Frederick Bertram Bagshaw (1878 - 1966) - British-born Canadian writer, lawyer, politician and soldier

With thanks to Paul Breeze for this post

Merseyside-born Canadian lawyer, writer, politician and soldier Frederick Bertram Bagshaw was born on 15th August 1878 in Southport, Lancashire (Merseyside) to parents John and Mary Elizabeth Bagshaw, and was christened at Holy Trinity Church, Southport on 16th November 1878.

We don’t know what happened to his family but Frederick spent all of his childhood living at the children’s home at Edgeworth near Bolton and is listed on Census records as living there in 1881 (aged 2) and 1891 (aged 12). He appears to have crossed the Atlantic several times, probably due to his contacts at the Edgeworth Home, where the emphasis was on teaching the children useful skills and trades, then helping them find jobs and new lives in the developing countries of the British Empire.

In 1901, Frederick was living as a boarder in the house of Francis J. Bell in Macdonald, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba (Manitoba Census 1901) and from there somehow ended up in Regina, Saskatchewan as a barrister with the firm Anderson, Bagshaw, McNiven & Fraser, Barristers and Solicitors, located in the McCallum-Hill Building, Regina - as listed in the 1914 edition of “Who’s Who in Canada” (International Press Limited, 1914).

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=CAN/CENSUS/1901/00278575

Frederick was already a member of the 16th Light Horse Militia Regiment before the war.  When war broke out, the 16th Light Horse travelled to Camp Valcartier in Quebec, where Frederick was posted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force on 18th September 1914, now a member of the “Fighting Fifth” Battalion.   At the time of his enlistment, he gave his next of kin as Nellie Smith, Aunt, of Littlebourne Road, Southport, England.  Frederick served in France and Belgium and was wounded twice.

In 1915, he collaborated with two other Canadian soldiers and put together a publication called “A Christmas Garland From the Front – Fifth Battalion, First Canadian BEF, France and Belgium” published by G. Pulman & Sons, London.  This was a 96-page book of stories, poems and cartoons – initially published anonymously  - by members of the 5th Battalion that was sent home to family and friends as a type of Christmas and New Year’s greeting

Frederick wrote articles about the actions of the battalion over the course of the year and also included many of his own photos of people and places.

Another Regina man – William Maunsell Scanlan, who had been City Editor of the Regina Morning Leader newspaper before the war - contributed poems and Robert McGavin Eassie from Ontario produced jokes and parodies of well-known rhymes.

In 1917, Frederick was one of three men voted by the Saskatchewan soldiers serving in Belgium to represent them in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly for a four-year term and he was allowed breaks from the Front to take up his seat.

After the war, Frederick became a prominent public figure in Saskatchewan.  From 1941 to 1945, he was enforcement counsel for the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. 

Frederick also worked with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Great War Veterans' Association. He was named to the Regina Library Board in 1941 and served for 21 years. He was a Police Magistrate from 1952 until 1958, when he retired.   Frederick was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and Bagshaw Place in Regina and a lake in northern Saskatchewan were named in his honour. Frederick Bertram Bagshaw died on 19th June 1966.

With thanks to Will Chabun for his help with this biography.  Long-time Regina journalist Will Chabun is a member of the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan War Memorial.

Researched and written by Paul Breeze.

Gilbert Rogers (1881 – 1956) – British Artist

With thanks to Sally Enzer for use of her research material from 'Gilbert Rogers - A Life'.

Gilbert Rogers was born on 9th November 1881 in Freshfield, Lancashire, then a small
village some fourteen miles north of Liverpool. His father, William Rogers, was a watch
and clockmaker, whose family had migrated to Liverpool from North Wales in the 1840s.
Gilbert’s schooling began at the Liverpool Institute, a short distant from the family
home at 14 Falkner Street. Displaying early artistic talent he went on to study art at the
Liverpool City School of Art where he later became a tutor as well as working as a
professional portrait painter. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1909, 1910, 1912
and 1914.

He enlisted into the ranks of the Royal Army Medical Corps on 9th November 1915 (Army
No. 78529) for Home Service and was sent to Eastbourne for his military and medical
training. He eventually became an instructor at the RAMC officer training school at
Blackpool.

In 1918 he was called upon to manage a small group of RAMC soldier-artists who had
been commissioned by the Committee for the Medical History of the War to record the
war work of the military and civilian medical services (including the British Red Cross
Society & Order of St John of Jerusalem & the Voluntary Aid Detachment) both at home
and abroad. Rogers travelled to the Western Front in July 1918. The artists worked from
the Avenue Studios, located off Fulham Road in London, and were provided with art
materials, props and staff to assist them. In total they produced some six hundred pieces
of work which included paintings, models and bronzes. He was commissioned as a
Temporary Lieutenant for this role and received the Military MBE in the Peace Gazette of
June 1919. These artworks formed the Medical Section of the Great War Exhibition
which opened on the 9th June 1920 at the newly-established Imperial War Museum at
Crystal Palace, Sydenham Hill. The art works were later distributed to various military
establishments and can now be found at both the Imperial War Museum and the
Wellcome Collection in London.

After demobilisation in April 1920 Gilbert Rogers returned to Liverpool and became a
director of his younger brother’s furniture manufacturing and upholstery company, Guy
Rogers, Ltd. It was a popular local employer and the brothers were a respected and
successful partnership.

In 1922 Rogers became President of the Artists’ Club, a long-established gentlemen’s
business and social club, and maintained close links with the Liverpool artists community,
although there is no evidence that he continued his work as a portrait painter.

In 1924 he married Gertrude Jane Iceton in 1924, the former wife of his friend and art
school tutor, Arthur Baxter. The couple moved out of Liverpool and set up home on the
Wirral Peninsula, where Gilbert Rogers died on 20th May 1956 at their home in Oxton.

A number of Gilbert Rogers’ war-time oil paintings have been included in exhibitions
across the country to commemorate the centenary of the Great War, which has brought
renewed interest in this previously largely uncelebrated.

Sally Enzer <enzersally@gmail.com>

Book Review “Supplying the British Army in the First World War” Janet MacDonald (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2019)

This is a remarkable and extremely important book.  I have read many books about WW1 over the years but this is the first time I have come across so much detail about the supplies and logistics involved that were vital to the success of the British and Allied armies involved in the conflict.

It is hard for those of us brought up with the Internet, satellite communication, mobile phones, apps, television and radio programes, global travel with roll-on roll-off ferry boats, jumbo jets and so on, to imagine what life was like in Europe in 1914 when none of those facilities existed. “Supplying the British Army in the First World War” is a real eye-opener and will definitely set you on the right track to a greater understanding of the problems encountered during the conflict.

The book highlights the problems involved in getting all manner of supplies to the British and Allied armies in the various theatres of The First World War - and what a headache that caused!   Information is clearly set out in two sections – I. The Western Front and II Beyond the Western Front.

The first section has 12 chapters dealing with Money, Control and Contracts; Supply Depots; Horses; Animal Transport; Mechanised Transport; Railways, Inland Water Transport and Docks; Munitions; Engineering; Food and Drink; Uniforms and Other Supplies; Medicine and Other Supply Activities.

Janet MacDonald’s painstaking and extensive research is truly amazing and there is so much detailed information in the book that it is extremely difficult to pick out just a few snippets for a review.  For instance, I never realised that horses were sent to Gallipoli or that supplies were transported separately to the transport of troops. It is incredible just how much building work had to be undertaken in France in order to unload, store and get all manner of supplies to the front lines.

Another thing I never thought much about was how getting private letters and parcels to the fighting troops was organised: “In the first week of October 1914 1,616 bags of letters, 8,249 registered letters and 8,249 parcels were sent to the Western Front.  Four years later, in the first week of October 1918, those numbers were 44,648 bags of letters, 118,121 registered letters and 479,667 parcels.  By the first week of April 1919 there were still 30,816 bags of letters, 36,268 registered letters and 202,951 parcels.” (p. 116)

Section Two has chapters on supplying Gallipoli, Salonika, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, East Africa, Italy and Russia - the other theatres of conflict during The First World War.  There is a section containing photographs, a Glossary, an Appendix with information about Weights and Measures, a Bibliography and a comprehensive index.

I would suggest that anyone studying WW1, as well as anyone with an interest in the conflict, really needs to read this book because, otherwise, it is impossible to understand the problems encountered by those in the front line.   If Janet MacDonald has not received an award for this book, to my mind, that should be put right at once.

"Supplying the British Army in the First World War” Janet MacDonald (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2019). For further information please visit the Pen & Sword website https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/


Lucy London, August 2019

Erskine Childers, DSC (1870 – 1922) – British writer, soldier, RNAS/RAF

Best remembered for his novel “The Riddle of the Sands” (1903), Robert Erskine Childers was born on 25th June 1870 in Mayfair in London, UK.   His parents were Robert Caesar Childers, an Oriental scholar and civil servant, and his wife, Anna Mary Henrietta Childers, nee Barton, who was Irish from Wicklow.  Erskine’s cousin, Hugh Childers, was a member of the British government who advocated home rule for Ireland.

Educated at Haileybury College, Hertfordshire, which was founded to train boys for Colonial service in India, Erskine went on to study classics and law at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also played rubgy and rowed.    Erskine was slightly injured while hill walking and from then on he walked with a limp and this led to him taking up sailing.

When the Second Boer War broke out, Erskine joined the City of London Imperial Volunteers, an Artillery Regiment, which was funded by institutions of the City of London.  Erskine’s unit sailed for South Africa in February 1900.  That August, suffering from Trench Foot, he was sent to hospital in Pretoria, during which time he came into contact with some wounded infantry soldiers from Ireland and was impressed by their loyalty to Britain. 

During an exchange visit of the Honourable Artillery Company of London to the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company of Massachusetts in Boston in America, Erskine hired a motorbike to explore.  While there, he broke down and by chance met Mary Aiden Osgood, known as “Molly”, daughter of Dr. Hamilton Osgood, a Boston doctor.  Erskine and Molly were married on 5th January 1904 in Trinity Church, Boston.  On their return to London, the couple lived in Chelsea.

In July 1914, Erskine helped to smuggle guns from Germany to Irish Nationalists.

In August 1914, Erskine volunteered for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was granted a temporary commission as a Second Lieutenant.  He was posted to “HMS Engadine”, a seaplane carrier, and flew as a navigator and observer.   Erskine took part in a raid on Cuxhaven airship base on Christmas Day 1914 and was Mentioned in Despatches.

In 1915, he was posted to  “HMS Ben-my-Chree”, which was converted into a seaplane carrier, and served during the Gallipoli Campaign and in the Mediterranean.   For bravery during these Campaigns, Erskine was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Erskine returned to Britain in April 1916 and worked at the Admiralty, allocating seaplanes to ships.  He then began training for a new coastal motor boat squadron for service in the English Channel.   In July 1917, he was assigned to the Secretariat of Lloyd George’s Home Rule Convention, based in Dublin.

Appointed as Director of Publicity for the first Irish Parliament in 1919, Erskine wrote and published “Military Rule in Ireland” attacking the British government’s Irish policy.   He stood as a Sinn Fein candidate in the June 1922 general election in Ireland.   He was arrested in November 1922 and court martialled on a charge of posssessing a semi automatic pistol in violation of the Emergency Powers Resolution.  Erskine was tried, found guilty and executed by firing squad on 24th November 1922.  He was buried Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, Ireland.


Sources:  “In the Ranks of the C.I.V.” (Smith, Elder, London 1900) and various Internet sources.

Book Review: “The French Army in the Great War – Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives” by David Bilton, (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2019)

Whilst most of us are aware of the involvement of the French Army on the Western Front during the First World War, in the UK we tend to forget they were also deployed in other theatres of the conflict, such as the Balkans and Gallipoli.   In his latest book, David Bilton sets the record straight.

The book begins with a comprehensive explanation of the background to the French Army, leading up to the events of August 1914, with mention of the troops from French colonies, and a year by year account of the French Army’s WW1 involvement.  Although I had heard of the Zouave Regiments, I had not heard of the Spahis.

The main body of the book is given over to the most amazing photographs from official archives, beginning, on page 25 with photographs of reservists – every Frenchman was required to do military service, after which he was transferred to the Territorial Army, or Reservists. 

Each photograph is accompanied by a detailed explanation and there is much to learn.   The final photograph in the book, on page 221, is very poignant, captioned simply “the wooden cross”.

Although I had seen several of the photographs in this book, most of them were new to me and I found them fascinating – for instance on page 190 “Fort de la Macedoine” – an Allied fortress in the Balkans.

Another fascinating book from Pen & Sword publishers, Barnsley – I urge you to read it.

“The French Army in the Great War – Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives” by David Bilton, (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2019).  For further information, please see the Pen & Sword website https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/

Lucy London, June 2019

Erich Maria Remarque (1898 – 1970) – German writer

Author of "All Quiet on the Western Front"

Eric in uniform c. 1917

Erich was born Erich Paul Remark on 22nd June 1898 in Osnabràch, Germany. He was the only son of Peter Franz Remark, a bookbinder, and his wife, Anna Maria.  Erich began writing in his teens and attended the University of Münster, where he studied to become a teacher.

Called up to military service in the German Army during WW1, Erich was posted to the Western Front in June 1917 and was wounded in the leg, arm and neck by Shrapnel. He was hospitalised in Germany for the remainder of the war.

After the war, Erich worked for a time as a primary school teacher, as well as having a variety of other jobs, including being a librarian, journalist and editor. His first novel was published in 1920 and around that time he changed his name to Erich Maria Remarque.

In 1925, Erich married the actress/dancer Jutta Ilse Ingeborg Ellen Zambona, who was of Italian-Danish origin. In 1927, drawing on his war experiences, Erich wrote his most famous work “All Quiet on the Western Front”, a novel about the First World War, which was published in 1929 and later made into a film.

Jutta and Erich were divorced in 1930 but continued to live together. They fled to Switzerland in 1933 when Erich’s literature was condemned and burnt by the Nazis and re-married to prevent Jutta being sent back to Germany. In Erich’s absence his younger sister, Elfriede, was arrested, tried and executed by the Nazis.

Erich and Jutta went to live in America and became naturalised citizens in 1947. The couple were divorced again in 1957 and Erich married the American actress Paulette Goddard in 1958. They returned to live in Switzerland where Erich died on 25th September 1970. When Paulette died in 1990, she bequeathed US$ 20 million to New York University for the creation of an Institute for European Studies in memory of Erich. Erich was buried in Ronco Cemetery, Ronco, Ticino, Switzerland and Paulette was buried alongside him.

Source: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/erich-maria-
remarque-biography

https://catherine0999.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/erich-maria-remarque/

Prince Maurice, Victor, Donald of Battenberg (1891 – 1914) – British Royal Prince

Prince Maurice, Victor, Donald of Battenberg, called after his father Prince Henry Maurice of Battenberg and his great-grandfather, Count Maurice von Hauke, Victor after his grandmother, Queen Victoria, and Donald in honour of Scotland, was born at Balmoral Castle on 3rd October 1891. His mother was Princess Henry of Battenberg (née Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom), the fifth daughter, and youngest child, of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort.

Educated at Wellington College, where he was in Benson House, Prince Maurice served as a Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and was killed in action at Zonnebeke, in the Ypres Salient on 27 October 1914.

Prince Maurice was buried in the main city cemetery of Ypres in October 1914. His mother appealed for the right to repatriate his body, which she followed up with a concerted campaign to erect a headstone of her choice over his grave. These demands coming from such an influential person made Prince Maurice’s body, and the memory of him as a person, a test case for the authority of the newly-forged Imperial War Graves Commission. Determined to uphold the principles of non-repatriation and equality of treatment, the IWGC had to fight a delicate battle in which an individual’s body was subsumed into wider arguments about class, identity and the very meaning of the war itself.

(Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Photos:  Prince Maurice of Battenberg

King George V visits Prince Maurice's grave in Ypres Town Cemetery which is situated at Zonnebeekseweg 14, 8900 Ieper (Ypres), Belgium

1. Grave of Prince Maurice – Photo by Mark Bristow

2. Grave of Prince Maurice – Photo by Eddy Lin