Out & About Autumn 2018

1915

1916

Lorna Ferris is the only woman to appear on Newbury’s war memorial. She was born in Newbury in late 1887 or early 1888, the second child of Henry and Amelia Ferris. Lorna trained as a nurse at the Dreadnought Seaman’s Hospital, Greenwich, and it is known that in April 1915 she set off for Serbia to a tented hospital camp outside the small village of Kragujevac, about 73 miles south of Belgrade. While providing care for the sick and wounded,

The Battle of Jutland T he largest naval engagement of the war fought between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Sea Fleet off Denmark from May 31 to June 1, 1916. Among the dead was Acting Leading Stoker William Cornelius Bellinger aboard HMS Queen Mary . William was born in 1891 and lived at the family home in Adey’s Buildings, Newbury, along with 11 members of the family. He worked as a fishmonger before joining the Navy as a stoker in 1910. He was on board when the Queen Mary was torn apart by a shell from the SMS Derfflinger , which detonated the forward magazines. There were 1,266 casualties, with only 20 rescued. William is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Newbury War Memorial and the town’s United Reformed Church. Other West Berkshire seamen killed on the Queen Mary were Ernest Buckell , born in 1896, Hungerford; George Southey , 28, from Thatcham and Harry Stanley Knapp , 23, of Vine Farm, Penwood. Other naval casualties included Cmdr Coplestone-Boughey , from Speen, who went down on HMS Defence , which was struck by two salvoes from the German fleet and there were no survivors. Another casualty was 1st class boy onboard HMS Defence , William Henry Palmer , of Hill Farm, Shaw. First Class Stoker John Tomas Owen , 22, of Marsh Street, Newbury went down with HMS Tipperary and S H Taylor of Hamstead Marshall and Captain Hyde Park of Ivory Farm, Burghclere went down on the HMS Superb .

Lorna caught typoid and died on July 4, 1915. Her funeral took place at Kragujevac Cathedral with full military honours and the Crown Prince of Serbia sent a represenative. She was buried alongside two other women – Dr Elizabeth Ross and Mabel Dearmer – and the three women are remembered at an annual ceremony held at their graves every February 14. Gallipoli M en from the Berkshire Yeomanry left their homes and travelled to another continent to fight in the Great War. The landings at Gallipoli were designed to relieve pressure on Russia and put Constantinople at risk. Sgt William John Horne was the only son of Mr and Mrs John Horne of Hungerford. After enlisting with the Berkshire Yeomanry in 1914, he trained at Churn on the Berkshire Downs at Compton before moving to the east coast to guard against a possible German invasion. The regiment sailed to Egypt in April 1915 and then shipped, without their horses, to Gallipoli, where they saw their first action. The regiment arrived in Turkey on August 18, 1915, landing at ‘A’ beach on Suvla Bay in preparation for a major assault on the peninsula. William was among the 312 men killed during the battle for Scimitar Hill, on August 21, 1915. William has no known grave and is remembered on the Helles Memorial to the missing in Turkey, the Hungerford war memorial, a roll of honour in the town hall and on the roll of honour in St Lawrence Church. “I think the most impressive sight I have ever seen or attended, was last Sunday night, when we had a church service outside the dug out conducted by out chaplain, the Rev WV Jephson, of Hampshire....The minister read the prayers and lessons and spoke a few kindly and appropriate words to us... I shall never forget it... Our chaplain, the Rev Jephson, is a ripping fellow, and is out all hours of the day and night to speak a few comforting words to some poor chap whose days are numbered –never weary, always unselfish and thoughtful... I often go into his dug out and have a talk of cricket – the Oval, Lords, and good old England. He is a ripping man to talk to, and we get on well when we are on the cricket subject. May we both live to play it again in our native land.

William Cornelius Bellinger

Ernest Buckell

“To the end, to the end, they remain”

Left: Extract from a letter written by a driver in the RAMC, who came into personal contact with the rector of Highclere, on service in Gallipoli

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