WWI and the Goring Gap exhibition

[Moonraker]

The Goring Gap is the geological feature eight miles upstream from Reading where the River Thames carved its way through the chalk. On one side of the Thames is Streatley, on the other Goring. Five miles to the north west was the prewar camping-site of Churn, where troops assembled very early in the war, with George V reviewing them in October.

For this weekend local residents organised an excellent exhibition on the impact of the Great War on the community, with a number of original documents, diaries and photographs. Among the exhibits were the telegraph indicator from U155 and the dress uniform sword of Commander (later Admiral Sir) Noel Laurence, who was in charge of a submarine campaign in support of Russia during 1914/15.

One photograph showed some 200 wounded soldiers on a day out from the Reading hospitals; some were in, presumably, Hospital Blue uniforms but rather more appeared to be wearing white clothes. I also noticed a facsimile of a notice reminding anyone that “to loiter on or near a Railway or Bridge is an offence and that people doing so without reasonable cause do so at their own peril”.

The Rural District Council allowed one resident to temporarily house “no more than four Belgian refugees” in his boathouse.

One small puzzle was the original wooden cross from the grave of Lieutenant James Babington Boulton RIR (definitely not RIP), presumably Royal Irish Rifles, though the accompanying text and CWGC allocate him to the Northamptonshire Regiment.

One display described how “the blind VC”, Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, who lived locally, unveiled a war memorial on July 24, 1921.

An excellent exhibition, and it was good to see a number of young people attending.