Private Herbert Ryder

6181 Guardsman Machine Gun Regiment (formerly 32631 Grenadier Guards)

Herbert was born in 1897. He was the youngest of ten children living, with their parents and a lodger, next to the Nelson public house in Brown Lees - at the ‘Huts’. His father, Henry, a puddler at the local ironworks, collapsed and died of a heart attack in the street outside his home. Most of his seven brothers followed their father in to the ironworks of Robert Heath, but on leaving school Herbert worked in the local pit “lobbing on”.

On February 28th 1916 he walked to Burslem in order to join Kitchener’s Army – enrolling in the Grenadier Guards as number 32631. Being a strapping young man he was drafted to the machine gun company, presumably in order to help carry the gun. In April 1918 the Guards Machine Gun Regiment was formed to which he was transferred and became member number 6181.

In early November 1918 he was part of a machine gun section attached to the Irish Guards, their remit being to drive the Germans back as far as Maubeuge close to the Belgian border.

On the morning of November 4th whilst awaiting orders, close to the village of Villers Pol, a German shell landed on the ammunition limber killing one man and several horses. Herbert received shrapnel wounds to the side of his head. It was serious enough to have him sent back as a casualty.

During WWII he worked at the ammunition factories in Radway Green and Swynnerton. The latter half of his life was spent farming with his son-in-law. Initially this was at Childerplay Farm and then later at Knypersley Hall. The poultry side was his responsibility.

As with most old soldiers it was extremely difficult to encourage him to relate his war experiences. The only ones that he can remember are:

• He remembered feeling the surgeon’s knife going in to extract the shrapnel before the anaesthetic had fully taken.
• The statement that a good machine gunner could fire 16-18 bullets before the target hit the ground.
• When you were eating a meal you dare not look away, otherwise a potato on your plate would disappear. As children we thought it awful that a fellow soldier would pinch some of our grandfather’s food. It only dawned on us later in life that it was the other way round!

   

In the late 1950s and early 1960s we often saw him (when he thought no-one was looking) going through his rifle drill on the yard outside the cattle sheds. He used a yard brush as his rifle, and returned to sweeping the yard the moment he realised that he was being observed.

Herbert died in 1971 of a brain tumour; the position of which was the exact spot where the shrapnel had hit 53 years earlier. Coincidence?

Evan Sherratt October 2013.

Private Arthur Wilshaw

200636 1st/5th North Staffordshire Regiment

Arthur was the second son of Thomas and Mary Ellen Wilshaw (nee Webb) and had been born in 1893. He was baptised on September 24th 1893 at Biddulph. Arthur was one of nine children born to Thomas and Mary – and all were still alive in 1911. In 1901 the family resided in John Street. The 1911 census gave their address as 147, John Street. In this census, Thomas and his three eldest sons were all described as coal miners. By 1915 the family resided at Ewters Hall Farm, which was at the top of John Street.

Arthur Wilshaw

Arthur Wilshaw’s medals and medal card. With thanks to Robert Wilshaw for allowing us to photograph Arthur’s medals. Other photographs from the Margaret Bryne Collection.

Private Charles Wilshaw

200801 (formerly 3685) North Staffordshire Regiment

Charles was one of nine children born to Thomas and Mary Ellen Wilshaw (nee Webb) and the youngest of their three soldier sons. He was baptised at Biddulph on 26th May 1895. In 1901 he was living with his family in John Street. Ten years later the family still resided in John Street. Charles, aged 16 was a miner, as was his father and two older brothers. Charles enlisted early in the war into the Biddulph Company (Territorials).

The Chronicle mentioned Charles Wilshaw in a number of articles printed in 1915:

Home on Furlough

A number of Biddulph soldiers attached to the 5th North Staffords Service Battalion have been home on a few days furlough. They arrived on Saturday last, and left for Saffron Walden, in Essex, on Wednesday afternoon. These men were originally with the Territorials at Butterton Hall, and were afterwards drafted to Luton and Saffron Walden with the service battalion. The names of the men, who all look wonderfully fit and well, are: Lance Corporal D.Robinson, Privates E. Doorbar, J.T.Bowers, W Cottrell, C.Wilshaw, A.Booth, L. Ball, F. Boon, T. Ball, W. Morris, C. Cooper, W. Dowan and P. Nixon.

An interesting item of news about our Biddulph lads is that young Charlie Wilshaw, or ‘Wack’, his popular nickname, one of Mr. Wilshaw’s three soldier sons from Hooters Hall Farm, won the light-weight boxing championship of the brigade at the Town Hall, Saffron Walden.”

Letter from the Trenches

In a letter written in the trenches in France Private Charlie Wilshaw, 1/5th North Staffords, whose brother, Private Jack Wilshaw, K.O.Y.L.I, was killed in action on May 25th, tells his people that the experiences he has been through would make the men in Biddulph tremble. When he wrote they had just under gone an hour’s heavy shelling, some of the shells dropping within five yards of them. It would make a fine picture, he thought, to see the men ‘skute’. Some of them fell down, some dropped flat, and others ran, while I, the irrepressible young soldier added, kept bobbing up and down to see if anyone was hurt. It was quite a treat, observed this cheery young optimist. When he gets back Private Wilshaw does not think he will want to pay a shilling to see fireworks or aeroplanes, for he sees too many there every night and day.

All the lads from Biddulph were well, he said, with the exception of Private Bowers, who was in hospital. He himself was in the best of health. He asks his mother to send him out some Eiffel Tower lemonade crystals, as they made a very good drink.”

1916 Chronicle: “Private C. Wilshaw, of the 1/5th North Staffordshire Regiment, is at present in a Military Hospital in England, suffering from a poisoned hand, and is improving.”

It is thought that Charles died in 1953; his death was registered at Macclesfield.