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The Military Farndales
Exploring the Farndales who served in the armed forces
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Introduction
Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines of the history of the
Middleham are in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Contextual history is in purple.
Those members of our family who gave their lives in service for
their country
The Royal Navy in 1741
Able
Seaman Giles Farndale (FAR00137) was a
press ganged sailor in the Caribbean, who served on HMS Experiment, and
was buried: At Sea, at Port
Royal, West Indies on 9 May 1741.
The First World War
3758 & 201065 Private Richard
Farndale (FAR00681)
died in France either from wounds, enemy shelling or sickness, on Monday 26th
February 1917 aged 19 while serving with 150th Infantry Brigade of the 50th
Northumbrian Division. He was buried at La Neuville Communal Cemetery, Corbie,
Somme. His name is on a War Memorial at Coatham.
15/319
Private (later Lance Corporal) George Farndale
(FAR00617)
was killed in Action at the Battle of Arras, on Thursday 3rd May 1917.
333852
Private George Farndale (FAR00646) was
killed in Action at the Battle of Arras on the 27th
May 1917.
Name
Rank No Unit Year Vol Page
Index to War Deaths 1914-1921 – Army
(Other Ranks)
William Farndale (FAR00647) was
wounded in action at Vimy Ridge
on 13 December 1916 while serving with the 28th Battalion. He had a gunshot
wound in the right forearm and was in hospital in Epsom, England. He was
discharged from the Army at Calgary on 18 February 1918. He was awarded the
British War Medal and the Victory Medal. After his return to Regina, despite
his weakness from his wounds, he used his car to evacuate the sick during the
great ‘flu epidemic of 1918. He caught the ‘flu while still weak from his wound
and died at Earl Grey, Saskatchewan, Canada, aged 25 years on 23 November 1918.
The Second World War
4460826 Private James Farndale (FAR00833) aged
24 of the West Yorkshire Regiment died of wounds on 16th March 1941 in Keren
Eritrea. His memorial is 3.A.3 at Keren War Cemetery in Eritrea.
1824896 Sergeant Bernard Farndale
(FAR00783)
115th Squadron RAF, was killed in action over Denmark on 30 August
1944 during a bombing raid.
521789 Corporal Henry Stewart Farndale (FAR00832) died
on 11 May 1945 aged 28. He was a pilot under training whose aircraft crashed.
His memorial is at section V Grave 265, Leeds (Lawns Wood) Cemetery.
For the Fallen
Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon
(1869-1943)
|
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for
her children, Solemn the drums thrill: Death august
and royal |
There is music in
the midst of desolation They went with songs to the battle,
they were young, |
They shall grow not old, as we that
are left grow old: They mingle not with their laughing
comrades again; |
But where our desires are and our
hopes profound, As the stars that shall be bright when
we are dust, |
The memorial at Great Ayton |
“I see the lives for which I lay down my life,
peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no
more. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a
far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”.
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Medieval Farndale Soldiers
Given the multiplicity of spellings of
surnames in medieval times, a
table has been compiled to explore possible medieval soldiers who may have
been part of the family.
It seems likely that John Farendon was John de Farendale (FAR00035A)
of the York Line, who probably
served as an archer with expeditionary forces to Scotland in 1383 to 1389,
later joined by his probable brothers Henry Farendon
(FAR00035B)
and William Faryndon (FAR00035C).
Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044)
may have served in the Hundred Years War in Brittany in 1380; an expeditionary
force to Scotland in 1400; and may have served with Henry V in the Agincourt
campaign or afterwards, with records in 1417 and 1421 possibly placing him at
Harfleur and the Siege of Mantes. When he died he left
an impressive catalogue of military equipment including a horse, saddle and
reins, and armour, comprising a bascinet (medieval combat helmet), a breast
plate, a pair of vembraces (armoured forearm guards)
and a pair of rerebraces (armour designed to protect
the upper arms) with leg harness.
Naval service in the Caribbean
1740
Able
Seaman Giles Farndale (FAR00137) served
with the Royal Navy from 29 June 1740 until he died at sea in the Caribbean on
9 May 1741. It seems very likely that he was press-ganged at Whitby, when he would have been 27 years old. The Muster
Book for HMS Experiment, a brig with a compliment of 130, shows
Giles Farndell as No 101 Able Seaman, impressed on 29 June 1740.
He is present at every muster until 9 May 1741 when he is marked ‘DD’
(“Discharged Dead”). No circumstances are recorded which probably means that he
died of sickness on 9 May 1741.
He
almost certainly took part in the
War of Jenkins’ Ear in the Spanish Main under Admiral Vernon and was
probably involved in the Battle
of Cartagena de Indias in March 1741.
The
‘Experiment’ was commissioned under Captain Hughes at Deptford between Mar and
Jun 1740. On 29 June 1740 the ‘Experiment’ was at The Nore where
Giles Farndell (or Farndale; he is listed under both names in
different Muster Books), came on complement. From there she sailed for
Port Royal, Jamaica where she arrived on 15 Sep 1740. From there until
June 1741 the ship was either in Port Royal, at sea, or in Cartagena (Adm 36/1081 & 1082).
Since Giles was not recorded as ‘from…another ship’ he probably had not served
on another.
HMS Experiment taking the Telemaque, 8
July 1757
The Crimean War
Private John George Farndale (FAR00337) saw
service between 1853 and 1856 possibly first with the Coldstream Guards and
then with the 28th of Foot.
He served in the Crimean War in 1854 and 1855. There is a
full record of his service on his webpage.
His letters home included the following records:
We then started for Sebastopol, and
reached it after eight or nine days’ march; we had to go a great way round. As
soon as we got in front and settled, we commenced throwing up batteries and
breast works, under fire of the enemy. We finished them after about five days
and nights’ hard working, and opened fire on them on
the 17th of last month, and have been battering away ever since, and are likely
to continue doing so for some time to come. We have greater opposition than we
expected. There was a faint attack made on our rear army a few days ago, which
cut up our cavalry fearfully, but were defeated in the end. Our loss is not so
great, considering all the circumstances of the case. I have escaped as yet, thank God! I have had a narrow escape: one morning,
as we were relieving guard, two privates and a sergeant were shot close by me
with one ball.
I have been laid up in my tent with frost bitten feet nearly
all this month, but I am better again and fit for duty.
The siege is progressing very slowly
but I think we will soon open a new siege. Things begin to look a little
better. We have received the winter clothing and are getting provisions a
little better. We want the wooden houses next, although I think as we have done
so long without, we could manage without them altogether. However I hope that
before you get this, Sebastopol will be ours and then we will be thinking about
returning to old England again.
If I live to see it over and get back to old England again,
which by the blessing of God I hope to do, I will tell you tales that will make
your hair stand on end!
The Period of the Franco Prussian War and the British Expedition to
Abyssinia
There was a John Farndale, who was discharged from
the Grenadier Guards on 25 July 1872. He received £10 compensation. He served
for 3 years and 323 days (Chelsea Pensioners
Discharge Documents). This was most likely to have been John Farndale of
Clerkenwell London (FAR00379).
The Boer War
N Farndale, served during the Second Boer War 1899
to 1902, Regimental Number 4505, Second Battalion The
Buffs East Kent.
The Second Battalion, the Buffs. Roll of
Individuals entitled to the South Africa Medal and Clasp under Army Order
Granting the medal, issued 1st April 1901. … 4805, Pte, Farndale N.
The Mid
Sussex Times, 22 August 1899: The local team’s opponents on Thursday
were the Buffs, who, batting first, knocked up 151 … The Buffs … Private
Farndale, caught Allen, bowled G A Hammond, 6 runs.
The 2nd Battalion, 3rd
Battalion, 1st Volunteer (Militia) Battalion and 2nd Volunteer (Weald of Kent)
Battalion all saw action during the Second Boer War with Captain Naunton Henry
Vertue of the 2nd Battalion serving as brigade major to the 11th Infantry
Brigade under Major General Edward Woodgate at the Battle of Spion Kop where he was mortally wounded in January 1900.
The phrase ‘Steady the
Buffs!’ was popularised by Rudyard Kipling in his 1888 novel ‘Soldiers
Three’. The origins of this phrase come
from Adjutant John Cotter during garrison duties in Malta, who encouraged the
men of the 2nd Battalion with ‘Steady the Buffs! The Fusiliers are watching
you’ as he did not want to be shown up in front of his former Regiment The 21st
Royal Fusiliers.
Following the end of the
war in South Africa in June 1902, 540 officers and men of the 2nd battalion
returned to the United Kingdom on the SS St. Andrew leaving Cape Town in early
October, and the battalion was subsequently stationed at Dover.
Sergeant William Leng Farndale (FAR00539)
was a Sergeant in the Northumberland Hussars in 1902. They had served in the
Second Boer War, so he may have served there.
There was an F A
Farndale-Williams who was a second lieutenant with the Moulmein Volunteer
Rifles on 30 March 1907 who appeared under Indian Army Orders (Homeward Mail from India, China and the East, 3 June 1907).
The First World War
If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Rudyard Kipling, after the death f his
son at the Battle of Loos
Wilfred Owen denounced Horace’s
patriotic maxim, “Dulce
et decorum est pro patria mori,” (“It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country”)
as “the old Lie”.
The Great War haunts the British memory.
750,000 lives (one in three of all British males aged 19 to 22 in 1914) were
lost and 9M soldiers in Europe died.
It was seen as a struggle for freedom,
HG Wells’ the War that would end all wars.
The causes
Tensions between France, Russia, Britain
and Germany had been increasing since the turn of the century.
Britain had been most concerned by
French rivalry in Africa and Russian rivalry in Persia.
Things grew complicated though when
Germany started to increase its navy from 1900. Lord Selbourne, first lord of
the Admiralty, saw this as a direct threat to Britain, though in reality it was
probably an attempt by Germany to force Britain out of any war by threat.
The ententes with France in 1904 and
Russia in 1907 were aimed at curbing German military build ups and in 1909
Britain had pledged to outbuild Germany in its navy, with Lloyd George’s
People’s Budget enabling it to build more Dreadnaughts.
From 1908 Germany, France and Russia all
started to build up gold reserves in case of war.
In 1908, the German general staff
developed the Schlieffen Plan in secret. Its strategy was to launch a
devastating attack through Belgium to defeat France within a month before
turning to Russia before it had time to mobilise. Speed and surprise were of
the essence. An attack on the Belgium city of Liege was scheduled for Day 3.
There was still the possibility of war
with France and Russia, but Germany continued to increase its battleship
programme from 1912. The British ambassador in Vienna predicted the coming
crisis with significant accuracy.
The Admiralty responded with a naval
treaty with France, so that France would focus on defending the Mediterranean
and Britain the North Sea.
Yet Germany and Britain remained the
biggest trading partners. Admiral von Tirpitz, head of the German navy sent his
daughters to Cheltenham Ladies College, and German naval officers bought their
dress uniforms in Saville Row. By 1913 relations with Germany were improving.
The Balkans had become the arena of
tension and a growing antagonism between Austria-Hungary and Russia. Slav
nationalism threatened multinational Austria-Hungary.
By 1914, German confidence was ebbing.
Helmut von Moltke felt the French and Russians would be too strong by 1917 and
it was now or never. If an ultimatum to Serbia could intimidate Russia and
France into backing down, all would be fine.
Britain still regarded Germany as
leading the way in the arts and sciences. It was more concerned about Ireland.
However it was worried about making an enemy of Russia if it failed them now
and a desperate French ambassador threatened that if Britain let France down,
it would watch the future ruin of the British empire.
The events that led to war
On 28 June 1914 the
open topped car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne, took a wrong turning in Sarajevo, Bosnia and reversed, allowing a
Bosnian Serb student, trained by the Serbians, to kill him with two bullets.
On 23 July 1914
Austria-Hungary delivered its ultimatum to Serbia to formally and publicly
condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary; to accept
an Austro-Hungarian inquiry into the assassination; and to take steps to root
out and eliminate terrorist organisations within its borders including the
Black Hand believed to have helped the assassin.
On 24 July 1914,
Asquith and Grey mentioned the Serbian crisis in the first discussion of
foreign affairs for a month. The Liberals and its Labour allies were
overwhelmingly opposed to war. Bankers and businessmen were aghast at the
thought. So Grey invited Germany, France and Italy to
a conference in London.
On 28 July 1914
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and bombarded Belgrade.
On 1 August 1914,
George V on foreign office advice urged Russia to stop its mobilisation in a
letter addressed to Dear Nicky, from Georgie.
On 2 August 1914
Asquith made a statement to the Commons asserting that to stay neutral would
sacrifice Britain’s reputation. This changed public opinion in favour of
intervention.
On 4 August 1914
Germany attacked Belgium. The British Empire declared war on Germany at
midnight.
Was there any alternative?
The Russians had assumed that Britain
would join the war, and war with Britain caused no significant hesitation in
Berlin.
There was certainly a misunderstanding
of the consequences of decisions in 1914, anticipating a likely duration of 3
to 8 months.
Germany would probably have been
victorious if not for British intervention. An optimistic view might have
foreseen German victory leading to an European Union
eight decades ahead of schedule. Germany did not have war aims when war broke
out. However Belgium would likely have become a vassal
state and German bases would directly have threatened Britain. Holland might
have become dependent and Germany would likely have
established a continuous central African colonial empire and the vast
territories of Russia would have been thrust back as far as possible, German
rulers were likely intending to establish authoritarian rule rather than
struggle for democracy, What German soldiers did in massacring over 6,000
civilians in France and Germany might give some indication of the threat.
War was not taken lightly in Britain.
The myths of a thrill for the fight was in reality
more marked by foreboding and alarm. The New York
Times reported that there was no flag waving; once war began
civilians rallied to send off their troops, which is often depicted in
photographs. A quick and easy victory was not really expected, the all over by Christmas phrase appearing
only in 1917.
The Start of the War
On 6 August 1914,
the British Expeditionary Force (“BEF”) comprising all UK based regular
troops supplemented by reservists, totalling 11,000 men of whom 75,000 were
combat troops, was sent to northern France using 1,800 special trains, 240
requisitioned ships and 165,000 horses, even with some London buses.
By then there were 1.7M German and 2.4M
French troops on the battlefield.
It was expected that 75% would be killed
or wounded, which was to prove an underestimate.
The BEF came in the path of 580,000
Germans advancing through Belgium.
On 23 August
1914, the BEF fought a defensive battle at Mons.
On 26 August
1914, they fought another defensive battle at Le
Cateau.
They inflicted heavy casualties on a
tightly packed German force.
In October 1914 the
first of four bloody battles was fought at Ypres.
These were the deadliest battles of the
war. By the end of 1914, the French had lost 528,000; the Germans 800,000 and
the BEF were generally wiped out, having lost 90,000. On the Eastern Front the
Russian steamroller had also been halted, by a smaller German force.
Mobilisation
Kitchener realised this was to be a long
haul. He appealed for volunteers. However time was now needed to train them, so
there could be no significant reinforcement from volunteers until late spring
1915. Britain would continue to rely on volunteers until 1916 as conscription
was unpopular, and there was no system in place for it.
By the end of 1915, 2,466,000 men had
volunteered, about a third of those eligible. Industrial workers including
miners and railwaymen formed more than half the army. Agricultural workers
joined in lesser numbers, partly as the land still had to be tilled, but partly
because they tended to be older due to the prewar rundown of agriculture. There
was a significant response from the upper and middle classes, from public
schools, the peerage, and bankers. Asquith lost a son as did the Irish
Nationalist leader John Redmond.
A volunteer force, whilst less efficient
at fast mobilisation, provided a force of high morale, motivated and
enthusiastic. There was a degree of choice allowing more time to adjust, and giving more control over the nature of service.
Their discipline was often founded on friendship. Pals Battalions drew on
neighbourhoods, churches and political identities. Scotland provided
particularly high numbers and the empire supplies millions more. There was
considerable moral pressure to join.
Class distinctions were maintained in
the ranks, but officers felt a gentlemanly duty to their subordinates and an
obligation of courage and leadership. By the end of the war, a third of
officers were from the lower middle and working classes, all expected to
emulate traditional standards.
Conscription started in 1916. By then it
had popular support, with growing hostility to ‘shirkers’.
The first units of Kitchener’s New Army
sailed in summer 1915, and by summer 1916, there were 30 divisions in the
field. They included men like Siegfried Sasson, Robert Graves, Rupert Brooke,
Wilfred Owen, Harold Macmillan and J R R Tolkien, who
found some of the inspiration for Lord of the Rings.
It took time to convert the experience
of colonial campaigns to the realities of industrial warfare.
In 1914, the BEF had only 24 heavy guns,
by 1918, it had 2,000. By 1916 fifty times the prewar annual output of TNT was
used each day.
Few generals believed in a quick
breakthrough, the exception being the commander in chief, General Sir Douglas
Haig.
Eastern theatres of
operation
A group emerged, the ‘Easterners’,
hoping to avoid the horrors of France, by opening an alternative front. The
biggest idea was pressed for by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winton
Churchill, to send a fleet to Constantinople and force the Turks to surrender.
On 18 March 1915,
an Anglo French fleet sailed into the Dardanelles and in the face of mines and
shore batteries, British, French Australian and New Zealand (“ANZAC”) troops
were forced to land on the Gallipoli
peninsula, where they were fought to a standstill. They were finally evacuated
in December 1915 and January 1916. Allied casualties were some 390,000. The
determination and ability of the Turks had been underestimated.
After Gallipoli the Turks forced the
whole British-Indian army in Mesopotamia to
surrender. A British and Indian army marched from Basra to Baghdad in 1915, but
was forced to surrender after the Siege
of Kut in 1916.
In 1916 support was given to an Arab
revolt against the Turks, involving the young Oxford archaeologist, T E
Lawrence, the only romantic hero of the war.
British, Indian and ANZAC troops
eventually took Jerusalem, Damascus and Baghdad in 1917.
The Balfour
Declaration
in November 1917 committed Britain to a National Home for the Jewish people
in Palestine. It seemed a clever plan, and would
please a Jewish population influential in America. In time this would lead to
an intractable and damaging problem.
The Western Front
The French, Russians, British and Serbians
agreed to simultaneous offensives in summer 1916. The biggest effort was a
Franco attack along the Somme.
The Germans struck first and aimed to
‘bleed the French army to death’ in the killing ground of Verdun.
The Easter Uprising in Ireland was in
April 1916.
On 4 June 1916 the
Russians launched a long and costly offensive and the Italians followed on 15
June 1916.
The British prepared for the attack at the Somme. General
Charteris worried that the casualty list would be long – Wars cannot be won
without casualties. I hope people at home realise this.
On 1 July 1916 the
British army began one of the bloodiest battles in its history. At 7.30am after
an artillery bombardment of 12,000 tons of shells, 55,000 British and French
soldiers advanced out of their trenches, with 100,0000 to follow. In places the
advance seemed to go well; Siegfried Sassoon noted that men were cheering as in
a football match. However the artillery bombardment
had failed to destroy the barbed wire and the attack soon became nightmarish,
with soldiers mown down. By the end of the first day, there were 19,240 dead
and 37,646 wounded, including 75% of the officers.
The Battle of the Somme continued over a
for an a half month campaign. More attacks between 3
and 13 July resulted in a further 25,000 casualties. But,
gradually, the British tactics improved.
The Germans soon felt the strain. The
Germans lost heavily and their army would never be the
same again. Strategically the French army was preserved after the Verdun
disaster. Total casualties were 420,000 British, 200,000 French and 465,000
German.
The Russian army and state fell apart in
1916 to 1917.
There were mass surrenders and
desertions in the Austrian army.
The British army was largely amateur and
there was some resistance to free discussion of ideas, and no system for
learning and applying lessons, but similar issues arose in other armies,
including the German high command. Some senior officers, including Haig, were
ill equipped for the challenge, but there were new younger generals and
brigadiers emerging.
The Allies agreed to another offensive
in 1917.
In March 1917,
the French army launched an offensive in Champagne in which they lost 130,000
casualties.
The Battle
of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive
on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9
April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the
French city of Arras on the Western Front. The British achieved the longest
advance since trench warfare had begun, surpassing the record set by the French
Sixth Army on 1 July 1916. The British advance slowed in the next few days and
the German defence recovered. The battle became a costly stalemate for both
sides and by the end of the battle, the British Third Army and the First Army
had suffered about 160,000 casualties and the German 6th Army about 125,000.
In July 1917 the
British began the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), with Haig convinced
that this was a critical moment in the war. Unseasonable August rain slowed
progress and soon the advancing force found itself bogged down and sinking,
with soldiers crawling for shell holes and sinking in the mud. The British lost
about 275,000 and the Germans 200,000.
In October 1917 the
Italian army collapsed at the Battle
of Caporetto.
The German army was starting to show
signs of disintegration.
The British army
Soldiers were not permanently in the
trenches. They generally spent about 15 months on the Western Front, with
perhaps a third of the time, in short periods, on the line. They relieved
stress with superstitions, religion, folklore, letters and sport. A black
humour developed and satirical newspapers like the Wipers Times. However trench warfare was a drudgery. The British army
remained remarkably cohesive. It kept the soldiers busy. On the dark side, the
British executed more of its own men, about 400, 75% for desertion, than the
Germans. However the junior officers supported by
chaplains generally instilled loyalty and strong motivation. There was
reasonable food, regular leave and rest, and means to let off steam. There was
also a general acceptance of the rightness of the cause.
War at Sea
The War at sea saw early action when the
Australian ship HMAS
Sydney was sunk by a German cruiser and a German squadron was destroyed
near the Falklands.
German cruisers attacked British
shipping from the start of the war. Most were caught and sunk.
Britain used its commercial and naval
power.
There were two opposing fleets in the
North Sea – the German High Seas Fleet and the British Grand Fleet at Scapa
Flow and Rosyth, with 28 dreadnaughts and 9 battlecruisers.
The Germans had some success with
bombardments on Scarborough and Hartlepool. But German naval commanders were no match
for the British fleet, at best ambushing smaller units.
On 31 May 1916 a German fleet stumbled
across the whole British fleet commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The Battle of
Jutland involved 250 ships and was the biggest concentrated naval battle in
history. It only lasted about 2 hours. The German fleet escaped and inflicted
higher casualties on the British fleet, sinking 3 battlecruisers. However in
practice the differences were small, and whilst proving the vulnerability of
British battlecruisers, from a strategic perspective, the battered German fleet
fled back to port and never risked action again,. An
American newspaper explained that the German fleet had attacked its gaoler, but remained in gaol.
Between August 1914 and October 1916,
trade with the US quadrupled. Britain subsidised its allies, advancing them
£1.6B, mainly to Russia and France, most of which was never repaid.
However Britain’s blockade of Germany was not
decisive and as it continued to trade with states like Holland and Scandinavia,
it could not significantly degrade German commerce without impacting on its own
financial institutions.
An Order of Council on 7 July 1916
procured the buying of neutral goods to deprive Germany. Meat consumption in
Germany fell and its economy came under increasing pressure, sinking by 30%,
with a spread of disease in the population.
The Germans retaliated with its U boat
campaign and to work it required to torpedo shipping without warning, which was
seen internationally as a war crime. After the Lustitania sank in Mau 1915,
American anger caused a temporary suspension of the attacks, but by January
1917, when US involvement became inevitably, the attacks resumed. By early
1917, the Admiralty and government were alarmed as the scale of large scale
sinkings.
One of the motives for Passchendaele was
to seize submarine bases on Belgium.
US entry into the war
After uncovering a German plot that
Mexico would attack to recover Texas and Arizona if the US entered the war, USA
declared war in April 1917, with a series of peace initiatives at first.
The last German offensive
In March 1918 war in the east ended with
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, when the Bolsheviks sought peace.
German troops now concentrated on the
western front and aimed at a decisive victory before US troops could swing the
balance. Field Marshall von Hindenburg and the Kaiser planned the offensive.
The main blow would be against the BEF at a chosen weak point where the British
and French armies met.
The German
attack, Operation Michael, started on 21 March 1918.
After a barrage of 3M shells, 59 German divisions led by storm troopers with
flame throwers and machine guns, cloaked by fog, attacked 26 British divisions.
The British were outnumbered 8 to 1. Gaps opened in the British lines and
between 23 to 26 March 1918, the British were
forced to retreat. The Germans advanced about 40 mile4s on a front of 50 miles
and the German fleet was ordered to disrupt a likely British evacuation from
Dunkirk.
By 28 March 1918,
the British reinforced by the French, started to stop the German advance. In
the face of air attacks from the British and devasted ground, the Germans grew
exhausted. Having committed 90 divisions to the attack, they lost 240,000. They
had not taken their key objective, the key railway hub at Amiens. By April 1918, they were bogged down and stuck.
Another German offensive further north
also became bogged down.
Still, at this stage, the German idea of
an acceptable peace was unrealistic.
The Germans shifted their attacks to the
French lines and began a devastating surprise attack at Chemin des Dames, 70
miles north east of Paris on 27
May 1918. Despite local successors, they did not achieve strategic
success.
The Allied counter
offensives
A French counter offensive on 18 July 1918, involving British, American and Italian
troops, showed the German army was out of steam.
On 8 August 1918,
the Germans were completely surprised by a counter offensive near Amiens
by 552 British tanks leading Canadian, Australian, British and French infantry.
The massing of tanks allowed the Allies to push forward 8 miles, one of the
longest one day advances of the war.
The most decisive campaign was fought in
Autumn 1918. The Germans were dug in to the Hindenburg line, six layers deep.
On 29 September 1918 the 46th (North Midland) Division stormed
across the deep Saint
Quentin canal, where it was assumed to be impossible to cross, and the
Germans started to fall back from a continuous British attack.
The end
Few expected the end when it came. The
British were anticipating that the war might continue to 1920 by this stage. However the German army, state and society were collapsing.
On 5 October 1918 the Germans asked
President Woodrow Wilson for an armistice, based on his ‘Fourteen points’
proposed in January 1918, with a withdrawal from occupied territory, but with
continued German self government, and no punishment
for Germany. The Allies didn’t relish invading and governing Germany.
On 11 November 1918 at 11 o’clock, the
fighting stopped. The BEF, now 1,859,000 men, half of then teenagers, halted
just north of Mons, where it had all begun.
The memory
The memory of the Great War is uniquely
poignant. It came to occupy a place in the national culture. The war had
involved the whole nation, one household in three suffered a casualty, one in
nine a death.
The emphasis in commemoration was not on
victory but on the deaths. Kipling called the dignified Cenotaph ‘the place of
grieving’. The memory was marked by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at
Westminster, by vast war cemeteries continuously maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and by
Armistice Day, a time of collective mourning of sacrifice and incomparable
loss, and the two minute silence.
The incomprehension at the memory left
no narrative of idealism, as against Fascism in the Second World War.
Disillusion continued to grow after the
Treaty of Versailles failed to match the idealised hopes for aftermath.
By the 1920s the League of Nations
seemed to have hopes of success. By the 1930s, the population had been left
with urgent reasons to reject war, which might have led to wrong choices made
then.
The horrors of the war were remembered
in R C Sheriff’s Journey’s
End (1928), the memoires of Robert Graves, Goodbye to
All That (1929) and Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs
of an Infantry Officer (1930) and the German Erich Maria Remarque’s
novel All
Quiet on the Western Front (1929).
The First World War had not ended war.
By the 1960s it was remembered with mockery and pathos as in Joan Littlewood’s Oh
what a lovely war.
(Robert
Tombs, The English and their History, 2023, 582, 597 to 644).
Perhaps though the situation was very
different to opposing Hitler’s threat in 1939, and the First World War arose
out of mutual misunderstanding and mistrust, and might
have been avoided by dialogue beginning in sufficient time to have unwound the
spring. Mediation and dialogue might have had a place in avoiding the
catastrophe in 1914, whilst appeasement had no place in retrospect in opposing
a maniac in 1939.
Farndales in the First
World War
The
Battle of Arras, where two Farndales gave their lives
There
is a Table showing the
details of all Farndales who served during World War 1.
104633
Gunner Albert Edward Farndale (FAR00667)
served with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was awarded the Victory Medal
and the British War Medal. He died in Northallerton
on 17 April 1971.
83795
Private Alfred Farndale (FAR00683) served
with the Machine Gun Corps after initially joining the East Yorkshire Regiment.
My grandfather, he was born 5th July 1897, joined in 1916 and served in France
and Mesopotamia. He was discharged in 1920. He was awarded the Victory Medal,
the British War Medal, and the Police Medal WW2. He died in May 1989 and is
buried in Wensley, Yorkshire.
Alfred Farndale, East Yorks, 1914 Alfred
Mesopotamia
See also Pilgrimage
to Passchendaele, a killing field haunted by family memories.
2216 Private Alfred Farndale, 9th Lancers (FAR00690) served
with the 9th Lancers. He was awarded the British War Medal, Victory
Medal and 14 Star.
2483
Private Charles E Farndale (probably FAR00656, born
1893) served with the Hertfordshire Regiment and was awarded the 15 Star with
Clasp.
Charles Farndale served with the
8th/18th Hussars.
3/28913
Private Charles Farndale (FAR00629)
served with the Leicestershire Regiment & 19th London Regiment and
was awarded the Victory Medal. He was born in Knaresborough in 1888 and died at
Ripon on 16 February 1941.
15/319
Private (later Lance Corporal) George Farndale (FAR00617)
served with 15th Battalion The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of
Wales’s Own) and was awarded the Victory Medal, British war Medal, 15 Star. He
was born in Guisborough in 1888; arrived in Egypt
on 22 December 1915 but was Killed in Action at Arras on Thursday 3rd May 1917.
He is buried and commemorated at the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.
333852
Private George Farndale (FAR00646) served
with the Highland Light Infantry (“HLI”). Born about 1891 in Egton, youngest son of John Farndale (a Deputy in an
ironstone mine, born about 1851 in Egton, Yorkshire) and Susannah nee Smith
(born 1853 in Cropton, Yorkshire, a resident of Loftus,
he enlisted at Whitby probably into the Green Howards
and was then transferred to the HLI. He was killed in action on 27th May 1917
aged 26 while serving with the 1st/9th (Territorial Glasgow Highlanders)
Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry in 100th Infantry Brigade of 33rd
Infantry Division in operations against the Hindenburg Line. George Farndale
was killed in action on the 27th of May 1917, during the Battle of Arras,
barely one month after arriving in France. He was awarded the Victory Medal and
the British War Medal.
Sunday 8/4/17, Dear Sister
Just a line to tell you that I arrived at
Folkestone at 7 o clock this morning and I am in a rest camp now waiting of a
ship. It is quiet a fine place here. I think we shall leave here at 10.45 am
for the ship which I think will take us to Boulogne where we will stay over night. I got a very descent breakfast here and had an
extra tea before we left Catterick. They also gave us 20 packet of cigarettes
each. Well tat-ta for the present will write you
again as soon as possible. With Love Geo
19/4/17
Dear Sister
Received latter on Tuesday last and parcel today. I
must say the parcel was extra. The cake is excellent, also must say that you
could not have sent a more suitable parcel. Well I
must send you my sincere thanks for your kindness also for writing to the Girl.
I am sorry I had to send home for some money, but I only get 5 francs here, and
I want to get some of those French cards to send you as I know you would like
some of them. I am pleased to hear you are all keeping well. I wrote to the
Girl on Sunday so I am expecting to hear from her
anytime. Will you send me one of your photos as I would like one with me out
here, please put your name on it. Remember me to all and Give
them my best respects, also down John St. How is Father keeping hope he isn't
worrying about me as I am alright. Well I think this
is about all I have to say so I must draw to a close thanking you once again
for parcel also hoping to hear from you again soon. Well
tud-a-lu
With Love
from Your Loving Bro Geo.
P.S. I am not afraid about the watch and parcel,
as I know the young man I left with is honest and straight in every way, and I
told him he wasn't to go down special with it, he was to post it anytime when
he was going to town.
With Love again
Geo.
Dear Annie
I am just sending you a line to tell you that I am
in a draft and expecting to go out any day. If you haven't wrote and sent the
things I asked for don't trouble, as I may be gone before they arrive and I sharn't be able to take them with me. If I should be here
over the weekend I will write you again on Sunday if
not I will try and send you a line before I leave. I have got all my kit ready
for going but I don't think I shall go before Saturday or Monday. Well be sure and don't worry about
me and tell Father not to, as I shall be alright, and I must say before I go
that you and Father have been very kind to me as I never wanted for anything
and I must say you have done more than your duty towards me. Of
course it may be weeks before I go into the trenches as am sure to be
kept at the base for a week or two. If I should send for anything when I get to
France, be sure and register it, as it will make it more sure
of me receiving it. Well don't write any more until you hear from me again and
don't think anything is wrong if you don't hear from me for a short time, but I
promise you to write you as soon as I possibly can. Well
this is all I have time to say just now, so I will now close, trusting this
finds you all well. Remember me to all. Well
be sure and don't worry about me, and look on the bright side of it as I shall
soon be back again.
With Love, From Your Loving Bro Geo
PS. If the writing pad comes
I will give it to some of the boys as it won't be worth sending it back. I
shall very possibly be sending some shirts home.
France,
2/6/17
Dear Mr Farandale
I deeply regret to inform you of the death in Action of your son 333852 Pte G Farandale on 27th May. He was a good soldier and a popular
fellow, beloved by us all and our deepest sympathy goes out to you and yours at
this time.
Believe me, Yours truly, D W Greenhulds, 2Lt, 9th HLI.
June
2nd/6/17
Dear Friend
It is with deep regret I inform you that your Bro George was killed on the 27th May. He had just gone into the trenches the previous
night and before it was properly daylight a German trench mortar came over and
struck George death being instantaneous. I have know George for a good long time and he was a fine
pal. He was in the Yorks at Hartlepool when I was, and we were transferred to
2/9th HLI together May 1st/16. It was New Years time when I mist
him as he was sent to Scotland and I was left with
Batt. Eventually I came out to France in Feb and it
was there at the base I met him again and we have been together practically all
the time. I was next to him on the 20th/5/17 when we went over and took the
German front line trench, which we held for 2 days and then were relieved. You
have my deepest sympathy in your sad bereavement and hope you will find
consolation in knowing that he died faithfully doing his duty. The officer got
his pay book and pocket wallet which I expect will be sent on to you.
Yours Sincerely
R Sellars
332854 Pte R Sellars 9th H.L.I. Glasgow Highlanders
C. Company 11 platoon.
B.E.F. France.
Shingle Hall, Sawbridgeworth, Herts.
Thursday
Dear Miss Farndale:-
I am deeply grieved on hearing from you yesterday
morning that dear George has been killed in action, and all at Shingle Hall
including myself wish to express our deepest sympathy with you all in this dark
hour of sadness.
It was an awful blow to me dear, and is one that I
shall never forget. He was such a nice quiet and gentle boy and was very much
liked by all who knew him in Sawbridgeworth, and no fellow could not think so
much of a girl as your dear brother did of me, and had he been spared to come
back safely we intended getting married. I don't know if he ever spoke about it
to you.
It will be awfully kind of you to copy those
letters for me and shall be most pleased to receive them.
Yes dear, I will see about another doz. p.cs. being copied and will write and let you know, as I
shall be only too pleased to do anything for you, for the sake of the dear one
I have just lost.
He sent me the Yorkshire badge (as he said no one
else should have it but me) also the cap badge of the H.L.I. and bought me a
small regimental brooch of the H.L.I. so I shall always think of the dear boy.
Now dear Miss Farndale I will draw to a close
trusting you will all accept our deepest sympathy once more.
With fondest love hoping to hear from you again
soon
I remain
Your sincere Friend
Dolly.
P.S. Please excuse pencil.
011374
Corporal George William Farndale (FAR00614)
served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and awarded the Victory Medal and
the British War Medal. He was born
in Middlesbrough in 1897 and died on 21 August
1954.
19318
Private George Farndale (FAR00646A)
served with the East Yorkshire Regiment and was awarded the Victory medal,
British medal, and 15 Star. He arrived in the Balkans on 12 November 1915. He
was born in Whitby in 1891 and died in Lancaster on 15
May 1954.
G/445
Lance Corporal George James Farndale (later Sergeant) (FAR00653)
served with the Second Battalion, The Royal Sussex Regiment and went to France
on 31 May 1915. He was awarded the Victory medal, British medal, 15 Star and
the Military Medal for bravery.
S4/199459
and TR9/16884 and
18216 George William Farndale (FAR00678)
served with the Army Service Corps and Army Pay Corps. There are quite
extensive military records with his own record.
18981
and 577701 Private
Harry Farndale (FAR00688) served
with the 7th
Battalion, The East Lancashire Regiment. Harry enlisted on 15 February 1915 at
Liverpool. He served in France and Belgium from May 1915 to July 1916 and from
May 1917 to April 1919. He was awarded the Victory medal,
British medal, 15 Star. There are extensive military records on his own page.
204344
Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant Henry Farndale (FAR00681A)
served with the Royal Field Artillery and was awarded the Victory Medal, and
British War Medal. He was gassed in November 1917. He was then promoted to
Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant and was engaged working on a cost accounting
scheme after the War ended. There are extensive records about him on his
personal page. He was born in Leeds in 1883 and died in
Leeds in 1951.
4857
Sergeant Herbert Farndale later 238221 2nd Lieutenant H Farndale (FAR00652)
served with the 10th Yorkshire Regiment (The Green Howards) & 2nd West
Yorkshire Regiment. He was awarded the Military Medal as well as the Victory
Medal, and British War Medal. My grandfather knew him
and we have many of his papers. He lived at Brotton.
He was born Guisborough 30 March 1892 and died on
23 June 1971 at Cleveland Cottage Hospital, Brotton.
Herbert Farndale wearing military medal
in Green Howards Herbert Smith
at officer training unit in 1918
2898
Private Herbert Arthur
Farndale (FAR00664)
served with the Norfolk Yeomanry, then as 43302 in the Northern Regiment,
then as 37425 in the Royal Berkshire Regiment He was awarded the British War
Medal and the Victory Medal.
19832
Private James Farndale (FAR00669) served
with the 1st Devonshire Regiment, then as 35864 in the Wiltshire
Regiment. He arrived in Egypt on 9 October 1915. He served in both World Wars. In WW1 he
tended the horses. His war service was 31 Aug 1914 to 10 Mar 1919 and from 1939
to 1941. He was awarded the Victory medal, British medal, and 15
Star.
TR/5/211407 and 211407 Private W James
Farndale (FAR00704B)
served with 53rd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment. He joined very
shortly before the War ended, immediately upon coming of age.
James Farndale (FAR00607) served
with the US Army. He joined up in 1917. He went to France. He left
the Army in 1919 and eventually became State Senator for Nevada.
James in Plymouth, Indiana
in 1917
S/294809 Private John Farndale (FAR00640) served
with the Army Service Corps and was awarded the Victory medal, British medal.
89289 Gunner John Joseph Farndale (FAR00581)
served with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He enlisted on 4 December 1915 and
was discharged on 14 December 1918.
38005 A/Corporal John W Farndale (FAR00698)
served with the Lincolnshire Regiment, then as 29415 in the Labour Corps and
was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. He was born in Guisborough 1899 and died in 1970.
26042 Private John W Farndale (FAR00653A)
served with the East Yorkshire Regiment, then as 570018 in the Labour Corps and
was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal.
L/28839 Driver John W Farndale (FAR00663)
served with the Royal Field Artillery and was awarded the Victory Medal and the
British War Medal. He was born in Malton in 1894 and died on 29 June 1954.
151907 Gunner John W Farndale (FAR00615)
served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and was awarded the Victory Medal
and the British War Medal. He was born in 1893 and died on 2 March 1973.
247529 T/Warrant Officer Class I Joseph
Farndale (FAR00593) served
with the Army Service Corps and was awarded the Victory Medal and British War
Medal.
016314 Private Joseph Farndale (FAR00675) served
with the Army Ordnance Corps and was awarded the Victory Medal and British War
Medal.
James
Farndale (FAR00521)
probably signed up immediately at the start of World War 1 and joined the Royal
Field Artillery, though I have not found records afterwards of his military
service.
3758 & 201065 Private Richard
Farndale (FAR00681)
aged 20 joined the 1/4th
Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, the Princess of Wales’
Own Yorkshire Regiment, also known as the Green Howards. He died at 21st CCS in
France of broncho-pneumonia on 25th February 1917. He enlisted at Redcar, resident at Coatham.
The battalion served with the York and Durham Brigade of the Northumbrian
Division, renamed in 1915, the 150th Infantry brigade of the 50th Division. At
the time of his death the battalion was not in the line but in reserve at Proyart. On 31 December 1916 it was at Bazentin
le Petit and in reserve at Flers on 7 January 1917.
On 11 January the battalion moved to the front line at ‘Hexham Road.’ It was
again in the front line from 30 Jan to 11 Feb at Genercourt.
The battalion moved to Proyart on 19 Feb 1917. He was
awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal posthumously on 21 Jan
1921. He was presumably badly wounded at Hexham Road or Genercourt
or Proyart and evacuated to No 21 Casualty Clearing
Station at La Neuville, where he later died of pneumonia. He was the son of
George and Mary Farndale of 6, High Street, Coatham, Redcar Yorkshire. His name
is on a War Memorial at Coatham. He is buried at La Neuville Communal Cemetery,
Corbie, Somme .
44768 Private Robert Farndale (FAR00552) served
with the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, then as 426393 in the Labour
Corps, then as G/30179 in the Royal Sussex Regiment. He was awarded the British
War and Victory Medals.
Z/6840 Thomas Henry Farndale (FAR00699)
served in the Royal Navy Reserve in London in the first World War. He was a
telegraphist.
William Farndale (FAR00647)
served with the Canadian Army, 28th Saskatchuan
Regiment. He served in France where he was wounded from bayonet wounds. In 1918
he was back in Regina taking people to hospital when he contracted ‘flu from
which he died. William
Farndale, joined the
Canadian Army on 19 April 1916 at Regina, Saskatchewan and went to France. He
was wounded in action at Vimy Ridge
on 13 December 1916 while serving with the 28th Battalion; he had a gunshot
wound in the right forearm and was in hospital in Epsom, England. He was
discharged from the Army at Calgary on 18 Feb 1918. He was awarded the British
War Medal and the Victory Medal. After his return to Regina, he used his car to
evacuate the sick during the great ‘flu epidemic of 1918. He caught the ‘flu
while still weak from his wound and died at Earl Grey, Saskatchewan, Canada,
aged 25 years on 23 Nov 1918. He was buried in Earl Grey, Saskatchewan.
See also the For
King and Country website.
William Farndale of Tidkinhow
131820 Lance Corporal William Farndale (FAR00639), 25,
from Great Ayton, served in 235th
Army Troops Company, Royal Engineers. He achieved the rank of Lance Corporal,
Royal Engineers Class ‘P’ AR. He enlisted on 17 November 1915 and was
discharged on 30 December 1918. The cause of discharge was Para 392 (xvia)(Gas psng).
He was awarded the Victory Medal, British Medal and Silver Badge Roll 11
November 1919. The Silver War Badge was awarded to most servicemen and women
who were discharged from military service during the First World War, whether or not they had served overseas. Expiry of a normal
term of engagement did not count and the most common reason for award of the
badge was King’s Regulations Paragraph 392 (xvi), meaning they had been
released on account of being permanently physically unfit. This was as often a
result of sickness, disease or uncovered physical weakness and war wounds.
Soldiers discharged during the war because of disabilities they sustained after
they had served overseas in a theatre of operations (an area where there was
active fighting) could also receive a King’s Certificate. Entitlement to the
Silver War Badge did not necessarily entitle a man to the award of a King’s
Certificate, but those awarded a Certificate would have been entitled to the
Badge. The main purpose of the badge was to prevent men not in uniform and
without apparent disability being thought of as shirkers – it was evidence of
having presented for military service, if not necessarily serving for long.
27364 Private William Farndale served with the East
Yorkshire Regiment and was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.
15271 Private (later Corporal) William
Farndale (FAR00651)
served with the Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards). He arrived in France on
27 August 1915. He was awarded the Victory Medal, British Medal, and 15 Star.
1813 and 475088
Private William Claude Farndale
(FAR00682)
served with the 1/2 East Anglian Area Field Ambulance
Company, Royal Army Medical Corps. He was attested on 16 September 1913 at
Norwich, aged 17 years and 2 months (in fact he was 16, so perhaps gave an
older age in order to enlist), a tinsmith at Barrow
Works. He lived at 19 Onley Street. There is a record on 7 May 1919 of his
bounty of £15, with £5 for present use and £10 to be issued subsequently as
laid down in the Army Order. His Medal
Records show he served in the Balkans and was awarded the Victory Medal and
British War Medal and 15 Star. He was demobilised on 3 August 1919.
12035 Private William H Farndale (FAR00655)
served with the Royal Army Medical Corps, then as 53270 in the Lancashire
Fusiliers. He arrived in France on 12 September 1915 and was awarded the
Victory Medal, British Medal, and 15 Star.
436
and 403261 Private William Jameson Farndale (FAR00677)
served with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was awarded the Victory Medal and
British War Medal.
Lieutenant Graham Price was the brother in
law of the Rev W E Farndale (FAR00576).
He went to Flanders in 1914 as a despatch rider. Towards the end of 1915 he
transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He held the record in his squadron for
the number of air duels (fifteen) he had fought. He was also an artillery
observer over enemy lines. He was killed in action on 21 March 1916 when he
received a bullet in the heart in an air battle. See Lieutenant
Graham Price.
The Inter War Years
543695 Charles Farndale (FAR00738) was
born at Huttons Ambro and became a groom. He enlisted into the Royal Tanks
Corps on 9 May 1924. He attested at Winchester. He served with the 13/18th and
15th/19th Hussars in 1924 and 1925.
The West
Sussex County Times, 23 November 1934: ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT WIN
REPLAY. 4TH BATTALION QUEEN’S ROYAL REGIMENT 0; 4TH
BATTALION ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT 5 (Pte Farndale 4, Pte Burchell). The side
representing the 4th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was in splendid form on
Saturday when it defeated the 4th Battalion Queens Royal Regiment at Mitcham by
five goals to nil. It was a replayed match in the first round of the
Territorial Army Cup Competition. Play was fairly even
at the start but gradually the Royal Sussex began to assert themselves and they
showed a marked superiority. After 10 minutes, Birchell on the visitors left
wing, centred for Farndale to score. The Royal Sussex kept up the pressure and
again from Burchell’s centre Farndale headed in a lovely goal shortly after the
resumption. Standing started a movement which resulted in Burchall
racing forward and driving home number three. Farndale scored his third when he
gathered a nice centre from Fenner, and shot well out
of Salter’s reach. The Royal Sussex were well on top during the closing stages
and the home side's defence underwent a severe gruelling. Five minutes from
time Farndale beat Salter for possession and had no difficulty in putting in
the fifth goal. 4th battalion the Royal Sussex Regiment: Private Stanford,
Private Kent, Private Boxall, Private Lawrence, Corporal Ansell, Lance Corporal
Linfield, Sergeant Fencer, Lieutenant Woolcock, Private Farndale, Private
Standing and Private Burchall.
The Second World War
The outbreak of War
At 11am on 3 September 1939, Chamberlain, in a 5
minute broadcast on the Home Service, announced that as Hitler had failed
to respond to British demands to leave Poland, "this country is at war
with Germany". Chamberlain added that the failure to avert war was a
bitter personal blow, and that he didn't think he could have done any more.
There was an anticipation of air attack.
Following the Prime Minister's speech there were a series of announcements. All
places of entertainment were to close with immediate effect, and people were
discouraged from crowding together, unless it was to attend church. Details of
the air raid warning were also given and it was
emphasised that tube stations were not to be used as shelters. In London the
air raid sirens sounded only 8 minutes later, and many of those remaining,
including commentator John Snagge, donned tin helmets
and rushed to the roof of Broadcasting House to watch the bombs falling.
Sandbags appeared everywhere. Cities were blacked out. The paintings in the
National Gallery were moved to a mine in North Wales.
The Official evacuation plan, Operation
Pied Piper, was part of widespread evacuations totally 3.5M people.
Poland was lost. However
an immediate threat to Britain was a false alarm. Nazi bombers were still out
of range. The Allies had 3:1 superiority in manpower and 5:1 in artillery. The
Royal Navy was dominant at sea. The FAR were capable of precision bomining. Italy and Japan had not yet joined the war. In
time the US might join. The British and French population was 90M and GDP
$470M, the German-Austrian 76M and GDP £375M.
There was a perception that the French
Army and the BEF could repulse a westward attack on the Continent.
However Russia’s pact with Germany had upset
the calculations. Scandinavia was also an important strategic consideration,
particularly as a source of iron ore.
Phoney War
The early months were a period of
stalemate. The
Phoney War was an eight-month period at the start of World War 2 during
which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front,
when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district.
On 9 April 1940,
the Germans invaded Norway.
The Battle for France
On 10 May 1940 a
sudden German attack began on Holland, Belgium and France at 5.35am.
After criticism of Chamberlain for the
disastrous Norwegian campaign, Churchill became Prime Minister that afternoon.
Chamberlain remained Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Halifax remained Foreign
Secretary.
On 13 May 1940 Winston Churchill, in his first address as
Prime Minister, told
the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, "I have nothing to
offer you but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." He felt “that all my
past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.”
The German attack on France was in
desperation, Hitler fearing that he would lose a long war. The German army
thrust through the woods of the Ardennes, and used surprise and speed, gained
by tanks and aircraft, crossing the River Meuse on 13
May 1940.
By 15 May 1940,
7 armoured Panzer divisions were thrusting forward into France. The Allies,
trained for static warfare, could not stop the advance. The allied defensive
force ran out of ammunition and fuel. Most of the British army comprised raw
territorials. In the European theatre, Britain only had 14 hastily assembled
divisions, to 141 German, 104 French and 22 Belgian. A minor success by the
British at Arras
on 21 May 1940, was not enough. The French Prime Minister rang Churchill to
tell him they were defeated.
On 19 May 1940,
only a week in to the German offensive, the British
began a fighting withdrawal to Dunkirk. Churchill declared in his
radio broadcast: Today is Trinity Sunday. Centuries ago
words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of truth
and justice: Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for
the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the
outrage of our nation and our altars. As the will of God is in Heaven, even so
let it be.
Hitler was also losing confidence,
worried about counter offensive and a pincer movement. Alarmed at the risks,
Hitler ordered a halt on 24 May 1940.
On 26 May 1940
the Dunkirk
evacuation, Operation Dynamo, began. It was organised by Admiral Bertram
Ramsay and his staff in Dover between 26 May and 3 June 1940. A broadcast appeal
was responded to by fishing boats, weekend sailors, lifeboats and by barges and
tugs from, the Port of London. The RAF lost 177 planes and shot down 244
Luftwaffe planes. Some 300,000 British and Allied troops were evacuated and
another 130,000 escaped later from ports still in French hands. However 54,000 vehicles, 2,500 artillery pieces and 68,0000
soldiers were lost.
On 4 June 1940,
Churchill gave his
defiant response, We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the
landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall
fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
On 7 June 1940,
German panzer divisions pierced the French defensive line.
On 10 June 1940,
Mussolini declared war.
On 12 June 1940,
the French army began a general retreat.
On 14 June 1940 the
Germans reached Paris.
Churchill suggested to France that
Britain and France become a single Franco-British nation. The Anglophobic
deputy Prime Minister, Marshall Philippe Petain rejected the proposal as an
invitation to marry a corpse.
Talk of negotiations had ended in
Britain. On 16 June 1940 Churchill told the
cabinet that Britain was fighting for her life, and no chink should appear in
her armour.
On 17 June 1940 Petain
became Prime Minister and ordered fighting to stop.
On 18 June 1940
Churchill made his Finest
Hour speech. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear
ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand
years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'
Britain was left without European
allies.
Facing the threat
The British population soon grew used to
the new state of things. Evacuees drifted back home. People stopped carrying
their gas masks.
There were still those who called for
peace through appeasement. The problem however was that any such ambition
rested on assumptions that Hitler’s intentions were limited, whilst his central
aim remained racial conquest and the winning of vast living space. It was not
Hitler’s primary aim to destroy Britian, but he had a hatred of London and New
York as centres of ‘Jewish’ capitalism.
The polls showed that 75% of the
population wished to fight on.
People sought strong leadership. At this
point in the war in particular, Churchill’s leadership was an important factor.
He was a master of words, making 2,000 speeches during his lifetime. Attlee
later said Churchill’s main contribution to the war was talking about it. He
was satirised as Winstonocerous. The Chief of
the Imperial General Staff, General Brooke found working with him to be
unbearable; he didn’t know the detail and only got half the picture in his
mind. He led Britain into total war, without much thought, but with a single
purpose, to destroy Hitler’s ambitions.
Amongst the general population there was
a rush of marriages and 300,000 men and women volunteered for the reserve and
1.5M for the Auxiliary Fire Service, Air Raid Precautions (“ARP”) and the
Special Constabulary.
The Military Training Act 1939 had
required young men to undergo 6 months training.
The National
Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 extended the obligation to all men between
18 and 41, with universal
registration of men and their occupations.
The threat to Britain was still very
real. The Germans were starting to plan an invasion of Britian, Operation
Sealion, scheduled for late September 1940. A Black Book had been prepared of
targets for arrest, the Germans having shown themselves capable of murdering
the elite in order to reduce the nation to slavery.
The already weak German navy had
suffered badly in the Norwegian invasion. The Luftwaffe had heavy losses in
France, but still had 750 long range bombers, 250 dive bombers and 750 fighters
to Britain’s circa 750 fighters. Britain had developed a system of control
stations integrating radars and spotters. However the
limited range of radar meant only a few minutes warning, which then took 4
minutes to reach RAF fighter stations, so fighters had to scramble into action
and start fighting even before the whole squadron was airborne.
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, the only decisive
battle fought entirely in the air, began in August 1940, which was a month of
intense daytime aerial combats.
On 20 August
1940 Churchill gave his famous speech,
echoing Shakespeare’s Henry V: The gratitude of every home in our Island, in
our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the
guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in
their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World
War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human
conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
On 5 September
1940 the German attack switched to cities, especially London, Birmingham
and Liverpool in the Blitz. On 7 September a large raid started fires across
the East End.
On 15 September
1940 German attacks on London were met by massed fighters in Battle of
Britain Day. It started to become clear that German air strength was not
sufficient to gain air superiority.
Between July and October
1940 the RAF lost 790 planes to the Luftwaffe 1,300.
The Germans switched to night attacks on
cities. By mid November the Luftwaffe had dropped
13,000 tons of high explosives and a million incendiaries on London.
What ended the Blitz was the diversion
of the Luftwaffe to Russia. Its effect on Britian’s economy had been limited,
and its attempted impact on morale was counter productive.
Across Europe resistance against German
aggression saw in Britain what had been seen in the Spanish Republicans – a
sense of cheerfully stoical defiance, a ‘mustn’t grumble’ attitude.
During the war 6,000 civilians were
killed, half in London. Only 4% of the population used the tube and most didn’t
use shelters. ARP wardens, policemen and firemen worke3d tirelessly. There were
very few psychological breakdowns, and involvement in important work was the
therapy. Suicides fell.
The global war
Britain was at war with Germany and
Italy and Japan was threatening on the other side of the world. Britain had the
resources and manpower of its empire, 2.5M in India, 500,000 in Africa, 1M in
Canada, 1M in Australia and 3000,000 in New Zealand.
Leaders across the world started to
judge and make calculations as to who might win. Vichy France and Franco’s
Spain contemplated joining the war on Germany’s side. Many disliked Jewish
settlement in Palestine and anti semitism attracted some Arab support. King
Farouk in Egypt faltered in June 1940 and the pro Nazi
nationalist Rashid Ali seized power in Iraq. There were moves towards self government in India. However
Britain’s continued fight denied the claim that Germany had won. Goebbels
concluded from a Commons debate in June 1941 that there was no sign of
weakness.
The Italian army was defeated in
Abyssinia and eastern Libya by smaller British forces between October 1940 and April 1941.
The Italian army invaded Greece
unsuccessfully in October 1940 but again in April 1941 with
German assistance.
Crete fell in May
1941.
The Germans came to the aid of their
Italian allies in north Africa by the dispatch of General Erwin Rommel (“the
Desert Fox”)’s Afrika Corps in February 1941.
However with no obvious way to defeat Britain,
Germany started to contemplate its Plan Z, to build a huge battle fleet and
long range bomber force by 1948, to attack US.
The War at Sea
The Atlantic routes to Canada and US
were the principal lifeline. The Mediterranean was the embattled route to north
Africa, the Suez canal, and the Arab oilfields. The
south Atlantic was important for imports of meat and grain from South America.
Meantime the Royal Navy attempted a blockade on Germany.
Germany was much weaker at sea than in
1914. In December 1939 the pocket battleship the Graf Spee was tricked
into scuttling itself in Montevideo harbour. The Bismark managed a six day sortie in May 1941 and Sank the Hood, but was
damaged by the Prince of Wales. The German navy largely lurked away in
Norwegian fjords. It was also constrained by a lack of fuel. It could still
wreak havoc though – in July 1942 the codebreakers revealed that the Tirpitz
was about to go to sea, and the targeted convoy was ordered to scatter, but was
then picked off by aircraft and submarines.
In the Mediterranean, Italy’s most
effective military force was its navy. It suffered significant losses in the Battle of Taranto
on 11 to 12 November 1940. The Mediterranean was
bitterly contested at sea and in the air until 1943. The exposed Royal Navy
outpost of Malta was constantly attacked, with 75% damage to the houses of
Valetta, uniquely awarded the George Cross for he
whole island in April 1942.
The peak of losses in the Atlantic was
between June 1940 to March 1941, when over a million tons of British shipping
was sunk. Perhaps 9,000 convoys were escorted using the global convoy system.
Wolf packs of several dozen U boats attacked them. However
Germany struggled to maintain its submarine campaign. The biggest difficulty
for Britain was protection in the 600 mile Atlantic
Gap, the mid ocean area which was beyond air cover.
On 19 August
1942 a largely Canadian raid on Dieppe brought the Allies briefly onto
French soil.
By summer 1943 the
Battle of the Atlantic had ben won. The mastermind was Admiral Sir Max Horton
who trained support groups of anti submarine ships
and aircraft carriers coordinated by long range shore based
patrol aircraft.
Breaking codes
The Germans used the encoding machine
Enigma developed in Germany in 1923. The Polish intelligence service had begun
to succeed n breaking its code in the early 1930s and shared its work with
France and Britain. The British continued the work at Bletchley Park and began
to decipher messages by April to May 1940. The Bletchley staff, often academics
and students, increased its staff from 150 in 1939 to 3,500 in 1942 and 9,000
in 1945. Prominent members of the team were Max Newman and Alan Turing.
The deciphering system was codenamed Ultra, and used new computer technology and native cunning.
Great care was taken to conceal its successes from the enemy. An important
driver of the work was the use of regular phrases, such as Heil Hitler. Daring
actions allowed the recovery if lists of Enigma key settings, including a
daring recovery from a sinking submarine on 30 October 1942.
War in the East up to 1943
By July 1940 Hitler started to consider
an attack on his accomplice, Russia, a target for living space, lebenstraum, and conceived to be strategically
advantageous as the elimination of Russia would free up Japan’s power in the
Far East, then America would be diverted to war with Japan.
Stalin had taken advantage of his pact
with Hitler to invade Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Romania.
On 22 June 1941,
Germany attacked Russia, Operation Barbarossa, who were taken by surprise and
quickly defeated, but recovered to temporarily stop the German advance in December 1941.
On 7 December
1941 Japan launched simultaneous strikes on the American naval base at
Pearl Harbour in Hawaii and against British colonies.
On 8 December
1941 the Japanese attacked the Philippines, Malaya and Hong Kong.
The battleship Prince of Wales
and Battlecruiser Repulse were sent to disrupt Japanese landings on the
cost of Malaya but were sunk on 10 December 1941.
The Japanese marched into Malaya with ruthless efficiency.
The Japanese occupied Hong Kong on 25
December 1941, in a spree of rape and killing.
Churchill survived a vote of no
confidence in the Commons in January 1942.
The Japanese Empire captured the British
stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8
to 15 February 1942. At the outset, the headmaster of Raffles school
asked what his boys saw and Lee Kuan Yew, later first president of an
independent Singapore replied, “the end of the British Empire”.
Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in
South–East Asia and had been of great importance to British interwar defence
strategy. The capture of Singapore resulted in the largest British surrender in
its history.
The Japanese had taken Hong Kong,
Malaya, Singapore, Burma, and North Borneo for the loss of 5,000 soldiers.
However on 4 June 1942 the
Americans caught a Japanese fleet at Midway and sank four aircraft carriers.
In summer 1942,
Gandhi and the Congress Party called for a huge campaign of civil disobedience
in its Quit India movement.
Famine in Bengal in the summer of 1943
was exacerbated by world food shortages and later mitigated by an improved
harvest and a drive by the new viceroy, Field Marshall Viscount Wavell.
In January 1943,
the Germans faced their first disaster on the eastern front when the survivors
of the German 6th Army surrendered at Stalingrad.
War in North Africa and
Italy
In Libya, Rommel’s forces tipped the
balance when they took the key port of Tobruk in June
1942.
However the Axis forces in North Africa were
hampered buy shortages of food, fuel and ammunition where British naval power
and air superiority was a problem for them.
In September
1942, a plan by Rommel to attack Egypt having been intercepted and
decoded by the Ultra project, Montgomery’s 8th Army blocked Rommel
at Alam Halfa.
The Second Battle of El Alamein
(23 October to 11 November 1942) took place near
the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the
Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from
advancing further into Egypt. It was the first major defeat of the Germans and
Churchill ordered the ringing of church bells.
In November 1942 65,000 British and
American troops landed in Morocco and Algeria.
In January 1943,
at a conference
in Casablanca, the British Chiefs of Staff led by General Alan Brooke,
Chief of the Imperial General Staff, proposed that military and political
efforts were focused on the early conquest of North Africa, to reopen the
Mediterranean and open the soft belly of the Axis in southern Europe. Although
the strategy has been criticised, it was hard to see a realistic alternative –
the British and Americamns lacked the military force including ships for the
risky strategy of a cross channel invasion, but were already in north Africa,
including Tunisia, within easy reach of Sicily and Italy.
In July and August 1943 the Germans were fooled by a corpse
carrying bogus papers and Sicily was successfully invaded.
In September
1943 an Anglo-American landing at Salerno, almost repulsed, began the
Italian campaign.
Italy collapsed in summer 1943.
The Strategic Bombing
Campaign
Despite allied success at sea, in North
Africa and a turning of the tide in the east, Hitler retained a strong hold in
Germany.
In the crisis of May 1940, Churchill had ordered air attacks on Germany. In
daylight, bombers were very vulnerable. However
bombing was Britain’s only serious weapon to strike Germany.
In February 1942,
Air Chief Marshall Arthur (“Bomber”) Harris took over Bomber Command.
He launched fire raids on Luebeck and
Rostock. The Germans retaliated with ‘Baedecker
raids’ on historic English towns, including York,
Norwich and Canterbury.
A new generation of four engine bombers
had been ordered in 1936 and the Lancaster was
operational from March 1942, able to carry 10 tons of bombs.
On 30 May 1942 in
an escalation, Harris launched a ‘1,000 bomber raid’ against Cologne which
inflicted massive damage. Harris planned to de house industrial workers. There
were concerns about breaches of international law and the devastation of cities
as threatening the roots of civilisation. The German industry continued despite
the bombings.
From 1942, a systematic campaign was
pursued.
In March 1943 the
Battle of the Ruhr was launched.
In May 1943 the
Dambuster operations, Operation Chastise,
attacked the Ruhr water supply with bouncing bombs.
Between 24 July
and 3 August 1943, the port city of Hamburg was devastated.
In November 1943
the Battle of Berlin began.
Bomber command’s losses approached the
unsustainable. In the 1943 Ruhr campaign it lost 640 bombers. There was moral
pressure to carry on. Downed airmen sometimes evaded capture and intelligence
believed that every airman who escaped cost the life of one helper.
The bombing campaign did have an
important strategic impact on Germany’s fighting ability. Bombing forced a
large part of German industry to switch to air defence. Germany was forced to
deploy 850,000 workers to the aircraft industry. This meant it could not build
so many tanks and artillery for its eastern front, as it was forced to protect
its homeland. By July 1943 at the crucial battle of Kursk, the Wehrmacht could
only muster half the tanks of the Red Army. There were 55,000 anti aircraft guns defending Germany. Life in Germany was
increasingly disrupted and demoralised workers became absentees, By 1943 the Nazi party was losing grip on its control and
members were no longer wearing badges. There were looters in bombed cities. The
German home front was falling apart.
War in the East after 1944
In January 1944 the
900 day German siege of Leningrad was lifted.
Between 8 March
and 18 July 1944 on the border with India, Japan suffered its biggest
defeat at the Battle of
Imphal at the hands of General William Slim’s Indian, British and African
14th Army. The Battles of Imphal and Kohima were the
turning point of one of the most gruelling campaigns war.
The decisive Japanese defeat in north-east India became the springboard for the
Fourteenth Army’s subsequent re-conquest of Burma. Jaspan’s defeat at Imphal
became a rout in which they lost 60,000 soldiers, two thirds of their total
force.
Land invasion of western
Europe
The Channel has rarely been successfully
crossed by an invading force. William of Orange had managed it in 1688 when
faced with no opposing force and William the Conqueror in 1066 when Harold’s
force was fighting the Danes in the north. Napoleon, the Kaiser, and Hitler had
been forced to abandon their plans to invade Britian. Modern armies would
require far greater resources in ammunition, food and fuel. Churchill did not
want to rush the inevitable opening of a second front across the Channel.
Normandy was chosen for the site for
Operation Overlord, with wide beaches and a harbour at Cherbourg once secured.
Phantom armies were assembled in Scotland, Essex and Kent and a disinformation
campaign to suggest the main landing would be across the Straits of Dover. The
French Resistance were set to disrupt German movement.
D
Day was delayed from 5 June to 6 June 1944 due
to storms. The invasion was under the supreme command of General Dwight D
Eisenhower and the local command of Montgomery, Air Chief Marshall Sir Trafford
Leigh Mallory and Admiral Bertram Ramsay. Airbourne troops landed in advance of
the mass seaborne landings.
On 13 June 1944 Germany
began its V1 flying bomb campaign, launching 10,0000 rockets, a third of which
crashed, many landing in London killing over 6,000 people.
The fight inland in the narrow hedgerow
bocage country of Normandy, was bitter and difficult. The country was perfect
for defence by a determined German defensive force. Advance was made field by
field. There followed a ten week battle of attrition.
Survival was often down to luck.
From 18 to 21
July 1944, the British army lost 6,000 men and a third of its tanks.
On 15 August
1944 a mainly Franco American force supported
by British naval and air assets, landed in Provence and marched up the Rhone
valley.
On 8 September
1944 the first V2 rocket carrying nearly a ton of explosive was launched
from the Netherlands.
Operation Market Garden was an Allied
military operation fought in the German-occupied Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944. Its objective was to create a
64 mile salient into German territory with a
bridgehead over the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine River),
creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be
achieved by two sub-operations: seizing nine bridges with combined US and
British airborne forces ("Market") followed by British land forces
swiftly following over the bridges ("Garden"). Its failure ended
hopes of an end to the war that year.
The approach of winter slowed the Allied
advance.
Hitler’s last gasp offensive through the
Ardennes against the Americans in the Battle
of the Bulge from 16 December 1944 to 25 January
1945 was a surprise, but failed to meet its objectives.
The end of war in the West
From 4 to 11
February 1945 the Big Three Allied leaders, Winston Churchill, Franklin
D Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, met at Yalta
in the Crimea, to strike a deal on the division of postwar Europe.
On 13 to 14
February 1945 Dresden was attacked, targeted as a transport hub by 800
Lancasters.
In March 1945 the
allied armies crossed the Rhine into western Germany.
In April 1945 British
troops liberated Bergen Belsen concentration camp and the young BBC reporter,
Richard Dimbleby reported.
The Red Army ‘liberated’ Poland,
Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Austria and the eastern part of Germany.
On 30 April 1945
Hitler shot himself.
On 2 May 1945
Berlin fell.
On 3 May 1945
German forces in Italy surrendered.
On 4 May 1945
German forces in northern Germany
surrendered in Lüneburg, at Montgomery's control centre. Admiral von
Friedeburg signed the partial surrender of German forces operating in the
Northwest of Germany.
On 7 May 1945
German delegates signed an unconditional surrender at Eisenhower’s headquarters
in Reims and on 8 May 1945 did the same for Stalin in Berlin.
The end of the war in the
east
A large part of Britian’s fleet was sent
to the Pacific and there were plans for a British army to join the invasion of
Japan.
In August 1945
two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. The idea of an atomic weapon had
originated as early as 1904 when Frederick
Soddy had told the Royal Engineers about the possibility. Work began in
Britain in the 1940s and the research was transferred to US.
A new age had begun.
(Robert
Tombs, The English and their History, 2023, Chapter 17, 687 to 756).
Farndales in the Second
World War
Raymond Farndale (FAR00804)
served with the Royal
Newfoundland Artillery. Raymond W S Farndale, served in 59th
(Newfoundland) Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery as 970929 Gunner RWS Farndale in
England. He left Halifax on 6 Jun 1940 and went to 23 OCTU at Catterick in
March 1943 and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in September 1943. He
was posted to 23rd Heavy Battery, 59th (Newfoundland) Heavy Regiment RA at
Ashford Kent. 20th and 23rd Heavy Batteries were given 155mm guns and 21st and
22nd Heavy Batteries were given 7.2-inch guns. The Regiment trained in
Northumberland but by July1944 it was at Worthing in Sussex. It went to France
and took part in the battles for Caen. By VE-Day it was at Hamburg. Lieutenant
RWS Farndale RA went back to Canada in September 1945 with the Defence Medal,
the 1939-45 Star and War Medal with a Mention in Dispatches. He joined 166th
(Newfoundland) Field Regiment RCA (Reserve) and was with them until 1954,
retiring as a Major, earning the Canadian Forces decoration (CD). He became an
accountant and lived at St Johns, Corner Brook, Toronto and Halifax
Raymond Farndale, RCA, 1943
4272378 Cyril Ernest Farndale
(FAR00872)
enlisted into the Royal Artillery on 30 August 1939 and was discharged on 12
July 1942. He served in 100 Anti Tank Regiment Royal
Artillery.
Gordon Farndale (FAR00819)
served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Wilfred Gordon Farndale, served as a Flight Lieutenant in the RCAF in
World War 2 in Europe and then became an accountant.
Gordon Farndale, 1944
Clarence Edward Farndale (FAR00850)
served with the Royal
Canadian Navy.
Clarence
Farndale, 1960
Clarence and Gordon Farndale
Brigadier Cecil Farndale Phillips (PHI0001 – see also http://www.generals.dk/general/Phillips/Cecil_Farndale/Great_Britain.html and http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/cecil_farndale_phillips.htm). Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips was commanding 47 (Royal Marine) Commando during the assault in the Le Hamel area on 6th June 1944. The task of this Commando was to land behind the right assault brigade (231st Brigade) of the Division and after passing through it advance and capture Port En Bessin, a distance of some eight miles. Owing to the high wind and tempestuous seas several of the assault landing craft were swamped and the occupants had to swim for it - much equipment and many arms were lost. Undismayed by this fortune Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips soon had his men assembled and re-organised, those without weapon and equipment being made up from captured enemy material, and the advance began. Soon after passing through the leading elements of 231st Brigade the Commando ran up against stiff resistance and from then on until the port fell to them the next day they had to fight the whole way. Never once did they falter or hesitate and by the skill and leadership and determination of Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips each successive point of resistance was methodically and relentlessly overpowered - some 250 prisoners were captured as well as a large number of enemy killed. The defence of the port was stronger than had been anticipated, and included some well armed flak ships. It was defended stubbornly and with great tenacity, but the commando was not to be denied and by great feat of arms and endurance finally triumphed. This outstanding achievement was largely due to Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips' gallant conduct and resolution, the inspiring example he set and his exceptional qualities as a leader and commander. After the conclusion of the Normandy campaign, Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips continued to lead No.47 Commando until January 1945. He was subsequently promoted to Brigadier and given command of the 116th Infantry Brigade RM. For his service with both of these units in the Netherlands, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of Oranje Nassau with Swords. His citation reads: The above named officer commanded 47 (Royal Marine) Commando during the assault landing on Walcheren and later, until January 1945, on River Maas North of Ousterhout, when he returned to the United Kingdom on promotion. He returned the following month in command of 116th Infantry Brigade RM which was deployed on the River Maas between Tilburg and 's-Hertogenbosch. During the months of March and April the Royal Netherlands Brigade served under command and took part in many highly successful raids in strength across the river, notably at Hedel. In 1945 he was Commanding Officer 116th Brigade Royal Marines, North-West Europe. Joined Royal Marines 1923; Adjutant, Plymouth Div Royal Marines 1931-1934; HMS SUSSEX 1934-1937; battleship HMS RODNEY 1937; HMS ACHILLES (New Zealand) 1937-1939; World War II 1939-1945; aircraft carrier HMS COURAGEOUS 1939; Staff College, Camberley 1940; General Staff Officer Grade 2, 1 Div 1941; General Staff Officer Grade 1, Royal Marine Div 1942; 47 Commando, Royal Marines 1943-1944; Commander, 116 Infantry Bde, Royal Marines 1945; Fleet Royal Marine Officer, British Pacific Fleet 1945-1946; Joint Sevices Staff College 1947-1948; School of Amphibious Warfare 1949-1950; Commander, 3 Commando Bde, Royal Marines, Malaya 1951-1952; Commander, Portsmouth Group Royal Marines 1952-1954; Chief of Amphibious Warfare 1954-1957
4460826 Private James Farndale (FAR00833) served
with the 2nd Battalion The West Yorkshire Regiment
(Prince of Wales’s Own). He died of wounds on 16 March 1941 at Keren, Eritrea,
aged 25, and his memorial is at Memorial 3.A.3, Keren War Cemetery.
1824896
Sergeant Bernard Farndale (FAR00783)
served with 115th Squadron RAF, and was killed
in action over Denmark on 30 August 1944. On the night before 30 August 1944
nearly 600 RAF bombers flew over Denmark on bombing raids to Königsberg and
Stettin. Particularly the planes for Stettin were attacked by German night
fighters, when they were passing the northern part of Jutland and the Kattegat.
LAN ME718 was hit and flew for a moment through the air before it crashed like
a burning torch at Oue (about 400 m west of Rinddalsvej
in Denmark). All of the bomb load exploded on impact. All of the crew were killed.ME718 was attacked by a German
night fighter and caught fire. At approx. 00:10 hours it crashed near Ove
northeast of Hobro killing all onboard. The bomb load
exploded when the Lancaster hit the ground spreading wreckage and human remains
over a wide area. The Germans did not want to collect the human parts and left
them in the field. The locals were abused by this behaviour and collected the
remains in wickerwork baskets. The Wehrmacht ordered the Danes to hand the
baskets over, and these were thrown in the crater at the crash site and covered
it. When the Germans had left the area, the locals together with members of the
Civil Air Defence opened the crater and placed the remains in a coffin which
was driven to Ove church. On 4/9 1944 the flyers were laid to rest in Ove
cemetery unknown to the Wehrmacht, Vicar A. Bundgård officiating at the
graveside ceremony. The crew was: Pilot F/Lt Edward Chatterton RCAF, Flt. Engr.
Sgt Bernard Farndale, Air bomber Anthony Michael Kovacich RCAF, Navigator P/O
William George Sankey, W/Op Sgt Leslie Taylor, Air Gnr. P/O John Couzens Reeb,
Air Gnr. Sgt Donald Bullock. The German Wehrmacht took no steps to bury the
mortal remains of the 7 airmen in a decent manner. This caused heart felt
disagreements between the Danish bomb expert, other Danes and the Germans.
Later a coffin was procured. It was secretly brought to the chapel of rest by
the civil defence. On 4 November, 1944 the vicar A.
Bundgård carried out the funeral. The coffin was decorated with flowers, but
there were only a few mourners. Apparently the German
Wehrmacht knew nothing of this funeral. (Source: FAF). As the German did not
want to pick up the many parts of bodies of the airmen, Danes picked them up
into baskets. The Wehrmacht ordered the Danes to hand over the baskets which
then were buried at the crash site. Danes later disinterred the bodies when the
Germans had left the area, procured a coffin and took it to the chapel of rest
at Oue Churchyard. (Source: Hjemmeværnets Historiske Samling i Himmerland about this plane and its crew.) One of
those killed was Sergeant (Flight Engineer) Bernard Farndale, 25, was the son
of Arthur Edwin and Mary Annie Farndale, of Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire, United
Kingdom. (Source: CWGC).
519912 Corporal Albert Farndale,
Royal Air Force (FAR00820).
Ronald M Farndale
(FAR00852)
served with the 6th Field Ambulance RAMC in
Greece and Crete. He was captured at Sidi Rezegh in 1941 and was a prisoner of
war in Italy for the rest of the war.
Sergeant
William Derrick Farndale (FAR00811)
was patrol leader of the Withensea patrol on the east
Yorkshire coast.
521789 Corporal Henry Stuart Farndale (FAR00832)
served with the Royal Air Force. He was a pilot under training and his aircraft
crashed and he was killed on 11 May 1945. His grave is at Section V Grave 265,
Leeds (Lawns Wood) cemetery..
185589, Private (later Lieutenant)
William Arthur James Farndale
(FAR00829)
served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
Bertram George Farndale
(FAR00855)
served as a sergeant in the RAOC 1940 -45.
19199623 James Noel Farndale (FAR00889)
served with the US Army Air Corps in World War 2 in USA and in Europe. He
enlisted at Las Vegas into the Air Corps on 15 December 1942 as a Private.
36014559 Private Richard W Farndale (FAR00851C)
attested into the army on 28 March 1941 at Chicago, Illinois. He was a Mechanic
with the 43rd Division for 32 months in the Pacific.
The Cold War years
General Sir Martin Farndale KCB (FAR00911) joined Indian Army 1946 and was commissioned into Royal Artillery October 1948 from the first intakes at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He served Egypt, Germany, Malaya, N Ireland, South Arabia. He retired January 1988 as Commander in Chief of the British Army of the Rhine and commander of the Northern Army Group of NATO. He was awarded the General Service Medal, Malaya and for Northern Ireland and for South Arabia; the Coronation Medal; CB; KCB; and the Canadian Medal. Martin Farndale was the inventor of the Farndale Cocktail. He died on 10 May 2000.
Keith Alan Farndale (FAR00976)
was from New Zealand, but served as a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy.
James Henry
Farndale (FAR01064)
served with 1st Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers.
Gary
R Farndale (FAR01121)
served with the British Army on The Rhine.
Gulf War 1
522843 Major Richard Farndale (FAR01122) was commissioned into
Royal Artillery in 1987 from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served in
Germany, UN Forces Cyprus 1990, and as an artillery forward observation officer
during the First Gulf War 1991, Adjutant
First Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, 105 Regiment TA Scotland. He was awarded
the UN Medal (UN Forces Cyprus), and the Gulf War Medal.
