Dorset Regiment 5th & Somerset Light Infantry

[John G]

While on holiday in Wareham recently trying to locate the Drill Hall, I found a copy of the spring & summer 2009 Dorset history centre newsletter. It had an article about WW1 and I thought that the some members might be interested to get a summary of the article by the Alison Schwalm.

It is from a notebook written as a “Requiem for the men of Rampisham & Wraxall.” It has an account of the men from the parish who served and of those, ten who joined the 5th Dorset regiment on 31 august

The article mentions that Frank Heron was badly wounded and never made a full recovery. One chap, Sidney Ellis helped to remove him from danger and was killed on August 19th. He was reported as missing along with four of his friends. A further name, Harry Hoare died in November of exposure.

Alfred Banks was the first man to died in July 1915, a married man who had a daughter born the following December. His brother also died named Frampton.

It carries on to say that the same surnames occur. The Ellis family lost two sons, Ernest with the Dorset’s who had defective sight, but died on July 26 1916.

Thomas Heron had four sons involved, three voluntary and one who was a regular, they were all wounded.

A young chap named “William Burt” joined the Somerset light infantry aged 17 ½ in August 1917 and was badly wounded.

This small unknown volume notes the trades of the men who went away, farmers’ sons, a shoeing smithy, a temporary postman and the landlord of the village pub.

This preserved and important historical document may be of interest to local researchers, but I thought that the wider knowledge and participation of the forum members would also find and interest in the men and the village. Hopefully some one will find this piece assistance to their own research with the men of Dorset and the regiments mentioned. I am not sure what else the notebook contains, but the reference in PE/RAM: MI/1.

Regards to anyone who finds this useful

JPG

[krv1974]

Is there a way I could possibly get a scan of that article? I'm researching my wife's family who had two sons Alfred Edward Wills and his older brother William Wills who joined the Dorsets and served in the 5th Battalion. Both attested on 31 August. Alfred was killed on 26 September 1916 and his brother was fatally wounded in that same action, dying five days later on 1 October.

[krv1974]

Found it on the web - http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=391527

How the villages of Rampisham and Wraxhall experienced The Great War.

PE/RAM:MI/1 is a slim, grey cloth- covered notebook. There is no indication who wrote in it. This is a document which, unlike many from World War I which give experiences from the trenches, inverts the telescope back into a village. At the back of this notebook are recorded the dates of village events in 1913 and then sporadically up to February 1916: church meetings, funerals, the first cricket match of the season the year before war broke out.

At the front of the notebook is an account of the names and service of all the men from the parish in WW1. Of those there were 10 young men who joined the 5th Dorset Regiment on 31 August 1914, just after the outbreak of war. The Battalion was sent to Gallipoli in 1915. Frank Heron was badly wounded and never made a full recovery. Sidney Ellis, who had carried him out of danger, was killed on 19 August. He was reported missing along with four of the friends. In November, just before the evacuation of the peninsula, Harry Hoare died of exposure.

Alfred Banks of Wraxall joined Kitchener's Army later and was the first man in the village to 'make the great sacrifice', in France, July 1915. He was a married man, and a little girl was born to his widow the following December. His brother Frampton, from Evershot, was also killed.

The same surnames reoccur. Mr and Mrs William Ellis lost two sons in the war. Ernest Ellis joined the Dorsets and was placed in the officers' mess at Wyke. It was thought his defective sight would incapacitate him for active service but 'in the country's great need' he was sent to France on 26 July 1916 and killed in action at the beginning of September.

Harold Ellis, the third son of James Ellis of Uphall Farm joined the Navy in September 1916 - one wonders how it was, coming from a rural background, to be a stoker in the furnaces of HMS Dreadnought.

Thomas Heron, gamekeeper to Wraxall Manor, had four sons. The eldest was already a regular soldier in India; his other sons were volunteers, and all were wounded.

William Burt, aged 17½, was 'so keen to do his duty and to do his bit' that he joined the Somerset Light Infantry on 24 August 1917 and was sent to France and badly wounded in the thigh.

The writer does not forget the women who helped. A Red Cross hospital was started by Lady Lilian Digby at Holnest. The Misses Martin from Rampisham House were constant in attendance, as were the Misses Mary and Lily Pulliblank, the daughters of the late rector of Rampisham and Wraxall.

Among the men who went away were farmers' sons, a shoeing smith, and a temporary postman, as well as the landlord of the village inn. Many of them did not come back, and those that did were mostly maimed.

Reading the document, one thinks of that cricket team in 1913, which was decimated.

Alison Schwalm. Researcher

[John G]

I'm glad it has been of some assistance in your family research.

I thought this could be of interest to someone in the future and better on here rather than locked away.

Regards