William Edward Chamberlain was born in Rushden on the 14th January 1898, the son of Charles and Caroline. He was their first child with subsequent births of Frances, commonly known as Cis, in 1899 and Joseph in 1904. For reasons unknown he was always referred to by his middle name of Edward throughout his short life which was curtailed by events on the Western Front in WWI.
He began school on 2nd May 1904 attending Alfred Street Infants. In addition to regular schooling Edward also attended the Sunday school at the grandiose Succoth Baptist chapel that was located in Rushden High Street opposite the Rose and Crown pub. This imposing building was demolished in 1969 after being closed in 1957 due to a dwindling congregation.
During his time within education, in 1910, he lost his father who died whilst travelling to Hunstanton where he was due to spend time recuperating from an apoplectic seizure which he suffered nine weeks earlier. His fathers famous last words as the train entered Hunstanton station were
Is this the journey’s end?. This fitting statement is by far the most appropriate sign-off ever uttered by a member of the Chamberlain family with their dying breath.
Edward was aged 13 when he left school on on 16th January 1911, the reason being recorded as
claimed exemption. At the time, the school leaving age was a mere 12 years old. However, schools charged fees in those times and it is considered that after the death of his father, the family would have had little in the way of income and the exemption would have been granted due to the family being declared poor. Edward was now been the head man of the house and had to assist in providing for the family. Documents from this period of time describe Edward as a plumber and it is assumed this was part of the family business. His father, Charles, had migrated to Rushden after being cast into the Linslade workhouse due to his own family being destitute. He was offered an apprenticeship as a plumber in Rushden and later built up his own decorating business. Therefore we can probably safely assume that at 13 years old Edward continued his late fathers business after having already acquired rudimentary plumbing skills that had been passed down to him during his formative years as any father likes to teach their son. The business certainly continued trading as it is listed in later years as Messrs Chamberlain, Plumbers and Decorators.
Three years after the death of Edwards' father, on 7th June 1913, his mother remarried to a salesman from Blyth in south-east Northumberland named Ernest East. Little is known about Ernest, although records do show he appeared to have a child from a former marriage that was placed in Alfred Street School. John Herbert East, being described as being under the care of Caroline Chamberlain, left the school in 1913 to return to Blyth. Between 1914 and 1917 Ernest and Caroline had three children, Fred, Doreen and Winnie.
It is not known what effect these family upheavals had upon Edward or how he took to his step father. What is recorded is the fact that on 25th October 1916, seemingly much against the family wishes, he volunteered as a Army Reserve, soon being drafted into the British Expeditionary Force the following January before being placed in the The Hawke Battalion later that month. The Hawke Battalion was an infantry division of the Royal Navy named after a former Naval Commander. Officially known as the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division it was an infantry division formed at the outbreak of the WWI and made up of members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who were not needed for service at sea. He was sent to fight on the Western Front.
During January through to March 1917 Edward was probably involved with the Operations on the Ancre in which the 63rd Division lost 549 casualties. During April and May of 1917, bouts of diarrhoea and Pyrexia, a symptom likely to be caused by infection and indicated by raised body temperature and fever, temporarily relieved him of duty, although it did not prevent him from immediately returning to his Division on the Western Front. However, a gas attack on the 5th August 1917 saw him invalided out of the battle scene to be sent back to the UK. Nothing is recorded about the type of gas that had been used in the attack, or specific effects which he suffered from. What is known is that it took him until November to recover which indicates that he missed out on the Second Battle of Passchendaele in which the Hawke Battalion was involved .
After recovering from the effects of the gas attack, Edward was drafted back into the British Expeditionary Service on 17th May, soon rejoining the Hawke Battalion on the 27th of the same month and being placed back on the Western Front. This stint lasted until August when his division was involved in the Third Battle of Albert which was opening push to the Second Battle of the Somme. This was a major attack to push back the German 2nd Army, who had captured the town of Albert. The battle lasted from the 21st to 29th August, with half the troops made up of what was termed as 'boy recruits' from England including Edward who was wounded in the head. He was admitted to the 29th Casualty Clearing Station in France. Casualty Clearing Stations formed part of the casualty evacuation chain that were manned by troops of the Royal Army Medical Corps. They were expected to treat a man in order to return him back to duty and were not a place for long term recovery. At this point in time the 29th was located at Gezaincourt, being stationed there from 29th March through to 27th September
Edwards' injuries were severe and on the 28th August, after only two days at the Clearing Station, he passed away, a mere 20 years old. The sister in the hospital is quoted as saying
He was brought into our hospital badly wounded in the head and very ill indeed. We did all we could for him, but he died soon after he came to us, on August 28th, quite quietly. He was unconscious all the time he was with us. His military records describe him as a lad with a fresh complexion with brown hair and brown eyes. It also mentions that he could not swim. It was also noted that he had a toe on his right foot amputated, no doubt from gangrene setting in caused by trench foot.
So much for the factual life history of Edward that has been gleaned from the records. There is also a personal family history and this is a word of mouth aspect where rumours and stories are passed down through the generations. William Edward Chamberlain was my Grandfathers brother but my Grandfather never uttered a single word about him in all the time I knew him. The only mention of this young man was from my Grandmother, and always out of her husbands earshot. She would occasionally relate the story of how this young kid in the family had lied about his age and got himself drafted into the army at the start of WWI. He was sent to the front and shot and that was it. He had just signed up, went to the front and was shot. Tragic was one of the words she used. Such a loss of a young life. It was a simple story and not often told, usually only provoked when she went through old family photos or memorabilia. She never told exactly who this person was, probably to prevent me asking curious questions to my gramp. Not much else was ever said in the family. It appeared to be a taboo subject.
It wasn't until very recently we, the grandchildren, have been able to piece his history together from documents and photos that have come to light in the family archives and from information available on-line. The most puzzling aspect of the whole story is that the family had always said that Edward had lied about his age when he enlisted. This was always a pertinent part of the story related by my Nan and always emphasized the fact that if he had not lied about his age he may still have been alive. It was almost some kind of unforgiven deed which resulted in little being spoken of him. It is true that many young lads, encouraged to do their duty to God and their Country, would fake their age in order to respond to Lord Kitchener's call of
Your Country needs you. Back in those days no proof of age was needed, if you looked old enough then you were in.
The requirements for any recruit to the forces at the time was that he had to be taller than 5 feet 3 inches and aged between 18 and 38. The age limit to serve overseas was 19. The fact is that Edward was 5 feet 5 inches tall, as shown on his Military Service records, and well over 18 years old when he enlisted and 1 week short of 19 when he was drafted into the British Expeditionary Force to serve overseas. We have his birth certificate so there is no doubt whatsoever about his age. Therefore the family story is at odds with the facts. This does make one wonder whether it was a family ruse to prevent him from enlisting. Maybe they were reliant on his income for the family to survive although as his mother had remarried this seems unwarranted. Maybe it was just a mother who did not want her son to be killed. Maybe she put the story about that he was not old enough in the hope that he would be sent home. It is a fact that in 1916, due to the numbers of under-age lads enlisting, the War Office made provision that if parents could prove their sons were under-age, they could ask for them back. In reality a lot were just held in camps until they reached the required age.
Whatever happened back then we shall never know. Maybe the long family silence was merely the fact that it touched a raw nerve, and to let Edwards' name rest in peace. There must have been some family respect and honour for this young man since his name has been handed down through every single generation of the Chamberlain family since. In addition, his name will not be forgotten as it is recorded on the Rushden War Memorial, he has a memorial inscription in Rushden cemetery and there is a headstone at the Bagneux British Cemetery, Gezaincourt in France, virtually the place that he died. The cemetery was begun in April 1918 after the close of the German offensive in Picardy therefore he was probably buried here soon after he died. His name also appears in the on-line records for the Hawkes Battalion and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and he has a dedicated page on the Rushden Heritage Website with extracts from local newspapers concerning his hospitalisation and subsequent death.
Therefore it is with honour that I write these words on the 11th day of the 11th month of the centenary of the end of WWI, that none shall forget William Edward Chamberlain.
References
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website - search of names
- Naval History.Net
- BBC Article How did Britain let 250,000 underage soldiers fight in WW1?
- Wikipedia Article British Expeitionary Force (WWI)
- Wikipedia Article 63rd (Royal Naval) Division
- Parliament website article - Extension to Education
- History Hit article - Facts about gas and chemical warfare in WWI
- Rushden Heritage page for EW Chamberlain
- Location of Casualty Clearing Stations
- The Middlebrook Guide to the Somme Battlefields, Mary Middlebrook, p312
- 2nd battle of the Somme
Updates
- 2018-11-11 Original post date
- 2019-02-18 add photo of war memorial inscription
