Marlow Bucks trenches

[Muskoka]

My father-in-law grew up in Marlow (born 1915) and played in the trenches nearby (after the war, of course). I know that they were used for training, but does anyone have more info about them?

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Muskoka

There has been a previous thread on this subject.

See: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...mp;#entry699735

and also this page:

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/display.va...d_on_common.php

Dave

[Muskoka]

Thanks, Dave! Interesting stuff. My father-in-law, who is still alive, mentioned how the area had, of course, no trees when he played there.

Gabriele

[Moonraker]

According to the article in the Bucks Free Press (link above), "Mr Laker [of Archaeology in Marlow] believed the second network was likely to have been dug by a local contractor, which would explain the differences with the first. The first is a lot deeper and more professionally-constructed, he said."

Unfortunately the article doesn't indicate who dug the first set - soldiers presumably.

I haven't really thought about it before, but I had rather assumed that soldiers - not contractors - would have dug practice trench systems adjoining most training camps - good exercise, as well as training for the real thing. But then contractors would have been responsible for providing the rest of the training camp - roads, rifle ranges, huts - though there are cases of soldiers having to help out, eg at Lark Hill in Wiltshire, where the First Canadian Contingent had to give up much-needed training time to help build their own accommodation.

Have Pals any info on who actually built practice trenches?

The Marlow trenches are in a slightly different category in that there seems to have been no hutted training camp nearby, so presumably the soldiers were under canvas.

Incidentally, my OS map names the location as Davenport, rather than Pullingshill, Wood, which is why it took me a little while to pinpoint the location. I'm looking forward to a visit.

Moonraker

[Muskoka]

My father-in-law has always referred to the location of the trenches as Marlow Common. Guess that's what the locals called it.

Gabriele

[Moonraker]

I went out to Marlow Common this morning and found a good number of earthworks. I'm not sure if all of them were related to the practice trench system; one bank and ditch looked more like an older boundary mark. Marlow is a little off my beat when it comes to research sources, so I haven't had a chance to look at a map of, say, 90 years ago, but I assume that Pullingshill Wood was much the same size as today. I was puzzled why a trench system was built in woodland and not on open ground (as was the case with practice trenches near Wiltshire camps). For a start, there's the problem of roots, and I know from my environmental work what so-and-sos they can be if you're trying to dig a hole.

When it came to the real thing in France and Belgium, my impression of trenches is that they were all dug in open ground - if only because all the trees had been destroyed by warfare. Were "real" sophisticated trench systems originally built in woodland?

Moonraker

[Muskoka]

My father-in-law said that there were no trees when he played there as a child (born 1915). I guess it really had been a "Common" then.

Gabriele

[Moonraker]

... "Mr Laker [of Archaeology in Marlow] believed the second network was likely to have been dug by a local contractor, which would explain the differences with the first. The first is a lot deeper and more professionally-constructed, he said."

Unfortunately the article doesn't indicate who dug the first set - soldiers presumably....

Have Pals any info on who actually built practice trenches?

The Marlow trenches are in a slightly different category in that there seems to have been no hutted training camp nearby, so presumably the soldiers were under canvas.

Moonraker

My father-in-law said that there were no trees when he played there as a child (born 1915). I guess it really had been a "Common" then.

Gabriele

My local library has a copy of Karau & Turner's The Marlow Branch about the railway branch line that still runs from Maidenhead to Marlow; pp42-4 were interesting. They mention how on August 30, 1913 the 4th Infantry Brigade (London Foot Guards) camped between Bovingdon Green (on the NW side of Marlow) and Marlow Common. The 2nd Scots Guards and 1st Irish Guards arrived by train, the 2nd & 3rd Coldstream Guards marched from Pirbright and Windsor.

On June 4, 1915 the 3rd Grenadier Guards marched from Marlow Station to Bovingdon Green Camp, 1,200 men having arrived in two special trains. A reserve battalion arrived on September 4. A draft of 70 men from the Grenadier Guards left for the Front on October 8, 1915, followed by detachments of Grenadier and Welsh Guards. Drafts from the "Home Counties Royal Engineers" left for the Front on August 15 and 23, 1916. One might guess that it was the Royal Engineers who had built at least part of the trenches.

There were a couple of photographs of the 1915 arrivals, but rather too dark for photocopying.

(It's not the first time that a specialist railway book has provided useful info on troop movements in the UK 90-100 years ago.)

I also popped into Waterstone's to check a modern Cassini reproduction of the OS map surveyed in 1919 and 1920. This suggests that the outer boundaries of Pullingshill and adjoining woods haven't changed much, but there was large gap in the centre of Pullingshill.

Moonraker