Extraordinary tale of the ‘Thankful Villages’ that didn’t lose a single man
ON SUNDAY the public will gather around cenotaphs in towns and villages across the land to pay tribute to those brave men who lost their lives in the First World War.
Almost every community touched by the carnage.
A handful, however, escaped the slaughter. A lucky few villages waved goodbye to their menfolk as they marched to war... and celebrated as they all returned. They are the “Thankful Villages”. Butterton, a parish that nestles in the Staffordshire Peak District, is one of them.
In fact, Butterton is a Double Thankful parish. It also survived World War Two without loss of life.
In stark contrast, neighbouring Oncoat – just two miles away – lost six of the 50 men who went to war.
The term “Thankful Village” was coined in the 1930s by author and journalist Arthur Mee in his series of books In The King’s England, a guide to the counties. Mee was struck by the handful of parishes that had no memorial to The Fallen.
The phrase was taken 1904 poem, Harvest Time.
There are 32 Thankful Villages in England and 23 of those in the wider Midlands. Seven of the Midland communities survived both the First and Second World Wars without blood being spilt.
A blue plaque marks Butterton’s “thankful” status. was from a
Back in 1911, its population was 278. In 2001, 213 lived in the parish.
Fifteen Butterton residents fought in the Great War and they are immortalised in a picture that hangs in the parish church of St Barholomew’s.
That photograph tells its own fascinating story.
The survivors include three brothers – John, Samson and Reuben Salt. For whatever reason, father John Salt stood in for John when the photographer went to work.
James and William Millward were also brothers who made the journey home.
Arthur Poyser, awarded the Military Medal, got so drunk at the Black Lion Pub, he had to be held up for the camera.
Ralph Millward, who repaired shoes and sold paraffin in Butterton, had an interesting war. Only 15, he lied about his age to join the conflict and was wounded in the right arm in June 1918. After the war – in August 1919 – he went AWOL for two days, which earned him four days field punishment.
Second Lieutenant Cyril Crump, in the centre of the picture, was the vicar’s son.
The others were: Sampson Ralph Mellor, a farm labourer who joined the 5th North Staffordshire Regiment; William Henshaw; John Titterton of the North Staffs Regiment ; Percy Denham, in India when war broke out and saw his fighting in Mesopotamia; John Goldstraw; and Thomas Wheeldon.
These modest men from a rural community made their own headlines following a reunion at Butterton School.
The Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal of January 3, 1920, reported: “There was a very interesting Christmas celebration in the little moorland village of Butterton on Saturday last, when a party of the Butterton men who have served in the Great War and returned safely were generously entertained in the schoolroom by Mr AJ Hambleton, the genial squire of Butterton, and his charming wife. This is not the first occasion on which the soldiers have been entertained, as both the armistice and the peace were duly honoured, but this is the first time the whole party have been able to meet together, owing to the delays in demobilisation, and Christmas was a fitting occasion for the reunion.
“Advantage was also taken of the gathering to present to each man an enlarged copy of the photographic group which was secured some few weeks ago by Mr R Stubbs, a Butterton resident, and the result of his labours is extremely creditable to him. When the success of the photograph was assured, a committee was formed in the village to present a copy of the picture to each of the soldiers, and they are handsomely framed in massive ebony.”
The piece adds: “It is a pleasing fact that the group contains three brothers of the Salt family, who have been out since 1916. Pte Denham was in India in 1914, but proceeded at once to Mesopotamia, and then went to Palestine. Pte Ralph Mellor has had some strenuous experiences in France and on one occasion his party was reduced by seven men, and only two besides himself eventually escaped with their lives, so that even our quietest villages have done their part well in maintaining the Empire.”
Also on January 3, 1920, the Staffordshire Newsletter told its readers: “The Christmas festivities at the Moorland village of Butterton, in the Manifold Valley, were of specially-interesting character this year, taking the form of a welcome home to the men who went from the district to serve their King and country in the war. Butterton is in the fortunate position of seeing all her soldiers return.”
Of the 15 men, we do have some insight into the post-war life of vicar’s son Cyril Crump. The Kent and Sussex Courier of April 21, 1933, reported: “Misa Eva Minnie Wightwick, youngest daughter of the late Mr and Mrs WJ Wightwick, of Staplehurst, was married at Staplehurst Parish Church yesterday (Thursday) to Mr Cyril Edward Crump, a schoolmaster at Beckenham and the eldest son of the Rev. RJ and Mrs Crump, of Butterton Vicarage, Leek, Staffs.
“The bridegroom’s father, the Rev RJ Crump, assisted the Rector (Canon AJ Walker) in performing the ceremony. Mr ED Crump, the bridegroom’s brother, was best man. The service was fully choral. Following a reception at Hill House, Staplehurst, Mr and Mrs Crump left for their honeymoon, the bride travelling in a beige coat and hat with sable fur.”
The very select group of Double Thankful Villages – communities who emerged from both world wars without casualties – includes the inapropriately named Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire. Tucked away in the village hall, two modest plaques celebrate the safe return of 25 men and women.
A stone column in St Mary’s Churchyard, Knill, marks its inclusion in the Double Thankful list.