This Week in World War One, 1 November 1918

02/11/2018 by Northumberland Archives

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 1 NOVEMBER 1918

Berwick Officer Severely Wounded

LIEUT. ALF. M. HUFFAM

We regret that we are not able to record much improvement in the condition of Lieut. Alf. Huffam, West Riding Regiment, son of Mr and Mrs Huffam, 119 High Street, Berwick, who was admitted on the 12th October to a Casualty Clearing Station in France, suffering from a wound in the face, and a severe wound in the back.

His brother has written home stating that though his condition has not shown much improvement, he is cheery and seems determined to get well again. We earnestly trust this determination will pull him through, and that next reports will be favourable.

Liuet. Huffam; who in civil life was a coach builder in Berwick, enlisted in the earliest stages of the war in the local battalion of the N.F. After training, he proceeded to France and came safely through the Second Battle of Ypres, and subsequent operations at Hooge, and on the Somme. He was recommended for a commission, and about a year ago was gazetted to the West Riding Regt. Since then he has seen heavy fighting, and has been mentioned in despatches. His younger brother made the supreme sacrifice last year, and other two brothers are in the N.F. Lieut. Huffam’s father was for over twenty-one years with the Royal Highlanders, and on leaving the Army was for some years a Volunteer Instructor.

The many friends of the wounded officer, especially those with whom he has associated in the Baptist Church Bible Class, wish him a speedy and thorough recovery.

War News

Military Cross for Berwick Officer

SEC. LT. JOHN STUART HARVEY

We extend our heartiest congratulations to Lieut. John Stuart Harvey, Worcesters, second son of Mr and Mrs S. G. Harvey, Railway Street, on his being awarded

A WW1 Military Cross similar to that awarded to Lieut. Stuart Harvey.

the Military Cross for gallantry.

Lieut. Harvey joined up in 1915 as a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers, and was recommended for a commission before proceeding to France with his

regiment. After service in France he was brought home to undergo his course, and was later gazetted to the Worcesters. He took part in the masterly retreat conducted during the German offensive in March last, and when the record of how he earned his decoration is published, we believe it will be for gallantry there.

Lieut. Harvey served his apprenticeship with Messrs Johnston and Darling, Berwick, but at the time of his enlistment, he was on the staff of Messr Donaldson and Company, seedsmen, Edinburgh. We trust he will be long spared to wear his honour.

War News

Mrs Sutherland, Berwick, has received the following letter from a friend of her late husband, Sergt, Laurie Sutherland.

Dear Mrs Sutherland, – I want to just write you a note about your husband. You will longer this have received word from the War Office as it has taken me a long time to find out particulars about him. He was up with me moving the battery forward on the night of the 30th Sept., and was unfortunately wounded by a mine going off on the road. I had left him but a few minutes to go on with some other lorries and did not know of the occurrence until he had been dressed and taken to hospital by the other men with him. As we have been moving forward every day I have not been able to get any news of him until I got an official note of his death three days afterwards on a hospital train.Those with him said that they did not think he was dangerously wounded and his death has come as a great shock to us all. He was not only one of the best sergeants that I have ever known, but as a man he was the finest that it has ever been my good fortune to work with. He was liked and respected by everyone. All this sense of loss that we feel is nothing compared to your irreparable loss, and I and all his old comrades wish me to send you their deepest sympathy. He has died as he always worked, so that the children of today and of tomorrow may not know the awfulness of war. It is, I know, but poor consolation to you and to his little girl of whom he so often spoke, but he has not died in vain. He leaves behind the splendid memory of a great hearted man. Please accept most sincere sympathy in your terrible loss. Yours very truly, FRED RANDALL.

SPITTAL COUNCIL SCHOOL

CHILDREN’S SALE OF WORK ON BEHALF

OF WAR CHARITIES WEEK

A successful Sale of Work organised by the scholars of Spittal Council School under the guidance of their teachers, took place in the school on Saturday afternoon. A big crowd of parents and others interested in the School made a lively scene, the Central Hall being quite filled.

The various stalls were as follows:-

Work Stall – Mrs Clements, Mrs Burn, Miss Lee.

Doll Stall – Jenny Martin, Agnes White, Barbara Wood.

Golliwogs, Beads, toys – Roberta Johnson

Guessing Stall – Two chickens, a cheese, two cakes, etc – Ella Martin

China and Glass Ware – Miss Dickinson

Jumble Stall – Miss Millar, Eta Dumble

Dip – Lizzie Johnson

Vegetable Stall – John Rutherford, Robt.Wood, Matthew Holburn, Alex. Patterson, William McLeod.

Door Keeper – Miss J. Wood

Parisian Tea Rooms – Miss Noble, Miss Johnson, Miss Borthwick, Miss Wolfe.

Mrs J. Campbell made the tea and was of great help. The largest of the classrooms made a delightful tea room.

Spittal School in the early 20th Century.

We were specially amused with the boys in charge of the Vegetable Stall. This was not a sum to work, it was not even playing at shops; it was real buying and selling. A customer appears, goods are displayed, real weights and measures and scales are used, real money is handed over and there is no discount.

The most optimistic expected to draw about £5 and we can imagine how surprised and delighted all were when the headmaster, Mr T. W. G. Borthwick announced that the nett proceeds amounted to £25. The parents and inhabitants of Spittal deserve the greatest praise for having given of their best and spared no expense to enable their children to do credit to their school in the various efforts to make “Children’s Day” a success.

Local News

The collection of plumstones and nut shells organised by the Patriotic Fund and kindly assisted by local grocers and greengrocers, is about to be sent to Government headquarters. Any contributions should be handed in without delay, and will be thankfully received. The proceeds, as our readers are aware, are used in the manufacture of gas masks, and the object should therefore appeal strongly to those who appreciated the value of such protectors of the lives of our men in the trenches.

Under sad circumstances the death has occurred of Mrs Reap, married quarters, wife of Private J. W. Reap, K.O.S.B., at present on active service. Mrs Reap, who is a daughter of Mrs Lough, West Street, died suddenly after a short illness, and leaves a family of seven children. Unfortunately the relations found it impossible to get into touch with Private Reap, and although funeral arrangements were delayed until Saturday, 19th, he was not present, and as yet no word had been received from him.

This Week in World War One, 20 September 1918

20/09/2018 by Northumberland Archives

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 20 SEPTEMBER 1918

The Late Lieut Clements

GERMANS ERECT CROSS TO UNKNOWN HERO

We sincerely regret to learn that Mrs Clements, Spa Well Villas, Spittal, has received the sad news that her husband, Lieut. R. C. Clements, N.F., who was previously reported missing, is now reported to have been killed in action. Lieut. Clements joined up early in the war and had considerable service in France as an N.C.O. with the N.F.’s before receiving his commission. He had only been at the Front a few months on the second occasion when he was called to make the supreme sacrifice. Local people will remember what an enthusiast he was in many branches of sport with which he was so prominently connected. The scholars at Spittal Council School (where he served so ably as assistant master) will be sorry to know that he who cared so much for their welfare has had to pay the great price for the liberty they enjoy. We extend to Mrs Clements and her little daughter our deepest sympathy in their most distressing time.

TRIBUTE BY MR BORTHWICK, SPITTAL

Mr T. W. G. Borthwick, headmaster of Spittal Council School, has forwarded us the following particulars regarding Lieut. Clements:-

The news of the death of Mr Robt. Clements, Second Lieut., N.F., was received with regret and sorrow all over the district. In Spittal, especially, where he lived and was so well known, respected and loved, the sad event was the only subject of conversation, evoking universal sympathy for Mrs Clements and her little daughter in their great bereavement. A little more than a month ago Mrs Clements was informed that her husband had been transferred to an Irish Regiment, and later the news came that on August 8th, the first day of the great advance, he was missing.

BRO 1828-1 Lieutenant R.C.Clements bottom right.

He had gone out on a scouting expedition accompanied by three of his men and none had returned. As our troops were advancing, the general opinion was that the whole party had been made prisoners. On Friday night, Mrs Clements received letters from the Colonel and two officers who state that when the regiment arrived at the village of Vieux Berguin the bodies of the three men who accompanied Mr Clements were found lying beside a grave in a secluded corner of the village. Over the grave was the inscription “To an unknown Hero.” The officers opened the grave and found the body of Mr Clements. Death, they say, must have been instantaneous as the head was badly shattered by a bullet, but the badges and other tokens showed without doubt that Mr Clements had been buried here by the Germans. The body was reverently re-interred in the little cemetery of Vieux Berguin.

His brother officers speak of him as a brave and fearless soldier, and this is proved by the fact that Mr Clements had penetrated into the German lines much further than anyone expected.

The death of Mr Clements is a very great loss. Goodhearted, generous, cheerful, full of humour and at the same time gentle and sympathetic, no wonder everybody liked him. To the many hundreds of boys who have had the privilege of being his pupils he was more than a teacher. They worshipped the very ground he walked on; waited to escort him home from school at night, and hung around his house door to walk down to school with him in the morning. They clung to him like needles to a magnet. What shall I say of him as a teacher? Mr Clements was a man of great natural ability and his initiative and individuality were great assets.

The whole community in Spittal mourns his loss; many were moved to tears when they heard of his death.

Mr Clements was the oldest of three assistants who have served in this school. The two younger men, Mr Roy Hunter, and Mr John M. Tate, both university graduates and fine men have been killed. They were not so well known as Mr Clements, but their memory is held in loving respect by all who were associated with them.

I had hoped that Mr Clements might have been spared to us, but all three are lying out there on the field of honour in France, three brilliant young men whose memories will be cherished by their colleagues and hundreds of older scholars of Spittal Council School.

After his death, Robert’s wife Minnie and their daughter, Nancy stayed in Spittal. Minnie continued to teach at Spittal School which their daughter also attended. Nancy won a scholarship and eventually moved away from the area. However, in the 1970s, she returned to Spittal. In 1982, she presented Spittal School with the Clements Cup in memory of her parents and the family’s long connection with the school

LOCAL NEWS

Captain R. C. Richardson was decorated by the King at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday week with the Military Cross. He has had a month at Aldershot, and at the end of a fortnight’s leave expects to go to France.

The Distinguished Service Medal has been awarded to Lieut. William Douglas Baird Thompson, M.C., D.L.I., for having showed great courage and determination in holding the line, which was the left flank of the battalion, and not in touch with any other unit, beating back every attempt of the enemy to advance. After dusk he restored the situation by his energy and fearlessness. Lieut. Thompson is the son of Mr Wm. Thompson, shipping agent, Newcastle, and grandson of the late Mr and Mrs Richard Thompson, Cheswick Farm, Goswick. Mrs R. Thompson was a Miss Fawcus of Charlton.

BELFORD

Mrs Cuthbert, High Street, Belford, has received official news that her only son, Priv. R. Cuthbert, has been wounded and gassed and admitted into hospital in Birmingham. In civil life he was a butcher employed by his mother, and on attaining his 18th year joined the colours. He put in a few months training, and afterwards sailed for France in the beginning of this year. He has our best wishes for an early and satisfactory recovery.

Private John Scrowether, husband of Mrs Scrowether, West Street, Belford, has now spent four long years in a German prison camp. Jack was an old soldier and was called up at the outbreak of war, and was sent to France almost immediately. He took part in all the early battles of the war, and fought till taken prisoner in the battle of the Aisne. He is going on well and by his photo looks exceedingly well, through having had to work very hard. He has our best wishes for an early return

This Week in World War One, 23rd July 1915

08/03/201824/07/2015 by Northumberland Archives

BERWICK ADVERTISER, 23rd JULY 1915

GRAND DISPLAY AT SPITTAL COUNCIL SCHOOL

WOUNDED SOLDIERS ENTERTAINED

The Headmaster of Spittal Council School (Mr T. W. G. Borthwick) has received the following letter, signed by 54 wounded soldiers who were entertained by the scholars and members of the staff a week ago:-

Improvised Hospitals,

Berwick-on-Tweed.

2^nd July, 1915

We, the undersigned wounded soldiers from the Expeditionary Force in France, at present quartered in the above hospitals, wish to convey our most sincere thanks to the children of Spittal Council School for the most enthusiastic reception they gave us on Wednesday afternoon, and also to the staff of the School for their kind attention and for the hospitable manner in which they entertained us to tea.

We all enjoyed ourselves immensely and thoroughly appreciate the kindly thoughts which prompted the invitation extended to us.

It is an afternoon we shall all remember with very pleasant thoughts wherever we may be.

No. 1227 THOMAS KELLY EVANS. P.P.C.L.I.

Here follow the signatures of 54 soldiers with name of regiment, rank, and number.

This letter will be carefully preserved as a memento of a very pleasant afternoon.

A sum of £1 8s 1d was collected on behalf of the local fund for wounded soldiers.

On Thursday afternoon, July 8^th, and in the evening the display of dancing and Swedish drill was repeated.

The boys, cleverly trained by Mr R.C. Clements, gave an additional act of physical exercises, and were very successful with a series of three “pyramids”. The smartness of the boys has been a general subject of conversation, and has won the admiration of experienced soldiers.

Miss Millar, Head Mistress of the Infant Department, desires to be congratulated for the pretty items rendered by her tiny pupils.

This school was the first in the district to give a display of Morris Dancing. In the recent display a new feature was introduced by the girls, who gave a choice selection of “Old English dances.” On all hands the opinion is very favourable towards the inclusion of this branch of physical exercises.

Many of the girls were most graceful dancers; in the “Gavotte”, however, the stately movements were interpreted with unusual skill, and the result was an artistic success. Miss Noble’s large class of girls in their “Scotch Red” caught the patriotic fancy of the large audience (including kilted soldiers), and the item was received with loud applause.

A Morris Dance, the most amusing thing on the programme, was undertaken by the younger boys and girls in charge of Miss Johnson, Miss Dickinson, and Miss Hayden. The boys were dressed in long hats, and from beginning to end, the quaintness of the zest with which the children themselves entered into the spirit of the dance kept the audience in fits of laughter.

Morris Dancing today is still popular with both the young and old. Photograph Ralph Jenson, Creative Commons attribution 2.0 generic license — Morris Dancing today is still popular with both the young and old. © Photograph Ralph Jenson, Creative Commons attribution 2.0 generic license

Miss Borthwick showed unusual ability at the piano; indeed the musical part of the programme was of a high order. This lady also deserves credit for the arranging of the artistic sets of Old English dances and the Gavotte.

The display took place in the school playground, and as the weather was warm and sunny there was a large audience. Seats were provided at a charge of 3d each, and it was gratifying to notice that some of the wounded soldiers had come over from Berwick to see the children again.

The large audience especially the visitors to Spittal was struck with the happy hearing of the scholars, the very pretty dresses of the girls, and the general appearance of neatness and cleanliness of such a large number of school children. The turnout reflects great credit on the mothers of Spittal.

In the afternoon the Rev. A. Alexander, M.A., at the close of the programme, after expressing the thanks of the audience, said that the scholars were not only clever and well trained in physical exercises, but the school had done well in the recent County Scholarship examination. Eight boys in the borough were successful, and of these the 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th places in order of merit fell to Spittal Council School. (Loud applause.)

The school has already done well in providing comforts for our wounded soldiers in local hospitals. The proceeds of the second display go to provide gifts for the Spittal men who are now serving in the Navy or Army.

Mr R. C. Clements, amid general regret, especially on the part of the boys, has now left the school and taken up duties at Alnwick in the 7^th Northumberland Fusiliers.

Mr John Martin Tait, B.Sc., the other assistant, has been serving since March as 2^nd Lieut. in the 10^th Battalion N.F.

BERWICK PETTY SESSIONS

Bright Lights – James Cuthbert, butcher, Berwick, was charged with disobeying an order to obscure the lights of his house at 11.25p.m., on the 17^th July. Defendant did not appear. Sergt. Moor said that at the time stated he saw the lights shining right across the street. He called defendant and showed him the light. Defendant said – You only want something to talk about. Witness told him to shut the door or shade the light, and defendant said he would put it out as he was going to bed, but it remained for another fifteen minutes. P.C. Welsh corroborated. The Chief Constable said defendant had called the previous night to say he could not get to Court. He expressed regret that he had offended. Fined 5s. Mr McCreath said if other cases of a similar nature came up they would be more severely dealt with.

BAdvertisr 23 July 1915 Tyneside Scottish Advert RESIZED larger — Berwick Advertiser 23 July 1915, Tyneside Scottish-Advert

BERWICK PLAYHOUSE

“The Playhouse.”– The good audiences this week have been sufficient testimony of the excellence of the “Playhouse” programmes. Jack Duncanson, the famous basso and entertainer has nightly delighted the audiences and he cannot but be pleased with the welcome he received on his re-appearance in Berwick. The bioscopic side of the programme at the beginning of the week was all

Charlie Chaplin 1915 Creative Commons License PD US

that could be desired, while commencing on Thursday, the feature will be “Harry the Swell” which is a drama enthrilling, exciting, and sensational. “Lovers Luck”, a side splitting Keystone comedy will also be shown. A solo will be given at each performance by one of the members of the orchestra, and it is a new feature which is greatly appreciated. A good programme billed for next week when the vaudeville turn will be “Carvel and Dora” in a novel act entitled “The Ventriloquist and the Maid”. The bioscopic feature at the beginning of the week will be “The Dare-devil Circus Queen” which is a most thrilling episode of circus life. It shows one of the most sensational acts ever performed by a film actor. The heroine on a horse mounts the roof of a car of a gigantic pleasure wheel and is hoisted 300 feet. There is no fake connected with the wonder, and the act is one to be seen to be believed. For the second part of the week the feature will be “In Peace and War”, which as a war picture is very interesting in more ways than one, for the subject is dealt with from some novel standpoints. Interest in the film is maintained throughout and the photographic scenes are splendidly laid. The public favourite, “Charles Chaplin” is to appear in “Champion Charlie”, a two-reel comedy. In this picture Charlie is seen at his best in a boxing match.