In 2018 the Village remembered the end of the First World War 100 years earlier. Frank Hartley wrote an article for the village magazine to complement the various activities that went on to remember the events of that year, as well as other post-war events. Tis article is reproduced here as it appeared in the November 2018 edition of the Village Magazine.
The month of November is upon us and it is on Sunday the 11th that, along with villages and towns throughout the land, our two villages of Church Lawford and King’s Newnham will be honouring all those who fought, and particularly those who fell, in the Great War. On that same day one hundred years ago, under the terms of the Armistice, hostilities ceased after 4 years 3 months and 1 week of warfare. Our two villages lost 8 of their sons in the course of battle.
The Armistice marked the start of a period of transition from war to peace. It should be borne in mind that an armistice, as such, is not synonymous with a Peace Treaty and represents simply a suspension of hostilities; essentially it is a truce – a state of war still legally exists. It should be noted that the British naval blockade of Germany, which restricted the supply of food to the civilian population, was continued until the signing of the Peace Treaty. The Peace Treaty which formally brought an end to the war, the Treaty of Versailles, was signed on the 28th of June 1919, five years to the day since the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo which set off the chain of events that led to war.
Readers will be aware from information in this magazine, and from other sources, of the arrangements made to commemorate Remembrance Sunday 2018 in the villages. All those who have worked hard in organising the events, which I am sure will be well attended, are to be commended for their public spirited efforts. In this article I would like to look at a few events which took place in the two villages in the period immediately following the cessation of hostilities and the subsequent Peace Treaty, and also to draw the attention of readers to a curious and probably little known phenomenon, which makes Church Lawford rather special at this time.
The death occurred on Thursday 30 October 1918, at Devonport, Devon of the Rev. Joseph Pleydell Driver, who had been vicar of Church Lawford from 1901 to 1907 and had, therefore, been the spiritual helmsman steering the villages through those spacious Edwardian summers which in that changed world of 1919, would have seemed almost a distant memory. In recognition of his services, the flags in the village flew at half-mast. Rev Driver was born in Kineton in October 1847, ordained priest in 1879 and held a curacy at St Paul’s Leamington Priors from 1879 to 1882, in which latter year he obtained a living at St Mary’s Parish, Worcester. In late 1901 Rev Pleydell Driver exchanged livings with Rev S W Frost, the vicar of Church Lawford, and thus became the incumbent of our village. By all accounts he seemed to be a diligent and dedicated pastor who was particularly admired for his preaching ability. Latterly, in his incumbency, he appears to have suffered from ill-health and tendered his resignation in 1907. He preached his valedictory (farewell) sermons on December 22 of that year. It was reported thus:- “At the evening service there was a larger congregation than has been seen there for some considerable time. No doubt, some came out of curiosity, but all in the expectation, which was realised, of hearing the last sermon from the lips of the Rector. All who have heard him preach during his six years residence in the village are unanimous in saying that he is the ablest preacher there has been in this village in the memory of any of its inhabitants… Although at times almost overcome by emotion, he preached a pathetic and heartstirring sermon. At the close of the service, the Rector and Mrs (Amy) Driver stood at the church porch and shook hands with members of the congregation as they passed out wishing them, “Good-bye and God’s blessing”. The departing cleric received the gift of a gold watch and his wife, a pencil case from his ever generous parishioners. The terms of the Armistice Agreement of November 1918 required the release of Allied prisoners of war (the agreement did not require the release of German POWs) and two Church Lawford prisoners of war, Clarence Beers and Harry Billingham are reported to have returned home by Christmas of that year. Pte. Beers, a former porter at Coventry station, had seen “wounded in the head and foot when taken prisoner. Pte. Billingham had received a leg wound whilst a prisoner and commented that his chief food had been “black bread and not very much of that”.
Following the signing of the Peace Treaty in June 1919, Church Lawford held “Peace Festivities” in the Village Public Reading Room as the weather was wet. The main organisers were Mrs Daniels and Mrs Gurney assisted by the Townsend sisters of King’s Newnham, Mrs Cullen, Mr Cooke and Mr Smith. Around 200 diners attended and enjoyed a wholesome tea followed by games and dancing until 11pm. The music was supplied by Miss Riley and Mr Pincham. The speaker at the event was Mrs J W Townsend who spoke on the theme of “Victory and Peace” during the course of which she asked her audience to “keep in mind what would have happened if we had not had victory and to think of the fate of those countries which had been invaded by the enemy”. I have found that perception of the war to be typical of the early post – war period. One hundred years later we tend to focus on the horrors of the war (and there is no shortage of these!) to the exclusion of the sense of a victory won. It is worth remembering that the terms “Victory” and “Peace” were often coupled in newspaper reports of the period.
Finally, as promised, I come to the curious Church Lawford “thing” which, from a 1920s perspective unashamedly points forward to the future. The concept of “Remembrance” implicitly and, quite properly, faces the past but of course nothing ever remains the same. Winter gives way to spring, new growth replaces the old.
There was a mood of optimism in the early 1920s which looked forward to a new era in a “land fit for heroes”. The war had been fought and fought successfully, in order to preserve our way of life and protect the future for our children and that mood of optimism is captured beautifully in a couple of newspaper reports of July 1920. The Peace Treaty had ushered in a new genre – “the Peace Babies”. It referred to those babies born after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. They represented the future, a future for which our soldiers had died on Flanders fields and the battlefields of France – “for our tomorrow they gave their today”. As individuals, those men could never be replaced – each one was a unique human being; but in the lives of those post-war babies the fruits of the sacrifice that the heroes made would be realised. Yes, that applies to all children but what was needed most of all was baby boys to replace the numbers. And this is where Church Lawford comes in, for, of the ten babies born in the first twelve months following the Peace Treaty, no less than nine were boys. This fact captured the interest of the local press. The reports are worth quoting.
The Advertiser’s reporter traced every one of the ten children and described them as “handsome specimens of babyhood”, “healthy and thriving”, “bronzed and brown” and “without exception, full of life and wearing the smiles of contentment that denote healthy upbringing”. He notes that, “Church Lawford people feel that they have well done their duty to their country in bringing such youngsters into the world”. We are told that nine of the fathers served in the war and the other served in reserved occupation. Who were these super babies? Thomas William Dumbleton was a “particularly fine and well-proportioned youngster of 4 months of “sturdy appearance and cheery mood”. Herbert William Perry, was a boy of “brightness and vitality”. Cyril Davies was the latest addition to the family of Mr Mrs W G Davies being the “most recent of five – all boys”. There was also Frederick Percival Dumbleton, son of Mr And Mrs F Dumbleton, Albert Edward James Hutchings and the latest arrival, a son to Mrs G H Whiteman. “Boys have also been born to Mrs Cresswell, Mrs Arnold and Mrs Goode”.
Let us not forget the villages’ female Peace Baby”, Doris Maud Billingham. Peace Babies” were also born to Mrs Earp and Mrs Smith in King’s Newnham but are not included in statistics. The nearest rival to the “testosterone village” of Church Lawford was Dunchurch with 17 boys out of 24 children born. The incidence of the preponderance of post-war male babies is the subject of scholarly research which there is not space to document. Perhaps we should limit ourselves to interpret it symbolically at this time of remembrance. Our village lost 8 brave men in the Great War who could not as individuals be replaced. In the 30 months following the Armistice 9 boys were born who would in their own individual ways fill their places. Village life, in its myriad ways, would continue in Church Lawford.
Frank Hartley