A year ago, I told the story of the Willett family of Great Dunmow, and how local photographer and newsagent, Arthur Willett, often took photographs of the town’s happenings, including the photo below, which he captioned as “Military Funeral 1/12/14”
At the time of my post, I puzzled over whose funeral it was, as it appeared to be a funeral of a soldier from the First World War, but the date of the funeral did not match any man on the Commonwealth War Graves’ Debt of Honour for 1914. Â An eagle-eyed reader of my blog spotted the answer in a book written by Great Dunmow’s local historian from the 1970s, Dorothy Dowsett. Â In her book Through all the changing seasons, hidden amongst Miss Dowsett’s considerable writings about the town and its inhabitants, is the answer to my conundrum.
The Military Funeral shown in the postcard was not that of a First World War casualty, but the funeral of a war veteran from the Second Boer War (1899-1902), Â Private William Gibson of the First Grenadier Regiment of the Foot Guards.
Private William Gibson, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was the first soldier to be give a funeral with military honours in the town. Â He died at the age of forty-six in 1914, and was buried at the parish church. Â During his service he gained the Khartoum Medal, the South African Medal (1901), the Transvaal/Cape Colony Medal and the Sudan Medal. Â William Gibson served in the London expedition of 1898 under Major-General Lord Kitchener.
1911 Census – Star Lane, Great Dunmow William Gibson, Head, Married, aged 39, born 1872 Essex Stebbing, occupation Gas Stoker.
Sarah Gibson, Wife, Married, aged 42, born 1869 Essex Dunmow.
Charles Chevallier, Stepson, Single, aged 15, born 1896 Essex Dunmow
Ivy Chevallier, Stepdaughter, aged 11, born 1900 London Lambeth.
Sarah Gibson (nee Sarah Mead, b1871-d1955) married William Gibson in 1910. Â Prior to her marriage, she had been married to a man with the wonderful name of Temple Edgecombe Chevaillier, who according to this website about the Mead family of Great Dunmow, either divorced or abandoned her by 1899/1901. Â If you are interested in seeing a picture of Sarah Gibson, wife of the Boer War hero, the first man to be given a military funeral with full honours in the Essex town of Great Dunmow, do take a look at the Mead family website.
Star Lane, Great Dunmow. Â Home of William and Sarah Gibson. Â If you know Great Dunmow, you will know that the lane is very much the same as it was in the early 1900s. Â The houses on the left are still there, but the tree has long since been cut down.
Follow-up December 2013:  Shortly after publishing this post, I bought at auction a series of postcards of Great Dunmow.  Amongst the postcards was another (different) photo of the 1914 Military Funeral.  My post Great Dunmow’s 1914 Military Funeral – A follow-up tells the story.
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It is a well known that during the Second World War (1939-1945), Britain prepared itself for the potential invasion of the country by Nazi Germany. However, not so well known is that during the First World War (1914-1918), with German Zeppelins flying over head in the skies above East Anglia and London, invasion by the Germans was also feared. Across rural East Anglia, various towns and villages set up Emergency Committees to inform and advise the population what to do in case of invasion.
Below is a leaflet written by Great Dunmow’s Emergency Committee informing the town what to do if the threat became reality and Germany invaded. The leaflet is dated January 1915, showing that fears of invasion had already been felt to be very real threat within the first 6 months of the Great War, and an evacuation plan had been drawn up.
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When I first starting writing this post, I thought I was writing about how three postcards showing Great Dunmow’s High Street, depict that the town did not change in a 25 year period between 1908 and 1932.  However, as I was writing my story, a mystery started to emerge, and, in unravelling this mystery, I realised that my postcards held the key to poignant story.  Instead of writing about an unchanging High Street, I was, to my great surprise, writing the story of an unknown soldier who had carried into the carnage of the Great War, a treasured photo of his home-town.
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Original post
Below are three postcards of Great Dunmow’s High Street – photos all taken from the location of roughly where the War Memorial is today.  Because the photos are so similar you would be forgiven for thinking that these 3 photos were all taken at roughly the same time.
High Street, Great Dunmow, 1908.
High Street, Great Dunmow, 1918.
High Street, Great Dunmow, 1932.
Look again. Â There are horse drawn carriages in the first two, but cars in the last. Â These three postcards show Great Dunmow’s unchanging High Street over a 25 year period – 1908 to 1932. Fortunately, all these cards have been postally used or dates written on the back so this information can be used to date them.
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Stop! The camera never lies! My rewritten post…
Can postmarks or dates on backs of postcards be used to date a photograph? Â Look closely at the first two postcards – the first was postally used in 1908 and the second was written on the back in 1918. Â They are almost identical – including the street sign left of the centre of the card and the extent to which the foilage has grown on all the trees and bushes. Â Modern technology has meant that by digitally scanning both these postcards the sign has been revealed and it reads
Staceys Noted Home Grown Tomatoes ? per lb
Stacey’s sign from 1918 postcard
Stacey’s sign from 1908 postcard
Whilst the 1908 photo is very fuzzy and almost undecipherable, it can (just) be made out that the sign has five lines (as does the 1918 sign) and the width of each line of text exactly matches each line on the 1918 sign. The fourth line down could quite easily be “TOMATOES”. It is possible that Great Dunmow’s nurseryman, Stacey, had the same sign in the same location 10 years apart.  But identical foliage and vegetation? Is this too much of a coincidence? In all respects, the two postcards seem almost identical but supposedly photographed 10 years apart.  This seemed very curious and so I investigated further…
The 1918 postcard was from the lens of Willett of Great Dunmow and is numbered 511.  The military photos on my post here, were clearly taken by Willett during the Great War and dated 1914, but have higher numbers – 830 & 853.  Our street scene postcard, written on in 1918, has a much lower number.  Therefore, our 1918 postcard certainly pre-dates the Great War and must have been written on some years after the photo taken.  This intrigued me, so, for the first time since I purchased this card, I read the back of the 1918 card:
Back of 1918 postcard
France June 10/6/18
This places [sic] is where Mrs L?y?e lives.
Please take care of these for me, all is well at present.
Much love to all
From Robert
By the time you receive this we shall be in action again.
Could the unreadable name be ‘Mrs Lyle’? In which case, Robert’s female friend was one of the Lyle’s of Great Dunmow, whose son, Hayden Stratton Lyle M.C. of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, although alive and well at the time of this message, was killed in action just 5 days before the Armistice.
Robert’s message, written possibly in the trenches during the slow days before battle, is so tantalising and raises so many questions which can never be answered…  Who was he writing to? What did he want the recipient to ‘take care of’? Why did Robert have a pre-war postcard of Great Dunmow?  The style in which his message is written gives very strong unwitting testimony that Great Dunmow was not his, Robert’s, home town.  If it was his home town, Robert would surely have said something similar to ‘This place is where I live’ – not his message ‘This places is where Mrs L?y?e lives.‘  So who had given him a postcard of Great Dunmow? Was it one of Mrs Lyle’s sons – Hayden, Robert or William – all of whom were in France/Flanders in 1918?
Had this postcard come from another unknown soldier, possibly a Lyle, who carried a photo of his much-loved home town into battle?
Whoever you were, Robert, and whatever happened to you, I salute you, and want you to know your postcard reached its home. Â 95 years to the day after you sent this postcard home from the battlefields of France, I am retelling the story of you and your unknown friend from Great Dunmow.
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Have you forgotten yet?
For the world’s events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heavens of life; and you’re a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same – and War’s a bloody game.
Have you forgotten yet?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you’ll never forget.
Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets.
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench
And dawn coming, dirty-white and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, “Is it all going to happen again?”
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads – those ashen-grey
Mask of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?
Have you forgotten yet?
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.
Remember the men of this place who died for freedom and honour A.D. 1914-1918
Percy Charles Archer: died 15 July 1917
John Lewis Pasteur Armstrong: died 22 June 1916
Frederick Attridge: died 9 October 1916 Frank William Bacon: died 4 December 1918
Amos Alfred Barrick: died 31 December 1916
George Henry Barrick: died 11 June 1918
Frederick John Bartley: died 26 March 1917
George Henry Beard: died 7 September 1916
Albert Brand: died 8 October 1915
Frederick J Burchell: died unknown
Alfred Richard Burton: died 5 April 1917
Harold Vincent Burton: died 22 December 1916
Thomas F Burton: died 29 November 1918
Edwyn (Edwin) Bush: died 24 April 1917 David William Button: died 8 December 1918
William Henry Carter: died 24 July 1918
Alfred Thomas Caton: died 13 April 1918
Frederick Chapman: died 6 December 1918
Frederick George Clarke: died 30 July 1916
Alfred Coates: died 21 May 1918
Stanley Richard Coates: died 2 September 1918
George Cock: died 4 January 1918
William Coppin: died unknown
Sydney Cox: died 13 August 1918
Albert Crow: died 1 November 1914
William Frederick Crow: died 5 October 1917
Benjamin Thomas De Voil: died 1 July 1916
Ernest Cecil Freshwater: died 8 May 1915
Arthur Edwin Greenleaf: died 3 August 1916
George Frederick Gunn: died 18 July 1917
Arthur Gypps: died 16 October 1917
Harry Hines Halls: died 26 March 1917
Ernest Edward Harris: died 8 August 1918
Frank Harris: died 21 November 1916
Leonard Melsome Hasler: died 21 September 1917
Stanley Howland: died 21 October 1916
Thomas David Jarvis: died 16 July 1916 Gordon Parnall Kemp: died 26 September 1917 Harold James Nelson Kemp: died 28 May 1916
George Henry Ledgerton: died 2 November 1917
Frederick James Watson Lines: died 12 December 1915
Frank J Lodge: died 26 March 1917
Arthur Thomas Lorkin: died 26 March 1917
Hayden Lyle: died 6 November 1918
Llewellyn Malcomson: died 5 October 1916
Leonard Frederick Mason: died 12 September 1918
Ralph Milbank: died 23 March 1918
George Nelson: died 3 November 1917
George William Perry: died 17 November 1916
Francis Louis Pitts: died 15 June 1915
Bertram James Porter: died 2 September 1918
George Rawlings: died unknown
Arthur T Reed: died unknown
Harry Charles Edwin Robinson: died 28 March 1918
Henry Alfred Robson: died 28 April 1917
Frederick Isaac Rootkin: died 22 August 1915
Frank Edward Sams: died 1 November 1914
William George Saunders: died 26 March 1918
William Sayer(s): died 29 March 1915
Harold Mackenzie Scarfe: died 3 May 1917
Charles Edwin Sewell: died 24 March 1915
Frank Sewell: died 18 May 1917
Sidney Sharp: died 1 October 1918
Walter Sharp: died 9 April 1915
Arthur Smith: died unknown
Sidney J Smith,unknown Victor Spurgeon: died 8 October 1918
Percy A Stock: died 9 December 1917
Arthur George Stokes: died 26 October 1914
Ernest Archibald Stokes: died 19 February 1919
Edward Charles Stone: died 23 August 1918
William Matthew Stovold: died 6 November 1914
Montague Beavan Tench: died 10 August 1916
Harry Turbard: died 12 November 1915
Joseph A Turner: died unknwon
John S Wackrill: died 12 October 1918
William Waite: died 11 July 1917
John Joseph Walsh: died 19 November 1917
Edward Warner: died 21 March 1918
Hubert John Welch: died 29 September 1918 Arthur Albert Willett: died 25 February 1916 Frank Willett: died 23 October 1916
James Wilson: died 10 September 1915
A Edgar Yeldham: died 10 November 1917
Arthur William Young: died 21 November 1915
Not on the town’s war memorial but commemorated
on the Congregational Church’s memorial Walter Vosper Jakins: died 10 July 1917
Buried in St Mary’s Churchyard but not
commemorated on the town’s War Memorial Charles Henry Parham: died 30 June 1918
C Spiers: died 7 November 1918
They whom this tablet commemorates, at the call of King and country left all that was dear to them to endure hardships and face dangers. And then passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice giving up their lives that others might life in freedom.
Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten
(War Memorial in St Mary’s Church, Dunmow)
The transcriptions below are from Great Dunmow Parish Council Minutes held by the Essex Record Office, Chelmsford – SEAX Catalogue D/J 88/2/1 (1894-1936).
Great Dunmow Wednesday 17th April 1918 At a meeting of inhabitants of the Parish of Great Dunmow called by the Rev W J House and W H Pace for the purpose of discussing the desirability of erecting a suitable memorial to Dunmow men who had fallen during the present war and held in the Church Schoolroom this evening there present:-
The Rev W J House, The Rev W H Pace Mr Wm Hasler (Chairmen of the Parish Council) and a large number of ladies and gentlemen, inhabitants of the Parish
On the proposition of J W King it was unanimously carried that Mr William Hasler take the Chair.
Mr Hasler suitably addressed the meeting and asked those present to put forward their views.
The Rev W H Pace spoke at length and moved that a war memorial of some sort be erected by the inhabitants.
The Rev W J House addressed the meeting and supported the Rev W H Pace, and moved that a Committee be formed with a view to providing a temporary institute at once and to take such steps as may be necessary to provide a permanent institute. J W King and many others also spoke and expressed their views, when, after considerable discussion, the proposals of the Rev W H Pace and the Rev W J House were, by consent of the Chairmen withdrawn.
The Rev W J House then moved that a committee be formed to consider what form the proposed shall take. This was seconded by J W King. Before putting this to the meeting J Gibbons and J V Mackenzie spoke on the resolution and L C Mackenzie moved an amendment that the whole question be adjoined until peace was declared.
The Chairman put the amendment to the meeting, which was defeated. The resolution was put to the meeting and was carried by a large majority. Resolved unanimously that a Committee of 25 ladies & gentlemen be appointed, with power to add to their number, the following persons were unanimously appointed:-
Mrs Armstrong Rumsey Tench Serfe Gibbons
Messers Rev W J House J V Mackenzie G Lowe W H Mills H W King F W Baldey Dr J H Gardiner J Newman Major Hasler R R Smith F J Nicholls H Rumsey L G Saville A J Mills J W Beard P Tyler H J Sewell Dr Tench A R Spurgeon
The Rev W H Pace kindly consented to act as Hon Secretary to this committee and to convene its first meeting.
A note of thanks to the chairmen for presiding <illegible> the meeting
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Thursday 3rd October 1918 –Â Proposed War Memorial The Chairman stated that the Committee appointed by a meeting of inhabitants to consider the question of a war memorial for the Parish had requested him to call another meeting of inhabitants and asked those present to fix a date for this purpose. After consideration it was resolved that the meeting be called on Friday 18th October 1918 at 7 o clock pm at the Church Schools, provided this date and time is suitable to the Rev W J House and W H Pace
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Dunmow 18th October 1918 –Â Proposed War Memorial At a meeting of the inhabitants of the Parish of Great Dunmow held in the Church Schoolroom on Friday the 18th Day of October 1918, to receive the report of the Committee appointed to deal with the question of War Memorial, there were present
Mr W Hasler J PÂ In the Chair The Rev W J House, M.A. & W H Pace B.D. and many ladies and gentlemen inhabitants of the parish.
The Notice calling the meeting was read
The minutes of the last meeting of inhabitants were read, confirmed & signed
The Report of the Committee was presented by the Rev W H Pace as under:-
The Committee elected, met on May 10th and asked the following to serve as co-opted members of the Committee:- Capt. Bacon, Lieut Col J Gibbons, Messrs E J Bond, A Bovill, A E Floyd, J Gibbons L C Mackenzie, F Robus, W O Sharp, J Smith, R Stacey, C L Suthery, W de Vins Wade & C Welch all of whom consented.
Messers J Bacon J L Livermore, J H Trembath declined. Miss Lyle & Mr E J Foakes did not reply.
The following offices were chosen:- Chairman Mr J Hasler JP Vice-Chairmen Dr J W Gardiner Treasurer Mrs C S Suthery Secretary Rev W H Pace
The committee met again on May 24th and listened to the Rev R L Gwynne who pleaded for a cottage hospital as a worthy memorial.
Dr Gardiner proposed the following resolution:- “That this committee sets before itself the task not only of raising a memorial to the Fallen, but also of commemorating and as far as possible perpetuating the spirit of self-sacrifice and co-operation in the cause of humanity, in which our country undertook, and is carrying on the war, in the hope of making the world a better place for men to live in. This was carried, as was the further resolution, moved by the Rev W H Pace. That an Executive Committee of six, in addition to the officers already elected be appointed to take steps for the building of a Social Club and the erection of a Memorial to the Fallen as the Dunmow War Memorial. The following were elected:- Mrs Armstong (who asked to be excused from serving) The Rev W J House, Messers J W Beard, E J Bond, H Rurnelly & W de Vins Wade.
The Executive Committee has met on four occasions. At the first meeting Mrs C S Suthery reported the receipt of the following generous offers to the fund for providing a Social Club, providing five others gave sums of ÂŁ500. Messrs Hasler & Clapham ÂŁ1,000, A Bovill ÂŁ500, W Hasler ÂŁ500. An offer for a house for sale in the town was made but not accepted.
Arising out of the question of framing an appeal for funds for the Social Club came a division of opinion as to what restrictions, if any were to be laid down for the running of the Club. The committee found itself unable to agree, and on Friday August 16th, the whole Executive resigned. The General Committee accepted the resignation and reformed the election of the new committee to this meeting.
The Chairmen addressed the meeting
The Rev W J House spoke and moved that the resignation of the Committee be accepted, this was seconded by the Rev W H Pace and carried mem con.
After further discussion it was proposed by the Rev W J House seconded by the Rev W H Pace, that new Committee be formed, with a mandate from this meeting to follow up the proposals of a Social Club, etc. Public Hall and memorial in Stone.
Mr J Trembath then addressed the meeting, and moved as an amendment that the whole question of a memorial be left over until the men now on Active Service return home. The Amendment failed to find a seconder.
The Chairmen put the Resolution to the meeting, which was carried with one dissenter.
After considerable discussion in which many took part, the Resolution appointing a new Committee was by general consent withdrawn, and it was proposed by F J Nicholls, seconded by A Dennis and carried mem con that the original Executive Committee be re-appointed with power to add to this number and that it be an instruction from this meeting that they are to confine their activities to raising the funds necessary for the proposed Social Club etc Public Hall and memorial in Stone and not to discuss questions of management and other details
It was further agreed that the Committee should report to another meeting of inhabitants before spending any money or making any commitments.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman for presiding terminated the proceedings
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Thursday 14th November 1918 –Â Proposed War Memorial A letter dated the 1st November 1918 from the Rev W H Pace Hon Secretary of the Executive Committee appointed by the Inhabitants was read and after considerable discussion it was proposed by J Gibbons and seconded by A J Mills that a Committee be formed to issue an appeal for funds to provide a suitable memorial in Stone to be placed in the centre of the town on some other spot that may be agree upon. On being put to the meeting six voted for the Resolution and one (the Chairman) against. Resolved unanimously that the Committee consist of three members of the council. Messrs A Dennis, J Gibbons A J Mill, three inhabitants of the town, The Rev W J House & W H Pace mr E O Davey ex officio membus. C S Suthery as Treasurer and L G Machenziie as Hon Secretary
Thursday 27th March 1919 –Â Proposed War Memorial Committee appointed
The Chairman then addressed the meeting on the question of the proposed War Memorial Hall & explained the position of affairs up to that date. After considerable discussion it was unanimously resolved that a Committee should now be appointed by this council to carry on.
Proposed by J W Beard seconded A J Mills unanimously carried that the following person constitute the committee and that power be granted them to co-opt
P Andrews Gardiner J N Tench A Southery C as Hon Treasurers Dennis A Hasler Wm Wade w de v Boyce Serg Major & Perry A as ex-service men Floyed A Hasler Major Welch Col J M Gibbons J Stacey R Turner
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Thursday 25th March 1920 –Â Proposed War Memorial Committee This committee reported as under:-
1. That the proposed scheme for a Town Hall and club be abandoned on the grounds that it appears to lack sufficient support both moral & financial having regard to the fact that only 120 houses out of 620 had responded to the appeal.
2. That public notice of this should be given by way of printed bills
3. That this Committee be retained to act & proceed to obtain a sum of at least ÂŁ1000 for the purpose of erecting a stone memorial to be placed on the Downs near the Doctors Pond or some other suitable suite.
4. That the public also be asked to subscribe towards a fund for the Club.
Proposed by F J Baldry seconded by W G Sell that the report of the Committee be seconded & adopted. Carried.
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Gt Dunmow 7th July 1921 Reports of Committees – War Memorial Committee
Col J Gibbons Chairman of this Committee gave a brief resume of the proceeding of same and a statement of the finances.
Draft Programme of the unveiling by Lord Byng on the 17th inst was submitted and also of the general poster inviting the inhabitants to attend.
Proposed by A Dennis seconded by L G Savill and unanimously carried that the report be received and adopted.
The Clark was instructed to order a suitable laurel wreath in order that the Chairman may place same at the foot of the memorial on behalf of the inhabitants.
Dunmow Memorial Unveiled by Bishop of Chelmsford and Lord Byng On Sunday the two war memorials to the 84 Dunmow men who fell in the Great War were publicly unveiled in the presence of large gatherings. In the morning the marble tablet in church was unveiled and dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford and in the afternoon the public memorial, a stone column erected in High Street, upon the open space at the bottom of New Street was unveiled by General Lord Byng of Vimy who resided for some years at Newton Hall, Dunmow, before removing to Thorpe Hall, Thorpe-le-Soken. The tablet in church, which is of beautiful design, was provided by the relatives of the fallen soldiers, and the public memorial in High Street was provided at a cost of £760 by subscription in the parish. The subscription totalled £1,073 and it was arranged that the balance should go to the Dunmow Social Club which was founded as a war memorial to be of use to the young men of the parish. Col Tom Gibbons D.S.O was chairman of the Dunmow committee with Mr C.S. Suthery (of Barclays Bank) hon tres., and Mr L C Mackenzie hon sec. The public memorial is a handsome triangular Portland stone column upon a circular granite base and upon each side there is carved in relief a cross. Upon the front panel of the monument is inscribed: “Remember the men of this place who died for freedom and honour A.D. 1914-1918”. The names occupy the sides of the column. Mr. Basil Oliver was architect for the memorial. Union Jacks were flying a half-mast over Dunmow, and half muffled peals were rung upon the church bells.
The Church Memorial The tablet in church which is placed in the south wall near the font is by Mr K Smith of Dunmow Monumental Works. There was a full congregation for the morning service, which was conducted by the Rev. W J House, vicar of Dunmow. The Rev John Evans, vicar of St Mary’s Colchester and formerly vicar of Dunmow, read the opening sentences of the burial service. The Rev B E F Mitchell M.C. curate of Dunmow served as Bishop’s chaplain. The first lesson from Wisdom 3 1-16 was read by Col Tom Gibbons D.S.O who commanded the 5th Essex in Egypt and the second lesson, St John 14 1-16 was read by the Rev R E F Mitchell. Psalms 15 and 121 were chantged. During the singing of the hymn “O valiant hearts” the Bishop and clergy proceeded to the south aisle where the Bishop released the Union Jack covering the tablet, and dedicated the tablet. The hymn “Soldiers who are Christ’s below” was sung during the return to the chancel and the Bishop ascended the pulpit.
The Bishop of Chelmsford said that service would live in their memories when other services were forgotten, because it touched their hearts and souls. The restless world needed re-assuring to-day that Christ was alive. No one who believed in God could be a pessimist, he must be an optimist. Men needed the proper perspective. He had been asked “What have we got out of the war?” and “Was it worth while?” From the point of view of pounds, shillings and pence it was all loss but no nation surely would plunge the world into a gigantic struggle for the sake of getting richer by commerce? All the trade of the world was not worth Dunmow men who had fallen, and there were millions fallen all over the world. We want to war for something higher then financial prosperity – for freedom, liberty, righteousness, justice – the things that counted. And now we had the victory the privilege purchased at so great a loss had to be properly used. Materialism was looming too large in the world. Had it been so in 1914 we should have lost the war. When in 1914 the Kitchener posters announced “Your King and country need you,” the men of Dunmow did not stop to ask if it would pay. The pay was only 1s a day, but the men left their homes without any thought of being paid. The same call was needed in peace as in war. Christ spoke today and said “I am alive; you cannot leave Me out without detriment to the world and yourselves”. The time was coming when Christian men and women would have to confess Him openly. For two thousand years men had been saying “Thy Kingdom come” but they never thought of communication between that prayer and public policy. The Christian would only have one kind of politics – that which would bring in the will of God. They should regard the ballot box with that idea alone. There was much talk in the world about death, but Christ had abolished death, the grave was a corridor into life. If we looked at death from the right point of view we could never be sorry for anyone who had passed beyond the grave. Of course, it was human nature to sorrow, but people should rejoice that their dear ones had gone to the region of growth and development. He believed in the communion of saints, and every Sunday morning when he went out on his work he could not help thinking that his late father was praying. “God bless John” as he did when he was a boy at home. When people got up beyond, they would almost laugh at how much they were worried about small things on earth.
Kipling’s Recessional was sung, and the service concluded with the National Anthem.
The tablet in church bears the following inscription, surrounded by a green laurel wreath, from which hangs a gilded Crusader’s sword, dividing the two columns of names of the fallen. “They whom this tablet commemorates, at the call of King and country left all that was dear to them to endure hardships and face dangers. And then passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice giving up their lives that others might life in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.”
The public memorial Lord and Lady Byng were the guests of Col and Mrs Tom Gibbons at Dunmow, and on walking up to the memorial the General was received by a guard of honour composed of local ex-Service men under Lieut A C Knight, Essex Regt. The 5th Essex Territorials under Lieut Hinton (Braintree) held a hollow square facing the monument and saluted General Bung who inspected both the ex-Service men and the Territorials. The General chatted with all the ex-soldiers, including one who had lost a leg. The children of the Sunday Schools were on the side opposite to the troops and the crowd gathered around. The Dunmow Town Band in Mr Floyd’s garden near the monument accompanied the singing of hymns. Among those present besides Gen and Lady Byng were the Countess of Warwick and the hon Mrs Maynard Greville, the Bishop of Chelmsford, the clergy and ministers, the committee and the Dunmow Parish Council. The service opened with the hymn “For all the Saints”. The Rev W J House, vicar, offered prayer, and the Rev W H Pace B.D (Chelmsford formerly Congregational pastor at Dunmow) read the Scriptures.
The Dunmow Record Col J M Welch, T.D., D.L. on behalf of the people of Dunmow offered Gen. Lord Byng a hearty welcome to Dunmow and thanked him for his kindness in attending to unveil the memorial. Dumow people knew Lord Byng not only as a great soldier, but also as a former resident and they remembered him as a kind neighbour, for whom they had the greatest respect. (Hear, hear). Out of a population of 2,800 Dunmow contributed 600 men to the fighting forces of the country during the war, and of that number he was glad to say that 418 offered themselves during the early stages of the war, when men were most urgently need, and before any form of compulsory service was introduced. There were 84 Dunmow men who fell in the war. Their names on that monument would serve to remind future generations of the duty nobly done and the sacrifice made, that our people might live in peace and freedom. They would further remind people that they had a duty to perform by their lives and conduct to be worthy of the great sacrifice made. (Hear, hear).
General Lord Byng then released the Union Jack by which the monument was enshrouded. He said they had met to pay a last tribute to the 84 Dunmow men who gave their lives in the great war, and to ensure that those names should be handed down to future generations. He asked the people to remember what the tribute to the fallen should be. They paid lip service by prayers and hymns, but was there not something more to be done in the way of tribute to the men who gave their everything for the nation? Would not the men who had fallen expect that in the future those who remained should try to fulfil what the fallen in the past did so nobly? It was the greatest thing a moral man could do to give his life for his country, yet it was a simple thing to do for it was simply in answering the call of duty that the men lost their lives.
Great and simple These 84 Dunmow boys did a very grand and a very simple thing, ought not those who had got through the 4½ years of war with their lives to try to carry through what those boys made the sacrifice for – to preserve and continue their country as a prosperous whole? They must not only pay respect to the dead. They must also fulfil the object to attain that for which the boys who had fallen gave up all the blessings of this life. The time was now to consider if the ambition of the boys who gave all to make this country happy and better for the war could not be realised. With those words he would leave the people to consider what was in front of each one to do now and in the future.
The hymn “O God, our help in ages past” was sung, and the Bishop of Chelmsford, having dedicated the memorial said there was a right and a wrong way to re-make England after the war. Those who had served in the war knew that England could not be put right with cannon and rifle, and did not want to see the horrors of war in France and Flanders brought home to the women and children of England. A better way was by service and sacrifice. The war was not won by dividing class from class, but by all classes working together. England must be rebuilt sanely and soundly to be made worthy of the comrades who had gone. The Bishops asked the boys as the passed the memorial to doff their caps to their fathers and brothers who had fallen. God had carried us through the war and He could bring us the peace to our native land, so that all the loss and sacrifice endured should not be in vein.
Col Gibbons read the deed conveying the memorial to the Dunmow Parish Council, and the Chairman, Mr J W Beard, accepted the memorial on behalf of the parish and hoped that peace would remain among all nationalities. Buglers sounded the “Last Post”. The Bishop of Chelmsford pronounced the Benediction, buglers sounded “Reveille” and the proceedings closed with the singing of the National Anthem.
Relatives then placed floral tributes on the monument. Lieut Lockwood, 5th Essex, in uniform, placed a laurel wreath tied with the Essex Regiment colours, black, blue and yellow from the 5th Essex Comrades’ Association; Mr W R Siggers placed a wreath from the Dunmow branch N.A.D.S.S and Mr A B Perry placed a floral tribute from the Dunmow Priory Lodge, R.A.O.B.
Dunmow MEMORIAL TABLET.-A memorial service for the members of the congregation who fell in the War was held at the Dunmow Congregational Church on Sunday morning, when a memorial tablet, bearing the names of the men, was unveiled by the Pastor (the Rev. W.H. Pace). The tablet of green marble, has been erected by subscriptions from members. It bears the inscription: “In ever grateful remembrance of Fredierick Attridge, Alfred T. Caton, Walter V. Jakins, Ralph Milbank, Frank L. Pitts, Arthur T. Reed, William G. Saunders, H. Mackenzie Scarfe, Victor Spurgeon, A.Edgard Yeldham, John S. Wackrill, of this congregation, who yielded up life in the Great War, 1914-1918, for our sakes.” The Paster made felling allusion to the occasion, and the choir sang the anthem, “What are these?”. Kipling’s recessional was also sung.
Mrs H Spurgeon, The Avenue, Great Dunmow, Essex, England
My dear wife and sonny Received card this morning, Monday. Please to hear you received order. Thank you very much for it and it is very nice. I have sent you one of the Sherwood Foresters I thought perhaps you would like one. Please to hear you are both quite well. I am also. Have you received my letter about Xmas. We saw the New Year in and enjoyed our selves. Do you remember last year how we all enjoyed our selves. Did you hear from any of them this Xmas. Kindly remember me to them and all of them. Will write later. Wishing you a happy New Year from Harry
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Harry’s younger brother, Lance Corporal Victor Spurgeon, the baby of the Spurgeon family,  of the 11th Battalion of the Essex Regiment died aged 28 in France on 8th October 1918 and is commemorated on the Vis-En-Artois Memorial in Pas de Calais.   The memorial has the names of over 9,000 men who fell in battle from 8 August 1918 to 11 November 1918 who have no known grave.
Victor is commemorated on Great Dunmow’s War Memorial.
Great Dunmow’s War Memorial
Victor’s name is immediately underneath the first join
Their Name Liveth For Evermore
1891 Cenus – High Street, Great Dunmow Spurgeon, Herbert J, Head, aged 42, born 1849 Stambourne, occupation Corn Factors Assistant
Spurgeon, Ann M, Wife, aged 40, born 1851, Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Grace A, Daughter, aged 16, born 1875 Warboys, Huntingdonshire
Spurgeon, Kate G, Daughter, aged 14, born 1877 Warboys, occupation Dressmakers Apprentice
Spurgeon, Harry B, Son, aged 12, born 1879 Warboys, occupation Scholar
Spurgeon, Ernest H, Son, aged 10, born 1881 Warboys, occupation Scholar
Spurgeon, Mabel J, Daughter, aged 7, born 1884 Broxted, occupation Scholar
Spurgeon, William G, Son aged 3, born 1888 Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Victor, Son, aged 0 (9mths), born 1891, Great Dunmow
1901 Census – New Street, Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Herbt, Head Widower, aged 52, born 1849 Stambourne, occupation Late Coal Agent
Spurgeon, Harry, Son, aged 22, born 1879 Warboys, occupation Printer
Spurgeon, Ernest, Son, aged 20, born 1881 Warboys, occupation Clothier’s Assistant
Spurgeon, Mabel, Daughter, aged 17, born 1884 Broxted, occupation Housekeeper
Spurgeon, Wm, Son, aged 13, born 1888 Great Dunmow, occupation Butcher’s Apprentice
Spurgeon, Victor, Son, aged 11, born 1890 Great Dunmow
1911 census
Household of Herbert Spurgeon is not in the 1911 Census – perhaps he was dead by 1911.
1911 Census – High Street Great Dunmow
Spurgeon, Harry Burton, Head, aged 32, born 1879 Warboys, occupation Printer
Spurgeon, Mary, Wife married 5 years, aged 28, born 1883 Great Dunmow
If you know the town and shops of Great Dunmow, then you will know of the newsagents, A Willett & Sons, next to The Saracens Head. Even today, the signage and frontage of the shop is old fashioned and harks back to a more distant time in Great Dunmow’s past. Many of the real photo postcards of the high ways and by-ways of Great Dunmow’s Edwardian past have the name ‘Willett Dunmow’ printed on the bottom left corner.
The Edwardian shop of A Willett and Son (on the left) – on the right, the road leads onto Market Hill and then out towards Church-end. Â
During the Great War, Arthur Willett often ‘popped’ out of his shop, took a few steps to the junction of the High Street and Market Hill and took photos of soldiers marching through his town. Â Below are two photos from his camera – from the serial numbers on the cards and the date of the second card, the first card would have been taken in the Summer of 1914 (note the leaves on the trees and the straw boater hats worn by some of the crowd).
I did wonder if these were the Sherwood Foresters (the Notts & Derby) who are known to have marched into Great Dunmow from Harlow in 1914.  However, from the Notts & Derby’s accounts, the Sherwood Foresters first came through Great Dunmow between  16 t0 18 November 1914 but looking at the trees and straw boater hats, this photo had to have been taken during the Summer months. Update March 2014: I am now convinced that these are the Staffordshire Yeomanry, who had, for some reason, marched from Bishop’s Stortford to Great Dunmow – see the bottom of this page for more detail.
The soldiers playing their flutes are turning left and so are about to head down Market Hill, so were probably marching onto St Mary’s Church nearly 1 mile away.  I have not been able to trace whose funeral this is.  There is not a casualty buried in Great Dunmow’s church on the Commonwealth War Grave’s Debt of Honour who would match with the date of death of November 1914.  It could possibly be a Sherwood Forester, as they had marched into Great Dunmow 16-18 November and only left the area on 28 December 1914.  However, whoever it is, they are not on either Great Dunmow’s War Memorial or the Commonwealth War Grave’s Debt of Honour as the dates don’t match any casualty buried in St Mary’s churchyard.
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1916 was a terrible year for the newsagent Arthur Willett and his wife Sarah, for they lost two sons to the Great War.  Arthur Albert Willett, aged 25, of the 6th Battalion Essex Regiment died of wounds in a military hospital on 25 February 1916, and was buried in his parish church, St Mary the Virgin, Great Dunmow.  Younger brother, Frank Willett, aged 20, of the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment was killed in action on the Western Front and died on 23 October 1916.  Frank has has no known grave and so is commemorated on the vast and overwhelming Thiepval Memorial.
Both brothers are commemorated on Great Dunmow’s War Memorial – their inscriptions on the memorial facing down the High Street and towards their father’s shop.
Great Dunmow’s War Memorial with the names of the Willett brothers
Update March 2014:Â The 2nd postcard down (Willett’s number 830) has been the subject of much debate between myself and another local historian as to which regiment this was. Â I am of the firm believe that it is not the Notts & Derby (the Sherwood Foresters) who arrived in Great Dunmow later on in 1914 (I have a postcard of them parading in the Market in November 1914). Â A copy of Willett’s #830 postcard exists with the postmark of August 1914. Â That well known auction site a few years ago had a Willett postcard showing troops in Great Dunmow, with the postcard labelled by Willett as being the “Staffs. Yeomanry in Dunmow, Aug 31st, 1914”. Â The Staffordshire Yeomanry spent 1914 billeted in Bishop’s Stortford. Â I have another postcard from a soldier billeted in Bishop’s Stortford in 1915, possibly a soldier of the Staffordshire Yeomanry (he was writing home to his folks in Staffordshire) about his duties whilst he was billeted in Stortford. Â Is my mystery card of soldiers marching through Great Dunmow, the Staffs Yeomanry? Â They are certainly coming from the direction of Bishop’s Stortford and are marching in the direction of Church End. Â If so, what were the Staffs Yeomanry doing in Great Dunmow when they should have been in Bishop’s Stortford?
From The Times, 13 December 1918: CAPTAIN FRANK WILLIAM BACON, 1/5th Essex Regiment who died on December 4 aged 36 was the youngest son of Mr James Bacon of Olives, Dunmow, Essex. A good cricketer, Captain Bacon at the outbreak of the war, was a second lieutenant in the Essex Territorials and was promoted captain of the 1/5th Essex Regiment early in 1915. He went out to the Dardanelles, and was at the Suvla Bay landings, where he was wounded and invalided home. He rejoined his regiment in Egypt. He was wounded in the first battle of Gaze in March 1917, and for the third time in the following November; he died from the effects of his wounds. He was a most popular officer. He married on August 7 last, Zennil, daughter of Mr G Grimes of Hook, Hamps.
From Essex and Herts Observer, 14 December 1918: DEATH OF A DUNMOW OFFICER The death occurred on 4th December, of wounds received in Palestine, of Captain Frank William Bacon, youngest son of Mr James Bacon of Dunmow.
Captain Frank William Bacon, of the 1/5 Essex Regiment was educated at Felsted School from January 1894 to July 1900 where he played on the Cricket XI from 1899-1900.  Lt Col Tom Gibbons’ book With 1/5 in the East (1921) recounts that Frank served with the 1/5 Essex Regiment from 23 July 1915 to 2 November 1917 and was wounded twice: 26 March 1917 and 2 November 1917.  The latter injury during the 3rd Battle of Gaza was described by Gibbons: ‘As I entered Rafa redoubt I was surprised to meet Frank Bacon being carried out, his foot badly shattered by a bomb. He was too much knocked about to stop and question as to how he got there, but the situation was gradually cleared up by further enquiry…‘
Captain Bacon returned home to recover from his injuries where, during the final months of the Great War, he became a member  a committee set-up to establish a War Memorial in Great Dunmow.  Sadly, after succumbing to pneumonia, he became one of the men of the town to be commemorated on that very same memorial.
Frank is commemorated on Great Dunmow’s War Memorial.
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Harry Payne’s postcard of the Grenadier Guards
1914-1918
Mrs H Spurgeon, The Avenue, Great Dunmow, Essex, England
The Edwardian shop of A Willett and Son (on the left) – on the right, the road leads onto Market Hill and then out towards Church-end. Â 
I did wonder if these were the Sherwood Foresters (the Notts & Derby) who are known to have marched into Great Dunmow from Harlow in 1914.  However, from the Notts & Derby’s accounts, the Sherwood Foresters first came through Great Dunmow between  16 t0 18 November 1914 but looking at the trees and straw boater hats, this photo had to have been taken during the Summer months. Update March 2014: I am now convinced that these are the Staffordshire Yeomanry, who had, for some reason, marched from Bishop’s Stortford to Great Dunmow – see the bottom of this page for more detail.
The soldiers playing their flutes are turning left and so are about to head down Market Hill, so were probably marching onto St Mary’s Church nearly 1 mile away.  I have not been able to trace whose funeral this is.  There is not a casualty buried in Great Dunmow’s church on the Commonwealth War Grave’s Debt of Honour who would match with the date of death of November 1914.  It could possibly be a Sherwood Forester, as they had marched into Great Dunmow 16-18 November and only left the area on 28 December 1914.  However, whoever it is, they are not on either Great Dunmow’s War Memorial or the Commonwealth War Grave’s Debt of Honour as the dates don’t match any casualty buried in St Mary’s churchyard.
Men of Essex Recruitment Poster 
Above photo from Dorothy Dowsetts book 
