FOX-HUNTING & THE GREAT WAR

[Fred van Woerkom]

Last week I was about to have a nap and as an old man I think I am entitled to one, now and then.

I was listening to Radio 4 to the news and , surprise, surprise a documentary on the Great War followed. A voice said that beaters were exempt from military service so that offciers returning to Britain could have 'good sport' fox-hunting.

Is there any truth in this?

Fred

[Kate Wills]

I don't think there would have been a shortage of beaters. They were often very young, so under military age.

[Tom Morgan]

Do you have beaters in fox-hunting?

Tom

[Kate Wills]

No you don't generally. They assist at shoots - not that I've done either.

[truthergw]

I suppose a bit of fiddling could have been done at the time of conscription to classify someone as exempt. Wouldn't have thought it would be a beater. More likely the guy looking after the hounds.

[Fred van Woerkom]

Thanks all.

I am not familiar with the rules of fox-hunting, but I distinctly recall that some men were exempt from service to help officers have some sport.

Fred

[tintin1689]

You do not have beaters in fox hunting

I believe there were cases where professional hunt servants were put forward for exemption from conscription due to their pest control role being considered mor valuable than their military potential (in total war every chicken is valuable). Venery - the science of hunting with hounds is a skilled job an like any other skilled trade its not unreasonable to try to preserve some practtioners.

Several Masters of Fox Hounds were killed at Gallipoli so I think this is just the BBC trying to be a bit controversial

[bob lembke]

In case you guys think that such alleged excesses, horsey mania, would have been reserved to the English, I have information about an American mortar company of the AEF populated by our version of "bluebloods" who had rented, in France in 1918, a chateau, and had 190 servants and 120 riding horses stationed there in case they had a bit of leave. Sort of beats the odd batman. The unit probably had 4-5 officers. A friend of mine, incidentally a direct desendant of Lord Delaware, resigned a naval commission to become a sergeant in the current successor unit.

Bob Lembke

[truthergw]

You do not have beaters in fox hunting

I believe there were cases where professional hunt servants were put forward for exemption from conscription due to their pest control role being considered mor valuable than their military potential (in total war every chicken is valuable). Venery - the science of hunting with hounds is a skilled job an like any other skilled trade its not unreasonable to try to preserve some practtioners.

Several Masters of Fox Hounds were killed at Gallipoli so I think this is just the BBC trying to be a bit controversial

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Lovat Scouts had a large proportion of gamekeepers, ghillies etc.

[Greenwoodman]

I have a list of Certified Occupations from the Military Service Act 1916. Beaters and Hunt Servants are not mentioned.

[Fred van Woerkom]

Thanks for all the information. The Radio 4 speaker must have been a Puritan. Remember what Macaulay said? "The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators."

All the best,

Fred

[Anthony Pigott]

... The Radio 4 speaker must have been a Puritan. Remember what Macaulay said? "The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators."

All the best,

Fred

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A rather obvious correspondence to some present day attitudes, I think. Better not say any more!

Anthony

[Fred van Woerkom]

Anthony,

Message understood!

All the best,

Fred

[Moonraker]

A couple of men employed by the Tedworth Hunt (which had many army offices from Tidworth Barracks among its members) unsuccessfully claimed exemption from conscription on the grounds that their work was important. When the First Canadian Contingent, on Salisbury Plain from October 1914 to February 1915, was not allowed to dig trenches because of a prewar ban, rumour had it that this was because of dangers to huntsmen's horses. (The ban was soon rescinded, with most Wiltshire army camps having a set of practice trenches nearby.)

Moonraker

[Rob B]

I heard a story of a cavalry regiment at the front who caught a fox and laterly released it to have an impromtu hunt behind the lines.

Rob

[Rob B]

Bingo.

In the obituary of Colonel Charles Clark who died aged 99 in 1988, having been awarded an MC and DSO on the Western Front.

" On one memorable occasion setting about the organisation of a foxhunt at the front. Encouraged by the presence of a former Master of the Wexford Hounds, Clark and some companions in the South Irish Horse acquired a somewhat scruffy fox, whose stamina they built up with a liberal diet of fowl. Unfortunatly before the chase could begin the fox was claimed by a memeber of another regiment, who proved that he has brought the beast to France as a pet and that it had escaped."

Well it might not have happened but the intent was there!

Rob

[Terry_Reeves]

It is true that staff from some local hunts were given some exemption from military service, although the exemptions were often conditional or temporary - complete exemptions in this respect, appear to have been quite rare, if nothing else because of the presence of the Local Recruiting Officer, or his representative, at the tribunal, whose job of course was to get as many men into the army as possible.

The Military Service Tribunals initially were administered by the Local Government Board, a Government department, but the tribunals themselves were held at local level. The members were largely middling class local citizens, who often reflected the attitudes and assumptions of that part of local society. In this case, what constituted "work of national importance" could be influenced by the nature of the local community, that is rural or industrial, and often the mis-interpretation of the MSA, certainly in 1916. Landowners often made up and chaired tribunals in rural districts and naturally perhaps, had a different view of life in this respect.

Whatever the case, I don't think too much should be made out of this as the numbers involved are likely to be very small.

Terry Reeves

[Clive Maier]

I thought most horses were press-ganged into military service.