THE TOMMIES’ LAST TRAIN
FRESH-FACEd young soldiers, among the very first to answer their nation’s call and volunteer to risk their lives for King and Country at the start of World War I, proudly line up for a photograph on the platform at Letchworth station, before heading off to fight.
The date is August 5, 1914. Only the day before, Britain had declared war, following Germany’s invasion of Belgium.
As we now approach the centenary of the end of the conflict on November 11, this haunting photograph, which has been painstakingly colourised, stands as a poignant reminder of the sacrifice made by an entire generation of young British men who selflessly left their homes to face the artillery, machine guns, barbed wire, gas, mud and wretched trench conditions of the Great War.
Many, of course, never returned. Few platoons were to suffer as terribly as the one lined up at this Home Counties station.
The train these Tommies, from 12 platoon, E Company, Hertfordshire Regiment, were waiting for took them to Norfolk, where they trained for three months before joining the British Expeditionary Force. They caught a boat to the Continent on November 5 and, within days, were in action on the Western Front.
All the Hertfordshire Regiment’s battalions were part of the Territorial Force, which was to become the Territorial Army in 1921, and had no obligation under their terms of service to face combat overseas.
despite that, these young men did not flinch and chose to join the fight on the Western Front.
But this isn’t just a mesmerising image. The picture has been given new prominence by the remarkable efforts of historian dan Hill, of Herts At War, a Lottery-funded project to uncover untold stories from the Great War, who has spent months trying to discover their fate.
He has conducted scrupulous research using local archives containing a vast number of images as well as obituary photographs.
Tragically, of the 11 he has so far been able to put a name to, it has been established that seven were killed, ‘a much higher proportion than you would expect based on national casualty rates for the war as a whole,’ he says. He is appealing to the public for help naming the rest of the soldiers, as well as for more details about those who have been named. If you can help, please email information to tommies@dailymail.co.uk
Here, we tell the stories of the Tommies who have so far been identified . . .
Jack Satterthwaite
Killed in action April 22, 1916 THE platoon sergeant, Jack was a well-known face around town, as well as something of a star in the local football and cricket teams.
In the photograph, he is standing next to his father, James, who is wearing a flat cap and a dark suit with his arms folded.
One of Jack’s informal duties as platoon sergeant was to write home to thank the Letchworth residents who sent the men gifts, such as cigarettes and socks.
He was shot in the chest during fighting at Festubert, in North West France, on April 17, 1916. He died of his wounds five days later, aged 25. Jack, a printer, had fought alongside his brother, Walter (not pictured), on the Western Front.
Walter won the Military Medal for bravery, but was invalided out of the Army after being wounded in the leg a year after Jack’s death.
Walter Flanders
Killed in action Nov 19, 1914 WALTER was one of eight children born to merchant seaman Edward Flanders and his wife Sarah, who died after the birth of their youngest child. His father was frequently away at sea, so he had placed the children in the care of a relative. His collier was lost at sea with all hands in 1913.
With their father gone, the children’s carer could no longer support them and they were sent to the workhouse. When one of them, Agnes, married and moved