Special train to honour first ' Dad's Army' volunteer killed in the war
THE Cholsey & Wallingford Railway is planning a special train to mark the 80th anniversary of the death ofa man identified by local historians as the first member of the Home Guard to die in the Second World War.
The term Home Guard - made famous by the BBC TV comedy series Dad's Army- was not the initial title used for those volunteers who kept nightly watch and were prepared to protect Britain against invasion.
Soon after war was declared in 1939, several local groups formed with this purpose in mind, and as their numbers grew it became apparent that a degree of co- ordination and training was required. By May 13, 1940 a plan to create the Local Defence Volunteers ( LDV) was in place and its formation announced in a radio broadcast the next evening.
Fatal casualty
However, what was perhaps the first fatal casualty of an LDV member occurred locally to the railway, for on Sunday, June 2, 1940, less than a month later, Tom Jewitt, a 31- year- old resident of nearby Crowmarsh, the son of a Durham miner, who was employed as a' moulder' at the foundry operated bytheWilder- Lister company, was killed while out on his first LDV assignment Indeed, it may have been that Tom volunteered for this duty to allow his landlord, Bill Harvey, to stay at home and look after his wife Edith, who was unwell, and their three children.
Tom's role that evening was to guard the GWR London- Bristol main line, particularly the bridge over the Thames between Cholsey and Goring, presumably with an eye for the activity of' fifth columnists' who might try to sabotage the railway or for bomb damage, both of which could cause a derailment or serious damage.
Patrol
An care inquest in Moulsford was held on at June Berkshire 3, 1940 Downs and according to the coroner's report, Tom left his lodgings with the Harveys of 2 Dormer Cottages at 8.45pm on Saturday, June 1 to go to a meeting of the local LDV. He was then assigned to patrol the Oxfordshire side of bridge over the Thames with Frank Wilder Junior from lam.
Both ends of the bridge had pillboxes, although it is unlikely that these were in place in June 1940. At 3am Rowland Green, who was in charge of the party on the Oxfordshire side of the bridge, was told by Frank Wilder that he had not seen Tom Jewitt for 20 minutes. When Mr Green went to oo , or Tom e was informed by his opposite number from the Berkshire side, Fredrick lvermee of 3 Star Terrace, Cholsey, that something was lying on the line. It seems possible that Mr lvermee may have also been searching as his statement said that the junior with him, J Croxford, had failed to see Tom on his patrols too.
Mr Green and Mr lvermee then walked the line and "discovered Jewitt's body badly mangled between the Up and Down lines''. Later this statement was qualified as being between the main Up and Down lines. In his statement to police Mr lvermee stated that he found a smashed rifle and then called the Oxfordshire guard but by this time Mr Green must also have been looking for Tom.
During the inquest it was reported by Mr Green that LDV volunteers were not provided with any training prior to being assigned such duties. The coroner then reported that he felt proper instructions needed to be provided to those guarding the railway.
Inquest
The inquest concluded that" death was due to shock due to injury caused by a passing train, and that such injury was caused by misadventure''.
There is no mention of Frank Wilder in the newspaper article, nor of J Croxford in the police report which makes it hard to determine the precise sequence of events. Equally, we have no idea which train hit Tom; perhaps he heard one and stepped away from one only to be hit by one travelling in the opposite direction? Further confusion arises when studying the Ministry of Pensions letter of July 22, 1940 requesting details of the inquest as in this letter the accident is said to have occurred on July 2, 1940, a month later than the event.
Futhermore, it seems the name on the stone in the churchyard at Crowmarsh was misspelt and the stone spells his surname Jowett; perhaps this was how local people knew Tom as his north- eastern accent may have made Jewitt sound like Jowett?
What is certain is that the mystery and confusion surrounding what may well be the first death of a LDV member has been untangled only thanks to the efforts of Michael Quigley and Paul Chambers of the Oxfordshire Living History Group. Indeed, some of Tom's modern- day relatives were of the impression that Tom's death was thought by some as suicide, but clearly this was not the opinion at the time as death certificate states that the cause of death was "shock from injuries accidentally caused by being run into by a train on the GWR on Cholsey viaduct''.
It was planned to commemorate the tragedy with a special train on the neighbouring heritage line in June and a memorial service at the church in Crowmarsh. Unfortunately, due to the Covid- 19 pandemic, both events have been postponed until further notice
Oxfordshire Home Guard has submitted a claim to the War Grave Commission to get recognition for Tom and to get him listed on the Home Guard Roll of Honour on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission database.