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| In Buttsbury
Church there is a war memorial which was created by a local man, Mr Woodward.
What makes it unique to the area is firstly it is made of wood and superbly
hand carved, and secondly it is made up of three panels, which show those who
went to war and those who didn’t return. |
| On a recent
trip to the National Archives in Kew I found records of one of those who did
return, Harry Collard. The records are not in great shape, having suffered from
damage over the years. According to the memorial five Collards went to war and
they all returned, Oldest was Thomas (34 in 1914), Frank 26, George 23, Leonard
21, and Harry 17. The 1901 Census shows that their father John had four
brothers, all of whom lived near by were all connected to agriculture |
| Harry joined
the Territorial force in November 1915, and went into the 5th Battalion Essex
Regt. 4092, as a Private. In June 1916 after training where he emerged as a
Bomber he was on the Royal George sailing from Devonport to Alexandria in
Egypt. The trip took 15 days to make, and four days after arrival he joined the
Battalion at Shallufa. The Suez canal, Palestine and surrounding areas was
considered to be highly important in the global concept of the war,
consequently this theatre was second only to the Western Front. Shallufa lay
about 20 miles to the north of Suez and was one of a number of locations all
along the canal that were militarised. |
| The main
opposition came from the Turks, who regularly attacked the canal. 1916 saw a
build up of the troops, construction of an infrastructure to move men and
weapons about efficiently. A year later, after Harry had been present 16 months
the commander, Allenby had enough troops to mount an offensive against the
Turks and the battles of Gaza took place after which Jerusalem was
captured. |
| In May 1918,
Harry was confined to barracks for 7 days for disobeying an order, this was
surprise as the charge sheet shows his character as excellent. In July 1918,
Harry suffered from Pyrexia, Phlebotomus or sandfly fever, and it wasn’t
until October that he was able to rejoin his battalion. Harry’s war
wasn’t spectacular, it was hot, boring, with spates of intense fighting,
which for most soldiers was the reality of war. |
| When the war
was over Harry couldn't just pack up and leave, it was a further three months
before he embarked for the demob camp at Kantara and made his way home. Army
Form 3226 showed that he was a very reliable, intelligent and sober person, and
Harry was to use this to show that he had been in the war and also that he was
a good person to employ. Finally, Harry was given a Protection certificate that
showed that he had been a soldier yet wasn't staying with the colours. It was
to make sure that he could show that he had been in Egypt and completed nearly
three years overseas. What happened to Harry? More work needs to be completed
on him as he survived the war. |
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