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Good Morning Everyone......

I would like at this time to give a Public Bravo Zulu and Thank You to David (Smrthwick)..... He has solved a mystery that I honestly did not think would ever be solved and I would like to say thanks..... With the first piece of information that he obtained for me I said that when I am in the UK this summer, I owed him a Pint of Ale...... Now all I can say is I owe him a Barrel, (now would that be Ale or maybe Maple Syrup).....

Again David Thanks you have given me lots of plesant work ahead......

Mike

Hi Mike,

Afraid accepting a barrel of beer would have my Great-Grandfather turning in his grave:



and a barrel of maple syrup would bring another lecture from the diabetic nurse who tells me I am pre-diabetic but many thanks for the kind words.

Returning to the 2nd Worcesters despite my Great-Grandfather still stirring in his grave, he was a Primitive Methodist Minister and the “Prims” were vociferously opposed to the Boer War. Amongst those reported wounded on 12th February 1900 was 2911 Lance-Corporal T Jeffs. His service papers have survived and show he was a Reservist. He first joined the Worcestershire Regiment in May 1891 and went to India with the 1st Battalion. In August 1892 he was promoted to Lance-Corporal and in August 1895 to Corporal. Two years later he blotted his copybook - in October 1897 he was awaiting trial for an unspecified offence. As a result he was reduced to Private and lost a GC badge & pay rise but did not suffer imprisonment and almost immediately his GC badge & pay were restored. He arrived back home during November 1896 and a year later he was discharged to the Army Reserve having completed the seven years of active service he signed up for in 1891.

He was recalled to the colours on 4th December 1899 and posted to the 2nd Battalion on 12th December 1899 and five days later he was on his way to South Africa. So unlike most of his comrades in arms in South Africa he never saw service in Malta and/or Bermuda but he was by no means the only one who had seen previous service in the 1st Battalion & India.

His attestation papers claimed he was born in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham but the details given for his next of kin, his father George living at Vine Cottage, Old Station Road, Bromsgrove show why he enlisted in the Worcesters, The address also proved useful in finding him on the census records because that is where the family were living at the time of the 1891 Census. This showed his mother was called Louisa (further investigation showed she started out life as Louisa Webster), 16 year old Thomas was the eldest of 3 children and employed as a “mechanic” but his father was a baker. It also showed that Thomas was not christened as plain Thomas. In fact he was baptised on 6th July 1879 when he was five years old as Thomas George Webster Jeffs in Duddeston Parish Church (at this stage I was surprised to learn that Duddeston was and still is an area of central Birmingham although it sounds more like a rural village). The baptism record also gives his exact date of birth as 4th July 1874. This in turn tells us that when he attested on 22nd May 1891 he added two whole years on to his age which he gave as 18 years and 10 months. He was 5 ft 6½ inches tall, weighed 131 lbs (9 st 5 lbs) with an unexpanded chest measurement of 33 inches. Thus, it seems he met the physical requirements to be a soldier but even so “Special” was written in the “Distinctive marks….” box. I believe this meant somebody who did not quite meet the requirements but as they developed would be expected to do so in a short time – perhaps this was included because he could only expand his chest by 1½ inches or perhaps there was some concern about his true age as the medic assessed him as being physically equivalent to 18 years rather than 18 years and 10 months.

Unfortunately his service records do not tell us the nature of the injuries he suffered on 12th February 1900 but they do tell us he was back home just over 2 months later on 19th April 1900. He was discharged on 21st July 1900 as being “medically unfit for further service”.

However, Tommy, as he was known by family & friends, was not unfit for marriage and on 14th October 1900 he walked Miss Alice Taylor down the aisle at St Paul’s Church in Coventry.


St Paul’s was destroyed in the Coventry blitz of 14th November 1940 but was rebuilt after the war in a more modern style.

Alice was a native of Gloucestershire but her family had moved to Coventry some time before the wedding. Tommy’s occupation was given as “Gas Operator” and his address as 4 Gas Street, Coventry. Alice was 4 years younger than Tommy and at the time of their marriage worked in the “watch trade”.

As a married couple they can be found on the 1901 & 1911 Censuses living in Coventry. I think their initial married life was difficult – in 1901 they were living in a back to back but by 1911 had moved to a basic Edwardian terrace house. Also the 1911 census showed Alice had had 4 children but only one was still alive, 3 year old Phyllis.

Come the Great War Tommy volunteered his services in July 1915 by when he was the father of two daughters. All that has survived of his Great War paperwork are two pages entitled “Casualty Form – Active Service”. However, they show he enlisted in the 7th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (RWR), as Private 20013, on 13th July 1915. On 29th April 1916 he was transferred to the Royal Defence Corps (RDC) which had been formed about a month earlier, meanwhile the 7th RWR were posted to France the following month. Whilst in the RDC his regimental number was 13567 and he was promoted to Lance-Corporal on 16th August 1916. His time was spent in southern England and for a time he was based at Bishop’s Lydeard in Somerset. He was demobilised on 19th February 1919. Nowhere does the Casualty Form refer to him being a casualty, except both pages are stamped “DECEASED” as are the pages, with an identical stamp, associated with his Boer War service.

The 1921 Census found Tommy back home at the Edwardian terrace, 35 Booth Fields, and working as a Radial Arm Driller at the Coventry Corporation Gas Works situated at Foleshill, a suburb in north Coventry, and a hive of industry at the time with Courtauld’s major factory (boasting the tallest chimney in the world), factories making Jaguar & Riley motor cars and a Government Ordnance Factory all being found there.

The 1939 Register shows that 31 year old Phyllis and 25 year old Ivy had, not unsurprisingly, left home and only Tommy (now a retired Radial Arm Driller) & Alice were living at 35 Booth Fields. They survived the 14th November 1900 Coventry Blitz despite living midway between St Paul’s and Foleshill, which along with the city centre was a target for the enemy bombers.

Alice passed away on 10th August 1941 aged 64. On 4th November 1942 widowed Tommy went to visit either Phyllis or Ivy who lived near 35 Booth Fields and the following report appeared in a Coventry newspaper ten days later:



So I would imagine that makes Tommy Jeffs unique amongst those members of the 2nd Worcesters who served in the ABW in that he survived the Great War but it was WW2 that in effect saw him off.

The following also appeared in the Coventry newspapers of 14th November 1942:




The Heath Hotel closed down in 1996:



But the Wheatsheaf and Parkstone Working Man’s Club, shown below, still appear to be functioning and selling beer and Tommy obviously enjoyed his pint. Best regards, David.