ANZAC DAY 2020 -remembering the Schweidnitz POW escape 19th March 1918

It’s ANZAC Day 2020 and we are in “iso” with the Covid 19 scare.  This is an important day for every Australian and NZ citizen remembering not only the slaughter at Gallipoli 1915 but all our diggers.  


We can’t celebrate their sacrifice in all the usual ways (Dawn Service, ANZAC street marches, picnics, drinking and two up at the pub ) It’s made all the more poignant when the Covid virus is affecting the very same people who fought in the wars and because of time going by they are diminishing in numbers.


We don’t forget these service men and women and despite the isolation we must continue the Anzac tradition. So, I’m writing about 6 of these remarkable men.

This year I’ve begun researching a group of 24 Australian, NZ, Canadian and English who fought, were captured, rounded up into POW camps, escaped …..perhaps more than once.  This is real Hogan’s Heroes stuff.


I’ve heard some of the main techniques used to escape by our allied servicemen were tunnelling, dressing as a German guard, a woman or citizen. Well this lot used a spoon!


The Schweidnitz POW escape occurred on 19th March 1918. Twenty-four officers were involved in the escape via a tunnel. 22 were recaptured and were returned to camp after three weeks and were tried by court martial. The Court martial papers make interesting reading. According to a letter from one of the UK escapees, Tarn Harker, “the tunnel was made by excavating with metal spoons, putting soil into mugs – tied with string which was shuttled back and forth. Only one man could work on the tunnel at one time”. They were free for just over three weeks and were heading for Switzerland but succeeded in getting over the border into Austria, before they were recaptured. The escapees split up, used trains and disguises and stole food to survive.

 Escapees 19/3/1918- Recaptured list

I’m still gathering up information on these brave chaps. Amazingly, some served and returned for the next war.


My interest is that relative Mark Strelley Fryer was one of the escapees. He’s from Derbyshire England. I’ve written about him here.


This blog is to honour what I know of the Aussie and NZ escapees so far.  

Many of the Aussie fighters left Australia as part of the Australian Infantry Force. Upon reaching England they were discharged from the AIF and became part of the Royal Flying Corps, were shot down or captured.

Here’s a little bit about Mark’s Aussie and NZ cohorts.

One of the Schweidnitz escapees with Mark Fryar was Gus Avey of NZ.

George Augustus Avey  1892-1976 was a Lt and Captain in the NZ Rifle Brigade 2nd Battalion. He was awarded a Military Cross on 13/12/16 for conspicuous gallantry in action. His war records show him going missing and believed to be in a POW camp from 28/6/1917 at Karloruke. After escaping from Schweidnitz he was transferred to Holzminden. He did assist with the great Holzminden tunnel, but at the time of escape Gus was held in 'confinement'.  In the London Gazette he was commended for gallant conduct in attempting to escape from captivity.

George remained in the Army as a reservist after the war and served again in WWII. On 21st August 1931, George Augustus Avey became the Publican of the Waipa Hotel, Ngaruawahia, New Zealand. His father (George Augustus Avey 1869-1939), transferring the License over to him.

He died in Auckland on 29/9/1976.

NZ er George Augustus"Gus "Avey

Eric Paul Fulton 1891-1982 was a Mechanical engineer from Victoria Australia. After landing in England with the Australian Infantry Force 14^th Battn he was discharged and joined the English Royal Flying Corps.

At Pozieres Lance-Corporal Fulton was wounded in the shoulder, thigh, and right hand, but the Australian casualties were so numerous that he had his wounds temporarily dressed by his comrades and volunteered as a stretcher-bearer. Three weeks later he was being congratulated by Major-General Sir H. V. Cox, commanding an Australian division, for his gallant conduct near Mouquet Farm on August 27 and 28 1916. He rose to the rank of the 2^nd Lt. He too was part of the Schweidnitz POW escape.

Eric Paul Fulton -Gallantry in the Field

Alan Barrington “Brolga” Hill  1892-1974 was from Warran NSW.  He also went from the AIF to the Royal Flying Corps 29 Squadron. Around Aug 1917 his parents received a cable stating that their son, Lieut. Alan B. Hill, of the Royal Flying Corp., had been reported missing.  

The Sydney Morning Herald on Sat 30 Apr 1921 reported Lieutenant Alan Barrington Hill, of Killowen, Warren, formerly of the Royal Air Force, was mentioned in the London "Gazette" of December 16, 1919, for "gallant and distinguished services" during the war. Hill also served in WWII

Some good news for the family from Hill's  Red Cross file

Alan  Barrington Hill Missing in Action

Ronald Starr Phelan 1893-1953   After obtaining a Bachelor of Engineering he was originally with the 35th Battn of the AIF from 2nd September 1915.

He reached the rank of Lieutenant. Enlisting 2nd September, 1915, and sailing 1st May, 1916' with 35th Battn., was commissioned in England 28th August.

He too moved to the RFC  22Sqn becoming a  Flying Officer 16th April, 1917.

Book of Remembrance, University of Sydney says that "Phelan in a Bristol F.2b figher (serial A7201) was shot down on 17 August 1917 at Passchendaele by LT Hans Georg van der Osten of Jasta 11 (it was the unit's 200th claim). His observer Lt. J. L. Macfarlane was killed, Phelan wounded and taken prisoner. "

After the war he was repatriated at Hull 14th December, 1918, and returned for demobilisation. He was promoted to Lieutenant R.A.F., 1st April, 1918. 

Phelan met Emily Frances Howard in England, while he was a member of the Royal Flying Corps. On May 30 1919. They married in London and he brought her to live in Australia. After a stint working away overseas as an engineer he had to file for divorce.

He served in served both WW I and II.

Roland's record of War Service for University

Lionel Read (AKA Alfred John Lionel Lee) 1893-1937

Lionel was enlisted under the name of Lionel Read (possibly his journalist name to distinguish from his father’s). He was a journalist in his father’s paper in Wellington and was later from Sydney NSW. Lionel Lee enlisted when he was 16 and served with a trench mortar unit. He wanted to fly and he succeeded in transferring to the Royal Flying Corps.

He was a personal friend of the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith having trained with him in Oxford, England during the war for service in the Royal Air Force.

Apparently, he was a distinguished airman. He had several crashes during action, and on one occasion he landed a plane the wings of which had been almost completely shot off by enemy aircraft. German airmen rushed to him, and congratulated him on his airmanship. He was a prisoner of war presumably after being shot down on this occasion.

He was captured at Moorstad and reported missing on 12/8/1917.

His obituaries show him as an energetic and enthusiastic citizen and an avid flyer. He recommended 'Smithy' for a Job with the Diggers' Aviation Company of which Lee was then chief pilot. Later Lee and Kingsford Smith went 'barnstorming' in old Avro planes secured from England, and at several New South Wales country towns many residents made their first flights with these two pilots.

His sudden death at age 43 was attributed to the aftermath of war injuries.

Arthur Wearne 1894-1945

Service no 3381 I believe he was initially an Australian Field Ambulance unit and later Australian Flying Corps 68 Sqn.  Arthur enlisted as a mechanic from Allendale in Victoria. Shortly after being promoted to 2nd Lt on 1/7/1917 he was pronounced missing on 26/7/1917. Having been captured at Ypres, papers showed initially that he was a POW at Karsruke.

Here's a little Christmas message from his Red Cross file.

Lt Wearne was repatriated to Australia from England on 28/2/1919.

German documentation re Wearne's capture

Lest we forget

We Will Remember Them

Author note: A few of us from different countries are joining together to preserve what we can of the story of these escapees and the events of the escape.  If you are related to any of the Schweidnitz POW escapees please contact me. We’d love to hear from you.

A blog dedicated to the Schweidnitz research right through to repatriation now exists at 

https://schweidnitzpowcampwwi.blogspot.com/

#AnzacDay2020
#SchweidnitzPOWescapees 

The Kerrs of Ferniehirst.....finding the links to the Ulster-Scots

In July 2019 three of us visited Ferniehirst Castle, the border fortress of the Kerr family. It’s only open during July so we timed our Edinburgh trip perfectly. The Castle is at Jedburgh on the A68 Edinburgh to Newcastle Road in Scotland. I am a Kerr descendent so of course it’s been on the bucket list. It must be a thing to do as it seems everyone else there that day was either related to a Kerr or a Carr. The castle Is located in the original royal hunting grounds of Jedburgh on the upper portion of the Jedburgh forest It came into Kerr hands in 1457 The Kerrs became the keepers of the royal hunt and the grounds guarding the borders of England and Scotland.

My other companion on the trip was Christina also related to the Kerrs. We had rendezvoused in Edinburgh -she from NZ and my husband and I from Australia. Our own Kerrs came from Ireland to Scotland and then emigrated to Australia and New Zealand a couple of generations later.

Myself and Christina

I can’t say we have fitted the Kerrs of Ferniehirst exactly in our family tree. I’d say we have a gap of about 5 to 6 generations but plenty indicates our association.

Kerr is a Border Reiver Family Name

 When your surname is Kerr you are included in the 14th century Border Reivers Families notorious for their activities on the borders between Scotland and England. Think cattle rustling, feuds, pillage as well as murder and arson attacks. The border clans or families of reivers conducted moonlight raids from the 14th to the 17th century. They were skilled horseman ranging from labourers to peers, plundering livestock and raiding lands. It was a way of life to take from anyone outside your immediate family. It was more complex and it's worth a read of The History of the Border Reivers

Border Reiver families

Our Kerrs Were Ulster Scots

During our tour of this castle Bob Lawson who is the expert on all things Kerr said that some of the “naughty” Kerrs were probably sent to Northern Ireland. The era of the Border Reivers ended after the death of  Elizabeth I and James I was crowned King of England. Thomas Kerr and co had been supporters of Mary Queen of Scots and their relationship with the new Stuart King was not as trusting.

Some of the Border Reiver families and the Kerrs left Scotland and became part of the “Ulster Plantation”of Northern Ireland. This was an English government sanctioned colonisation process known as the Plantation of Ulster where these families moved onto land confiscated from the Gaelic Irish nobility. So the British solved two problems- getting rid of the marauding horse thieves of the Scottish Lowlands and the  colonisation stopped the people living in Northern Ireland fighting against the English rule. The Kerrs blended into life over there and became the part of the contingent of  Ulster-Irish.

This is where our six-generation gap comes in. My Kerrs return to Scotland about 5 years after the Great Famine after spending about 200 years in Ireland. With years of intermarrying in Ireland they would have felt more Irish than Scottish.  Irish were not accepted well in Glasgow – some were protestant and some Catholic. Within 2 generations some of our Kerrs had left for other parts namely Australia, England and NZ. 

Left-handedness is a common trait of the Kerrs.

We have left-handedness showing up in my family and close relatives. From my father’s generation through to the current grandchildren left-handedness keeps appearing in each generation. Kerrs took advantage of this left-handedness by building left-handed spiral staircases to disadvantage the enemy when advancing or retreating where the normal spiral staircase is clockwise the anti-clockwise staircase gave them the upper hand against right-handed warriors and an anticlockwise staircase features in Ferniehirst Castle.

The origins of the name Kjrr a is old Norse for “Marsh Dweller” but the name Kerr is also said to come from the Gaelic Coeer meaning left-handed, perverse, awkward, sinister.

As reported in the (Sydney) Daily Telegraph 7th January 1972, there is an old Borderer’s Ballad about the Kerrs.

The Kerrs were eye the deadliest of foes

That e’re to the Englishmen were known

For they were all bred left-handed men

And defence against them was none.

During the 70s the Royal College of General Practitioners began doing a research project on people with the surname Kerr or Carr to see how many were left-handed. The Royal College was trying to assess how much left-handed DNA survives in the Kerr or Carr clan after centuries of immigration and intermarriage. Around 1972 the British medical Journal confirmed about 30% of those with the surname Kerr we are left-handed as opposed to a background 10% of the population.

Back to Ferniehirst Castle -it’s an L-shaped construction on the banks of the Jed river about 1 ½

miles south of Jedburgh. The present Castle structure has been destroyed and rebuilt several times and the  present tower was built by Thomas Kerr circa 1740. The castle stands on a hirst which is a knoll. The “ferns on the Hirst” are probably the bracken ferns and brambles etc from the Jed River. Bob Lawson who is in the curator held a very informative tour. The castle is currently occupied by the Lord and Lady Ralph Kerr and we were asked to take external photos only. 

We were greeted at the Bastel house a beautiful older building built before 1609. This is the visitors centre with historical displays and Kerr merchandise, postcards and book for sale. Over the years it’s been used as a chapel and a stable. As we walked through the door way you look up to see the shield and monogram of Andrew Kerr and wife dame and Anna Stewart while below is a monogram of Dan or Andrew Kerr who was Andrew’s great grandfather. Bob recounted us with stories of feuds, lineage and marriages which he has retold in his book The Kerrs of Ferniehirst 1205 to 1692.

The inside tour of the Castle begins at the new old stairwell at the base of the tower. All around us were venerable Kerrs looking down on the current visitors who are inevitably Kerr or Carr heritage.  Next, we entered the Great Hall which is one of the main parts of the house open for inspection. 

The Tower Entry complete with Shields

The Great Hall is a large family room which can be divided off or opened up for entertaining or perhaps hired for functions. We didn’t see the famous spiral staircase which is now only in the upper part of the house. The walls were covered with reminders of Kerrs past and scenes from history- friezes painted around the rooflines. Of course, in several rooms some of the famous Kerrs look down from the heights of their portraits. There are also portraits of famous friends and enemies of the Kerr family of Ferniehirst including Royalty. It dawned on me with all the Sirs and Ladys that we were part of the Scottish nobility!

Another highlight of the internal tour was the circular library cum study of the current Laird. This was a later addition and the beautifully lit oak-panelled room is surrounded by books circling the Tower. Then it’s out through the kitchen to see the chapel and the museum located under the castle. Interestingly, the castle and outer buildings became used as a farmhouse in the 18th century. in 1933 the Scottish Youth Hostels Association obtained a lease and used it for accommodating young travellers. With its riding, cycling and walking opportunities it was quite a popular location on the backpacker’s trail. For a brief period during the war the building was used for the military. 

The castle lease was redeemed in 1983 by the 12th Lord and Lady Lothian and they restored Ferniehirst Castle as their home renovating and re-furnishing it extensively. It is currently the seat of the Clan Kerr.

The chapel in the undercroft

Lady Lothian made a chapel in one of the under crofts of the castle. The under croft would have previously been used to store provisions or house animals of the property. The chapel contains artefacts and gifts given to Lady Lothian to mark her campaigns for equality of women and promotion of women in business. We also visited the Museum in another of the crofts full of Kerr memorabilia and personal family items. There was a display of relevant Tartans and Plaids. 

Kerr Tartan and Plaids

Throughout Ferniehirst Castle the Coat of Arms, the shield and the seal of the Kerrs are seen on walls, above doors and in the cobbled floors. Elsewhere is seen the family creed Sero Sed Serio “Late But In Earnest”.

Sero Sed Serio

“Late But In Earnest”.

The Kerr shield is red with a silver chevron. in the centre are 3 red mullets in a star shape which represent the rowel of the riding spur.  Coat of Arms below is taken from "Burkes General Armory" compiled by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms to the Queen 1842. 

Certainly riding runs in the Kerr family to reinforce this Heraldry.  Kerrs ran businesses in horse drawn cab hire in Glasgow from 1850s until 1915 (with the coming of the motor car). James Cross Kerr enlisted in WWI and was taking care of war horses.  His father and half brother David were involved in horse training and trotting in Glasgow and David brought the skills to NZ where many of his family were involved in breeding and racing.

Here's a few more more shots from our excursion to Ferniehirst to share with the family.

Queen of the Night - Heirlooms of the Garden

There’s been lots of time lately to remember when…



My memory today is at the time of summers past and backyard gardens were a weekend activity and “scrounged” plants plonked in a not so manicured garden were the thing.



Back in my day, plants were acquired not from a nursery but from a cutting taken on an afternoon stroll around a relative or friend’s garden. When visiting a plant was admired. A cutting was eagerly offered and wrapped in with moistened newspaper to transport home. Other plants were acquired at the local fete or street stall growing in rusty old tins with holes punched in the in the bottom for drainage.  My mother didn’t have much to work on -we had daggy clay without topsoil and my dad wasn’t the handiest at that sort of thing.

Not the most attractive flowers but a scent to die for

One such cutting survived. It was a piece from Mary Sullivan‘s garden. We always called it Beautiful at Night. It’s memory for me is that it was such an intoxicating plant. Its scent was heavenly – pungent, sweet, strong, sensual and it surprised us on breezy sultry summer nights. Sweetest memories of my youth with scent wafting into the open lounge room window. Actually, walkers taking a post sunset stroll would stop and ask the plant’s name. “It’s called Beautiful at Night” my mum replied.



When I moved to my current home, I wanted to recapture those memories for my children. I tried to find a plant of  that name and brief description of its behaviour. But no one knew it. Mary and my mum who have both passed away hadn’t bothered to call it by its real name. I asked my girlfriend (Mary‘s daughter Mary Ann) if she remembered the plant that our mums called Beautiful at Night.



Eventually I acquired the Night Blooming Jasmine -Cestrum Nocturnum also known as the Lady of the Night or Queen of the Night. This is an ornamental permanently evergreen shrub with tubular greenish white to cream flowers. It’s located in the rear of our garden to capture its romantic summer fragrance through our open veranda windows on the drift of the wind. You can smell it a couple of houses away.

 A scent that reminds us of a good memory

Recently when I mentioned to Mary Ann that I was writing this blog she admitted too that she had planted this special Jasmine.  Sure, we got ours from the nursery in an 8” black plastic pot. We didn’t have to rely on striking cuttings but I’m willing to share with anyone who wants one now.



Gardening is something many are revisiting during our “self-isolation”. I inherited a greener thumb in my DNA than my mum. My garden has memories of plants from relatives and friends as cutting and or gifts. My mother-in-law was a collector of azaleas, spring bulbs and Hoyas. I have many “free” samples. I still have some of the devil’s ivy that became my office plant that she gave me when I first started work.  



Others have given me bromeliads and gifts of plants when babies were born or when relatives died. Some parts of my neglected garden are reminding me of when mum went through her “succulent” phase. Pieces of succulent and Cactus were easy to “Nick” and easier to strike. I have plenty of bits from her fishpond garden and even some of her Lily pads.



There should be a spot-on Family Tree Maker or Ancestry to record our relatives love of their particular plants or the veggie gardens that were so loving lovingly tended.  So now I’ve memories of mum’s garden …… dotted with passed-along- plants taken from cuttings from older relatives. Heirloom plants passed along that would’ve been found in grannie’s backyard or at auntie‘s house.



Such dependable proven plants growing in their gardens 50, 60 or more years ago. Perhaps memories of their own home in England, Scotland or Ireland.

Night Blooming Jasmine -Cestrum Nocturnum also known as the Lady of the Night or Queen of the Night.

I remember our neighbourhood full of hydrangeas, fuchsias, roses, azaleas, pansies, trumpet lilies and daffodils.  



My “Queen of the Night” Jasmine brings back great memories but so too does the memory of our backyard plants.  Sometimes we would scrape up flowers and raid the neighbour’s gardens when it was our turn to decorate the church altar or take a bunch of flowers to someone.

 Scents can trigger a million memories

By the way, occasionally I’ve struck a few nightmares- Ivy, Fishbone ferns and Wandering Dew to name a few.



I’m in my 60s now and passing on plants to my daughter and her children- that’s five generations.  Certainly, it’s passing down the family memories and a connection to our European background.   Perhaps this is something we should consider recording in our family tree files. Perhaps there will be Corona inspired plantings. I’m off to get some cuttings of geranium.

What Heirloom plants do you remember?

Edith May Ford - Adventures in South Africa

Edith May Ford b: 25 Jun 1890 in Donegal Ireland, d: 1979 in Surrey, England; aged 89

   + James Mercer b: 25 Mar 1886 in Scotland and, m: 13 Feb 1912

Jean Iva Mercer b: 30 Apr 1915 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, d: 30 Apr 2002 in Heleston Cornwall, England

+ Clement Arthur Hayes b: 28 Aug 1903 in Frimley, Surrey, England, m: 07 Apr 1937 in Camberley Surrey, d: 26 Sep 1987 in Frimley, Surrey, England

Edith May Ford was Alice and George Ford’s second daughter and 6th child.  The Irish Civil Registration Certificate shows her birth as Sept Quarter 1890 Glenties, Donegal Ireland and her death registration gives her date of birth as 25th June1890.  Edith is born of English parents who were in Ireland on behalf of the English Government her father was a Coastguard and the family moved around remote parts of Ireland and as a result nearly every child was born somewhere different.

Just after 1896 the family returned to England to a coast guard position Portobello where her father died in 1897. 

Edith May Ford in service as a cook 1911

Still as a young girl and not long after her father died the 1901 census shows Edith May living with her sister Beatrice in Hampstead at the Sailors Orphans Girls School.  She is 10 years old. Her place of birth was shown incorrectly. At the time of the 1911 census, Edith was living at The Vicarage, Ringner Lewes working as a cook servant. 

Possibly because she worked for the Vicar she had corresponded with a Corporal James Mercer and who was a military bandsman in the British Army in South Africa. At age 22 she left England to marry him in Durban, South Africa. They married on 13^th Feb 1912. 

Mercer who was originally Messor was born in 1886 in Greenlaw, Berwickshire.  His family moved to Glasgow and by the 1901 census he was found as a ‘Boy under detention” on the Industrial School ship “The Empress”.  The ship served several functions, helping naval cadets, schooling poor & deprived children and as a detention centre for children in trouble with the police.  

James Mercer 1911 census

Having changed his name to Mercer he became a career soldier who joined the 1^st Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1902. This  Scotsman from Berwick Scotland first served abroad in Allahabad, India in 1902 and then in South Africa from 1910. Along the way he was promoted to Lance Corporal in 1907 and Corporal in 1910. 

James and Edith in South Africa

Picture a young woman at the turn of the century from a large family whose mother is widowed. She has lived in various places in Ireland and England. Her education is completed in boarding school.   The 1911 census shows she has taken a position in service. Quickly she is off on another adventure to an exotic life as a military wife in South Africa married to a man she hardly knew and had never met and a long way from her home, her mother and siblings.  Then he takes a job away from home…..

  

His discharge from the Army was confirmed at Pretoria 22/12/1913 after service abroad of 10 years 321 days. At this time  Edith’s man was 27 years 8 months,  5'9 ¼ " with  fresh complexion , blue eyes and light brown hair. His conduct had been exemplary. Corporal Mercer did a short stint with the S.A. Railway as Station Foreman : Waterval Onder. With the war starting in 1915 it seems he did Military service with the  British Army in Gauteng, Johannesburg South Africa,

While her husband James Mercer was away working for the railway Edith had an affair with another soldier, a Hampshire man named Herbert Legg.  Legg b 1885 was in the Hampshire regiment 2^nd Battalion.  He was also a career soldier having enlisted in 1902 at Portsmouth.  His Regiment served in Malta 1903, Bermuda 1905, South Africa 1907, Mauritius 1911 arriving in Mhow Bengal in 1913-14 a centre of Indian military development.

Military records show his regiment was en route from Mhow to Portsmouth and presumably via South Africa during 1914. There he met young Edith somewhere around July.  She fell pregnant to Legg. Her daughter Jean (Mercer) was born in 30 Apr 1915 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

Meanwhile, Herbert Legg had returned to England arriving 22/12/ 1914. After a break to Romsey and Stratford upon Avon in February they came under the orders of the 88^th Brigade in the 29^th division and moved to Warwick. They sailed for Gallipoli via Egypt landing in Alexandria on the 2^nd April and landing in Lemnos which was to be an advance base for operations at Gallipoli their battalion landed at Cape Hellos on the “River Clyde” on that fateful day for the ANZACS  25^th April 1915.   

The Battalion was evacuated from Gallipoli in Jan 1916 to Egypt. By 20^th March 1916 they had landed at Marseilles for service in France.

   

Herbert was gassed on the Somme battlefield shortly after returning to Europe and was Killed in Action. The fateful day was 9th Aug 1916. 2nd Batt Hampshire regiment diary p96-97 reports on number of casualties and deaths on that day. On the night of 8th / 9th August 1916 the Germans launched a gas attack on the 29th Division front at Potijze; there were heavy losses, especially in the 2nd Hampshires (4 officers and 125 men died out of nearly 240 casualties).

 

Legg’s burial grave is in Belgium Grave no27, Row A POTIJZE Chateau Wood. Apparently, there is a good account of the gas attack on 2/Hants in the book "I Survived Didn't I?" which records the Great War Reminiscences of Private 'Ginger' Byrne.  

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/119886-2nd-battalion-hampshire-regiment-war-diary/

He never knew Edith had given birth to his baby. DNA testing of Jean’s sons has finally confirmed the parentage.  

Edith and daughter Jean

Meanwhile Mercer had given his name to little Jean and the three continued to live in South Africa until after the war. Edith and Jean arrived from Durban South Africa on 12^th October 1919 at Southampton UK with her infant daughter then aged 4 on the '"Balmoral Castle". A copy of her passport received from her grandson describes her as height 5’ 6", low forehead, grey eyes, normal nose and mouth, pointed chin, brown hair pale complexion and oval face.  Edith May, aged 29 had returned to England from South Africa on her own with Jean but James Mercer followed her and they reunited following pressure from her family. 

Edith and Jean's passport page 3 

When he returned from South Africa James took a job working at London Bridge Station as a ticket collector until 27/5/21. He resigned from railways and took a post as a bandsman at Sandhurst Royal Academy near Camberley in Surrey. They lived in quarters in the grounds of the Academy for some time (Jean, her daughter recalled swimming in the lake).

Jean at Camberley

In 1937 Edith saw her daughter Jean marry Clement Hayes. Among the well-wishers was cousins Vera and Harold Holness and Uncle Joe Ford, Lottie and Peggy from Newhaven.  The 1939 register shows them working in the jewelry and watch making business. At the same time the 1939 register shows Edith living at the Royal Military College. 

Jean and Clem's wedding

From 1921 until his discharge in 1943 James served 22 years with the Bands Corps. Promoted to Sergeant he was described as “of high character, honest, sober, hardworking and conscientious in the highest degree. He is above average in intelligence and has the knack of getting the best out of others.”

Edith and James remained married and together until his death. James brought up the baby, Jean as his own. Jean did not find out about Herbert until her forties and her children Martin and John until much later.   It’s taken DNA to confirm the right “Herbert” and match him to his military records and therefore his story. 

James Mercer died in 1974. Edith May died not long after aged 88 in 1979 in the North East Hampshire registration district of England. She was in a nursing home in Surrey. She had lived with her daughter, Jean and her husband Clem for many years in Surrey. Clement died in 1987 and Jean lived until 2002.

She was the last of George and Alice’s children to die.

Jean with sons  John and Martin

Daughter Jean had two boys, Martin and John. Jean died in Cornwall in 2002. While researching the Ford family story that I made contact with her sons and daughters in law who revealed the story of Edith May and her family. They shared some photos and memorabilia which revealed contact and connection with relatives and cousins tied to the other Ford siblings. These old letters and telegrams are rare gold and prove connection to the Ford siblings despite the distance.  Despite the size and dispersal of the family they remained in correspondence together.  

Thanks for sharing.