Thomas and Harriet's Children (4): Thomas John Edgar

After three grim years of war it seemed as if the British at last had something to celebrate.

On November 21, 1917 people in some towns and villages heard a sound that had become unfamiliar: the enthusiastic ringing of church bells. Soon other churches joined in. On the twenty-second an all female team rung at the parish church at Dorking, and the bells of St. Paul's, silent for years, pealed out in a victorious carillon at noon on the twenty-third. They were rung for half an hour at Stondon Massey, just ten miles away from where Thomas and Harriet Edgar were living in Theydon Garnon- and perhaps they were rung at All Saints, the village church where Thomas was a warden.[1]

They were celebrating the successful British attack of November 20, where an innovative approach - combining the power of over 300 tanks, with artillery, aircraft and infantry - had broken through the German lines close to the French town of Cambrai, a victory which seemed to promise a speedy end to the hideous bloodshed symbolised by the battle of the Somme (July-November 1916) and Passchendaele (July-November 1917).

Shrouds of the Somme: a Commemoration of those who died on the first Day of the Battle of the Somme - Exeter, July 1, 20016

Sadly all was not as it seemed. On November 21, even as the bells were starting to ring, half of those tanks had either been put out of action or developed mechanical faults.



Captured British Tank at Cambrai: By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S12137 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5369315

The British assault faltered, the troops just creeping forward until they were forced to dig in and try to hold on to their gains. On November 30 a massive German counter-attack, led by Prince Rupprecht of the Rhine, soon took the situation back to more or less the same as before the British attack.

And one of the British soldiers to die on the first day of that counter-attack was Thomas John Edgar, aged 23.

Thomas was born on April 2 or April 17 (sources differ), 1894 at Gazeley, in between Newmarket and Bury St. Edmunds.



By Uksignpix - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10405536

A record on Find My Past claims his parents were living in that area and that his father was a bailiff. Although I have no documents unconnected with Thomas John to support this, the fact that their youngest son was baptised in All Saints, the Gazeley Church, on May 13 certainly suggests Thomas and Harriet were living there, not just visiting friends.[2]



All Saints Church, Gazeley: 

By Bob Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6572896

In the 1901 Census Thomas John is recorded living at their next home in Stapleford Abbots as the youngest child in the family.



In 1911 there's only him and Wilfred left at home -  and 'home' is now a farm in Ongar (Essex) where both his parents are servants. He's a shop assistant.

I have not yet been able to establish when Thomas joined the Essex Regiment (First Battalion, Service Number No. 18211). It's interesting that he enlisted from Windsor but gave his place of residence as Epping (presumably he was living with his parents at Theydon Garnon, just outside Epping itself). He was almost certainly staying with his brother Herbert and his wife Alice who moved there sometime after Herbert left the army for the reserves in June 1914.

By Unknown (artist); E French and Son, The Westbury Press, Brentwood (printer); Essex Regiment (publisher/sponsor) - This is photograph Art.IWM PST 5972 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20450095

The First Battalion of the Essex Regiment saw service in some of the worst fighting of the war. They were at Gallipoli, a failed attempt to knock Turkey - a German ally - out of the reckoning. After further action in this doomed campaign, they formed the rearguard in the evacuation from Sulva Bay. 883 men had arrived in Turkey and nine months later 375 left.[3]

After a short time in Egypt, the Battalion was sent to France and took part in the first and bloodiest day of the Somme - July 1, 1916.[4] They were taken into reserve on November 18, but continued to fight in northern France during the next year.

Wilfred 'Bay' Edgar wrote that Thomas had fought at Gallipoli, but until I have found the date of his enlistment I can't validate this claim. Nor do I know if he fought on the Somme. If I establish these things, I'll update this post.

But we do know one battle he fought in because it cost him his life.

Although I have not found any letters Thomas wrote from France, it is possible to get an idea of his experiences in the last days of his life from his Battalion's War Diary. Other sources give slightly different timings and details,[5] but, to keep matters simple, I've followed the War Diary except where useful clarification can be achieved by drawing on other accounts. Readers unfamiliar with military organisation might like to remember that a Battalion (in Thomas's case the First) is part of a Regiment (the Essex), and also part of a multi-regimental Brigade (the 88th) while a number of Brigades make up a Division (the 29th).

Throughout September 1917 Thomas and the rest of the First Essex were engaged in intensive training for the forthcoming battle to re-take Cambrai from the Germans - relieved only on the 18th when a drumming competition was held.[6] In mid-November the orders for the Cambrai campaign were issued and they spent three days non-stop moving to the attack area. [7]

On November 19 the Essex men were kept in huts at Sorel le Grand to stop the Germans guessing something was afoot. They were probably roused at midnight and given a hot meal; they were under arms by 1 a.m.[8] The day was going to be long and exhausting as well as dangerous.

They marched to an assembly point west of the village of Gouzeaucourt arriving at 4.40 a.m.



That was a trudge of  about 7 miles, and their objectives for the day were another four miles distant.[9] While Thomas and the men of the 29th. Division waited, other divisions were preparing to march forward behind a mass of about 300  tanks - the first time they'd been used in such numbers - all the more likely to be effective as the German army didn't have any tanks at all at this time.

The plan was for these first divisions to break through the first two German trench systems of the Hindenburg Line. Then it would be Thomas's turn.  His 88th Brigade would march forward as part of the 29th Division with the Essex men leading in the centre, soldiers from the Worcestershire Regiment to their right, and Canadians from the Newfoundland Regiment to the left.[10] The hope was that, the way made clear by the original assault, they could push on across the St Quentin Canal, seizing the crossing places of Marcoing and Masnieres. Then they in their turn would be followed by the cavalry who would attack the important German supply centre of Cambrai.

Soon after 6 a.m - different sources give 6.10, 6.20 and 6.30 as 'zero hour'[11] [12] - as the first light was starting to penetrate the November mists, the attack began. About 300 tanks began to rumble forward, three divisions of infantry following, [13] while waves of planes flew over the German lines -on of their aims was to disguise the sound of the tanks - and the British artillery pounded the German lines.

At 8.45, with the attack progressing well, Thomas and his fellow Essex men moved into their positions as the advance guard of the 88th Brigade. They were ready by 9.20 and at 11 a.m. the bugle gave them the signal to advance.

The Essex marched forward behind four tanks,one of which eventually broke down, while the other three were taken out by field guns. But the men walked on, northwards up the Vacquerie Valley, capturing a German gun battery and taking 70 prisoners.[14] By 12 noon they held the first line of German trenches and they'd captured a strong point beyond the support trench. A lieutenant was wounded by 'a treacherous shot' while accepting the surrender of some German soldiers.

Soon they were at the village of Masnières, co-operating with the Worcestershires to force the Germans out of a suburb in the south.

Battle lines showing the progressions of the Battle of Cambrai. Masnières is in the upper centre of the right side of the map. (Wikipedia)

At 1 p.m. they reached the Canal and it was here that things started to go wrong - to make matters worse by mid afternoon a 'persistent drizzle' had set in.[15] The Germans had destroyed one bridge and prepared another for destruction and it collapsed under a tank from one of the divisions that had gone forward before Thomas's. His battalion couldn't now advance and came under heavy machine gun and rifle fire from houses on the northern side of the canal. For the rest of the afternoon the men tried everything to get across, but to no avail, so they decided to organise the defence of their side of the canal. Mopping up operations continued successfully all night, but all along the new frontline the British officers and men were too tired to press home the attack when the next day dawned.

The British and Canadians had won about 6 kilometres of ground in the day's fighting.

The next two days saw little progress and November 23/24 saw Thomas's Battalion in billets and dug-outs in the small town of Marcoing. Those in the houses seem to have been sheltering in cellars, but on the afternoon of the 24th shelling became so heavy that the whole battalion was moved into one big dug out.

After three days of work on the trenches, the whole 88th. Brigade were allowed to rest in Marcoing on the 29th., another day of heavy shelling.

The last day of Thomas's life, November 30, dawned bright and fine.[16] It began with a heavy German bombardment of gas shells starting at 7 a.m.  But he probably didn't sleep much before that, as it seems other areas came under bombardment from 2 a.m. and it was clear that a German assault was being prepared.[17]


The German Counter-attack: By Schlacht_von_Cambrai_-_Truppen_D-Angriff.png: W.wolnyderivative work: Uv1234 (talk) - Schlacht_von_Cambrai_-_Truppen_D-Angriff.png, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6747697

At about 8.30 it came: 300,000 men launched a massive counter-attack.[18] The Germans smashed the division on Thomas's right, so his First Battalion were ordered to muster to the south of Marcoing Copse. Shelling was so heavy that the HQ and the different companies had to make their way to the meeting point separately. After fierce fighting - regular supplies of ammunition had to be sent through - the Essex men ended the day in the centre of a new defensive line. They and the other British units held on grimly, but to no avail; by December 7 things were back to more or less the same position as before the British attack of November 20 - the one that had set the church bells back home ringing.



John Nash Over the Top (a British counter-attack on Welsh Ridge near Marcoing, December 30, 1917 - Thomas would have fought on or close to this Ridge) PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38369659

But by this time Thomas Edgar had died of his wounds, a victim of the original German onslaught of November 30. The War Diary has a rather strange statement:

Casualties during the evening of the 30th - Killed 1 officer, 14 men; Wounded, 4 officers (1 mortally), 60 men, Missing, 31 men.

The Diary makes it clear the Essex had been involved in bitter fighting for most of the day, and it's hard to believe that no-one was badly hurt until the evening. I think the casualties were those taken by the time fighting was brought to a close by the coming of a dark November evening. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission claims 25 men from the First Battalion died that day.[19]

Thomas - like 22 of the others - has no known grave. He's commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial at the nearby village of Louverval.[20]

To the Glory of God and to the enduring memory of 7048 Officers and Men of the forces of the British Empire who fell at the Battle of Cambrai 20 Nov—3 Dec 1917 but who have no known grave. Their names are here recorded.

At some point Thomas and Harriet must have received the letter that all parents of soldiers dreaded: carefully-worded news from an officer of their son's death. And then the grim business of tidying up a life that had ended in confusion. The Register of Soldiers Effects shows that Thomas was sent £8.13.5d in March 1918 and another £13 late in 1919.[21] On March 27, 1918 probate was granted to Thomas Edgar, a retired farmer - his son's estate amounted to £120.16.1. [22] That's about £5,000 to £45,000 in today's values, depending on how you calculate it.

The massive losses of what at the time was called The Great War provoked a national effort to memorialise the dead. As part of this movement, Epping and the nearby parishes created different forms of memorial.


All Saints Church, Theydon Garnon: Image: John Salmon, Wikipedia

My guess is that Thomas's task of helping unveil a memorial that included the name of his son was sad but not unusual:



Image: Blackmore Area Local History, http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/theydon-garnon-war-memorial.html

A website describes the scene that day:

A memorial tablet was unveiled at the parish church of Theydon Garnon on Sunday 11th April 1920. Mr F.A. Murray read the prayers of dedication as the tablet, covered by the Union Flag, was unveiled by Mr S. Chisenhale-Marsh, JP,CA, who had lost a son during the war. He was assisted by the Revd W.P. Rowley and church warden T. Edgar, who had themselves lost sons in the war. The tablet was inscribed In affectionate memory of those who fell in the Great War 1914-19, the Parish sets up this record[23] But Thomas and Harriet were luckier than some other parents: although they lost Thomas John, their youngest child, three of their sons returned.

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[1] http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-ptopic8261.html; https://greatwarlondon.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/cambrai-and-the-bells-of-st-pauls/

[2] Suffolk Baptism Index, Part 3, Transcription at http://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=gbprs%2fb%2f220046802%2f1

[3] http://www.essexregiment.co.uk/1stessexsulva.html

[4] http://www.essexregiment.co.uk/1stessexsomme1916.html

[5] E.g. http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_cambrai_btl_05.htm

[6] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l7S_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT155&lpg=PT155&dq=collapsed+bridge+at+masnieres&source=bl&ots=CTwMbax1bb&sig=-23ezWoahGjGk5xFaa2kdAAeFls&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifyK_RmvDNAhUjDsAKHaTjCUUQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=collapsed%20bridge%20at%20masnieres&f=false

[7] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l7S_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT155&lpg=PT155&dq=collapsed+bridge+at+masnieres&source=bl&ots=CTwMbax1bb&sig=-23ezWoahGjGk5xFaa2kdAAeFls&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifyK_RmvDNAhUjDsAKHaTjCUUQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=collapsed%20bridge%20at%20masnieres&f=false

[8] http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_cambrai_btl_05.htm

[9]https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=10ZDuuel3OsC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=collapsed+bridge+at+masnieres&source=bl&ots=l8qfxQ71-G&sig=_yz-6BZG12e1TTshjRUfVjEiueE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifyK_RmvDNAhUjDsAKHaTjCUUQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=collapsed%20bridge%20at%20masnieres&f=false

[10] http://www.rnfldr.ca/history.aspx?item=149

[11] http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_cambrai_btl_01.htm

[12] Another source gives 6.20: http://www.rnr.therooms.ca/part2_the_battle_of_cambrai.asp

[13] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VXa-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA308&lpg=PA308&dq=battle+of+cambrai+worcestershire+marcoing&source=bl&ots=8HQ0p-R_lh&sig=ElD9qeqWfx9mCcYbtH_Tgl26Gvw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFj92L1u7NAhVEWT4KHesgBfMQ6AEIMDAD#v=onepage&q=battle%20of%20cambrai%20worcestershire%20marcoing&f=false

[14] http://ewhurstfallen.co.uk/Men%20WW1/Howick%20Frederick/Frederick%20A%20Howick.htm

[15]https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=10ZDuuel3OsC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=collapsed+bridge+at+masnieres&source=bl&ots=l8qfxQ71-G&sig=_yz-6BZG12e1TTshjRUfVjEiueE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifyK_RmvDNAhUjDsAKHaTjCUUQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=collapsed%20bridge%20at%20masnieres&f=false

[16] http://www.lightbobs.com/1917-cambrai-november-december.html

[17] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VxS-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=vacquerie+valley&source=bl&ots=EZL-fwEujH&sig=_wVDHaC1-v27dtJTS9g4F_iIJOQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHssWJs_DNAhVILMAKHX8xAhwQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=vacquerie%20valley&f=false

[18]https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l7S_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT155&lpg=PT155&dq=collapsed+bridge+at+masnieres&source=bl&ots=CTwMbax1bb&sig=-23ezWoahGjGk5xFaa2kdAAeFls&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifyK_RmvDNAhUjDsAKHaTjCUUQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=collapsed%20bridge%20at%20masnieres&f=false

[19] http://ewhurstfallen.co.uk/Men%20WW1/Howick%20Frederick/Frederick%20A%20Howick.htm

[20] https://www.twgpp.org/photograph/view/3196315

[21] http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/60506/42511_6129999_0114-00118?pid=200708&backurl=http://search.ancestry.co.uk//cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26db%3DUKArmyRegistersEffects%26h%3D200708%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DDAg210%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26rhSource%3D1543&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=DAg210&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

[22] http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1904/31874_222834-00164?pid=1451030&backurl=http://search.ancestry.co.uk//cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26db%3DUKProbateCal%26h%3D1451030%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DDAg210%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource%26usePUBJs%3Dtrue%26rhSource%3D1543&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=DAg210&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true

[23] http://www.hellfirecorner.co.uk/duffell2.htm