Page 29 - South Issue 12

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At the turn of 1914, nobody would have believed
that only a few months later, one of the bloodiest
wars in history would wreak havoc across a whole
generation. Charlie Chaplin had released his first
few films. Luxembourg had beaten France in
football for the first time ever. Things were fairly
peaceful. Then on June 28th, it all changed when
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in
Serbia. It took only a month for the world to fall
into chaos and on 28th July 1914, the First World
War started. Like other areas of Britain, South
Oxfordshire not only played its part in the war, it
also paid a high price.
At the declaration of war, thousands of men
stepped forward and volunteered their services to
the army. Colonel W.H.Ames of the Ox and Bucks
Light Infantry was one of the regulars tasked with
raising a battalion of volunteers. He hired a room
at Exeter College and when the doors opened, the
first man recorded was ex-regular Sargent-Major
T.V.Wood. By the end of the day, 130 men had
also come forward and within 10 days, there were
enough volunteers to form eight new companies
within the Ox and Bucks. This included many local
men who had marched through the towns of
Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon on their way to
the army recruitment office.
The volunteers to the Ox and Bucks trained in
various locations across Oxfordshire. Drills were
performed on Port Meadow. Route marches were
carried out within a 10 mile radius of the city.
Meanwhile, there were already regular members
of the Ox and Bucks at the front line. Ames’ own
battalion which he had recruited back at Exeter
College were prepared for overseas duties in
1915 and landed in France on 24th May 1916. By
March, they had joined the forces gathering at the
Somme. Hundreds of them were killed within the
first few days of battle and a good deal more never
returned to South Oxfordshire
Didcot was of vital importance for the war effort
due to the railway and its importance as a freight
and transport link. A large military stores depot
was based in the town and the town was also
the base for the 1st/5th King’s Own Regiment. A
large part of their job was to protect the railway
itself, although there was not the same level of
air attacks as there were during World War Two,
the army was a constant presence at key bridges
and the station, ensuring that spies or invaders
didn’t destroy it. The army had commandeered
local vehicles that were not being used elsewhere
and for some time, milk floats were used take
supplies between the various out-posts protecting
the railway. The 1st/5th Battalion did also head to
France later in the war and suffered losses and
injuries in the battlefields.
In Abingdon, many men working at the Pavlova
leather factory joined together in Pals Battalions
and after some training made their way to the
front. Their wives and other local women filled in,
keeping the factory going in their absence.
Remembering the Great
War in South Oxfordshire