Diary: Bishop conducts service for troops

Bishop and troops

Stories from The Luton News, May 27th, 1915

The scene on the Dallow Road Recreation Ground on Sunday morning was of a most impressive character. The whole of the Notts and Derby Battalions locally paraded for divine service on the occasion of a special visit by the Bishop of Southwell, Dr Hoskyns, to whose diocese most of the men in the regiments belong.

The greater part of the parade ground was covered by the hundreds of men, and there was also a large attendance of Lutonians and relatives of the men, who came to the town for a weekend visit.

The sun shone brilliantly throughout. The Bishop conducted the service from the drumhead, the Union Jack and the Bishop's robe showing up brilliantly against the background of khaki and of green foliage.

It was a hearty service, and the singing of good congregational hymns and of the responses was led splendidly by the combined bands of the 6th and 8th battalions. One of the colonels present read the lessons.

After the service the Bishop inspected each regiment as it left the ground and marched down Brantwood Road to the lively music of the bands.

There was a large attendance, too, at the Plait Hall YMCA when the Bishop gave the address at the Sunday evening gathering.

  • Cries of 'Shame!' and calls for conscription were the response to a talk at the Grand Theatre, Luton, by Capt F. W. F. Lathom on Monday evening when he described how little success had been achieved in recruitment in the five days since the 2/5th Beds began a recruiting march through the county. He had caustic comments in particular for the response from Caddington and Shillington, where no-one enlisted in either village.

  • Rifleman Bertie WhittemoreA funeral with full military honours was to take place in Luton today for Rifleman Bertie Whittemore, aged 25, of 42 Kings Road, Luton. The member of the Rifle Brigade (pictured, right) was wounded by shrapnel on May 10th but died in hospital at Sandgate, Kent, on May 22nd. He would have been killed outright but for a cigarette tin covering his heart, but the tin was smashed by shrapnel and left him wounded.

  • Another man killed in action was L-Cpl Harry Whinnett, son of Mrs Whinnett, of 103 Frederic Street, Luton, who prior to the war was a police constable in Grimsby, where he and his wife and three children lived.

  • Two deaths were reported within the past week at Wardown Military Hospital. Gunner F, Parkes (South Staffordshire RFA) from pneumonia, and Driver F. Plaskitt (Lincoln RFA) from peritonitis.

  • The 2/7th Battalion of the Notts and Derby Regiment had an enjoyable holiday on Monday when a sports programme was held at Chaul End. There was a large attendance, and various events were keenly contested - including cock fighting.

  • Despite the withdrawal of all long distance rail excursion facilities on Monday (Whit Monday), traffic to the near neighbourhood was, if anything, heavier than usual. Over 700 went to St Albans to visit friends in the 1/5th Beds, while over 1,000 went to Harpenden. The popular place, however, was Totternhoe Knolls, the Great Northern Railway taking about 2,000 passengers to Dunstable and Stanbridgeford.

  • Latest recruits into the Regular Army, via the Corn Exchange, were: H. Andrews, J. A. Birchell, L. Bird, H. Bodsworth, S. Buckingham, J. Crook, H. E. Fisk, B. Gow, C. H. Grace, J. Hilton, F. C. Humbles, C. Kempson, A. Lick, G. Mobley, H. Plater and S, Randall.

  • Belgian refugees noticeA public notice (reproduced, right) issued by Chief Constable David Teale reminded all Belgian refugees that they must be registered at the Borough Police Office and must notify any proposed change of address, or face a fine of £100 or six months imprisonment. People with whom refugees were lodging faced similar penalties if they did not ensure refugees complied with police requirements.

  • Luton's Town Working Party has despatched 171 parcels of wearing apparel and articles of comfort and cleanliness to the Tommies of the 1st Bedfordshire Regiment.

  • The death of Bertie Clare Strange, a young labourer at the Diamond Foundry, Dallow Road, was caused by an accidental fall, probably the result of haemorrhage of the lungs, the jury at a resumed inquest decided. The deceased, who lived with his brother at 22 Ebenezer Street, Luton, fell to his death from a staging while handling metal on his first day employed at the foundry.