Remembering their sacrifice 100 years on

With the 100th anniversary of the armistice rapidly approaching, I wanted to pay tribute to those members of our family who fought in "the war to end all wars". Some of them, captured by  patriotic fervour at the outbreak of war in 1914 bravely volunteered to serve their country, but as the war dragged on into 1916, the British Government was forced to introduce conscription which meant that married older men and fathers were forced to fight. My great-grandfathers, John Robert Melton and Charles James Upson were directly affected by this. 38 year old "Bob" Melton reported for duty with the 14th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Scottish) on 2nd August 1917. At the time, the married shipping clerk had 7 children between the ages of 3 and 16. 

Bob Melton with his wife Charlotte and daughter Kath

Charles, who oversaw the printing presses at the Ilford Recorder was also married and had 2 children; Violet aged 3 and Ivy, who was an 8th month old baby. The following excerpt from the Chelmsford Chronicle  shows that he lodged an appeal, but had his case dismissed. He subsequently joined the army and became a private in the Machine Gun Corps.

Excerpt from Chelmsford Chronicle dated 25th May 1917

I've recently been researching my great grandparents male siblings to see whether they served overseas in the First World War and managed to undercover some interesting stories. Bob's younger brother, Albert, volunteered with the 6th Battalion of the London Regiment (City of London Rifles) aged just 17. His regiment was dispatched to France on 17th August and formed part of the 47th (2nd London) Division that fought at the Battle of Loos. He only remained on the Western Front until 4th January 1916 and was discharged because he had lied about his age when he enlisted.

Charles's younger brothers also served in the First World War. Wilfred Owen Upson also joined the London Scottish and became Batman to Major Clowes. Rather than being some kind of caped crusader, a "Batman" is military terminology for a servant. He travelled to France with the regiment on 17th August 1915 and aside from a period of home leave in September 1917 remained there until April 1918. Arthur Upson served in the Army Pay Corps and the youngest brother, Albert Upson joined the Royal Navy and served on various land-based training facilities in Chatham and in Skegness. Neither saw front line action.

Charles's wife, my great grandmother Violet Lily Upson (formally Snow), had an older brother called Thomas Snow who was a Sergeant in the 4th Battalion of the Essex Regiment. He initially saw action in Gallipolli (August - December 1915) before being evacuated to the Greek island of Lemnos and then on to Alexandria (Egypt). The unit was later involved in the Palestinian campaign and fought at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battles of Gaza.

My great-grandmother Ada Louisa Hewitt (formally Deacon), had a younger brother called William who joined the Royal Field Artillery. He served in France between 22nd June and 3rd December 1916. His unit was then moved to Salonika (in Greece) and remained there until 10th June 1917. After his stint in Greece he spent the remainder of the war in Alexandria (Egypt).

Perhaps the most heart-rending story I have found is that of William Edward Sherwood, the older brother of my great grandmother Charlotte Melton (formally Sherwood). At the outbreak of the war in 1914, Bill was a 36 year old wharf foreman living with his wife, Emily and their 2 children: Stanley aged 11 and Doris aged 8 in London's Limehouse. His life was turned upside down in 1915 as firstly his wife died in early in the year  and then his mother died suddenly on Christmas Day at her home on Salmon Lane of a brain haemorrhage. The family had been ripped to shreds and with the introduction of government conscription the following year, Bill found himself having to leave his children behind. Bill joined 19th Battalion London Regiment on 11th December 1916 and saw action at the Battle of Messines, the 3rd Battle of Ypres and at Cambrai, where on 29th November the unit took over the recently-captured Bourlon Wood just in time to be hit by a German counter-attack the following morning. The 1/19th Londons were badly affected by the enemy bombardment, particularly by gas shells. Out of 15 officers and over 600 men of the battalion who took up position in the wood, only 5 officers and 65 other ranks remained in the line by the end of the day, and many of those were later evacuated to hospital suffering the effects of gas. Unfortunately, it appears that Bill was one of those men. He was transported to Stationary Hospital No. 3 in Rouen and he succumbed to his injuries on 5th December 1917. He was laid to rest at the St Sever Cemetery Extension in Rouen and is commemorative certificate from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is below:

Sherwood – A Story of Poverty in London’s East End

This chapter of the Sherwood story begins with my 3xgreat grandfather, William Sherwood. He was born in the Lincolnshire village of Saxilby on 18^th November 1820. Church records show that his parents, Richard and Elizabeth Sherwood had him baptised in the parish church the following day. Richard was an agricultural labourer and this would have provided some small income for the family.

Saxilby is situated 8 miles from the city of Lincoln and is located on the Foss Dyke, an inland waterway which, in those days, enabled grain and wool to be transported from Lincoln to the North via the River Trent. In return, it also allowed coal and cloth to be imported from the industrial areas of the north. Growing up, William would have witnessed barges sailing along the Foss Dyke and it was probably scenes such as these which inspired him to go to sea as an apprentice at the age of 16. 

Seaman's ticket

At the time of writing, nothing is known about the early years of his career. However, on 16^th August 1845, he was registered with a seaman’s ticket. The seaman’s ticket system was introduced by the government to create a register of merchant seaman who, in the event of war, could be called into naval service. The document provides some fascinating details. It reveals that William was 5ft 6 inches tall and he had brown hair, a dark complexion and hazel eyes. He also had a tattoo of a man on his right arm. Significantly, when he wasn’t employed on a vessel as a seaman, he was living in London.

The document offers tantalising information about his voyages as well. On 22^nd November 1845, he set sail from London on a London-registered ship bound for the West Indies. He was at sea for almost 9 months and his ship did not return to London until 14^th August 1846. When his ship docked he would have had to run the gauntlet of local people who lived off the sailors. This account written after the event paints a vivid picture of the dockland community in about 1845:

The inhabitants of Ratcliff Highway lived upon the sailors. There were a great many lodging-houses there; still more clothiers and outfitters; and any number of public-houses and beer shops, nearly every one of which had a dancing saloon at the back of the bar. Jack came ashore with his pockets full of money, but they quickly emptied. He was ready enough to spend his pay, but there were other persons still more ready to despoil him of it. In those days there were no Government officials to board the vessels and arrange for the safe despatch of Jack’s money, and Jack himself to his home. No sooner did a vessel reach her moorings than she was swarming with boarding-house touts, crimps, outfitters, runners, and other rapacious beasts of prey. Poor Jack was soon in the hands of the Philistines.
 From the public-houses in Ratcliff Highway there constantly issued the sound of loud laughter, mingled with shouting and fearful imprecations. Far into the night the women and the drunken sailors danced and sang to the accompaniment of screeching fiddles. For the most part the women wore white dresses and white shoes. If the sailors were not entirely fleeced inside the saloons, the process was completed by bullies and fighting men when they staggered out into the street. The poor fellows were frequently drugged, and sometimes half murdered. (Round London : Down East and Up West, by Montagu Williams Q.C., (1894))

Bill did not remain in port long and returned to sea on 24^th August on a Newcastle registered ship. The ship did not return to England until 7^th December when it docked in Newcastle. Bill spent Christmas in England and may have visited his parents in Saxilby. He set sail early in the new year and departed Newcastle on 6^th January 1847.

The ship spent over four and half months at sea before docking at Hull on 30^th May. Bill spent the remainder of the year on dry land. During this time, he may have visited his family in Lincolnshire before returning to London.

Once back in London he met a girl. Charlotte Tarrant was a parasol maker from Wapping and her father was, like him, a mariner. They were married on 21^st February 1848 at Christchurch, Watney Street. Once they were married they moved into Charlotte’s family’s house at 37 Broad Street, Wapping. The house was on the east side of the road and looked across to the huge sugar warehouse that formed part of the London Docks. Henry Mayhew captured the scene at the time:

As you enter the dock the sight of the forest of masts in the distance, and the tall chimneys vomiting clouds of black smoke, and the many-coloured flags flying in the air, has a most peculiar effect; while the sheds with the monster wheels arching through the roofs look like the paddle-boxes of huge steamers. Along the quay you see, now men with their faces blue with indigo, and now gangers with their long brass tipped rule dripping with spirit from the cask they have been probing. Then will come a group of flaxen-haired sailors, chattering German; and next a black sailor, with a cotton handkerchief twisted turban-like round his head. Presently a blue-smocked butcher, with fresh meat and a bunch of cabbages in the tray on his shoulder; and shortly afterwards a mate, with green paroquets in a wooden cage. Here you will see sitting on a bench a sorrowful-looking woman, with new bright cooking tins at her feet, telling you she is an emigrant preparing for her voyage. As you pass along this quay the air is pungent with tobacco; on that, it overpowers you with the fumes of rum; then you are nearly sickened with the stench of hides and huge bins of horns; and shortly afterwards the atmosphere is fragrant with coffee and spice. Nearly everywhere you meet stacks of cork, or else yellow bins of sulphur, or lead-coloured copper ore. As you enter this warehouse the flooring is sticky, as if it had been newly tarred, with the sugar that has leaked through the casks; and as you descend into the dark vaults, you see long lines of lights hanging from the black arches, and lamps flitting about midway. Here you sniff the fumes of the wine, and there the peculiar fungus-smell of dry rot; there the jumble of sounds as you pass along the dock blends in anything but sweet concord. The sailors are singing boisterous nigger songs from the Yankee ship just entering; the cooper is hammering at the casks on the quay; the chains of the cranes, loosed of their weight, rattle as they fly up again; the ropes splash in the water; some captain shouts his orders through his hands; a goat bleats from some ship in the basin; and empty casks roll along the stones with a heavy, drum-like sound. Here the heavily-laden ships are down far below the quay, and you descend to them by ladders; whilst in another basin they are high up out of the water, so that their green copper sheathing is almost level with the eye of the passenger; while above his head a long line of bowsprits stretches far over the quay, and from them hang spars and planks as a gangway to each ship. ('The Tower Subway and London Docks', Old and New London: Volume 2 (1878))

London Docks circa 1845

On 4^th March 1848, less than two weeks after they were married, Bill went to sea again. He returned to London exactly 5 months later on 4^th August 1848. Charlotte became pregnant and she gave birth to their first child, whom they named Sarah Elizabeth Sherwood, in the early months of 1849. Sarah was born in Saxilby, which suggests they travelled freely between London and Lincolnshire. Sarah’s birth was followed by a son the following year. William Francis Sherwood was born on 19^th December 1850 at 37 Broad Street. The baby William was baptised on 5^th January 1851 at St Georges in the East.

William Francis Sherwood birth certificate

By the time of the census three months later, Bill had moved back to Church Road, Saxilby with his parents and was working as an agricultural labourer. His wife Charlotte remained in London and was living with their children at 37 Broad Street. They shared the house with her father John Tarrant, who was now working as a sail maker, his wife (Sarah) and their three children Sarah, Samuel and William. Also living in the house was a blacksmith, his wife and their two children. A grand total of 12 people living in very cramped conditions. Charlotte and two other members of the household were working as parasol makers.

Why had Bill left his wife and kids behind? Was there a scarcity of work in London? Or had their marriage hit the rocks? Perhaps it was both. Whatever the reason for their separation, Bill returned to London to be with them by the end of the year and the following summer Martha Warrick Sherwood was born. She was baptised on 24^th October 1852 at St Georges in the East.

The following autumn disaster struck the family. Bill's 4-year-old daughter Sarah died suddenly of Cholera on 18th November 1853 and within days her younger sister Martha followed her. The overcrowded housing of the East End enabled infection to spread quickly and there was little that could be done in those days, especially if you were poor. The pain of this loss must have been unbearable.

Ellen Sherwood was born in the early months of 1854 and although her birth must have helped to ease their sense of loss, there must have been concern that disease could return. Other parts of the city had seen various epidemics. There had been outbreaks of Cholera in South London the previous summer and in the summer of 1854 there was a major outbreak in Soho.

On 3^rd April 1856 William and Charlotte had another son whom they named John Moses Sherwood. Baby John was baptised at St George in the East on 27^th April .  At the time, the family had recently moved to 1 Princes Street following the death of Charlotte’s father. 1 Princes Street was in Wapping and was the address of the St George in the East workhouse. It was perhaps the poor conditions at the workhouse that lead to another family tragedy, the death of baby John that summer aged just 4 months. He was buried at St Dunstan’s, Stepney on 5^th August.

London in the mid-nineteenth century was an extremely dirty and unhealthy place. Three million people populated the city and many houses still relied on cess pits, especially in the poorer districts. Effluent was often forced upwards after periods of sustained wet weather. In 1847 the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers decreed that all privy waste must be discharged into sewers. This seemed like a good idea and many districts in London, particularly the wealthier areas, were connected to a network of sewers. The problem was that these sewers discharged directly into the Thames and its tributaries and the rivers were overwhelmed by untreated sewage. Those same rivers were still used as a source for cleaning and drinking in some areas. Wildlife disappeared from the Thames and the river died. The Prime Minister at the time, Benjamin Disraeli, described the Thames as ‘a Stygian pool reeking with ineffable and unbearable horror’ (Disraeli, (1858)). By the summer of 1858, the situation had become unbearable and the windows of the Houses of Parliament had to be protected by curtains soaked in chlorine to keep out the smell. This situation became known as The Great Stink and it finally prompted The Metropolitan Board of Works and their engineer Joseph Bazalgette to construct new sewers that diverted the effluent downriver to outfalls at Beckton and Crossness.

The Silent Highwayman

Bill took whatever employment he could to support his family. Earlier in his married life he had briefly worked as an agricultural labourer back in his native Lincolnshire, but now that he was living permanently in London, he needed an alternative source of income if he couldn't find work on a ship. He became one of the thousands who worked casually in the docks.

On 14th July 1858, Bill's wife, Charlotte, gave birth to another baby daughter. She was baptised with the name Harriet at St Mary's, Cable Street, on 15th August 1858. At the time of the baptism, Bill and his family were living at 31 James Place, Ratcliff. James Place was situated between Cable Street and the railway line and was book-ended by Devonport Street in the west and Stepney Causeway in the east. It was a narrow street, just 7 feet separated the houses running along its southern side from a high brick wall on the northern side. It was reached by descending several steps down from the streets at each end and was a dark, dank and unhealthy place. It was probably these conditions which lead to the death of baby Harriet in the autumn of that year.

The situation for the casual dock labourer grew especially desperate in January 1861. London was in the grip of freezing winter weather and the ships were unable to dock. There was no work and many families went hungry. Many dock labourers were involved in bread riots and rampaged along Commercial Road smashing windows and stealing food.

According to the 1861 census they were still living at 31 James Place in spite of the awful conditions.  Bill was a dock labourer and Charlotte was still making parasols. Their two surviving children, William and Ellen, were both attending school.

Cholera returned to London in the summer of 1866. The Times newspaper of 21^st July 1866 reported:

Thirteen cases have been admitted into the London Hospital, and five deaths have occurred there this week, and other patients are now in a precarious state. Several deaths from cholera have taken place in the neighbourhood of the hospital. In accordance with the provisions advocated in the short article which we lately published on cholera hospitals a spacious ward has been set aside for these cases. It is already nearly full.

On 25^th July The Times further reported:

In all London last week there were 346 deaths from cholera and 221 from diarrhea…It was evident, therefore, he added that cholera of a fatal type was prevalent in London, and as far as his observations on it had gone, especially in the London Hospital, where many cases had been treated, it was almost entirely among the poor, and the occupants of the worst classes of houses, where sanitary regulations had been neglected.

Bill fell ill at the end on the month and his symptoms were severe enough for him to be transferred to the London Hospital in Whitechapel. The vomiting and diarrhea would have resulted in chronic dehydration and in spite of medical intervention, he died on 31^st July. The cause of his death was certified as Cholera.

William Sherwood death certificate

At the time London was in the grip of the worst Cholera outbreak since 1854. The Times newspaper contained the following in an article on 1^st August:

…The excess of deaths was caused entirely by cholera and diarrhea. 904 deaths by cholera,349 by diarrhea were registered in the week making the aggregate 1253 deaths…It is a peculiarity of the case that the greater part of this slaughter in seven days of 1253 people of all ages took place within a limited portion of the London area. 924 of the deaths, 811 by cholera and 113 by diarrhea, were registered in the six districts of Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, St George-in-the-East, Stepney, Mile End Old Town and Poplar (including Bow), among about a seventh part of the population of London and on about one fourteenth of its area. The attack extends all along the north side of the Thames, from the River Lea and the Isle of Dogs to the Tower of London. Limehouse Basin and the Regent’s Canal are the central line of the attack, which stretches as far north as Victoria Park. This is essentially the port of London, inhabited by its maritime population. The canals and the basin are full of foul water, and are apparently connected with the Limehouse Cut, Hackney Cut and the River Lea. The East London Waterworks Canal draws its supply from the river at Lea Bridge, where there is a reservoir, and runs for a couple of miles by the side of Hackney cut down to its other reservoirs north of Bow and near the Lea. The present cholera field derives its water from these works….The people are falling ill every hour; you see them of all ages, children and adults, lying about their beds  like people under the influence of a deadly poison, some acutely suffering, nearly all conscious of their fate and of all that is going on around them…Several wards of the London Hospital are full of patients…The people themselves are the most patient; most willing to help each other, the women always in front , and none shrinking from danger.  There is no desertion of children, husbands, wives, fathers or mothers from fear.

It must have been terrifying not only for Bill and his family, but also for the countless others whose lives were affected by the outbreak. The source of the outbreak was contaminated drinking water supplied from the River Lea by the East London Water Company. There were stories at the time of people’s pipes being blocked by dead eels and brown-coloured drinking water.  At a time when the rest of London’s sanitation had started to improve, the outbreak was a huge scandal. The water company was found to be responsible and has the blood of thousands of East Enders like William Sherwood on its hands.

Bill’s son, William Francis, was just 15 at the time and the loss of his father would have been a massive shock, but with the only other source of family income being derived from his mum’s parasol making, it was imperative that he stayed strong. He was the man of the house now and had to earn a living not only for himself but also for his sister, Ellen, and his mum. There is no evidence of them having entered the local workhouse in the aftermath of his father’s death and this suggests they managed to scrape together enough money to provide a roof over their heads and food on the table.

10 years after his father’s death, William Francis lost his mother as well. Charlotte died of bronchitis at her home in 42 London Street on 11^th June 1876. She was just 49 at the time and William’s sister, Ellen, had been present at her death.

By this time, William Francis had a girlfriend. Kate Matthews was the daughter of a master butcher who had a shop in Bow Common Lane, Mile End. The relationship had progressed to the extent that she had fallen pregnant and they now had to get married. The wedding took place at St James’s the Great parish church in Bethnal Green on 19^th June 1876. At that time Bill was employed as a porter. Just a few weeks later they had a daughter whom they christened Kate Elizabeth Sherwood.

Two years after the birth of young Kate, they had another baby. This time it was a boy and they christened him William Edward Sherwood. He was joined two years after that by a second daughter. Charlotte Emily Sherwood was born on 23^rd June 1880 at 3 Medland Street, Ratcliff, which was a common lodging house.

 

Ratcliff 1890s vs present day

Soon after Charlotte’s birth the family moved to 1 The Orchard, Ratcliff. William Francis was now working as a “coal tank filler”. Coal tanks were small black steam locomotives that were initially used for freight work over short distances. They were probably being used in the docks at the time.

The census taken during the following year shows they were still living at 1 The Orchard. William was described as a “general labourer” and was living at the address with his wife and their three children.

On 16^th May 1883 William and Kate had another daughter named Martha. She was baptised on 1^st June at St James’s Church in Ratcliff. By the time of Martha’s arrival into the world, the family had moved to 12 London Street. Unfortunately the joy surrounding the birth was short-lived as Martha developed water on the brain. She died at Shadwell Children’s Hospital on 12^th December 1883 aged just 6 months.

Extract from Charles Booth Survey Map

In the years that followed, Charles Booth, who later founded the Salvation Army, conducted a survey of London. He walked the streets taking copious notes and eventually produced a map that classified their social class and poverty. The Booth survey describes Medland Street as being populated by “sailor’s widows” and “loose women”. Nearby London Street is described as “very rough” and the children were “booted, but ragged”. The streets were indicated on the map as dark blue and black respectively. Dark blue was described as “Very poor, casual, chronic want”. Black was described as “Lowest class, vicious, semi criminal”. (Booth, 1889-1899)

Booth’s survey paints a grim picture of the living conditions in the area. At the time the air would have been thick with coal smoke from industry and their lodgings damp. Inevitably, all this took its toll on William’s health. Like his mother, he caught bronchitis and died at his home, 10 London Street, on 19^th April 1888 aged just 37. and was laid to rest at the City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery on 29^th April 1888. At the time of his death he was working as a dock labourer and once again would have had to experience the scrum of the “call on” in order to earn the privilege of a day’s work in the docks that would have involved working in all weathers. He lived a lived a hard life and died young even by Victorian standards. The average life expectancy for men at the time was around 45.

John Robert Melton - Escaping the East End

John Robert Melton was born on the 16th June 1879 at 11 Ann Street, Ratcliff in London's East End. Known by the name Bob, his father worked a cook in a restaurant at the time of his birth. The census taken on the night of the 3rd April 1881 shows the young Bob still living at 11 Ann Street with his parents, older siblings Sarah Frances and George Frederick and his young aunt Eliza.

Bob was baptised on at St Paul’s church in Shadwell on 19^th January 1883. At the time, he and his family were living nearby at 25J Juniper Street, a newly-built tenement block for the “respectable” working class. This was home for the next five years. By 20^th November 1888, Bob had moved with his family to 263 Cable Street and was attending Lower Chapman Street school. The building still stands today and is being used as a mosque.

St Paul's church, Shadwell

Darul Ummah Mosque formally Lower Chapman Street school

Bythe time of the next census on 5th April 1891, Bob and his family were living at 245 Cable Street. His father is listed as a coffee tavern house keeper. Given the nature of local business in the area at the time, it seems likely that the house doubled up as the business premises with the front room providing a place for customers to sit. Bob's mother may have assisted by serving customers in between looking after Bob and his siblings. At this time Bob had an older brother (George) and four sisters. His older sister Sarah was aged sixteen and may have helped out by serving customers. George aged fourteen was working as a clerk at the council. Younger sisters Lily and Edith were at school and the youngest, Emily, was just two years old.

At the turn of the century Bob met a local girl named Charlotte Sherwood, who was the daughter of a dock labourer. Once it became apparent that she was pregnant, they had to get married. The wedding took place on 14th October 1900 at St Paul’s in Shadwell. At that time, the twenty-one year old Bob was working as a 'commercial clerk' and had moved from the family home in Tillman Street and was living in accommodation at 15 Drew's Buildings, 147-151 High Street, Shadwell. As the time of the birth drew closer the couple needed to find more suitable accommodation. In early 1901, they were able to move to 29 Belgrave Street, Stepney. Their son, Robert George Melton, was born shortly afterwards on 22^nd February 1901. Their new baby boy was baptised at St Dunstan and All Saints church in Stepney on 19^th March 1901.

Photo taken circa 1911. Back row: Robert George, William Stanley.
Front row: Edith Dorothy Florence, Charles Bernard,
Winifred Edith Lily

During the course of the following years, Bob and Charlotte moved between a number of addresses in the East End. Their second son, William Stanley, was born on 29^th October 1902. Baby William was baptised at St George-in-the-East on 19^th November 1902. At the time, John and his growing family were lodging with his sister, Sarah and her husbandAlbert at 53 Anthony Street, a street that ran south from Commercial Road just to the west of Watney Street. This was followed by the birth of Winnifred Edith Lily in Limehouse on 15^th January 1905. Little Win was baptised at St James’s church, Butcher Row, Ratcliff on 1^st February 1905. Between Win’s birth and her baptism, the family had moved to 220 Boundary Road, Barking. As the family was growing, Bob must have decided it would be better for them to move to Essex where the air was purer and the quality and size of the housing stock was better. On 4^th December 1907 their second daughter Edith Dorothy Florence was born. Two years later on 19^th March 1910 they had another baby boy named Bernard Charles. The census of 2nd April 1911 reveals that the family had moved to 59 Saxon Road, Ilford which was close to boundary with Barking. By this time Bob was working as a 'shipping clerk'.

Growing tensions overseas culminated in the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. At the age of thirty-five, Bob would have been too old to volunteer for the regular army. Instead, he joined the 14th Battalion London Regiment which was a unit in the Territorial Army. It seems that while the younger men went to fight on the Western Front or other locations, Bob remained at home and was able to continue his civilian life working as a 'shipping clerk'. The family expanded further with the arrival of Kathleen Agnes Melton on 20^th July 1914 and another son, Arthur Sidney Melton, the following year. As stories of life in the trenches filtered through, he must have been nervous about the prospect of going overseas to fight one day.

That day arrived on 2^nd August 1917. He was summoned to Whitehall and enlisted with the Army’s 56^th (London) Division before being posted to the Western Front. He first saw action two weeks later at the Battle of Langemarck  (Inverness Copse and Glencourse Wood). This battle formed part of the more well-known Battle of Passchendaele which was also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The battle’s objectives were reached, but a strong German counter-attack threw the London Division back to its original start line. Casualties were 111 officers and 2,794 men over a five day period in the line, most of them as a result of the attack on 16^th August. Following these operations the division withdrew from the line, and moved south to the Cambrai area, taking over trenches at Lagnicourt in early September. 

On the opening day of the Battle of Cambrai, 20^th November 1917, the division was involved in diversionary operations opposite Moeuvres, and two days later they attacked and captured Tadpole Copse and the Hindenburg Line near Moeuvres itself. Here they remained in reserve while the fighting for Bourlon Wood continued. During the German counter-attack, the positions held near Tadpole Copse were overrun and the division forced back towards the old British front line. Casualties at Cambrai were 211 killed, 1,046 wounded and 369 missing. 

After Cambrai the London Division moved to Arras, and took over the line between the Oppy and Gavrelle sectors.

In February 1918 Bob fell ill. His symptoms included headaches, skin rashes, inflamed eyes and leg pains. On 21^st February he was admitted to 42 Casualty Clearing Station, which at this time was situated close to the village of Aubigny in the Somme valley to the east of Amiens. He was diagnosed with ‘Trench Fever’ and his condition was considered serious enough for him to be transferred back to England on 6^th March, where he was admitted to the Birmingham War Hospital.

Bob spent almost three months in hospital. Though ‘Trench Fever’ was not life-threatening its symptoms could be unpleasant as well as debilitating. The patient would seem to recover only to relapse several days later. By 1917 it was one of the more common causes of illness in the trenches. The cause of the condition was not understood until 1918 and this could explain Bob’s extended stay in hospital. In 1918 the cause of ‘Trench Fever’ was identified as excretions from lice, affecting all trenches.  The disease was transmitted via the bites of body lice and was chiefly prevalent on the somewhat warmer Western and Italian Fronts. Lice were rife in the crowded and dirty conditions of the trenches.

On 1^st June 1918 Bob was considered well enough to be discharged from hospital. The army then sent him to Shoreham Camp on the south coast for training. He remained at the camp until October 1918 when he returned to duty with the Army Pay Corps. By this time the Allied forces had broken through the German lines and the First World War ended on 11^th November 1918 at 11am.

Fortunately for Bob, the ‘Trench Fever’ did not leave him with any serious health problems when he was demobilised from the army in 1919. However, he was still granted a disability pension on the grounds that he suffered from occasional rheumatism.

At the end of the war, Charlotte was pregnant again and on 19^th April 1919, Alan Douglas Melton was born. After the armistice life returned to normal and Bob returned to work as a ‘shipping clerk’. It is likely that he would have commuted into the city using the railway which passed through nearby Barking. At weekends he would have occasionally used Barking Station to take his family on outings to Southend. Bob and Charlotte's youngest son, Kenneth, was born on 10th January 1921.

Bob was keen on football and became the club trainer at Barking Town FC. He took on this role when the club was reformed after the war and remained there until at least 1938. During his period with the club they won plenty of silverware including the London League Premier Division (1920/21), London Senior Cup (1926/27) and President’s Cup (1937/38). The club played their home games at Vicarage Field which is now buried under the shopping centre that bears the same name.

1921 Barking Town FC London League Winners Div 1 also Ilford Hospital Shield beat Custom House FC 5-0 at West Ham
John Robert Melton is standing 3rd from the right with a scarf draped over his shoulder

In the twenties and thirties London County Council bought land to the east of Barking and at Becontree near Dagenham. London’s population was increasing and the people needed new places to live, away from the squalor and overcrowding of the East End slums. The area of land at Becontree was developed into the largest council estate in Europe. This massive public spending probably helped to soften the impact of the depression of 1929-1933. The development of the Becontree estate also resulted in the District Line being extended east to Upminster.

In 1934/35 Bob and his family moved to 136 Stratton Drive on Barking’s newly-built Leftley Estate. House prices started from £670 freehold with a £50 deposit. They were built with Crittall windows, roofs were boarded and tiled, and they had a bathroom with a separate lavatory – a luxury in those days. The house also had a relatively large garden which enabled Bob indulge his passion for gardening. By this time Bob had risen through the ranks of the shipping company where he worked and was now a departmental office manager.

Bob and Charlotte "Old Love"

The late thirties once again saw a rise in tensions overseas. Hitler became the chancellor of Germany and despite Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s peace summit with Hitler in 1938, Britain found herself at war in September 1939 when Germany reneged on her promise not to invade Poland.

The government immediately put in place measures such as the evacuation of children and the issue of gas masks, however very little actually happened following the declaration of war. This period became known as ’The Phoney War’.

‘The Phoney War’ came to an abrupt end in spring 1940 when Germany invaded the Low Countries and France. The British Expeditionary Force and the French Army were outflanked. Disaster was averted by the miraculous evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, but with France under Nazi control, Britain was alone. It was only matter of time before Germany would attempt to invade England.

The Battle of Britain had now begun. German fighters attempted to gain control of the skies over South East England, but against the odds the Hurricanes and Spitfires of the Royal Air Force proved to be more than a match for the German aircraft.

On Saturday 7^th September 1940 West Ham United were playing Tottenham Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground. The Hammers were 4-1 up and on course for a famous victory. As the match drew to a close, the skies were darkened by hundreds of enemy aircraft approaching from the east. This day, which came to be known as ’Black Saturday’, was the first air raid that targeted London. The damage and loss of life was immense. The Luftwaffe had changed their tactics.

From ’Black Saturday’ until the 20^th November there were daily and nightly air raids. Bob and his family would have retreated to the Anderson Shelter in the back garden while the bombs fell around them. Though the majority of the bombs fell on the East End neighbourhoods closest to the docks, many fell in the Barking area.

As autumn turned to winter the air raids decreased in frequency and the worst appeared to be over. The air raids did not intensify again until early 1943 with the onset of the ‘Little Blitz’.

By 1944 there was a new menace: flying bombs known as ‘Doodlebugs’ or ‘Buzz Bombs’. These were V1 rockets launched from the Belgian or Dutch coast. Like other East Enders, Bob and Charlotte made the best of it and carried on with their lives. They knew they would be alright as long as they could hear the rocket’s engine as it passed overhead. If the buzzing noise stopped it meant that the rocket had expended its fuel supply and it was only a matter of time before it fell to earth and exploded.

As 1944 became 1945, London was subjected to an even more terrifying threat: the V2 rocket. This new weapon was silent and the first anybody knew about it was when they hit and devastated entire streets. Initially the Churchill government tried to cover up these attacks and would issue heavily censored photographs labelled by the caption ‘gas explosion’. Later, as London was subjected to more attacks, the restrictions were lifted. It is alleged that the government fed false information back to the Germans stating that the rockets were hitting to the west of their intended target, presumably as a means of protecting parliament and the royal family. Consequently it was the areas to the east and south-east that bore the brunt of both the V1 and V2 attacks.  At the time there was a large explosion over Mayesbrook Park  close to Bob and Charlotte’s house. This was attributed to a V2 rocket.

The war finally ended in August 1945 and once the celebrations were over, the enormous task of rebuilding London and re-housing the homeless began. By this time Bob had retired and could spend more time in the garden. In the post war years, he would have enjoyed relaxing and spending time with his wife and children who by now had their own children. They were a close family and his children and grandchildren all lived nearby.

In 1957 Bob became ill with stomach cancer and passed away on 21^st September. Bob’s son, Arthur, was present at his death. He lived through a period of enormous change and elevated the family from the privation of the Victorian East-End to the relative comfort of the middle-class Essex suburbs. Quite an achievement.

Grandad

Alan Douglas Melton, my grandad, was born at 59 Saxon Road, Ilford on 19^th April 1919. Unfortunately, I know little about the early years of his life as the census information for 1921 and 1931 are not available at the time of writing. Also, he passed away when I was only six years old and although I remember him I was too young to ask him detailed questions about his life. Alan produced a scrapbook* of his experiences in World War 2 and it makes for fascinating reading. What I have been able to uncover is based on this, along with conversations with Dad and Grandma plus my own research. 

Family tree showing Alan's parents, siblings and children

Early Years

Alan probably lived at the Saxon Road address throughout his childhood and during his time at school. In those days, most people left school at the age of fourteen and then went to work. Working on this basis, Alan probably left school in the summer of 1933. Britain was recovering from the Depression and there were still almost three million people registered as unemployed. Was he able find employment straight away? It is impossible to tell, however what is certain is that at some point he secured a job at Plessey, the telecommunications manufacturers, based at Vicarage Road, Ilford. In the years that followed he became a progress checker clerk.

1933 was an important year for another reason. Hitler became the chancellor of Germany on the 30^th January. This event and the rise of National Socialism in Germany was to have a profound effect on the future of Alan and others of his generation.

In 1934/35, Alan moved to 136 Stratton Drive on the newly-built Leftley Estate in Barking with his parents and his siblings Bernard, Arthur, Ken and Kath. His elder siblings had all grown up and left home by this stage. Other members of the family made the move to the new estate: Alan’s uncle Albert, auntie Henrietta and cousins Joan, Iris and Pam lived at 10 Halsham Crescent and after he was married in 1936, Alan’s older brother, Arthur, and his wife, Win, lived at 14 Dereham Road. They were a close-knit family and they all lived within a ten minute walk of each other.

Whilst working at Plesseys Alan met a young woman named Daisy who worked in the wages office. In September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany and needed men to fill the ranks of the armed forces. In October 1939, the British government announced that all men aged between 18 and 41 who were not working in ‘reserved occupations’ could be called to join the armed services if required. Conscription was by age and in October 1939 men aged between 20 and 23 were required to register with one of the armed forces. They were allowed to choose between the army, the navy and the air force. Even though Alan was 20 years old, Plesseys was engaged in the war effort and as such he was considered to be working in a reserved occupation.

By 1941 the British government started conscripting single women aged between 20 and 30 to take up work in reserved occupations. This policy enabled those men who previously occupied those jobs to be drafted into the services.

Alan and Daisy on their wedding day

Once Alan learnt that he was going to be called up for service he decided to marry Daisy and they tied the knot at St Margaret’s Church in Barking on 26^th April 1941. After the wedding, they moved into his mother-in-law’s house in Twyford Road, Ilford; but just four days later on 30th April, Alan reported for duty with the army. Alan was assigned to the 2nd Armoured Brigade Company, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) which was part of the 1st Armoured (White Rhino) Division. Alan commenced his basic training but was allowed a 12 hour pass to visit his wife and family on 7th May. On his return from leave, Alan initially received training as a driver but later passed exams to become an army clerk.

The North African Campaign

Alan left England with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 25th September 1941. The ship he travelled on would have sailed south with a protective convoy across the Atlantic Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and then up the coast of East Africa before arriving in Suez, Egypt on 25th November. The division formed part of the newly-named Eighth Army under the stewardship of General Auchinleck. Alan served with a unit that supplied the division and would have been responsible for providing fuel and supplies for tanks and other armoured vehicles. Though he would have probably followed behind the front line, his unit still would have been at risk from air attack and artillery. Like all other soldiers in North Africa he would have experienced the difficulties of life in the desert: searing heat by day and sometimes very cold nights, the dust and sand that clung to sweaty bodies and plagues of flies that became more numerous as the casualties mounted.

Alan’s first serious taste of battle probably occurred on 21^st January 1942 when the German’s under Rommel launched a surprise attack in Cyrenaica (north-eastern Libya), catching the British off-guard and causing damage to the 1^st Armoured Division in the process.  The British retreated and the Eighth Army established a line running south from Gazala, just west of Tobruk. Alan spent the next four months here as the Axis and the Eighth Army faced each other and made their plans for the future.

Rommel struck again on 26^th May and over the course of the next 25 days the Gazala Line collapsed and on 20^th June Tobruk fell. This was regarded as a catastrophe by the Allied forces and only Egypt stood between the Axis and the Middle East and its oil fields. What the Allies didn’t realise is that Rommel had been weakened to such an extent that only the capture of British supplies would enable him to press forward into Egypt. The Eighth Army pulled back to Mersa Matruh on 25^th June where they prepared for the defence of Egypt.

The Germans attacked between the 26^th and 28^th June and managed to encircle the Eighth Army positions. Only a combination of luck and desperate fighting enabled them to break out and retreat to the east. The 1^st Armoured Division encountered German Panzers of the Afrika Korps late in the afternoon of 30^th June close to Tell al Aqqaqir and during a raging sandstorm managed to inflict serious damage on them. Unfortunately, the sandstorm led to the constituent 4^th and 22^nd Brigades losing contact with each other. In a bid to avoid the enemy and minefields the 4^th Brigade had become trapped in soft sand.  

On 1^st July 1942 Rommel attacked the combined British, Commonwealth and Empire forces of the Eighth Army at El Alamein. Only 18 tanks belonging to the 22^nd Brigade of the 1^st Armoured Division where available on the first day of the battle. The tanks of the 4^th Brigade, who had been travelling since 4am, had become trapped in soft sand and were unable to take part in the battle. They spent the remainder of the day struggling in the sand. It wasn’t until nightfall that they wearily pulled themselves out and were able to move south to firmer ground.

Rommel’s plan was to try and encircle the Eighth Army, but instead the Axis ran into stiff resistance. Unfortunately, the Eighth Army failed to capitalise and over the next few days almost managed to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.

On 2^nd July Rommel tried to attack again. The tanks of the first armoured division engaged the Afrika Korps on the Ruweisat Ridge and once again the Axis were unable to break through. That night the tank crews attended to maintenance and repairs. The axis tried again on 3rd July but once again the attack failed.

Allied attempts to regain ground over the following days began with stalemate and ended in disaster. Poor leadership and a lack of communication between the armoured divisions and the infantry lead to tanks blundering into enemy anti-tank fire and to the infantry receiving no armoured support. There were unnecessary losses during attempts to retake the Ruweisat ridge between 14^th -16^th July and this lead to recriminations and great mistrust between the New Zealand infantry brigades and 1^st Armoured Division. It would have been difficult for Alan to avoid this. Alan would have probably heard about the 23^rd Armoured Division’s near suicidal assault on 22^nd July which led to their annihilation. Fortunately, the Eighth Army had superior numbers and was better equipped to cope with the losses than the Axis forces, yet the Eighth Army still came under enormous political pressure as a result of these perceived failures. Fortunately, as July drew to a close the Eighth Army regained the initiative and managed to end Rommel’s chances of advancing into Egypt, although was once again criticised for failing to destroy Rommel’s army. As a result, Auchinleck was sacked by Winston Churchill and replaced by Montgomery.

Taken in Cairo 1942

After the 1^st Battle of El Alamein, the Eighth Army built up its supplies and received reinforcements. The 1^st Armoured Division received new American Sherman tanks. On 20th August Alan was transferred to the 925 company 2nd Armoured Brigade which was still part of the1st Armoured Division. Several days later the Axis attacked but the attack ended in failure as they were held at Alam el Halfa Ridge on 30^th August. At around this time Montgomery planned an offensive that would push the Axis back into Libya. Alan was granted 4 days’ battle leave and spent 16th September in Cairo where he attended the cinema and visited Al Azbakiya Gardens.

On Friday 23^rd October 1942, the second battle of El Alamein began. The 1^st Armoured Division didn’t take part until dusk on 24^th October when they were engaged by tanks from the 15^th Panzer Division and the Italian Littorio Division. This was the first major tank battle of El Alamein with over 100 tanks involved. By nightfall over half were destroyed and no ground was yielded by either side. This situation continued for several days. Each time the tanks advanced they were repelled by anti-tank guns. However, by the end of Thursday 29^th October the British still had 800 tanks in operation, while the Axis had just 148 German and 187 Italian tanks.

To break the deadlock, Montgomery ordered a new phase of attack codenamed Operation Supercharge. On Monday 2^nd November, the tanks of the 1^st Armoured Division followed the 9^th Armoured Brigade through a path that had been cleared through an enemy minefield. 9^th Armoured Brigade bore the brunt of the enemy anti-tank guns and was largely destroyed. The surviving units came under the command of the 1^st Armoured Division and were eventually able to break through.

On 4^th November, the 1^st Armoured Division came into contact with the remnants of the 21^st Panzer and spent the day slowly pushing them back 8 miles. In order to deepen the armoured thrusts, 1^st Armoured were directed at El Daba, some 15 miles down the coast. In a bid to penetrate even further Montgomery ordered them to take a wide detour through the desert to Bir Khalda, 80 miles with a view to swinging up to cut the road at Mersa Matruh. The move proved unsuccessful and 1^st Armoured attempted to make up time with a night march, but in the darkness, the armour became separated from their support vehicles and as a consequence ran out of fuel on 6^th November 16 miles short of Bir Khalda.

By 11am on 6^th November the “B” Echelon support vehicles were starting to re-connect with the armour, but only enough to partly refuel two of the armoured regiments. They set off again hoping to cut off the enemy but ran out of fuel again 30 miles south west of Mersa Matruh. A fuel convoy set off from El Alamein but became bogged down once rain started to fall and was unable to re-supply the support vehicles.

1^st Armoured played no further part between 7^th and 11^th November as the ground conditions had deteriorated following heavy rain. However, during this period Rommel retreated and the battle was over. Evidently, Alan's hard work supplying the front line during this challenging time had impressed his superiors, since on 19th December he was transferred to 656 General Transport Company and promoted to the rank of corporal. 656GT was a temporary transport company hastily assembled to ensure supply was maintained to supply the rapidly advancing front line as the axis forces retreated westwards. The unit’s nickname was “The Tobruk-Bengahazi Haulage Contractors Limited” and they moved supplies and replacement vehicles that were landed at Tobruk, up to the forward supply depots some 600 miles away, starting on 9 January.  Whilst this activity was ongoing, the remainder of the 1st Armoured Division moved forward to be located closer to the port city of Benghazi. On 23rd January, the 8th Army moved forward and captured Tripoli, which was a major port and the capital of Italian Libya.  The remaining German and Italian Forces retired into Tunisia, where other forces were fighting a combined British, American and French force pushing into Tunisia from Algeria which had been invaded in November 1942.

Libyan  Desert 1943

Over the course of the next six months the Eighth Army pushed the Axis back through Libya and into Tunisia where they made a stand at the Mareth Line. Tunis was taken by the Allies on 13^th May 1943 and the enemy surrendered in large numbers. The North African campaign was over.

On 1st September 1943 as preparations for the invasion of Sicily were being made, Alan and his unit were transferred to the British North Africa Force (BNAF). While the 1st Armoured Division had been chasing the Germans and Italians across the Libyan Desert, the BNAF had parachuted into the French colonies of Algeria and Morocco which were now under Axis control. After some initial resistance, the Vichy French garrisons had surrendered and the territory fell under Allied control. Alan and other Allied troops were billeted to farms in Algeria and Morocco. Alan spent Christmas Day 1943 at Oued El Alleug, Algeria.

The Italian Campaign

As the Allies invaded Sicily and then Italy, the 1^st Armoured Division remained in North Africa. It was not until May 1944 that the division was posted to Italy to bolster an offensive that would push up the “boot” of Italy towards Rome. Alan landed in Naples on or around 27th May 1944, but in the event 1^st Armoured was held in reserve and Rome was taken by the US 5^th Army.

The Eighth Army was then switched to the Adriatic coast of Italy. The 1^st Armoured Division did not see any action until Operation Olive whose objective was to break through the Gothic Line and conquer Rimini. Between 3^rd and 4^th September 1944 the first battle of Coriano began. The 1^st Armoured Division, exhausted after a 50-hour march to arrive at the front, was ordered to attack the Coriano ridge. Rain fell incessantly and the tanks were soon bogged down. When the tanks appeared in the sight of the defending Germans they were sitting ducks for their 88mm guns. At the end of the first day just 79 out of the original 156 Sherman tanks were still fit for battle. The fighting continued for two days with terrible losses on both sides, but the Germans held their position.

Between the 12^th and 13^th September the Allies made another attempt to take the Coriano ridge and were successful on this occasion. The 1^st Armoured Division took the nearby village of San Clemente. The Eighth Army then pursued the Germans but the 1^st Armoured Division was held up at the Fornacci stream which had become swollen from 10 days of heavy rain and could not be crossed by the tanks.

Taken in Florence 1944

After Operation Olive, 1^st Armoured ceased to be viable division and was converted to infantry. However, Alan's unit survived and he was promoted to the rank of sergeant on 23rd November.

During the winter 1944/45 the Germans prevented the Eighth Army from advancing north across the Lombardy plain, but during the spring months the Germans were driven north towards the Alps and the war was over. Alan was given leave to return home on 30th May 1945. He remained at home until 24th July before returning to Italy with the Central Mediterranean Force, which at the time was presumably engaged in post war reconstruction work. Alan returned home again on 26th August but stayed on with the army until 9th August 1946.

After the war

On 14^th June 1946 Alan and Daisy’s first son, Keith, was born at Ilford Maternity Hospital. Eleven months later, on 8^th July 1947, their second son, Barry, was born in Bath. Alan returned to work with Plesseys as an accountant after being demobbed from the army.

The next sequence of events is not entirely clear, however at some point (probably in the early 1950s) the family moved to 11 Reynolds Court in Chadwell Heath. The flat was on the third floor of a brand-new council development about half a mile north of the Eastern Avenue. Why did they move? Well, the reason is that Alan’s mother-in-law (whom they were living with at Twyford Road) sold the house and moved in with her son Bert. As Alan and Daisy had two young children they were treated as a priority by the council’s housing department.

Seven Kings FC circa 1957

By all accounts the flats were noisy and many of the neighbours were people who had been bombed out of the East End during the war. It was a rough place. Alan and his family endured it until around 1959 by which time they had saved enough for a deposit to buy a new bungalow at 166 Lodge Lane, Collier Row. The bungalow was christened ’Sherwood Lodge’ in honour of Alan’s mother.

Alan enjoyed playing and watching football. He used to play for Seven Kings FC and would occasionally take Keith and Barry to watch West Ham United on a Saturday afternoon.

Plesseys business increased dramatically in the post-war years and they were at the forefront of developing digital telephone systems. The success of the company meant that Alan and his family were comfortable and he was able save money for his retirement.

The serious business of cribbage

Shortly after Alan and Daisy’s silver wedding anniversary in 1966 the family moved to a newly-built three-bedroomed semi-detached house at 32 Norton Road in Ingatestone. Ingatestone was, and still is, considered to be a desirable village and the move suggests how financially comfortable Alan had become. From the late 1960s onwards Alan and Daisy enjoyed holidays abroad to the Mediterranean and then later as far afield as Australia to visit his sister Kath who had previously emigrated down under.

The arrival of grandchildren in the 1970s provided Alan and Daisy with further joy and although we were very young we used to look forward to seeing granddad and grandma for Sunday lunch. He used to clown around with all of us: Natalie, Janine, Clare and me. We were always taken to the sweet shop after lunch and it’s amazing we don’t have many fillings!

Life can be cruel sometimes. As Alan was approaching retirement and was looking forward to the prospect, his health started to deteriorate. At first he attributed his increasing breathlessness to just old age. He was a smoker after all. Unfortunately, the underlying cause of the problem was much worse and more sinister.

As a boy, Alan had grown up just half a mile from the Cape Asbestos factory in Barking and had inadvertently breathed in some of the lethal fibres. The combination of the asbestos and his smoking resulted in Mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs. Towards the end I distinctly remember seeing my granddad sitting in his favourite chair which had a large oxygen tank next to it. Alan died at home on 5^th December 1980 and was laid to rest at Chelmsford crematorium.

Alan lived through a period of enormous change: from the economic turmoil of the Thirties through the Second World War and into the post war period with its relative prosperity. Major technological advances greatly improved the quality of life and enable travel on a scale which his forebears could have only dreamed was possible.