Name
Henry George Chamberlain
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
20/04/1918
39
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
20655
Suffolk Regiment
2nd Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
D C M
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
PERNES BRITISH CEMETERY
I. C. 2.
France
Headstone Inscription
God is Love, In Paradise
UK & Other Memorials
Pirton Village War Memorial, St Mary’s Shrine, Pirton, Methodist Chapel Plaque, Pirton, Pirton School Memorial
Pre War
,
Wartime Service
,
Biography
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists Henry’s next of kin at the time of his death as Elizabeth Gazeley. She was his aunt and the sister of his mother Rose who had died in 1895.
Rose was the daughter of Thomas and Dinah Chamberlain, one of their eight children(*1) and did not marry. Henry was born in Pirton and baptised in 1878 and so presumably he was born earlier that year. Records seem to show that he had two siblings, Albert Thomas (b 1879) and Ellen (b 1888). Ellen died aged twenty-one months in 1890 and as Albert does not appear in any later census perhaps he too died young.
Rose and Henry lived with his grandparents somewhere around Burge End and he attended the Pirton School. Like most other young men he went on to labour for the local farmers when he left school. His grandfather died in 1894 and then his mother, Rose, just a year later, when Henry would have been seventeen. Rose’s sister, Elizabeth, married Frederick Gazeley in 1896 when she would have been about thirty and then four years later, Henry’s grandmother and Elizabeth’s mother, died. The 1901 census records Elizabeth, her two children, her nephew Henry and boarder, all living around Burge End – her husband Frederick is absent from the records. Just three years later he also died leaving Elizabeth, just twelve years Henry’s senior, as head of the household.
Henry remained living with his aunt and working as a farm or agricultural labourer and living in one of Andrew’s Cottages - the three cottages at the bottom of the High Street. This does not necessarily indicate that they had moved as this area was then known as Burge End.
War was declared in August 1914, but Henry did not join up straightaway. In fact two months later he was in trouble with the law. The Hitchin Express of October produced a dramatic report headed ‘WAR AGAINST SPECIAL CONSTABLES’ and then to add to the impact, sub-headed it ‘Exciting Night Scenes at Pirton’ . . . . ‘Batch of Defendants at Hitchin Sessions’ . . . . ‘Strong Measures by the Bench’.
The report is an interesting read and several other men featured in this book are named: Frederick Buckett, Reginald Lake and Bertram Walker all fought and survived the war. Henry was a key figure in the story so his part in it is highlighted here, but because of the interest and relevance the full report is included in the reference section of this book.
Frederick Buckett was summoned for assaulting Bertram Walker, who was a special constable. At 9:45pm on October 3rd Bertram and another special constable, George Charlick(*2) entered The White Horse(*3). Whether drink was responsible is not clear, but Frederick struck Bertram and warned both constables not to go near his property threatening to ‘blow your brains out’. The constables withdrew, but were followed by Frederick and some of his mates; Henry was one of them. They continued to swear and make threats and the confrontation continued with Henry hitting both of them. This was all brought out in court and the matter was considered all the more serious because of the war and the fact that the special constables were considered to be serving their Country during the emergency. Frederick was ordered to pay £2 or go to jail for a month. Henry was summoned for the assault and pleaded guilty, he was fined £2 7s 6d or go to jail for a month. In another related incident, later the same night, Henry had also assaulted Alfred Hubbard, who was protecting his wife, so he was fined another £1, with another fourteen days being added to the jail term, if he did not pay. This fine would have been a large sum for a farm labourer to find and one wonders if this was connected in some way to Henry’s decision to join up, which he did in June 1915. At this time he was working for James Walker at Little Green Farm.
The North Herts Mail dated July 1st 1916 and the Parish Magazine of September 1915 both record that he joined one of the Suffolk Bantam Brigades. This would indicate that he was a small man, less that 5’ 3” and such small men were not accepted for service in the early stages of the war. However, he was Private 20655, in the 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and the Suffolk Regiment‘s Museum confirms that this was not a bantam battalion. The 12th Battalion was and it is possible that he transferred from them; if this was not the case then the reports would seem to be misleading.
When Henry enlisted, the 2nd Suffolks had already been in France for many months, having been mobilised on the declaration of war. They had seen action in the early major battles at Mons and Le Cateau, where they formed part of the rear guard to the 5th Division, fought overwhelming numbers of Germans and lost more than 700 men. Subsequently they spent most of their service in France and took part in all the major battles.
Henry went to France in May 1916 and would have been one of the 144 reinforcements that arrived at various times during the month. He would probably have gone into the trenches within a few days of his arrival and although the war diary recorded ‘in trenches, quiet time’ 15 men were wounded and 3 killed.
June was quiet, mostly training. They moved to St. Omer area and then in July moved on again, by train to Doullens, then between the 3rd and the 6th they marched to Longuevillette, Naours, Coisy, Francvillers and Bois Celestine on the Somme. Some men went into the front line and between the 6th and the 19th 12 more men were killed and 65 wounded.
On August 14th, the war diary notes that of 17 officers and 700 other ranks, only 4 officers and 350 other ranks had been in action before. They were near Bois de Talus and suffered another fifteen casualties. By midnight they had moved to their trenches. The next day was spent improving the trenches, which was difficult because of congestion caused by too many men. It was also noted that ‘the carrying of water and rations and removing the dead was no easy matter’.
On the 16th they were preparing for an attack; bombers were to rush the German Block (a concrete bunker) while snipers were detailed to keep the German machine gunners occupied. The artillery commenced a creeping barrage and the Company on the left closely followed its advance. They got within about 120 yards before all their officers were killed by machine gun fire – they had to fall back having lost three officers and 90 other ranks. The Company on the right also met machine gun fire and lost 1 officer and 85 other ranks - they had gained 250 yards in one location and captured seven Germans. The following day at 4:00am, one company was in support of another attack, this time by the 10th Royal Welch Fusiliers; the report notes ‘It is uncertain how far they got. Their casualties were 2 officers 60 Other Ranks.’ - companies were normally made up of about 220 men.
Between August 21st and the 31st they marched from Morlancourt to Mericourt L’Abbe, took a train to Candas, were transported by road to Le Meillard and then marched to Houchin; about 65 miles and they marched the last fourteen in heavy thunder showers. The following day they continued on to Mazingarbe. During September and October they were frequently in the trenches, but it was quieter, only averaging one or two men killed or wounded per day while they were in the line.
In November, they were ordered to capture the German Trench called Serre. When read the order must have sounded straight-forward, but the attack failed, 17 men were killed, 94 wounded and 161 were missing. It seems likely that Henry was hurt in this action because by January 1917 he was back in England having been injured and rendered unconscious.
He did not recover sufficiently to return until July 1917 and that was lucky, because it meant that he missed the Battalion’s involvement in the Battle of Arras, where between the April 9th and 11th their losses were 32 men killed, 163 wounded and 31 missing. Although Henry missed this battle, they later moved in 1917 to Belgium to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres.
Having seen so much action, death and injury and having already received a bad injury Henry could have been forgiven for trying to avoid danger where possible, but that does not seem to have been the case. The local papers reported that, on his own initiative, he went into No Man’s Land to search for a German sniper who had been harassing his battalion - he found three and killed them all. They also reported that he ‘was further instrumental in the capture of a “pill-box” containing twelve Huns’ and that ‘he also bayoneted several Germans who feigned death.’ It is not clear if all this happened on the same day. Whether he acted out of duty, anger, revenge or the wish for glory, who knows, but he must have been incredibly brave and in November 1917 it was announced in the London Gazette that he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (D.C.M.) - the next highest award to the Victoria Cross.
His D.C.M. citation read, ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During operations an enemy aeroplane flew low over our lines and fired a white light, which was answered by a hostile sniper nearby. Entirely on his own initiative he went in search of the sniper, found three in a shell-hole, killed them all, and returned with Verey lights (flares) and a trench lamp. He afterwards accounted for three more snipers [by] lying out for hours in No Man’s Land, and stalking them when they declared themselves.’
The Suffolk Regiment Museum used an account written by Colonel C C R Murphy to identify the likely date for his action ‘The 27th (September 1917), except for sniping activity, was a day of comparative quiet until the evening, when the enemy launched another counter-attack. The 28th passed in a like manner, except that our troops were further harassed by hostile aircraft flying very low.’ They add that ‘As the fighting was in full swing on 26th September, and there was a counter-attack on the 27th, it seems likely that the action he was commended for was on the 28t’h. The 2nd Suffolks had captured Zonnebeke on the 26th. Losses between the 25th and the 30th were 41 men killed, 192 wounded and 25 missing.
In October they moved back into France where they remained for the rest of Henry’s service. From March 21st 1918, the start of the German’s major Spring Offensive, there were more terrible losses. They were holding the line along the Arras to Cambrai road when, at 5:00am, the German attack started. For the Suffolks it began with a large explosion, initially thought to be a mine, but subsequently it was judged to be a projector discharge (gas). Shelling, gas and infantry attacks continued throughout the following day and night. At 1:30am they were ordered to withdraw - probably to prevent them being outflanked and cut off. This pattern continued for the next few days; as the Germans made advances they continued to outflank the sections of British troops who were able to defend successfully, forcing them to also withdraw in order to shorten and straighten the line for a better defensive position. Between the 21st and the 29th the 2nd Suffolks suffered 428 casualties.
During the early part of April they were able to withdraw from the fighting to rest and regroup, before once again returning to the fighting line. On the 11th they were busy preparing new defensive positions around Hinges and although this would have been behind the main fighting it was still dangerous, with heavy shelling and barrages being laid down by both sides. On the 20th, although recorded as a quiet day, there would have been more shelling and 2 other ranks were killed and 6 wounded. Henry was one of those wounded. He was evacuated to either the 6th or 22nd Canadian Clearing Station, where, although partially conscious he had a severe head wound and a fractured skull. The Chaplain of the Clearing Station wrote on the 23rd, confirming that he had died soon after being brought in and that he had been buried in the local cemetery with his comrades. He concluded the letter ‘We have been having a dreadful time.’ Henry was thirty-nine.
He was buried in Pernes British Cemetery, which served the clearing stations. It is near to the small town of Pernes-en-Artois alongside a country road at the foot of a gentle slope which gives a backdrop of grass and trees. The views are much like those around Pirton. There are 1,078 burials from the First World War and as the men mostly came from the clearing station almost all are identified. Intriguingly, because he died in the hospital or, perhaps because of this, he lies in a single ‘trench’ grave containing several men, denoted by the close grouping of headstones. His headstone reads ‘Henry George Chamberlain D.C.M. God is Love, In Paradise’.
(*1) Confirmed by the Chamberlain family tree provided by Alan Males.
(*2) Probably the father of the man of the same name that served and died.
(*3) The White Horse PH was where The Motte and Bailey PH now stands.
Additional Information
Text from the book: The Pride of Pirton
Acknowledgments
The Pride of Pirton book – www.pirton.org.uk/prideofpirton Chris Ryan / Tony French / Jonty Wild
