My great grandfather on the posh side of the family was the skipper of a trawler, covered here:
https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/article/when-boat-doesnt-come-great-war
We will never know how she sank, I would like to think she struck a mine, rather than ‘human error.’
I was never aware that my great grandfather was a skipper, until my wife made the discovery via www.ancestry.com. And I have her to thank for the revelations on the other side of the family.
I already knew my father’s side of the family were certainly not as elevated as skipper position. But it is worse than that.
My father died young, so young that I had no way to ask him if he had a ‘walk on part in the war’ (to save you looking it up: Pink Floyd’s: ‘Wish You Were Here’) My mum only told me a few stories from the war. I will share with you the one that still cracks me up:
‘On hearing the air raid sirens, my mum with my eldest sister have made it into the air raid shelter, before they get in, they can see the tracers fired between the bombers and night fighters overhead. The Anderson shelter which sits in the neighbour’s back garden (two terraced houses sharing one shelter) They were joined soon after by Mrs Jackson, from the house, whose back garden the shelter was in. Mr Jackson turns up sometime later, and on finally getting in the shelter, his wife says to him “where the hell have you been?” To which he replies: “looking for my teeth.” Which prompted Mrs Jackson to produce this gem: “looking for your teeth! they are dropping bombs, not fucking pork pies”
Anyway, back to the Bedford ancestry trail. I always suspected there would be no VCs hidden away in sock drawers, based upon another one of my mum’s wartime stories: “your dad was demoted from corporal to private after punching a conscientious objector”! Blimey! did he do any actual damage to the enemy? I suspected not, as he was in the Pioneer Corps. But as a schoolboy I did find a set of knuckle dusters hidden up in a drawer!
From my own Ancestry research, I thought the furthest he had ventured in his army career was to Bournemouth. But I now think he made it to Europe, as my wife has found the entries from his soldier’s record. And I guess that ‘Embarked for NWE’ in Aug 44. Meant North-West Europe.
https://www.researchingww2.co.uk/ww2-abbreviations-acronyms/
NWE is not in there, but NWEF is abbr. for North Western Expeditionary Force
NWE is the location where he was “deprived 28 days pay by OC and forfeited one days pay by RW for going AWOL for 8 hrs, close arrest” There is a pattern here, he was deprived two days ordinary pay by OC and forfeited one days pay by RW for going absent for 24 hrs in 1942. Mum never told me these stories; I assume she would have found out from the lack of income!
I need help here from our military experts: OC is abbr. for Officer Commanding/Commander and RW for Royal Warrant. But I am really confused by the similar statements, here they are:
There is mention of his demotion from Lance Corporal (not even fully fledged Corporal!) to ‘Gunner,’ (his initial Regiment on conscription, was the AA artillery) but it states at ‘own request’ Whether he did punch a conscientious objector is anyone’s guess. I suspect he made the story up to prevent him getting grief from my mum for him voluntarily dropping the additional income. But my mum said he used to take on the boxers in the travelling fairs, so he liked using his fists. Perhaps his OC gave him an option.
At this point, I am not experiencing a lot of family pride. There is even less, when we go further back in time to my dad’s dad’s service record. To make research even more complicated: they both shared the same first, middle and obviously surnames.
Oscar William Snr was ‘attested’ in 1903. Within 6 months he had already served 14 days imprisonment. There is not much else to report until 1909, when he was granted ‘Sea Leave’ what a strange term!
On the 5th of Aug 1914 he was mobilised, and the following day was posted to France. Before that same month was out, he was reported missing.
OW Bedford was reported missing on the 30th of Aug. Two days before the New Year, he was confirmed to be a POW. Now as a hopeful grandson, I would like to think his OC reported: “Private Bedford fought bravely but was overcome by overwhelming odds from a determined enemy” I suspect OW concluded: “fuck this for a game of soldiers” and waved the white flag.
Why I am inclined to think the above? Here is an extract from his Army Record: “Indifferent, inclined to be insubordinate and routinely absent.”
He was held in Sennelegar camp in Germany. Where he remained for the entirety of the war, or so, I would had thought, but he ended up returning in January 1918 to the UK, before the end of the war. I can only conclude he annoyed the Germans so much, that they wanted rid of him.
In captivity. I suspect he likely would have met some of his fellow Grimbarians, as some of the trawler crews that had their boats sank by the German Navy, were taken onboard those German craft, and were interned in the same camp.
More on the taking of prisoners from these trawler crews, will be in a future article.
Both father and son spent their post war years doing various menial jobs and both died natural deaths whilst at work. In death as in life, OW Bedford Snr exceeded his son. He died when employed as a cleaner at Grimsby Telephone Exchange, during a New Years Eve night shift.
I am very proud of him