

Captain Charles ‘Butcha’ Hornby, who drew the first blood in hand-to-hand combat in August 1914.

His place in the history books was reserved around 6am on 22 August, near the village of Casteau to the north-east of Mons in Belgium.

He wrote in his diary:

‘We received information that a cavalry regiment was west of Soignies and that two other encampments estimated at 3,000 each were in that same neighbourhood. Lieutenant Veniveux with one captain and one man was sent to Casteau Camp on a report that some of the enemy had been seen there and reported that a hostile patrol had commandeered two bicycles from the chateau of Gen Donny and had retired on Soignies. The squadron moved out of St Denis at dusk and lay in a field hard by ready to move – no fires, and no smoking or talking allowed. Moved again before daylight for shelter of a neighbouring wood, in the hope of being able to capture a hostile patrol in the morning. The squadron moved at 5.30am through a wood to Casteau Camp and there the horses were watered. It was just decided to send a patrol to Soignies when a group of German cavalry was seen coming down the road. An ambush was prepared but it was impossible to conceal all the horses in time. The German troop halted and then retired, pursued by the first troop under SSM Sharpe, and one or two men from the fourth troop.

‘A long chase of over two miles along the road resulted in the capture of three prisoners and the killing and wounding of several. Fourth troop came up in support, and into dismounted action against the main body of the enemy’s squadron, and caused them some loss.’

Hornby makes no mention of his own part in the charge in his diary, but there is little doubt that it was he who dealt the first of the mortal blows with his 1908 pattern trooper’s sword, for when he returned to barracks later, he handed the weapon to the armourer to be re-sharpened, with apologies for the German blood still on its blade.

Among those taking part in the charge was a reservist called Tilney, who wrote in 1932: ‘I followed the captain as he went down the right hand side of the road. He took a German on the point of his sword, just as I had seen the lads do at Shorncliffe with the dummies. I couldn’t have a hand in the fun, so I crossed to the other side of the road, and took on a chap with a lance, whom I captured.’

The German lancers – 4th Cuirassiers of the 9th Cavalry Division – were the advance guard of General Alexander von Kluck’s First Army, which was about to advance on Mons. They were not regular soldiers but, according to one account, ‘young Bavarian ploughboys’ who had only been conscripted into the army a few weeks earlier. One of the prisoners indicated he was very pleased to have been captured, as he would not have to play any further part in the war.

While Hornby made light of the incident, it clearly impressed arguably the most colourful soldier ever to wear British uniform, his great friend and commanding officer, Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC KBE CB CMG DSO, the man thought to be the model for the character of Brigadier Ben Ritchie Hook in Evelyn Waugh’s trilogy Sword of Honour. Of Belgian and Irish descent, he served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a PoW camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote: ‘Frankly I had enjoyed the war.’

In his memoirs Happy Odyssey, de Wiart wrote:

‘Butcha Hornby was one of my best friends. He had the courage of a lion, and a heart of gold. He was a very hard rider after pig and a fine polo player, but he never allowed himself to drift into semiprofessionalism as did so many officers. He had the distinction of being the first British officer to kill a German with his own hand. He was pursuing a German patrol and catching up with them. He hesitated, wondering whether he should put his sword through the nearest Hun. The Hun had no such hesitation, and attempted to drive his lance into Hornby, who then killed him with his sword.

‘A few days later Butcha received a severe wound in the spine and was never able to soldier again. It was a tragedy for the regiment, and real loss to the Army, for if ever a man had been marked out for success, it was Butcha. In my opinion, out of a wonderful lot of officers in the regiment, Butcha was the most outstanding of them all. He had a tremendous sense of duty and was that rare thing in a man, completely unselfish. His career as soldier finished, he brought to his mental and physical suffering all the remarkable courage he had shown in his active life – without a tinge of self pity or a word of complaint.’

Hornby was always destined for a career in the army as his father, John Frederick Hornby, was a colonel with the 12th Lancers. Born in Bangalore in India in 1883, he was educated at Harrow and went straight into the army at the age of 18 as an ensign in the 4th Dragoon Guards. Two years later he was promoted to lieutenant, becoming a captain in 1909. He saw action in the Second Boer War.

For his efforts at Casteau Captain Hornby was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, gazetted in February 1915. Just before the war he had married Dorothy Henderson, the daughter of his next door neighbour Charles Henderson at The Riding, Acomb, and became the grandfather of Charles Enderby, current owner of The Riding and chief executive of Hexham Racecourse. In the Second World War, Hornby was too old for active service, but did his bit by knitting balaclavas and other woollen items for the troops. It was noted that he knitted leading with the left hand, in the German manner – a legacy of the German governess of his youth. He served as a magistrate in Hexham for 25 years and lived until 1949.

There had been little hint of the horrors to come in the Hexham of early August 1914. Although the war clouds had been gathering over the Balkans for months, local newspaper the Hexham Courant was more concerned with the cost of street lighting in Corbridge, a flower show at North Wylam and a swimming race in the Tyne at Warden. It was therefore with some indignation that in the paper of 8 August, on page five – two pages after a debate on the advisability of allowing Sunday evening music in Hexham park, and how much to charge the operator of a switchback ride in the Market Place – the paper noted that Britain was at war with Germany. The leading article thundered:

‘Germany seems quite reckless as to the consequences of her actions. It would be futile to say how many nations of Europe will be involved ere the insolent author of it all, Germany, has been taught the lesson she so sorely needs.’

Fusiliers muster in Beaumont Street, Hexham, outside what is now the Queen’s Hall.

Men of the 4th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers march down Priestpopple in the town en route to the railway station.

Columnist Ariel added:

‘Some of the older generations may have recollections of the Crimean War, and a larger number will have fresh in their memory the outbreak of the Boer War. Yet I opine our townspeople have been more stirred this week than on any other previous occasion, watching the coming and goings of our citizen soldiers.’

Across the district, men were quick to volunteer for the army – and the farming community sent not only their workers, but also their horses by the hundred. The Abbey Grounds in Hexham were closed to the public so the Territorials could assess the horseflesh provided.

The Prudhoe detachment of the Northumberland Fusiliers stands ready at the town’s railway station.

On the day war was declared, the (Hexham) Company of the 4th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers was called up for service. They were joined at their headquarters in Battle Hill by the companies from Bellingham, Haltwhistle and Haydon Bridge – a muster of 271 men. Before leaving for their induction training in two trains, they were supplied with dinner at the Corn Exchange. The editorial comment in the Courant of 8 August read:

‘Deeply interested crowds watched patiently for hours on Tuesday night the going and coming of our citizen soldiers, to their HQ and to the Corn Exchange, their baggage being deposited at the last named place; while equally large crowds witnessed the departure of the Territorials for their destination on the following day. One must remember that the sons of the Heart of All England have always been noted for their loyalty and their patriotism.’

The excitement of the Territorials’ departure from Hexham was intensified when a fire broke out at the rear of the Gem Picture Palace. The flames spread to the neighbouring North Eastern and Black Bull hotels, which were saved by the actions of clientele chopping out burning window frames and dousing small fires. The Gem was burnt to the ground however, and total damage was estimated at up to £4,000.

The soldiers’ ‘ask and receive’ reading tent at Hexham, where Territorials could ask for everything from pins, needles and thread to postcards and writing paper.

Directors of the Mickley Coal Company announced that they would pay the wives of men in their employment serving in the forces 10s per week and 2s for each child. At Ovington hundreds of people turned out to cheer the local Territorials on their way, accompanied by the village band. The drill hall was packed with people singing lusty songs and waving Union Flags in a fervour of patriotism. Alas, the soldiers had turned up 24 hours too soon, and were all sent home to come back the following day.

The Duke of Northumberland, as Lord Lieutenant of the county and chairman of the county council, established a fund in the second week of the war as head of a committee comprising the High Sheriff, the chairman of the quarter sessions, and the chairmen of local authorities throughout Northumberland. The aim of the fund was fourfold: to the relief of distress to the civil population; the support of wives and families of those called to arms; aid to the sick and wounded, and other objects of a similar nature.

The duke kicked off the fund with a personal donation of £5,000 and a pledge of £1,000 a month thereafter. Viscount Ridley of Blagdon Hall also contributed £5,000 along with Thomas Taylor of Chipchase Castle, near Wark; while at the other end of the scale, the working people of the district were chipping in their shillings and sixpences.

At the same time, Lady Allendale launched a separate plea for support to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families Association (SSFA), and Mrs Straker of the Leazes established a committee of some thirty ladies to make garments for soldiers, for which there was a great need. They were asked to make shirts, dressing gowns, nightshirts, handkerchiefs and various hospital requirements. Department store Robbs of Hexham was quick to point out it had all the requisites for providing comforts for soldiers and sailors, from army flannel material to full nurses’ uniforms, including Sister Dora caps and aprons.

Tynedale Colliery announced it would be paying wives of servicemen 10s a week with a further 2s 6d for each child, and widows and mothers would also receive 10s. Pitmen at West Mickley agreed to contribute a penny a week towards a fund for the families of workmates at the front, with pit boys paying a halfpenny.

Hexham-based Tynedale Rugby Club cancelled all fixtures until further notice, as practically every