Page 54 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

Drummer Thomas WHIFFEN 2nd Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment
1895 - 27th October 1914

An early casualty was a young man, just 19-years-of-age, who was very well known in
North Cray, and had for some time played the drums in the Foots Cray Band and had also
been a second in the North Cray Troop of Boy Scouts. Thomas lived with his parents in
Pretoria Cottages, North Cray and in 1911 he was working as a dairyman in the King’s
Foots Cray dairy. He joined the regular Army in 1912 being assigned to the South
Lancashire Regiment. When war was declared the Regiment was one of the first to be
despatched to France landing at Le Havre on 14th August 1914. In the first three months of
the war the South Lancashire regiment saw considerable action taking part in such battles
as the Battle of Mons.

As a drummer, Thomas didn’t take direct part in fighting, but was trained in first-aid and
used as a stretcher bearer but when the Battalion was not involved in conflict, he would
assume his usual role with the military band for parades. He found time to write home to
his only sister, 13-year-old Emma. The letter was dated 25th October:

“I got your cigarettes safely and you can tell how pleased I was. I have enough to last me a
long time now. I am so proud to have such a good sister who thinks of me. Our Battalion
has had rather a rough time lately, and we have had all the letters given out in a bunch. I
have had some marvellous escapes. Got hung up in some wire in a tobacco plantation
yesterday with the enemy on top of us. I thought I was done, but ‘Tommy’ eluded the wily
pursuers!”
Two days later he was killed.

In Memoriam Drummer Thomas Whiffen has no known grave but is remembered on the
Le Touret Memorial in France.

Pte. James WICKENDEN 7th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regt.)
1899 - 24th October 1918

James was not quite 15-years-old when war was declared. He lived in one of the tiny Rose
Cottages with his mother and young sister and was an enthusiastic member of 1st North
Cray Troop of Boy Scouts. The cottages were one-up/one-down dwellings, with small,
single storey sculleries at the back. There was a range in the main room, but no
electricity. Early in 1917, James seems to have felt it was his duty to make his contribution
towards the war effort as soon as he was old enough and he enlisted with the Queen’s,
Royal West Surrey Regiment, just a few months after his 17th birthday. By now the public
had no illusions about how horrific the war was, and it is not hard to imagine just how
much his widowed mother must have agonised over his decision.

Going into Battle - All Battalions meticulously kept a War Diary with each day’s entry
usually undertaken by a senior officer. On 22nd October, 1918, just a very few weeks
before the official end of hostilities, 7th Battalion, The Queen’s, Royal West Surrey Regt.,
went into battle and James Wickenden was one of the 105 casualties. The whole battle had
achieved nothing but death and injury, and the war was to be over in just a few short
weeks. On 9th November, (just two days before the official ending of the war) the Platoon
Officer, 2nd Lt Arthur J. Breen, wrote the obligatory letter of condolence to James' mother.

In Memoriam: Buried at the Cross Roads Cemetery, Fontane-au-Bois, France.

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