Harrogate Herald - 30th May 1917

To Our Boys on Service

Dear Chaps,

I had not space last week to refer to the death of Mr Ballard, late lamented master of Clifton House School. I should not like the opportunity of paying a tribute to his memory to pass. His death is a great loss to the educational interests of boys. He was one of those manly masters with a large heart and unfailing interest in the young. Further, he was a pattern of all that a man should be. The suddenness of his death adds to the distress of the tragic occurrence. Mr Ballard did not confine himself to his educational duties. One of the first promoters of the Boy Scout movement, he was untiring, initiating his charges into its principles. It was a pleasant and familiar sight to see him taking his boys for a walk, because of the comradeship which existed between them. Hundreds of men of the future will owe their intellectual and moral manliness to his example, for his life was one long strenuous endeavour on behalf of the young.

Frank Allen has been transferred from St George's to St Nicholas, where he has had a further operation. I am glad to say he is going on nicely.

Will my friend in Boulogne, who is good enough to look after Harrogate boys in hospital there, kindly send me his address, as I had the misfortune to mislay it? Trooper J Mawson (Dragoon Guards), 32 Stationary Hospital (E Ward), Wimereux, Boulogne, who comes from Shaw Mills, near Harrogate, is dangerously ill in that hospital I should be glad if my friend would send me the latest news respecting him. He is a brother of Mrs Matterson, Nelson Arms, Shaw Mills, Harrogate. My friend might write to Mrs Matterson direct, if he thought it preferable.

When Reff Laycock was in to see me last he was a private. He is now promoted to Sergeant.

Private James Charlton, son of Mr and Mrs Charlton, 25 West Park, of a Yorkshire regiment, has been missing since April 23rd. He was a signaller. I should be extremely grateful if you boys would endeavour to ascertain some news of him.. Naturally his mother is very anxious. I hope it will transpire that he is a prisoner, therefore alive. If that is the case it will probably be some time before we hear anything from Germany.

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of seeing the Quartermaster of the Beechwood Boys, who called in to see me. He said the boys would be very grateful for a gramophone so that they could have a little diversion when resting. I asked for it last Wednesday, and promptly received one, together with a goodly number of records. It has been despatched to the Quartermaster, but as it was Whitsuntide it may be delayed in transit. The donor's name you will find in the Gossip. I understand that the Beechwood Boys were the only lot to get their objective first time trying.

You can understand that when I saw the gramophone with its huge horn I was at a loss to know how to pack it. I happened to think of Mr Spinks, who is manager for Mr Harris at the antiquity shop in our building. Knowing his chronic good nature I asked his assistance. He made a box, packed the records and everything securely, and if you get them safely you have to thank him. Mr Spinks has a boy in the Navy. You will have seen his photograph some time since. He is shown chatting to a lady flag seller in the street. Now, this reads as if the despatch of the gramophone ran smoothly. It didn't. It was first put up in a strong crate and sent to the station. The railway people sent word it must go in a strong box, otherwise it would be smashed to atoms. It was repacked, but proved too heavy for military regulations. It was then repacked, in two boxes, and now has gone at last, I hope, safely. I am grateful to Mr Spinks for all the trouble he has so cheerfully taken, entirely for the sake of you, dear boys.

I hadn't much time to refer to Lawrence Shipman, who has been granted a commission in the regular Army. You will remember that for some time previous to that he had been doing very useful work as an instruction officer in the bombing school. I remarked at the time that the anxiety of that work was visible as a strained expression of the eye. I was pleased to see that he had recovered from this nerve tension, and was looking exceedingly well. He has two brothers in the Navy and one in the Army somewhere in the East. I am glad Shipman has obtained a commission, for he has worked hard throughout the years of his life in the regular Army, and thoroughly deserves it. I am sure his will be a brilliant career.

A very short time ago the Harrogate Tribunal reviewed our staff, and came to the conclusion that we had contributed all possible men. I hear this morning that one of them, Gill, has been called up for examination for about the fourth time, and passed for labour duty abroad. Well, there are several reasons why Gill may not be taken. In the first place his heart is not sound. He has been rejected I don't know how many times, and he has a large family, a wife, and another dependent, so that his pay would mean something substantial. Another reason; he is the only man who is capable of preparing stereo plates from which our newspapers are printed. Of course, he has the right to appeal again to the Advisory Committee, then to the Harrogate Tribunal, and on to the Leeds Appeal Tribunal. I hope all this will not be necessary, for he is doing work at home of more national importance than he could possibly perform as a labourer abroad. Apart from all that, on health grounds he is not at all suitable for that labour. You must understand that all exempted men have to be re-examined by a medical board, but it was not on the medical ground alone that Gill was excused in the first instances.

Of course, with hard-and-fast cast-iron regulations, all sorts of things may happen. I heard a strange thing the other day. A man was sent from Scarborough to a York Medical Board, in the charge of several people, who was a lunatic. On the face of it such a thing seems not only needless but absurd.

It is Sunday morning and most beautiful Whitsuntide weather. Bright sun, mild air, the town sparkling with radiance. At 2 o'clock yesterday we had news of the German aeroplane raid on the South-East Coast. Sixteen enemy aircraft, three brought down by us. Men, women, and children - 76 killed, 174 injured. We have recovered from the shock, and are once more composed. The town is very busy, and there are brilliant scenes in the streets, the chief feature being picturesque ladies in summer attire. You will recall the scene in your minds in remembering previous Whitsuntide's in Harrogate. Here, where all is so bright and clear, it is difficult to picture the smoke and din of battle in which you are so heroically fighting.

I told you last week that J W Jenkinson was ill in hospital (seriously so). Notice has just come from the military authorities saying that he is at 32nd Stationary Hospital, Wimereux, France, suffering from shell wounds in head, fractured skull. There is a footnote which says it is regretted that permission to visit cannot be granted. I take this as a good sign, because when there is no hope for a boy, his friends are summoned to attend his bedside. As I read it, he is not in such danger as that. I hope I am right in my deduction.

You remember Mr Douglas Blair. He is of what was the old York City Bank, now, I believe, the London Joint Stock. He joined on Monday the Garrison Artillery, and went that day to Ripon for preliminary training. You all know the George Hotel. Well, Mr Robertson, the manager, has also been called up. He put in his preliminary training as a private in Ripon. He has been moved elsewhere in a draft. Sam Hempsall, tenor, and Mr Willie Hudson, of Hudson Brothers, ironmongers, who are both in the Garrison Artillery, and training at Ripon, have been made bombardiers. Both were in Harrogate last week-end. Mr Hempsall sang the anthem, "Seek ye the Lord", at the Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning, much to the satisfaction of a large congregation.

The Harrogate concert party for the Front will not be going out just yet. To meet the expenses and to help in other concerts at the various fronts, Miss Ashwell will appeal at the Kursaal on the afternoon of August 4th for Harrogate's support. After the party is chosen to represent Harrogate, if there are other professional singers willing to go out in parties, some of them will be transferred to other groups. The sum necessary to be arranged for the expenses of the Harrogate party is £150. If more is received the surplus will be devoted to the other concerts, and they will be announced as given through the generosity of Harrogate people. I hope Harrogate will support the movement, for there is nothing much more important in he interests of you boys. these arrangements are being made well ahead. Even after the fighting has finished there will be many soldiers in hospital abroad who will need the solace and entertainment of concerts. So this work will have to continue after the war. Speaking of after the war reminds me that I have heard the first soldiers to return home will be those connected with agriculture. Of course it will take a long time to transport so many men to their final destinations. Certainly the need after the war will be products from the farm, therefore it seems to be a wise arrangement to send the farmer boys home first, to get on with their work.

When you find me talking about the end of the war you will imagine that I am in a very hopeful frame of mind. And so I am. I know you are likewise optimistic. To some it will come as a cold douche to read that the Americans are talking about from two to five years longer. I am firmly of the opinion that we can dismiss that idea at once from our minds. I know pretty well what the view of most of you is, and I agree with you. I am not going to venture on prophecy, I am quite content to "Wait and see".

Last week I mentioned the difficulty of finding accommodation in convalescent hospitals of Harrogate for all who want to come. I am glad to be able to tell you that since that time more Harrogate boys have been received, and I hope that others will be accommodated with very little delay. It would do you good to see the satisfaction always visible on the countenances of our wounded soldiers. During this beautiful weather they are able to get out, bask in the son and enjoy thoroughly the rest and comfort which the Harrogate hospitals and the town afford. The monotony of hospital life is broken for many very pleasantly. There are good people who continually ask little groups of soldiers to come and have tea with them or partake of some other hospitality. You can quite understand that when some of those boys are strangers to Harrogate it is a great joy to make these new and staunch friends. In fact, there is no abatement in the town's efforts for our dear soldiers. It is a great grief to us that petrol is so short the boys cannot have quite as many motor runs as we should like. They get some notwithstanding the shortage, but it cannot be done on very large or systematic scale.

You would be surprised at the smallness of the Herald last week, yet it was not so small as the one you received on a previous occasion, for there were eight columns more news in it. This week we are trying to enlarge again. You know the blank space between the pages we technically call gutters. Well, we are going to utilise all those this week and that will give us much more room.

The Mayoress of Harrogate, who is never idle where there is good work to be done, has taken charge of the flag days, of which there will be many this summer. I feel sure that the ladies of Harrogate will warmly second her by helping in the collection. You will readily understand that these occasions are hard days for the ladies and sometimes they are not received quite so sympathetically as they should be, which makes it a little unpleasant. I hope the public in future will make their work more agreeable and lighter by their cheerful response. And if they cannot respond they will, I hope, at least preserve an encouraging attitude.

Mr Middlewood, of 1 Duncan Street, New Park, Harrogate, would be glad to hear news of his son, Private Bernard Middlewood, who has been missing since April 4th last.

W H Breare