Private Alwyn Battison

Whereas most of the soldiers we find on the war memorial have some degree of connection with Great Torrington, Alwyn Battison’s contact eventually comes almost by chance. Alwyn was actually born in Northamptonshire in 1885. His birth record originally shows his name as “Alwyne”, although we’ll see this change as his life draws on. Indeed, the 1891 census has his name listed as “Albion” living at Compton Street, Northampton. Also listed are his father, Charles Battison, a general labourer, and mother, Fanny. Also included in the family are three brothers, Albert C, born in 1875, William H, 1884, Charles J, 1887, and a sister, Edith M, 1878. Whilst the three youngest children, including Albion (Alywn) are of school age, Albert’s occupation is recorded as a “clicker” and Edith’s as a “knot tier”. These job titles will become clear shortly. Finally, the entire family share Northamptonshire as a place of birth.

By 1901, little had changed for the family. They were still living at 23 Compton Street and, apart from Edith, the family are all still resident; sadly, Edith passed away at the age of 17. With all children now left school all four were now active in the shoe industry. The shoe making industry was akin to Northampton that the glove trade was to Great Torrington and had been so since the Civil War. Albert continued his duties as a “clicker”, Harry as a “brewer”, whilst Alywn (now named accordingly) and Charles worked as an “errand” in the shoe trade. Alwyn’s father had moved on to be a “platelayer”, or better known as a track maintenance worker, for the North & West Railway.

By the next decade Alwyn is now 24 and to Little Irchester, Northamptonshire as a boarder with an older couple, William and Ann Minor, both with established Northamptonshire roots. Miriam Starmer is also resident and acting as a domestic servant. By this time his father has remarried and as well as two of his own children also has a stepchild living with them. Alwyn’s profession has progressed to “leather dresser”.

Exact details of his enlistment are not clear and not readily available. We know from his Medal Card Index (albeit he’s listed as “Batterson”) and later newspaper cuttings that he fought with the Suffolk Regiment. We also know from this card that he had two service numbers, which suggests he moved Battalions. These service numbers were 6037 and 41073. The explanation of serving with two separate battalions within the Suffolk Regiment appears to be corroborated in two separate Western Times articles, which we’ll see in more detail later, that notes Alwyn serving in both the 2nd and 6th battalions.

It is not until 1918 when records show details of Alwyn again. The Western Times [1] reports “A Torrington War Wedding” along with a photo of the ‘happy’ couple; it wasn’t customary at that time to smile in photos so even times of celebrations appeared somewhat bleak. The accompanying story details of the wedding of Private Alwyn “Batterson” of the 2nd Suffolks and Beatrice Fanny Loosemore, second daughter of Mr & Mrs Loosemore of Torrington. Quite how a soldier born in Northampton and serving with the Suffolks came to marry is somewhat of a mystery. However, a further Western Times article from October 1918 may help us solve this. It reads:

“…..Private Alwyn Battison, Suffolk Regiment, late of the V.A.D. Sydney Hospital, Torrington….” [2]

Bearing in mind that this is the only recorded connection between Alwyn and Great Torrington I could uncover through the research process, it is likely that the couple met during his stay in Great Torrington at this facility. This rationale is also based on the high community involvement that the hospital received so it was highly likely that the local population would regularly encounter those being treated.

Sydney House, Great Torrington

Sydney House has an interesting history as well as playing an important role in World War 1. The building, located in Whites Lane , was originally known as ‘Enderley’. It was built by a local gloving businessman, William Vaughan. The floorplan was virtually equivilant to a country mansion, albeit in the surroundings of a town. It was described as:

“…. an enormous mansion with turrets and pinnacles, two enormous drawing rooms, a hall the size of a ballroom, a billiard room, music room, smoking room, dining room and spacious servants’ quarters. There were eight large bedrooms on the first floor and four on the second. Outside were a gardener’s cottage, stables, a coach house, harness room, cow stalls and pigsties, two large conservatories and a gazebo.” [3]

William Vaughan passed away in 1903, which left the property empty for some years without a buyer being found. Although it didn’t apparently make an attractive purchase as a residence, with the outbreak of war it would make an excellent makeshift hospital for wounded soldiers. In 1917 Enderley became a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospital for 65 soldiers, which would eventually rise to 100 bed spaces. VADs were born out of a War Office scheme in 1909 where the Red Cross were given the role of supporting the Territorial Forces. Such hospitals were commonplace across the country as well as the South West, with Instow, Northam, Barnstaple, Ilfracombe and Okehampton being amongst the other local towns who also had such facilities. Allowing the hospital to function was a real community effort:

“All the necessary furniture and equipment had been donated, volunteers cared for gardens, cars were made freely available by local residents, and local produce and extra funds were regularly forthcoming.” [4]

The first convoy of sick and wound arrived at the Enderley VAD in April 1917 [5]. Gifts were donated immediately from the community including essentials such as eggs, butter, apples and potatoes. The stash also included some non ‘essentials’ like cigarettes. Lord Clinton even pitched in my offering three brace of hares. Entertainment was laid on for the troops. Indeed, the Western Times reported a concert laid on for the wounded soldiers, which saw the organiser, Mr Bond receive a hearty vote of thanks [6].

But of particular interest is a North Devon Journal article reporting on a cricket match between Torrington and Northam VAD hospitals, which took place in the Vicarage Field. The match, watched by any crowd of spectators, saw a veritable thrashing by Torrington, who scored 66 runs, which saw a meagre 10 runs in reply. Torrington’s tail end batsman was a certain Private Batterson (sic), not out for 0 runs [7]. It is worth noting that future records refer to him as "Batterson" rather than "Battison".

Poor record keeping requires us to use a degree of supposition, which isn't terribly faithful to factual writing. We know that he was serving with the 2nd Suffolk Regiment at the time of his death, according to records. As with many regiments, through the course of the conflict they would transfer amonst Brigades and Divisions. Although they were aligned to 76th Brigade for a time, in October 1915 the brigade was exchanged for the 7th Brigade and joined the 3rd Division. At the time of Alwyn's death, the 3rd Division were in active offensive operations at the Battle of the Canal du Nord that took place between 27 September to 1 October 1918. This was part of the latter Somme offensive. Both newspaper reports [8] and official records note he was killed in action on October 1st 1918, just six weeks before the Armistice. Newspaper records also highlight that he had been wounded in action on three previous occassions [9]. Alwyn's grave can be found at the Masnieres British Cemetery, Marcoing, which is between the towns of Cambrai and Masnieres. As well as the Great Torrington war memorial, I have also recently been advised that Alywn's name also appears on the Little Irchester war memorial in Northamptonshire.

As a final note, from the point of view of his descendants, bearing in mind the couple had only been married a matter of months before Alwyn was killed and that he had returned to service shortly after, they may wish to consider themselves somewhat lucky that their daughter, Edith, was born in this short timeframe together.

[1] Western Times. October 4th 1918. ‘A Torrington War Wedding’.

[2] Western Times. October 18th 1918. ‘News of the West’.

[3] Great Torrington & District Through Time. 2014. Julia & Anthony Barnes, Susan Scrutton & Torrington Museum.

[4] Great Torrington & District Through Time. 2014. Julia & Anthony Barnes, Susan Scrutton & Torrington Museum.

[5] The Western Times. April 24th 1917. ‘News of the West’.

[6] The Western Times. November 23rd 1917. ‘News of the West’.

[7] North Devon Journal. September 27th 1917. ‘Cricket Match at Torrington’.

[8] North Devon Journal. October 17th 1918. 'Births, Marriages and Deaths'.

[9] Western Times. October 18th 1918. 'News of the West'.