The photograph is a haunting family relic. At one and the same time it conveys a sad, yet proud, moment in our family history, my grandfather, James McManus, born Crook, County Durham, sits proudly in military combat uniform amid two anonymous comrades from the . Tyneside Irish Brigade
Dirty work nevertheless. Forty three years old when the First World War erupted he was working at Framwellgate Moor New Pit and lived with his large family in a colliery house at Crossgate Moor, Durham City.
Jimmy and Kate had been born and brought up at Crook, County Durham Their parents were Irish immigrants, Jimmy’s from north County Roscommon, Kate’s from Monaghan.
Like hundreds of others, their parents had swopped the terrible hell-hole of hunger and disease around 1848 for the industrial hell-hole of the north east of England. A local newspaper of 1852 well describes the industrial unpleasantness that was Crook:
But that’s all very romantic. He must have had more practical reasons for wanting to volunteer. ‘The pits’ were working a short week in 1914 and an army wage was certainly the better option. Jimmy often dreamed of a welfare state which would support his family in times of depression.
There may also too have been a sense of adventure in Jimmy’s motivation, and even relief. I imagine that as much as he loved his wife and children, a break away from them, and a less than alluring dirty job down the pit, must have attracted him to the army.
His motivation to fight for what he believed in is certainly reflected in the fact that the government had set an age limit of forty for volunteers and Jimmy was already forty three when he volunteered.
My dad told me that during the time “her Jimmy” was away fighting in France my grandmother, Kate, rebuked a local police officer for keeping his comfortable job at home and not volunteering for action like her man.
Indeed, by 1939 and the outbreak of World War Two, my grandmother had apparently changed her tune. When my father told her he had failed the medical to join the army she was overwhelmed with joy that he was not going away to fight. I guess the horrors of the First World War had dampened her spirit by this time.
When Jimmy decided to volunteer he had first made enquiries to join the Royal Enniskillen Fusiliers, but only to discover they had already left for France.
Instead, at Newcastle upon Tyne, he and his young nephew Hughie enlisted with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Tyneside Irish Battalions.
After training, and some time ‘hanging around’, Jimmy and Hughie embarked for France in 1916 and the battlefields of the Somme.
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Overalls - Dirty Work
Symbolically, combat uniform and industrial overalls are for the same purpose - dirty work. A soldier’s work is dirty work, but Jimmy was a career coalminer, not a career soldier.Dirty work nevertheless. Forty three years old when the First World War erupted he was working at Framwellgate Moor New Pit and lived with his large family in a colliery house at Crossgate Moor, Durham City.
15 Children
By this time in their lives Jimmy and his wife, Kate, had produced fifteen children. In what was doubtless the typical poverty of a second generation Irish family, eleven had survived to testify to a powerful gene and caring parents.Jimmy and Kate had been born and brought up at Crook, County Durham Their parents were Irish immigrants, Jimmy’s from north County Roscommon, Kate’s from Monaghan.
Like hundreds of others, their parents had swopped the terrible hell-hole of hunger and disease around 1848 for the industrial hell-hole of the north east of England. A local newspaper of 1852 well describes the industrial unpleasantness that was Crook:
Jimmy’s father was unskilled and, like many first generation Irish to the north east, had to take on the dirtiest jobs going. Jimmy’s father’s career was in the coke ovens at Crook. More Irishmen than any other nationality were employed there.
Report of the General Board of Health
When you read the Report of the General Board of Health concerning coke worker’s health it becomes debatable whether this work was preferential to famine in Ireland:Military Service
There seems to have been a mixture of both loyalty to his country and personal welfare involved in Jimmy’s strong motivation to volunteer for military service in 1914. In the first instance, like many others, he was proud to defend his country and his ‘Britishness’ against the threat from Germany.But that’s all very romantic. He must have had more practical reasons for wanting to volunteer. ‘The pits’ were working a short week in 1914 and an army wage was certainly the better option. Jimmy often dreamed of a welfare state which would support his family in times of depression.
A Proud Volunteer
I recall my father saying that to become a volunteer in the First World War ensured some welfare benefits too - benefits which Jimmy would not have received at home as a coalminer. One of these benefits included a new set of teeth - wooden pegs, I was told.There may also too have been a sense of adventure in Jimmy’s motivation, and even relief. I imagine that as much as he loved his wife and children, a break away from them, and a less than alluring dirty job down the pit, must have attracted him to the army.
His motivation to fight for what he believed in is certainly reflected in the fact that the government had set an age limit of forty for volunteers and Jimmy was already forty three when he volunteered.
Hughie McManus
Jimmy’s young nephew, Hughie McManus, was seventeen when the First World War was declared. I do not know his motivation for volunteering to fight but, like Jimmy, I guess it was a mixture of several factors. Not least of these was probably the avoidance of shame - felt by those who did not volunteer.My dad told me that during the time “her Jimmy” was away fighting in France my grandmother, Kate, rebuked a local police officer for keeping his comfortable job at home and not volunteering for action like her man.
WW2
But the losses which came in the First World War had a profound effect on many who, like my grandmother, had supported that ‘proud volunteer’ stance.Indeed, by 1939 and the outbreak of World War Two, my grandmother had apparently changed her tune. When my father told her he had failed the medical to join the army she was overwhelmed with joy that he was not going away to fight. I guess the horrors of the First World War had dampened her spirit by this time.
When Jimmy decided to volunteer he had first made enquiries to join the Royal Enniskillen Fusiliers, but only to discover they had already left for France.
Instead, at Newcastle upon Tyne, he and his young nephew Hughie enlisted with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Tyneside Irish Battalions.
After training, and some time ‘hanging around’, Jimmy and Hughie embarked for France in 1916 and the battlefields of the Somme.
La Boisselle
They eventually found themselves in the region of La Boisselle. This was to be a fateful spot for both of them. Middlebrook (1971) recalls how the German’s had strategic advantage in this area:The sector about to be attacked by the British contained nine of these fortified villages on an eighteen mile front, all either in, or just behind, the front line. Their names were to become part of the history of the British Army.
Nine fortified villages
Reading from south to north they were:Read More
