With the Guns, 1914–1918: An Subaltern's Story
By Stanley Foxall and John Jones
()
About this ebook
Related to With the Guns, 1914–1918
Titles in the series (100)
Great War Fighter Aces, 1916–1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Crushing of Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armoured Warfare and Hitler's Allies, 1941–1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5B-17 Memphis Belle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5D-Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Defeat on the Eastern Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armoured Warfare in the Battle for Normandy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armoured Warfare in the Battle of the Bulge, 1944–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAuschwitz Death Camp Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Mountain Troops, 1939–1945: The Gebirgsjager Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Germans in Flanders, 1914–1915 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAllied POWs in German Hands 1914–1918 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adolf Hitler Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Afrika-Korps Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Armoured Warfare in the North African Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fallschirmjager: Elite German Paratroops in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armoured Warfare in the Korean War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Armoured Warfare in the Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Armoured Warfare in Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJoseph Stalin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Armoured Warfare and the Waffen-SS, 1944–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChiang Kai-shek Versus Mao Tse-tung: The Battle for China, 1946–1949 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Red Baron Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Panzers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Germans at Arras Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman Guns of the Third Reich Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Retreat to Berlin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Battle for the Caucasus, 1942–1943 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blitzkrieg in the West Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Royal Armoured Corps in the Cold War, 1946–1990 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related ebooks
Surrender at New Orleans: General Sir Harry Smith in the Peninsula and America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChurchill and Fisher: Titans at the Admiralty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTracing Your Prisoner of War Ancestors: The First World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiverpool in the Great War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrake and the Tudor Navy Vol. I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory of the Venetian Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsItaly at War and the Allies in the West Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArmageddon's Walls: British Pill Boxes, 1914–1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHindenburg: The Man and the Legend Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples since 1500 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cavalry in the Waterloo Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Propaganda Pilgrimage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarshal Of France; The Life And Times Of Maurice, Comte De Saxe, 1699-1750 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canadian Home: From Cave to Electronic Cocoon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSniping in France 1914-18: With Notes on the Scientific Training of Scouts, Observers, and Snipers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBelgium From the Roman Invasion to the Present Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Balkan Wars: 1912-1913 / Third Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Boer War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Great War at Sea - The Opening Salvos: Contemporary Combat Images from the Great War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fundamentals Of Soviet 'Razvedka' (Intelligence/Reconnaissance) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSteel of the DLI: Second Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry at War 1914–1918 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch Century: Control of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great War Through Picture Postcards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHitler's Commanders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJüan of the Third Reich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy the Germans Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Black Eagle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman Army Medals & Awards: The Complete List Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
European History For You
Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen: The Complete Novels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of English Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Violent Abuse of Women: In 17th and 18th Century Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Six Wives of Henry VIII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for With the Guns, 1914–1918
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
With the Guns, 1914–1918 - Stanley Foxall
A 3in anti-aircraft gun photographed by Lieutenant Harold Cooper Bebington in 1918.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
47 Church Street,
Barnsley,
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Stanley Foxall and John Jones, 2016
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright of all the photographs. If there are unintentional omissions, please contact the publisher in writing, who will correct all subsequent editions.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 147386 065 0
PDF ISBN: 978 147386 068 1
EPUB ISBN: 978 147386 067 4
PRC ISBN: 978 147386 066 7
The right of Stanley Foxall and John Jones to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset by CHIC GRAPHICS
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Social History, Transport, True Crime, Claymore Press, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Contents
Introduction
Sources and Acknowledgements
Chapter One
The Photographer
Chapter Two
The Training of an Artillery Officer
Chapter Three
Harold Bebington and the Doctor
Chapter Four
In Flanders, 1917
Chapter Five
Plymouth and Convalescence
Chapter Six
New Postings
Chapter Seven
They Also Served
Chapter Eight
The Other Side of the Wire
Chapter Nine
Bebington and the Gunners – A Farewell to All That
Introduction
This story began, for the authors at least, in an auction house at Beeston in rural Cheshire. A number of First World War era photograph albums and other related items of militaria from the same source were going under the hammer. Interest was high, possibly because of the centenary of the start of the Great War, but by the end of the sale four albums of carefully mounted and annotated small photographic images produced from the type of pocket camera available at that time, together with a pair of broken spurs, regimental badges on a horse girth strap, a hip flask and Royal Artillery cap badges were in the authors’ possession as their new custodians.
On careful inspection, it was found that the albums documented one man’s Great War experiences in pictures from his training and later recovery after being wounded. Additionally, what was initially thought to be a uniform study transpired to be those postcard pictures so popular at the time which showed his relatives, friends and work colleagues in uniform as they set off in the earlier years of the War to ‘do their bit’ for King and Country.
Further research on the albums identified the photographer as Harold Cooper Bebington, a man who lived in Liscard, Wallasey, then in the County of Cheshire, with a family business located in Liverpool. This is his Great War story and, in part, those of his friends and his company’s employees that have been identified from his annotations and as told by his pictures.
Sources and Acknowledgements
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
National Archives UK.
Wallasey Central Library – Reference Library.
www.historyofwallasey.co.uk
Wallasey Heritage Centre.
Actual copies of The Times and the Daily Mirror from the First World War period.
Numerous divisional/regimental histories by Major C. H. Dudley Ward.
Farndale, General Sir Martin, The History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, London, 1986.
Graves, Robert, Good-Bye to All That, The Folio Society, London, 1981.
Hogg, Ian V., The Guns 1914-18, Pan/Ballantine, London, 1973.
Holmes, Richard, Shots from the Front, Harper Press, London, 2010.
McGilchrist, A. M., The Liverpool Scottish 1900-1919, Henry Young and Sons Ltd, Liverpool, 1930.
Richards, Frank, Old Soldier Sahib, Naval and Military Press Ltd, Uckfield, reprint of 1933 edition.
Chapter One
The Photographer
Harold Cooper Bebington was born on 31 October 1892 in Liscard, part of Wallasey on the Wirral peninsula situated between the Victorian seaside town of New Brighton and the Mersey ferry port of Seacombe. His home at Marine Terrace, a property which still exists today, overlooked the River Mersey and the then very busy shipping trade of the Liverpool waterfront (Liverpool has been referred to as the second city of the Empire). He was the youngest son of Alfred and Jessie Selina Bebington, his brothers and sister being Alfred (18 at the time of Harold’s birth), Florence (17) and Charles (12), so he was very much a younger addition to the family. The family were food importers and Wholesale Provisions Merchants running a business called Thomas Peate and Company with premises (including a smokehouse) in Liverpool, the offices being at 14 and 16 Richmond Street, Whitechapel, then in the heart of the thriving commercial district. The company was a member of the Liverpool Provision Trade Association founded in 1874 which encouraged overseas trading and covered all imported pig and dairy produce, eggs and canned goods etc. The Association’s exchange provided a ‘trading floor’ and in 1912 it added a lard futures market. By the time of the 1911 census however, father Alfred was dead and only Harold remained at home living with his mother at 10 Marine Terrace. Elder brother Charles was working in the family business as a salesman but living in Liverpool.
Harold’s home at Marine Terrace is close to an area of Wallasey called the Magazine where in the past gunpowder from sailing ships was stored to protect the port and city of Liverpool from damage by accidental explosion. As a boy, Harold would have played with local friends such as Wack (of whom more later) on Magazine Parade on the banks of the River Mersey and in the old Fort area where at that time obsolete gun barrels still remained and which may have influenced his later