It was our pride and pleasure to mark the installation of the 104th CWGC official headstone in Radnor Street Cemetery in September 2021.
The headstone marks the grave of William John Nurden, a former blacksmith’s striker in the Great Western Railway Works, Swindon. On December 11, 1914 he was killed whilst serving as a Lance Corporal in the Wiltshire Regiment. He was working on the Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway (also known as the Bulford Camp Railway) at Newton Tony when he was killed crossing the railway line whilst on duty.
A team from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission installed an official headstone on the unmarked grave of William John Nurden, more than 105 years after his death.
Members of his extended family joined us at the Service of Remembrance in November 2021. We hope you will join us for the Remembrance Service this year during which a plaque dedicated to Mark Sutton will be unveiled. The service takes place around the Cross of Sacrifice at 2 pm Sunday November 12.
Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers with the CWGC team and the newly installed official headstone
Fred and Emily’s boy didn’t have a grave, so they made a memorial for him in Radnor Street Cemetery.
Fred and Emily married in middle age. He was 45 and she was 41. They had both been previously widowed. Emily had a daughter Elsie Louise, Fred doesn’t appear to have had any children by his first wife. And then along came little Fred. Was he the apple of their eye? Was he their pride and joy?
Fred was a Lance Corporal in the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment when he was killed in action on May 30, 1918. He was 19 years old. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Soissons Memorial.
Emily died in December 1926 and is buried with her first husband John Williams in plot number A2494. Fred died in February 1932 and is buried with his first wife in plot number B2331.
The memorial to their son stands on Emily’s grave.
The original British Expeditionary Force crossed the Aisne in August 1914 a few kilometres west of Soissons, and re-crossed it in September a few kilometres east. For the next three and a half years, this part of the front was held by French forces and the city remained within the range of German artillery.
At the end of April 1918, five divisions of Commonwealth forces (IX Corps) were posted to the French 6th Army in this sector to rest and refit following the German offensives on the Somme and Lys. Here, at the end of May, they found themselves facing the overwhelming German attack which, despite fierce opposition, pushed the Allies back across the Aisne to the Marne. Having suffered 15,000 fatal casualties, IX Corps was withdrawn from this front in early July, but was replaced by XXII Corps, who took part in the Allied counter attack that had driven back the Germans by early August and recovered the lost ground.
The Soissons Memorial commemorates almost 4,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom forces who died during the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne in 1918 and who have no known grave.
The memorial was designed by G.H. Holt and V.O. Rees, with sculpture by Eric Kennington. It was unveiled by Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon on 22 July 1928.
I was coming out of my apprenticeship in August 1914 and I knew I would soon be out of a job. They were laying men off at the Works and wouldn’t be taking on any newly qualified boilermakers.
Then England declared war on Germany and I enlisted with the Wiltshire Regiment the following week.
That was my reason for joining up. Other men had other reasons. Many enlisted because it was the right thing to do, God was on our side. Some joined up to be with friends and family. Others saw it as an opportunity to travel beyond the confines of Swindon and see a bit of the world and anyway, it would all be over by Christmas, that’s what everyone believed.
My mate Norman Lynes didn’t have an option. He had previously served with the Middlesex Regiment and was on the reserve list. Perhaps he had a different attitude to warfare, having already experienced it. I doubt whether he had a different attitude to being killed. We all wanted to come home. He wouldn’t have been any different.
Norman was reported missing following the attack on ‘Bully Wood’ during the Somme offensive in September 1916. Everyone knew what that meant; he had been killed in action, yet his death wasn’t confirmed until a year later – a year later! Then his mother placed a plaque on his father’s grave. It’s quite worn now; you can still read the words taken from his last letter home.
There’s no victory without sacrifice.
I didn’t want to make that sacrifice and I bet Norman didn’t want to either.
The facts …
Frederick Jesse Lynes married Ann Glover at St Mary de Lode, Gloucester on August 23, 1877. By the time of the 1881 census Frederick and Annie were living at 34 Catherine Street, Swindon with their daughter Maud aged 2 and five months old Frederick John.
Frederick was employed as a Steam Engine Maker and Turner at the GWR Works and by 1891 the family was living at 23 Carr Street, their home for more than twenty years. Their youngest child Norman was born there in 1892 and baptised at St Mark’s Church on February 22, 1892.
Frederick died in December 1904 and was buried on December 15 in grave E7187, a plot he shared with his mother Caroline who had died eleven years earlier. On his headstone is inscribed ‘for 25 years a member of St Mark’s Church choir.’
Frederick and Ann’s son Norman enlisted with the British Army at Hornsey on September 11, 1914. His attestation papers reveal that he had previously served in the 10th Middlesex and that his time had expired. He was 23 years and 11 months and a tall man, standing 6ft 2 and a half inches. With a chest measurement of 36 inches his physical development was described as good.
Norman served in Gibraltar and Egypt for seventeen months before being posted to France where he served for four months. On October 22 he was officially declared missing and on July 26, 1917 it was accepted that he was dead, his death assumed on or since September 1, 1916.
TF/200776 Private Lynes (1/7th Middlesex Regiment) name appears on the Thiepval Memorial Pier and Face 12D and 13B.
On September 20, 1921 Annie took receipt of her son’s medals – the 1914-15 Star and the British War & Victory Medals.
The 1/7th Battalion Middlesex Regiment served with the 167th Brigade, 56th (London) Division. They were on the Somme before the battle and helped dig assembly trenches near Hebuterne. On 1st July 1916 they were in reserve for the attack on Gommecourt. They trained with tanks in August 1916 near Abbeville and fought in the battles for Leuze Wood and Bouleaux Wood in September 1916. In one attack with the tanks on 15th September 1916 they lost over 300 men out of 500 who took part in the attack on ‘Bully Wood’. In October 1916 they fought at Spectrum Trench near Lesboeufs suffering nearly 200 casualties.
During this month of remembrance I will be telling the stories of those buried in the cemetery who died as a result of their military service.
Originally published on January 30, 2022.
The re-imagined story …
Who would have thought the country could be so excited at the prospect of going to war? Perhaps it was the heat – it was unseasonably hot, that second week in August 1914.
Thousands of soldiers, some said more than 17,000, arrived in Swindon with as many as five or six soldiers billeted in one house. Even the school buildings were temporarily used as barracks, delaying the return after the summer holiday, much to the excitement of the children. Common sense did eventually prevail and they were soon returned to the classroom.
The normally quiet streets of Swindon were transformed by military movements – soldiers on route marches and long columns of motor lorries and ambulances.
The excitement was palpable – after all, it would all be over by Christmas. What an opportunity to travel for the young men who only ever expected to see the inside of the Works. No one could have ever imagined how it would all play out, the crippling injuries, the dreadful death toll, the loss.
The shops were busy, even though tradesmen were encouraged to supply their regular customers with no more than their usual requirements. Panic buying was discouraged but those who had the wherewithal stocked up on essentials.
And even the photographic studios were busy, the appointment books full day after day. Young lads having their photographs taken with friends as they went on their way to enlist at the Recruitment Office. Sweethearts photographed to mark a hastily announced engagement and the promise of a wedding. A young mother and baby whose photograph would nestle in a father’s top pocket, gazed on in some filthy trench on the Western Front.
But William Pitt was different. He had already seen war at first hand. He had served in India and South Africa. A look in his eyes said he wanted no more of it.
Celia wore her best coat, the one with the big buttons, and her hat with the feathers and the bow. They both stared into the camera. After all, it would all be over by Christmas.
The facts …
When William James Pitt died in 1917 he had served his country well, but of course that didn’t mean he had a fine funeral and a headstone on his grave – not then. But a hundred years later his record of service was rediscovered and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission added him to their records and erected a headstone to commemorate his sacrifice.
William James Pitt was born in 1871 in Newport, Monmouthshire. He married Celia Sarah Davis on November 25, 1905 at the Register Office here in Swindon. William worked as a Boiler Maker and Labourer in the Loco Works and the 1911 census shows the couple living at 12 Hawkins Street, Rodbourne with their four young children. They went on to have another two children.
William enlisted in Swindon on October 20, 1914. He was a member of the National Reserve having previously served in the Royal Warwick Regiment. He had served in India for 5 years and 4 months; South Africa 1 year and 9 months and Bermuda 11 months.
He took ill while serving as a railway guard. His medical records include the following report:
‘Originated at Newton Tony April 1915 History of repeated colds during past winter, April 1915 16 days in Hosp: with so called ‘influenza’ after this kept losing flesh, cough did not leave him July 11th again reported sick, admitted to Hosp: with pleurisy, tuberculosis of lung developed caused by ordinary military service exposure whilst on duty. Has cough, pains in chest, rapid pulse, loss of weight & night sweats.‘
He was suffering from Tuberculosis (lung) & Pleuritic adhesions and was declared unfit for militaryservice. The cause of his illness was exposure & getting constantly wet and not caused by active service or climate, but by ordinary military service (exposure whilst on duty). He was discharged in September 1915 in consequence of being no longer physically fit, having served 346 days.
Celia and baby
The family history information on the Ancestry website tells how William’s daughter Violet remembered playing round her father’s feet in the kitchen, making dens under the blanket that covered his knees. She remembered that when he came back from the war he was ill and had to live in a special shed in the garden of 21 Hawkins Street.
William died on July 17, 1917 at 21 Hawkins Street. He was 45 years old. The cause of death was Pulmonary Tuberculosis. He was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on July 21 in plot B1854, a public or pauper’s grave, which he shares with three other unrelated persons. Their names are inscribed at the bottom of the Commonwealth War Graves headstone.
Celia later worked as a cleaner at the Civic Offices in Euclid Street but how she managed in those early post war years with six children to raise alone has passed out of family memory. She later lived at 142 County Road, opposite the football ground. She died there in 1947 having survived yet another world war.
During this month of remembrance I will be telling the stories of those buried in Radnor Street Cemetery who died as a result of their military service.
The Commonwealth War Graves headstone on grave plot C3653 commemorates two military heroes who served in not only the Great War but in the South African campaign as well.
Alfred Hale born in c1869 in Enford, Wiltshire was about 17 years old when he enlisted with the Wiltshire Regiment in 1886. Having served for 7 years he was transferred to the Reservist List. In 1894 he married Mary Jane Paradise at the church of St. Mary the Virgin, Devizes. He was recalled to serve in 1898 and again in 1900. (A son born that same year was named Frederick William Mafeking). He was discharged and added to the Reservist List in 1902. Having received the Queen’s South African Medal with clasps he might have expected that this was the end of his military career. However, in September 1914 he was recalled to serve yet again, by then he was 44 years old.
Perhaps Mary Jane was used to being a soldier’s wife. Perhaps she never expected her husband would return from that terrible war in South Africa. But the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 must have brought a whole new level of worry when her eldest son Alfred enlisted and her husband was recalled.
3655 Pte Alfred Hale was discharged unfit to serve on September 25, 1916. He had cataracts in both eyes. His medical records state that his condition was not the result of and not aggravated by his military service and that an operation was advised. Alfred returned to his home at 163 Beatrice Street, Gorse Hill. He died at the London Hospital on November 7, 1919 aged 49. He was buried in grave plot C3653 on November 13, 1919.
200214 Pte Alfred Hale, aged 24 was serving in Israel and Palestine when he died from pneumonia on February 21, 1919. He was buried in Ramleh War Cemetery. He left £30 11s 11d to his mother, which included a War Gratuity of £26 10s.
Father and son are both remembered on a CWG headstone. The inscription reads:
3655 Private A. Hale
Wiltshire Regiment
7th November 1919 Aged 49
Also in memory of his son
200214 Pte A. Hale
Wiltshire Regiment
21.2.1919
Sharing the grave with Alfred is Mary Jane, his wife, who died in 1958 aged 85 years old. The inscription reads ‘Rest After Weariness.’ Buried with them is their son Frederick William Mafeking who died in 1953 and George Saloway, their daughter’s husband, who died in 1954.
During this month of remembrance I will be telling the story of those who died in war.
The installation of war memorials in the GWR factory continued into the mid 1920s, as is evidenced by the following account. Today some of these memorials are mounted in the STEAM Museum while others are in the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet Village – the site of the former railway works. On these memorials are the names of men from particular workshops who served in the Great War – To the lasting memory of our comrades who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 (No 3 Shop) – In grateful memory of the following men of 19 & 20 Shops who gave their lives in the Great War.
Below you can read about the installation of a memorial to the men who worked in the iron foundries unveiled in 1925.
In the presence of a company numbering nearly 1,000 a memorial to the shopmen in the iron foundries of the Swindon GWR Works, who lost their lives in the war, and also to those who served but returned was unveiled last Saturday by Mr P.G. Hannington, manager of the Loco. Dept.
The tablet is of fumed oak with brass panels, and in the centre is a carved oak laurel leaf. It is inscribed: “This tablet is erected in memory of the men of the Iron Foundries who gave their lives in the Great War, and to record the names of those who served.”
On the centre panel are inscribed the names of the eleven shopmen who paid the supreme sacrifice. They were: A.H. Cox, W.R.H. Wilson, T. Lockey, W.H. Joyce, J.V. Jones, A.R. Loder, E.R. Whitman, A.H. Lambourne, T.D. Yeo, C. Nash, W.F. Ford.
The side panels contain the names of those who returned. These number 138.
A laurel chaplet with red carnations decorated the tablet, the inscription being: “In memory of the men of the Iron Foundries – ‘Their name Liveth for everymore.’”
Not Forgotten
In unveiling the memorial, Mr Hannington said that although some might think it was rather late to unveil a memorial for an occasion which ended six and a half years ago, it certainly proved that the men of the foundry had not forgotten the debt which they, and others with them, owed to their shopfellows who fell and served in the Great War. It was gratifying to know that the spirit which prompted them to erect the memorial still existed.
The tablet would not only remind those who were in the foundries at the present time of the the men who served, but it would serve to perpetuate the memory of the shop heroes for all time. “It is the spirit of self-sacrifice which will help us in all our troubles today,” said Mr Hannington. “Our country is now passing through a serious crisis, and we need to cultivate the right spirit, whether it be in the industrial or any other sphere. If we are willing to do our bit, and to do it thoroughly, as did those whom we are honouring today, then we stand a chance of winning the battle.
“If we trust wholly in God and do our work as unto Him who brought us through the great crisis of 1914-18, we shall not be ashamed when we come to render up our individual lives to the Source whence they come.”
The company stood while the “Last Post” was sounded, after which “Nearer, my God, to Thee” was sung.
Extracts from the North Wilts Herald, Friday, June 12, 1925.
Have you ever noticed the historic fixtures and fittings as you browse the rails in M&S? Have you looked up above the shop fronts and noticed the machinery still positioned there?
You might like to join the Rodbourne Community History Group on Saturday November 18 when these features will be pointed out along with other fascinating details and anecdotes of life in the railway factory.
To book a place contact the Secretary on 01793 616558 or email secretary@rodbournehistory.org. The tours start at 10am and last about 2 hours. Meet at the designer Outlet Reception Desk at the Kemble Drive entrance adjacent to the Pizza Outlet. There is no charge for these tours but donations are gratefully received. The Rodbourne Community History group is a not for profit group run by volunteers.
I am frequently asked if I have ever seen a ghost in the cemetery and have been told by others of their own paranormal experiences, but I don’t tend to go in for ghostly graveyard stories. For me Radnor Street Cemetery is a place of beauty and serenity and it’s the life and times of those buried there that interest me.
As a team of volunteers it is our mission to remember. We remember those who served in war; those who served in the industry of our town; those ordinary men and women, some of whom devoted their lives to good works, and those who had such short lives they are in danger of being forgotten.
On Remembrance Day November 12 we will be honouring Mark Sutton who spent all his life remembering others and doing good works. We hope you will join us for a Service at the Cross of Sacrifice at 2 pm followed by the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Mark.
A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the last guided cemetery walk this season. We next meet on Sunday November 12 for the Remembrance Sunday service during which a plaque dedicated to Mark Sutton will be unveiled. Meet at the chapel for 2 pm.
Here is one of the stories I told yesterday (with thanks to Kevin Leakey for his information and research).
Leslie Charles Newman was born on October 17, 1907, the son of Thomas Charles Newman (Alderman and Mayor of Swindon 1923-24) and his wife Frederica.
In 1921/2 Leslie, then aged 14, began an apprenticeship at his father’s printing works, the Borough Press. He took over the business following the death of his father in 1941, but it is probably fair to say his first love was motorcycle racing.
Kevin Leakey writes:
Having purchased his first motorcycle as a 17 year old in 1924, Leslie Newman quickly took to participating in many different forms of motorcycle racing and competition, including trials, grass track racing and hill climbs.
Leslie also raced at the first dirt track (speedway) meeting at the Gorse Hill Autodrome in 1928.
As well as competing in and organising many local motorcycle competitions through his connections with the Swindon based North Wilts Motorcycle & light car Club, Les also found time to compete in the Isle of Man Grand Prix, the amateur races held on the T.T. circuit.
Although he had considered retiring from motorcycle competition in 1933, having never competed in road racing events, the call of the famed Manx race was too much for Leslie, so he scraped together the £35 needed to purchase a four year old T.T. Sunbeam motorcycle and had it race prepared by the factory for an additional £10.
In order to prepare for the gruelling race he devised a 21 mile training circuit similar in shape to the TT track. Taking in many of the villages on the Downs, Leslie would set out at dawn from Swindon, and be back for breakfast followed by a 2 mile walk to start work at 8am.
Leslie competed in four Grand Prix races between 1934 and 1937. His most successful performance was in the 1934 Senior race. Despite crashing at one point, he still managed to finish a highly creditable 12th place out of 57 starters, averaging almost 70 mph over 6 laps of the 37 ¾ mile circuit. Quite a feat considering some of his fellow competitors were either professional racers, or would eventually turn professional.
It’s also interesting to note that, unlike today, where the whole circuit is on tarmac roads, back in the 1930’s it was often narrow, had loose surfaces in parts and had many dangerous blind corners.
In recent years, his Isle of Man efforts have been remembered by the Marston Sunbeam Club by holding an annual ‘Les Newman memorial run’. They follow the route across the Downs that Leslie used for his practice runs.
Post war Leslie was involved in the early speedway meetings at the Abbey Stadium as Starting Line Marshal, and his business, the Borough Press (Eastcott Hill) printed the meeting programmes. He also continued to organise vintage bike runs and rallies for many years.
Leslie died at the Princess Margaret Hospital on October 13, 1989, aged 81. His ashes were later placed in this large family grave with his parents, sister, his wife Doris and their son John Charles Newman who died in 2005.
Les pictured in his heyday and reunited with his motorcycle in later life.
Some photos taken at our guided cemetery walk yesterday.
This pristine art deco gravestone proudly boasts the achievements of Thomas Charles Newman, Alderman and Mayor of Swindon in 1923.
Mr Newman served on the council for 32 years and during his Mayoral year welcomed King George V and Queen Mary on their first visit to Swindon.
Other less glamorous duties he performed that same year including opening the sewage works at Rodbourne and the hard tennis courts at Town Gardens.
Thomas Charles Newman was born in Swindon in 1878 and was educated at Sanford Street Schools.
He began his career in the printing trade as a printer’s devil (an apprentice who runs errands in a printing office) and went on to become a master printer and proprietor of the Borough Press Ltd.
He was chairman of the committee in charge of the new Civic Offices built close to his old home in Euclid Street and he had many interests outside of politics. He was involved with Swindon Town Football Club and the Wiltshire Football Association along with many other local organisations. He enjoyed gardening, singing and various sports, in particular angling.
Thomas Charles Newman died on October 14, 1941 and an obituary published in the Advertiser described him as an extremely popular and generous man who assisted in every way the town’s many causes, and took a special interest in housing and unemployment questions.
His funeral took place at Sanford Street Congregational Church on Saturday, October 18. A prominent freemason, Masonic honours were accorded at his funeral and 60 Freemasons headed the funeral cortege from Sanford Street up here to Radnor Street Cemetery.
Thomas was buried with his daughter Sybil who had died ten years previously aged 15. They were later joined by his wife Frederica who died in 1963, their son Leslie who died in 1989 and his wife Doris who died in 1983. The last member of the family to be buried here was grandson John Charles Newman who died in 2005.
Charles Edward Stroud was born on March 8, 1894 the son of William Henry Stroud, a storekeeper in the railway factory, and his wife Elizabeth Mary. William and Elizabeth had a large family of nine children but by the time of the 1911 census only four were still living.
We can find out a lot about Charles’ working life thanks to the UK Railway Employment Records 1833-1956 available on Ancestry.
Charles began work in the railway factory on June 1, 1908 as a 14 year old office boy. On December 6, 1909 he transferred to R shop to begin a five year fitting and turning apprenticeship. These records were meticulously updated and the last entry referring to Charles reads: War – Military duty, last at work 29/8/1914. Apprenticeship terminated.
Sadly, we know little about Corporal Stroud’s military career. You may wonder why so many of the WWI servicemen’s’ records are lost. In September 1940 the War Office repository in Arnside Street, London was hit during a bombing raid, destroying more than half the military records stored there. What remains of these records (referred to as the ‘burnt documents’) are available to view on microfilm at the National Archives and also online at Ancestry and Find My Past. There is roughly a 40% chance of finding the service record of a WWI soldier. But before you get started on your research why not visit Local Studies at Central Library, Swindon where the staff will be able to help you.
The go-to-book for information on Swindon men who served is Tell Them of Us by Mark Sutton. We have a few copies for sale, available during our cemetery walks. (Our next walk is Sunday October 29, meet at the chapel for 2 pm).
Corporal Charles Edward Stroud served with the 2nd Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. He died of wounds on March 6, 1916 at the General Hospital Cambridge. His body was returned to 41 Stanier Street, Swindon and the funeral took place on March 11. He is buried in plot D1501 with his parents. He was 21 years old.
Radnor Street Cemetery 