Divorce of a POW

[melliget]

Spare a thought for Major Bayly, Royal Field Artillery (later Lieutenant Colonel, DSC, OBE), who was taken prisoner at Mons and became a POW in Germany. There he was, probably thinking things couldn't get any worse, when in June 1915 he received a letter from his wife:

My dear Bill,

This letter that I am writing to you now is the hardest that I have ever written in my life, because I would do anything sooner than give you pain, but I am afraid that is impossible. For the last six months I have been most unhappy because an influence has come into my life which would make it absolutely impossible for me to ever live again with you as your wife, and after much deliberate thought I have come to the conclusion that it is much better for you to hear all this whilst you are away.

You will find the necessary evidence for obtaining a divorce from me at the Great Central Hotel, London, W., where I stayed with someone on June 18 as Mr. and Mrs. A. B----. You will not find out who it is or will ever do so, but I beg of you to instruct Messrs. Hennen and Co., of Quality-court, Chancery-lane, to send you the necessary papers so that proceedings can at once be taken against me.

I have made inquiries and find that your being a prisoner of war in Germany does not impede matters, and there are reasons why I beg of you to do this for me at once and to try and think as leniently of me as you can.

If this matter is carried through now during the war I feel sure that your name will be saved from any scandal, as people are far too busy to worry themselves over divorce cases these days. Please do not think that I did not try to fight against things, because I did; but I am not very old, and why should we both be miserable for the rest of our lives, because I never could return to you now and I feel sure that you, with your great sense of justice, would be the last person in the world to wish to see me unhappy for the rest of my life. I should suggest that Yvonne and Gerald stay with nurse until the war is over.

Yours regretfully,

Viola

One of the co-respondents in the divorce case was an appropriately named Captain Keen.

Martin

p.s. Bayly's son Gerald, a lieutenant in Fleet Air Arm in WW2, was killed in action at Taranto in 1940.

[River97]

Well........... She did a pretty good job of trying to justify the divorce and the reasons behind it.

That's one kick in the teeth for the poor sod.

Cheers Andy.

[jim_davies]

Interesting that Viola appears to have kept the name;

"Son of Lt.-Col. Abingdon Robert Bayly, D.S.O., O.B.E., late Royal Field Artillery, and Viola Loscombe Bayly, of La Tour de Peilz (Vaud), Switzerland. Awarded the Ryder Memorial Prize, R.N. College, Greenwich"

The War Graves Project Webiste has a piccie of Gerald's grave and states taht he was twice mentioned in despatches.

Bayly, Sr's DSO was published in the London Gazette of 30 Jan 1920.

[6th Shropshires]

Whot a B***h

[britman]

Whot a B***h

ROFL

[Captain Dave]

So what happened to the new chap in her life I wonder. It would have been ironic for him to have been conscripted later in the war and then taken POW.

[grantowi]

Maybe, he didnt give her the divorce, would I be right in thinking that only the male could file for divorce and not the female partner ?

The poor sod only married her in 1912

Grant

[melliget]

Grant.

No, I don't think so. I'm sure I've read law reports in The Times where the petitioner was the wife, for example, on the grounds of cruelty and adultery. I think in the case above, the husband was the "wronged" party so in that case he had to be the petitioner.

I should have mentioned that the wife's letter to the POW transcribed above was from a law report in The Times (11 Nov 1916), entitled "Suit by a Prisoner Of War, BAYLY v. BAYLY AND CAIRD AND KEEN". The magistrate pronounced a decree nisi (presumably later pronounced absolute or whatever the correct term is).

Interesting that Captain Keen, so named, remained relatively anonymous in the report, whereas the other civilian co-respondent and the husband's and wife's names were reported in full.

regards,

Martin

[Heid the Ba]

As Martin says, the wife had no grounds for divorce so has set it up so her husband could divorce her.

Captain Keen may have done nothing other than check into the hotel with the wife then sleep on the sofa, simply to set up the legal fiction that adultery had taken place on that occasion. This was widely done and no stigma would attach to him, provided he were unmarried, as he would be known to be playing a part in a charade.

Mr Caird may have been in the same position.

As the wife didn't remarry there may not have been another man, she may simply have been escaping an unhappy marraige or have realised she caught the girl's bus.

[Jesse]

Hmmmm... Yes, I, too, was a POW of a wife for a number of years...

Spare a thought for Major Bayly, Royal Field Artillery (later Lieutenant Colonel, DSC, OBE), who was taken prisoner at Mons and became a POW in Germany. There he was, probably thinking things couldn't get any worse, when in June 1915 he received a letter from his wife:

My dear Bill,

This letter that I am writing to you now is the hardest that I have ever written in my life, because I would do anything sooner than give you pain, but I am afraid that is impossible. For the last six months I have been most unhappy because an influence has come into my life which would make it absolutely impossible for me to ever live again with you as your wife, and after much deliberate thought I have come to the conclusion that it is much better for you to hear all this whilst you are away.

You will find the necessary evidence for obtaining a divorce from me at the Great Central Hotel, London, W., where I stayed with someone on June 18 as Mr. and Mrs. A. B----. You will not find out who it is or will ever do so, but I beg of you to instruct Messrs. Hennen and Co., of Quality-court, Chancery-lane, to send you the necessary papers so that proceedings can at once be taken against me.

I have made inquiries and find that your being a prisoner of war in Germany does not impede matters, and there are reasons why I beg of you to do this for me at once and to try and think as leniently of me as you can.

If this matter is carried through now during the war I feel sure that your name will be saved from any scandal, as people are far too busy to worry themselves over divorce cases these days. Please do not think that I did not try to fight against things, because I did; but I am not very old, and why should we both be miserable for the rest of our lives, because I never could return to you now and I feel sure that you, with your great sense of justice, would be the last person in the world to wish to see me unhappy for the rest of my life. I should suggest that Yvonne and Gerald stay with nurse until the war is over.

Yours regretfully,

Viola

One of the co-respondents in the divorce case was an appropriately named Captain Keen.

Martin

p.s. Bayly's son Gerald, a lieutenant in Fleet Air Arm in WW2, was killed in action at Taranto in 1940.

[Heid the Ba]

Hmmmm... Yes, I, too, was a POW of a wife for a number of years...

[centurion]

I had to looks some of this stuff up some years ago when researching an non WW1 related subject. There were professional co-respondants of both sexes, sometimes provided by detective agencies that specialised in such matters, so Keen and Caird could both have been psuedonoms. They didn't even have to turn up in court provided that a member of hotel staff (often suitably overtipped) could testify to seeing them in the room with the wife/husband. This could be a wise precaution as a 'wronged' husband could lay charges of enticement against a co-respondant.

[grantowi]

Having a wander around the net produced:

"Until 1969 it was impossible for a "guilty" spouse to divorce an "innocent" partner. As long as the innocent spouse took care not to be caught in adultery, he or she could effectively block the other's divorce and remarriage"

Grant

[digzkatz]

Was "Capt Keen" even a real person? Things that make you go......

hhmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!

[francon]

many years ago i had a friend who had been a p.o.w under the japanese ..

he returned home after 4 years ..knocked on his front door .and a stranger said ..'' what the hell do you want ''

his wife had left the house a couple of years before to go and live with another man ... he had no idea what she had done ..

[Bingo794]

It makes you wonder how many stories like this actually happened.

An Uncle of mine came home towards the end of WW2, having spent his war in Dunkirk, Africa, and being captured in Crete, after being with the partisans for a year, to find his wife had at some point given birth to a baby girl. Not being at home for such a long time led to the obvious conclusion.

Luckily, he loved his Mrs and took the girl for his own daughter. They remained married until their deaths in the 1980's. The daughter is a great lady and always has been part of the family.

So, it isn't all negative

DW

[Jonathan Saunders]

Its an intriguing story - I would love to know more.

[Jonathan Saunders]

"Son of Lt.-Col. Abingdon Robert Bayly, D.S.O., O.B.E., late Royal Field Artillery, and Viola Loscombe Bayly, of La Tour de Peilz (Vaud), Switzerland. Awarded the Ryder Memorial Prize, R.N. College, Greenwich"

Bayly was interred in Switzerland during WW1 - I wonder if he made a new life for himself in Switzerland, quite possibly with a local woman he met during his internment?

Although I am confused by the wording of the CWGC comment, which is made in such a way as to suggest both Bill and Viola were living in Switzerland post-WW2.

[Jonathan Saunders]

Abingdon Bayly was born in India circa 1870 so he was in his mid-40s when Viola committed adultery and went on in the letter to describe herself as “not very old“. I wonder if the marriage was a mismatch of age?

Also, I wonder if it was only Viola that was living in Switzerland post-WW2, and if Abingdon had already passed on?

[Guest]

[Guest]

Interesting report of Bayly's capture.

[seaJane]

When my grandfather (not the RN one) came back from REME in 1945 and asked grandma for a divorce the reply was "Not on your Nelly". At which point he said that he'd already been cited as third party in another divorce case ...

 

So grandma said yes, both divorces went through, grandad married the new lady and (16ff years later) I grew up knowing all three. But 50 years later grandma was still carrying a torch for him ... 

[rolt968]

On ‎10‎/‎07‎/‎2009 at 11:46, digzkatz said:

Was "Capt Keen" even a real person? Things that make you go......

hhmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!

With apologies in advance: Didn't Roy Castle play him in a film?

RM

Edited 16 January , 2018 by rolt968

[Loader]

If this were a movie I'm sure the Col would have gone to the camp Commandant & presented the letter & ask to be sent home to deal with this mess. As one gentleman to another I'm sure the German would have been outraged at the woman's actions & begin the process of sending the husband home!

[Liz in Eastbourne]

On 1/14/2018 at 14:43, johnSnow said:

 

 

Thanks for posting this, John.  It adds a whole new dimension to the story, somehow, the fact that she was  a beautiful young woman and a professional singer.  She was at least honest about the marriage being over, and we don't know what the situation was before he was taken prisoner.  The bit about the Psychical Research Society telling her how he came to be taken prisoner before she received news of the details is also intriguing.  

 

Liz