In all of the many stories about the First World War, there have been many accounts of heroic deeds and medals justly awarded, but none is more inspirational or unheralded than the story of Emilienne Moreau.

Born in the summer of 1898, Emilienne grew up with her family in Loos-en-Gohelle, where her father, a retired miner, opened a grocery shop in 1914. In October 1914, the Germans invaded the town and took many of the local men, including Emilienne’s father, as prisoners. As a result of this action and his subsequent treatment, Monsieur Moreau died two months later. Many of the children in the village were in a similar position, having lost their fathers, or sometimes both of their parents and some found their way to Emilienne, who, in February 1915, opened a school in the basement of her family’s home.

Later in 1915, when the British invaded the village of Loos, Emilienne did not hesitate in offering her assistance as a guide for the advancing forces, showing the Allied troops where the Germans had set their defences. Following this, she set up a first aid post and attended to the wounded, with the assistance of British Red Cross men. At one stage, this first aid post came under fire from German snipers, so Emilienne ‘borrowed’ some hand grenades from a British soldier and hurled them in the direction of the firing, killing or wounding all three of the German soldiers who were there. When the house later came under renewed attack from the Germans, she shot two of the advancing soldiers.

As a result of her actions, seventeen year old Emilienne received many medals and accolades, including the Croix de Guerre and the Croix du Combatant from the French authorities. The British awarded her the Military Medal and the Royal Red Cross and, on behalf of the Empire, she received the Venerable Order of St John, which honour is rarely bestowed upon a woman and is a royal order of chivalry, given to those who ‘prevent and relieve sickness and injury’.

Emilienne’s exploits were widely reported in newspapers around the world and she was soon invited to meet French President, Raymond Poincaré and King George V. After the war, Emilienne was married to Just Evrard and in the Second World War, went on to work with British Intelligence and fought in the French Resistance movement, for which she was awarded the title Compagnon de la Libération at the end of that conflict. The latter part of her life was spent in politics and she died in 1971, her story largely forgotten, except by those who were there and remembered the exploits of this unique woman: a heroin, among so many heroes.

While visiting the village of Steep and its surrounding walks and hills, we decided to stop for lunch at The Trooper Inn, at Froxfield.

Reputedly over 400 years old, this quaint village pub used to be situated on the main route to London and at the beginning of the First World War was used as a recruiting centre for troops.

Unfortunately, the windy and slightly inclement weather prevented us from enjoying the substantial beer garden, so we sat inside amid the many pictures and artefacts and chose from an eclectic and unusual menu. My daughter and I both selected baked fillet of cod with sauteed new potatoes and courgettes in a lemon and dill sauce, which was delicious, light, and perfectly cooked. My husband chose The Trooper Speciality Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder in a rich honey and mint gravy with a medley of roasted summer vegetables. Again, this was tasty and flavourful. Our son, however, chose the unexpected winner of the day in Mr Morgan’s Homemade Cumberland Sausages with crushed new potatoes and an apple, blue cheese and sage sauce. The sausages were temptingly meaty, but the best bit by far, was the crushed new potatoes and sauce on which they sat. This was a rich and mouthwateringly delectable accompaniment and it took all of his prowess to fight the rest of us off and savour it for himself!

All the food on offer is cooked to order, so service is not quick, but is well worth the wait, being of restaurant standard.

We certainly had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch and would be happy to return to The Trooper Inn again.

THE TROOPER INN

Froxfield, Hampshire, GU32 1BD
Telephone: 01730 827293
Website: www.trooperinn.com

PERSPECTIVES OF POETRY

Edward Thomas enlisted and fought because he loved his country, in every way – even though he knew, prophetically, that going overseas would almost certainly cost him his life. He gave up his future happiness with his wife, Helen, and their children, for his England and a way of life which he cherished and treasured above all else, knowing that his loss would cost them dearly, but hoping that his country would appreciate his and their sacrifice. When the time came, he left Helen and his children with just a little under £1000 in his will, made – prudently – ten days before he enlisted. The War Office, in its benevolence, reclaimed just over 7 shillings of this from Helen Thomas, five months after her husband’s death, upon discovering that he had been overpaid. Not, perhaps, the actions of the grateful nation for which he’d anticipated he would be giving his life.

So, how does that nation perceive Edward Thomas and his poetry today…?

Edward Thomas’s 144 poems were written over a relatively short period of time, beginning in December 1914 with Up in the Wind and ending, just a little over two years later on January 13th 1917, with Last Poem (The Sorrow of True Love). In between there lies a vast array of poems which demonstrate Thomas’s growing talent, as well as his frequent problems and mood-swings.

Today, many students are required to study his poetry, focusing mainly on one or two central pieces. However, from September 2011, Edward Thomas’s work will become a core focus on a main A-Level syllabus in the UK, despite the fact that relatively little is known about this poet, or his work, compared with the likes of Wilfred Owen, who (for good or bad) seems to have become the mainstay of First World War literature in schools. The lack of readily available information about Edward Thomas has led, in my opinion, to some fundamental errors on the part of the examining board, in the selection of the poems to be studied. There seems to me to be no thread within the collection; no theme or relationship to speak of. Then, dealing with the poems individually, for example, the inclusion of the poem No one so much as you (which should, by the way, also be listed by its alternative title of [M.E.T]), is an interesting and valuable choice, but should surely be studied in conjunction with Thomas’s I may come near loving you or  [P.E.T.], which is not included in the selection. The fact that these two poems were written within days of each other and are addressed to Thomas’s mother and father (respectively) means that students would be given the fascinating opportunity to study Thomas’s markedly different feelings towards his parents, as expressed in these two pieces – if the selectors on the examining board had shown sufficient wisdom (or knowledge) to include them both.

This omission demonstrates perfectly the importance of an in-depth grasp and understanding of the poet(s) involved. The same could be said of the many “blogs” which are now appearing all over the internet, claiming to offer analysis of poetry, some by supposed “experts”, but occasionally by teachers of English. However, these can often be seen to be giving erroneous studies, which merely show how little research the “bloggers” have really done. The study of war poetry requires a thorough understanding of the background of the poet; a knowledge of his or her life and experiences, so as to really comprehend why the poem may have been written at the time and in the style that it was. In his poem Melancholy, for example, Thomas never actually mentions the war, although its presence may be assumed, provided that the reader understands the poet’s position at the time he was writing the piece. In the case of war poetry, it is not enough to simply look at a poem and understand (or think you have understood) the words themselves.

So, returning to Thomas’s poem No one so much as you or [M.E.T.], it is interesting to know that, within a few weeks of writing this, Thomas had also composed poems to his wife Helen and his three children, showing that his frame of mind was clearly focused around his family in the early months of 1916. This was a period of time when Thomas was arguing with his father over his decision (at that time) not to apply for a commission. Meanwhile, his father was also being quite critical of Thomas’s poetry and his decision to become a writer in the first place, which Thomas found offensive. Being as Thomas was staying with his parents, this might well have caused an uneasy atmosphere in the house and this knowledge may provide an explanation as to why Thomas’s mind was so focused on his family, and especially his parents – that February.

From a student’s perspective, one of the most confusing things about Edward Thomas’s poetry is that most of his works have an ulterior motive, purpose or meaning which is secondary to the obvious. Unfortunately, without a really sound knowledge of the poet, above and beyond his fairly well-known biography, the whole significance of the poems can so easily be lost.

The memorial at Steep is quiet and unobtrusive, set back from the road on a quiet turning. It consists of a stone built, roofed tower structure with a simple engraved plaque, containing the names of 54 men of Steep, including the poet Edward Thomas, who gave their lives during the First World War. Of these names, there are several “repeats”, that is to say, names that appear more than once, and of these although others may be distantly related, two have been discovered to come from the same direct family. These are:

Frederick and William EADE
Frederick Eade was born in 1886, and like his brother William, who was six years younger, worked before the war as a domestic gardener, living with their parents at 53 Rushes Road, Petersfield. Both brothers joined the 14th Hampshire Regiment and went to fight at the front. William, the younger of the two was the first to die, on 3rd September 1916 and he is buried at the Ancre British Cemetery at Beaumont-Hamel. His older brother, Frederick died on 11th December 1916 at Wimereux, near Boulogne (which probably means he died from wounds inflicted on the battlefield, Wimereux being the site of a major First World War hospital).

Alan and Arthur HEALEY
Alan Healey was born in 1888, the son of William Healey and his wife Martha, who lived at “Mabledon” Tilmore Gardens, Petersfield. He was married to Elizabeth Jane Healey and they lived together at 34 Greenway Cottages, Tiverton, Devon. When the First World War was declared, Alan Healey enlisted as a private with the 10th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment and, following his training, was sent to Gallipoli, where he arrived on 5th August 1915. Five days later, he was killed in action and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial. Alan’s younger brother, Arthur Wilfred Healey was born on 21st October 1898 and was only seventeen years old when he enlisted in the 14th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. He was sent to France on 5th March 1916 where he saw action on the Somme and at Passchendaele the following year, rising through the ranks to become a sergeant. Despite still only being nineteen years old, Arthur was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 26th February 1918 and was transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment. He was killed in action during the Second Battles of the Somme on 1st September 1918 and is buried at Beaulencourt British Cemetery, Ligny-Thilloy, near Bapaume.

Taking the Edward Thomas walk in the area immediately surrounding the village of Steep, near Petersfield in Hampshire, it is quite easy to see why the poet fell in love with this corner of England. He was renowned for temporarily absconding from the family home, in order to soak up the atmosphere in the countryside.

Although the weather prevented us from completing the entire walk, the parts that we did see were spectacular. The Edward Thomas memorial stone on Shoulder of Mutton Hill is well worth the steep descent from Cockshott Lane, affording as it does, a magnificent view of the South Downs, and the glimpses of the houses in which Thomas lived during his short residence in this village offer an insight into his lifestyle. The walk also takes in the village memorial and All Saint’s Church.

ALL SAINT’S CHURCH, STEEP

The church of All Saint’s in Steep dates back to the 12th century, although there are many later additions. It originally came under the curacy of East Meon in the Winchester diocese until 1867 when Steep became a parish in its own right and then in 1927 it fell under the diocese of Portsmouth.

Inside this small but beautiful church there are several memorials to local people including a war memorial plaque on the north wall, which includes the names of those connected to the village who fell during the First World War, including Edward Thomas. There is also a window in the South Wall, designed and engraved by Laurence Whistler in 1978 to mark the centenary of Thomas’s birth. There were originally two windows (the second one showing an engraving of Thomas’s poem The New House), but this was shattered in 2010 as an act of vandalism, during a break-in.

CEMETERY

Like many small villages in Great Britain, Steep has its fair share of war dead to commemorate. Within the graveyard of All Saint’s Church there are six graves from the First World War, all of which are listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The men interred all died on English soil for various reasons, while in the service of their country. These are their stories (with additional research, where available):

William George APPLEBEE
(14.10.1901 – 29.10.1918)
William was the second of four children of Henry and Martha (née Gregory) who lived at Tigwell Farm, East Meon, Petersfield, Hampshire. William enlisted in the Royal Navy at Portsmouth as a “Boy, Second Class” on 11th September, serving aboard HMS Impregnable. He died of emphysema on 29th October 1918 at Plymouth in Devon.

Adam BOGLE
(1848 – 3.3.1915)
A native of Glasgow, Adam Bogle was a career soldier, joining the Royal Engineers in 1868 at the age of 20. He rose through the ranks, becoming a Lieutenant by 1879, Captain by 1881 and a Major ten years later. He married Ethel Glossop in 1882 and they lived at a house called “Collyers” at Petersfield in Hampshire. When Major Bogle died, he left his wife the substantial sum of £26,000 (probably worth nearly £2m today).

William Thomas REED
(1900 – 18.10.1918)
The second of the three children of John and Emma (née Mills), who lived at Island Farm in Steep, Hampshire. William was an Ordinary Seaman aboard HMS Vivid.

David Ewan McCONNEL
(15.4.1900 – 7.12.1918)
Born in Queensland, Australia, the son of teacher David Rose McConnel and Mary Emma (née Jordan). The family including David’s older brother, moved to the USA in 1910, where David attended the Palo Alto Elementary School, before they relocated to Switzerland and then to England, arriving in Hampshire in 1914. David attended Bedales School near Steep, where he became head boy. He joined the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force) in March 1918, earning his wings on December 7th. Later that day, he was tasked with delivering an aircraft and was killed while landing in foggy conditions.

Charles Ernest LILLEYWHITE
(1877 – 14.12.1915)
Charles was the youngest of the seven children of gamekeeper William Lilleywhite and his wife Charlotte. He grew up at Thursley in Surrey, but after his marriage to Elizabeth Mansell in June 1902, moved to Gardners Farm, Steep near Petersfield, where he too worked as a gamekeeper. Charles and Elizabeth had two children, Harold and Barbara before Charles enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment, despite being officially too old. Charles died in England on December 14th 1915.

Oswald HORSLEY MC and Bar
(14.2.1893 – 19.8.1918)
Oswald was the second son and middle child of Sir Victor Alexander Haden Horsley and his wife Eldred (née Bramwell). Sir Victor Horsley, a physician, was the son of John Callcott Horsley RA, artist and the designer of the first Christmas card, as well as the nephew by marriage of Isambard Kingdom Brunel; his wife, Eldred was the daughter of Sir Frederick Bramwell, a civil servant and mechanical engineer. At the beginning of the First World War, Sir Victor, keen to serve his country, volunteered as a surgeon and was sent as a Colonel and Director of Surgery to the British Army Medical Service in Egypt. From here, he was sent on to Mesopotamia, where he died on 16th July 1916 of heatstroke. Oswald, meanwhile, began his war service on 3rd August 1914 when he joined the Artist’s Rifles, being awarded a commission with the Gordon Highlanders. He served at the front throughout 1915-1916, and was awarded his first MC in October 1916, the citation for which read as follows: “For conspicuous gallantry in action. He led the first line of the advance, capturing and consolidating his objective. Though wounded and put into a shell-hole, he continued to direct operations and refused to be moved back till the position was safe.” During his time at the front he was wounded three times, the third time being so severe that he was no longer able to continue serving with the infantry, so he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in August 1917. Once Oswald had earned his wings, that December, he remained on the Western Front for the next six months, undertaking many dangerous sorties, as a result of which he earned a second Military Cross, which was gazetted on 22nd June 1918 and read as follows: “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has brought down completely out of control three hostile machines, and of two others which he engaged one he fought to within a distance of 200 feet from the ground, forcing it to land, the second spinning down to the ground out of control, he being unable to observe it crash owing to the presence of other hostile machines. He has carried out accurate and valuable reconnaissances, and has set a magnificent example of determined gallantry and skill whilst leading low-flying and bombing patrols.” By now promoted to Captain, Horsley was placed on the relatively safe “home establishment” in July 1918, where he was killed in a crash on August 19th, together with his observer, caused by mechanical failure.

From his birth in Gloucestershire and subsequent upbringing in Northumberland, William Noel Hodgson quickly learned and developed tolerance and understanding as well as consideration for others and a love of his natural surroundings. At Durham School he was a popular and successful student, as well as an outstanding sportsman, playing cricket, rugby and athletics, as well as rowing, and while there he formed many close friendships, especially with fellow poet Nowell Oxland.

Despite being at Christ Church, Oxford when the First World War began, Hodgson interrupted his studies and immediately enlisted, joining the 9th Devonshire Regiment. Following his training, he embarked for France on 28th July 1915, although shortly after his arrival he heard the devastating news that Nowell Oxland had been killed in Gallipoli. Hodgson and his men participated in the Battle of Loos and defended their trench against a German counter-attack for over 36 hours. For his gallantry during this operation, Hodgson received the Military Cross.

During the spring and early summer of 1916, Hodgson’s regiment continued to fight and were also involved in the preparations for the Battle of the Somme. On 1st July 1916, the objective of the 9th Devonshires was a trench system to the west of Mametz, but as they advanced towards this position, they were mown down by machine gun fire.

William Noel Hodgson was shot in the leg and neck: his batman, who rushed to his aid was also shot and killed. Three days later 161 casualties from the 8th and 9th Devonshire Regiments were buried in their old front-line trench and a wooden sign was erected, which read:

The Devonshires held this trench. The Devonshires hold it still.

Although the original wooden sign has now disappeared, there is a plaque containing these words, near the entrance to this unusual cemetery.

Hodgson’s poem Before Action has come to epitomise the waste of youthful enthusiasm that was the Battle of the Somme and is made more poignant by the fact that in his volume of poetry entitled Verse and Prose in Peace and War, Hodgson’s father dated this piece 29th July 1916, namely two days before the poet’s death. There remains, however, some confusion as to whether this is accurate as the date may refer to the original date of publication, rather than of composition. Either way, the poem was undoubtedly written in the build-up to the battle.

Hodgson was a poet of remarkable understanding, considering his youth. He shows in his poetry and prose an extraordinary sympathy for the suffering of others, and his words indicate a deep inner sadness not only for the anticipated loss of his own life and for those of the men around him, but also for a way of life, which he had the maturity to realise had already been lost due to the decimation of his generation. Today, those of us lucky enough to read his words have come to understand what a talented and gentle man was squandered on that day.

To download a printable version of this poem as an A4 Poster, please click on the link below.