WORLD WAR I BRITISH ARMY SERVICE

Harry Welch’s service in World War I was quite short.       

England had declared war on Germany August 4, 1914 and by the spring of 1915 the flow of recruits was slowing down. In October 1915 a program called the Derby Scheme gave men two choices; volunteer or attest with the obligation to come if called up to military service.

Recruitment under the Derby Scheme was to have ended on Saturday December 11^th 1915 but due to the late rush of recruits it was extended an additional day to midnight Sunday December 12^th.  Newspapers reported that after that date, enlistment could only be for immediate service without the intervention of the group system. The rush of recruits had completely overwhelmed the arrangements made for dealing with them.  Just as in the early days of the war, men waited for many hours in vain outside the recruiting offices.

It was decided at the last moment to take the names of men still unattested at midnight on December 12 and keep the group system open for them alone for a further three days. In some cases no attempt was made to carry out a medical examination and anyone who presented himself was attested, leaving it to the future to decide whether or not he had qualified for his place in the Army Reserve.

Those who registered were classified as married or single and grouped by age then placed in Section B of the Reserves without pay and allowances. They did receive one day’s pay at infantry rates, which The Times newspaper placed at 2/9d (2 shillings 9 pence) for the day of attestation. According to the UK National Archives, there were twenty shillings in a pound and in 1915 the 2/9d amount would have approximately the same spending power as £5.92 did in 2005. They were given an armband to wear as a sign that they had volunteered, then sent back to their homes and jobs until they were called up for active military service. 

Regardless of the Derby Scheme, conscription did follow in 1916.

Since the Scheme did not elicit the desired results, the Military Service Act was passed in January 1916. Voluntary enlistment was stopped and as of March 1916 all 19-41 year old British males who were unmarried as of November 1915 were conscripted. Two month later the act was extended to include married men and those as young as 18.

I have not found Harry’s war service records. Only 20-30% of these military records remain due to a fire in 1930 in the building where they were stored. I have found no pension records for him and I know he did not receive one. The only other public record I have found is his medal card which shows that he was discharged for medical reasons. 

It seems odd that he didn’t have a pension given the reason for his discharge. Perhaps he didn't apply. Apparently if a soldier was wounded, gassed or suffered illness which was attributable to his war service and he applied for a pension, he was sent before a Medical Review Board. If, in their opinion, there was sufficient cause, then a pension would be allowed, usually a few shillings a week. Pensions were often for a set period of time, such as 26 or 52 weeks, after which there was a review by Board to see if the pension was still needed. 

If a person was able to work after discharge perhaps a pension was seen as not needed or maybe his medical condition had existed prior to his war service. I have not done enough research to know the reasons that may have been used in determining whether or not a pension would be given.

I do have Harry’s discharge papers and his war badge certificate. His discharge papers show that he enlisted on December 11, 1915 which was the original deadline under the Derby Scheme and Harry would have then been sent back to his job. He was working in a munitions factory, likely because he was an experienced brass worker. 

During the war, women were called upon to take on roles previously done by the men including working in factories making ammunition to be sent to the front. Bess was a munitions worker at this time too but it is unknown whether or not they were working at the same factory.

Harry remained in the Reserve for one year and thirty-four days. When he was called up to active service on January 15, 1917 Harry was found to be unfit for service overseas. Given his mechanical and driving skills he served at Home in the Mechanical Transport Depot Company of the Army Service Corp. (ASC).  

ASC Companies filled a variety of administrative, recruitment, induction, training and re-supply roles. Huge tonnages were moved through a complex supply chain beginning at base depots in Britain. Then they travelled by sea to the ports of entry in many countries and across land by train or vehicle where they were handled by the ASC Companies attached to the various Army Divisions in each theatre of war. 

Harry held the rank of Private with the Woolwich Unit and his regiment number was M283872. He served as a despatch rider or motor-cycle courier, delivering urgent orders and messages between military units. It was a vital role at a time when telecommunications were limited and insecure. Harry was stationed in Salisbury Plain, near Stonehenge in central southern England and rode a Trusty Triumph bike, the chosen vehicle of the British Army. 

On May 7, 1918, after serving with the colours one year, one hundred and fourteen days, Harry was discharged from the Army under paragraph 392 (xvi) “being no longer medically fit for war service at Home”. The National Roll of the Great War notes that at the time of his discharge, Harry “was engaged on important duties in the repair shops at Swindon, Larkhill and Reading”. This area was only about two hours from his family in Birmingham so Harry was able to get home occasionally during his time in the army.

Since Harry served at Home he did not receive any campaign medals but he received The Silver War Badge which as of September 21, 1916 was issued to men who were discharged as a result of sickness or injury caused by their war service. It was made of sterling silver and was worn on the right breast of a recipient’s civilian clothing, not on his uniform. After April 1918 eligibility for the badge was extended to include civilians serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps, female nurses, and staff and aid workers.

I do not know what particular sickness or injury deemed Harry “unfit for further service” and led to his departure from the army. Family lore has it that his discharge was due to pneumonia but he did have hemophilia, a bleeding disorder in which blood does not clot normally and a heart condition which troubled him throughout his life.

His discharge papers describe his character as follows: “His conduct has been good. He is honest, sober, reliable and intelligent - Is a qualified Motor Driver and performed his duties satisfactorily.”

The National Roll of the Great War also tells us that Harry’s home address at the time of his discharge was 4 Cobden Place, Edward Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, where he would have rejoined his family.

1915 - A DIFFICULT YEAR

1915 was a turbulent year for Elizabeth (Bess) Blaney and Harry Lewis Welch during which they were faced with some difficult decisions and experienced life changing events.

Firstly, a new baby was welcomed into the Blaney family and since it had been nine years since the last addition to the family this event likely caused some drama. A daughter, Martha Louise was born on February 28, 1915. At the time, Bess was about eighteen years of age and likely living at home helping to care for her new sister. She may or may not have been still working as a baby nurse as well but by the end of the year she would be working in a munitions factory. 

Many manufacturers in Birmingham, as elsewhere, converted their operations to produce items for the war effort and many of their employees were women. One such was the Mills Munitions Factory which supplied the 'Mills Bomb' hand grenade to the British and Allied armies throughout the war. The factory was located at Bridge St. W, Birmingham, less than five miles from Sherbourn Road, Balsall Heath where Bess was living, so perhaps this was where she was working. She laughingly told of it being so hot from the heat of the furnaces and the wearing of a heavy leather apron that the women wished to remove their upper garments while on the job. Not an easy job, working 7am until 7pm for about £l pound a week but Bess was strong and she continued to do physically difficult work most of her life.

While Bess left the family home when Martha Louise (Lou) was less than one year old, she did live nearby for the next seven years before emigrating. Bess left England in 1923 and she would not see her only sister again until 1929 in Canada. Martha Louise (Lou) was age fourteen and Bess was thirty-two and married with three children. They did not see each other again for many more years. Lou lived in Birmingham, married there and had three children before emigrating to Canada with her own family in 1956. This photo was taken on the beach in Toronto.With eighteen years between the sisters, Lou was only one year older than Bess’s son. It is hard to say how much the distance in geography and age affected their relationship but it was somewhat rocky over the years.

Unfortunately by late-summer of 1915, Bess discovered she was pregnant. There was of course no pregnancy test at the local pharmacy but likely she knew the symptoms. I can only imagine her mixed emotions; uncertainty, joy, fear, anxiety, embarrassment, shame? She was in love with Harry but I don’t know how he felt at the time, whether or not there had been talk of marriage and a future together. They had likely known each other less than a year. Family lore has it that Harry’s family was not pleased and I don’t suppose Bess’s family was either.

To be unmarried and pregnant was to be a social outcast. Girls would often be ostracized by their friends, families and employers. Certainly it was a less open time; sex education did not exist and even though Bess’s mother had several full term pregnancies and miscarriages it is unlikely they talked of such things. Her relationship with her mother was not a close one and she probably didn’t know that her oldest brother had been born six months after the marriage of their parents.

About nine years later Bess wrote in response to a letter to the editor of the Montreal Star:

“How many people criticize the fallen girl and condemn her. They do not know that maybe there is a heart perhaps a better and cleaner than their own in that body, but one who has possibly had no sunshine in her young life and when she comes out to her own she may likewise meet one of their own sons or sons of their kind who take her around and she thinks surely a fellow who would be good enough to interest himself in her could be only doing so for good.

Alas, many a girl who has had no pleasures as a youngster ………….and of all things a mother’s love and care - thinks she has struck heaven itself. But to her sorrow, she pays and pays dear. She’s never been told the things that careful mothers tell. She’s never had the things she has now and on she goes blindly. How many realize that many a bad girl is good inside, better than the mother’s darling that led her astray The boy his mother idolized is sometimes far worse than the boy who has suffered (I wonder why?).”

She wrote this at age twenty-seven, married with two children, living thousands of miles away from her family in England.

And there was a war on. 

Bess’s older brother William (Bill) had been serving in the Navy since 1911 when he was 15 ½ and in 1915 he was stationed at the HMS Excellent in Portsmouth Harbour. This was a shore establishment known as the home of the Royal Navy gunnery, located in the County of Hampshire on the south coast of England. In January 1920 Bill was awarded an RHS Bronze medal for saving a life in Portsmouth Harbour. He was twenty-four years old and serving as an Able Seaman on the HMS Terror. 

Also, there was the looming threat of mandatory conscription for men such as Harry; those who were young and single. 

England had declared war on Germany August 4, 1914 and by the spring of 1915 the flow of recruits was slowing. While the government was reluctant to mandate compulsory military service, they began by raising the upper age of eligibility from 38 to 40 then passing the National Registration Act to stimulate recruitment. Under the Act all those not in the military and between the age of 15 and 64 were obliged to register and give the details of their employment. 

In October 1915 a program called the Derby Scheme gave men two choices; volunteer or attest with the obligation to come if called up. Those who registered were classified as married or single and grouped by age then placed in Section B of the Reserves They were sent back to their homes and jobs until they were called up for military service. 

To Harry, with fatherhood quickly approaching, it likely seemed a good idea to attest under the Scheme. It would delay active war service and allow him to continue to work close to home until he was actually called up. Then there were options - to appeal the date, perhaps some choice of regiment in which to serve and some men with occupations that were needed in the war effort were placed further down the list and thus called to service later than others.

The last day of registration under the Derby Scheme was to be Saturday, December 11, 1915 and that was the day Harry signed up for the army.