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Key dates over December 1916

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Lives lost on this day: 0

11th December 1916 - Neglected children case at Evesham

Rolling casualty count: 5089

2nd Batt: Batt still in reserve position. Men will replace the 9th HLI on the 12th December.

4th Batt: Batt marched to Plateau and entrained for Mericourt. Col Kerans left for leave at 4pm and Major Pennyman took over command

2/8th Batt: Working parties went to Aveluy Sidings. Two more men evacuated sick.

SMD RFA: Weather was very misty so attempts at aeroplane registration failed.

Yeomanry/Cavalry: The Regiment reached El Abt, the advanced operation base against El Arish. The base had grown since August into a vast depot of stores. The camps were surrounded by barbed wire and there was a fairly complete trench system.

Home Front:

Shocking Neglect of Children – Parents Sentenced at Evesham – At the Evesham County Sessions on Monday, James Johnson, a labourer, now employed at a motor works in Birmingham, and his wife, Esther, of Badger’s Hill, Church Lench, were summoned by Inspector Walter Stanton, of the N.S.P.C.C., for cruelty to their children, Hilda, 12, Alice 9, Robert 8, Elizabeth 6, George 5, Thomas 3, and Nelly 1. They pleaded not guilty. The prosecutor said that for the past 18 months the defendants had been living in a cottage at Badger’s Hill. The man earned good wages and the wife also worked and supplemented what was coming into the house, and their means were sufficient to enable them to keep the children in a proper manner. In November 12913 the man, who was then living at Aston Subedge, neglected his wife and six children, who were in Evesham Workhouse. After a time the man rejoined his wife and family. Evidence was given that a visit was paid to the cottage and found the rooms in a most filthy state. Although it was very cold there was no fire in the house. Two children were lying huddled together on a very old straw mattress which was in a very filthy state. The children were unwashed and in a very filthy condition and the rooms were in a destitute and filthy condition and the sanitary arrangements shocking. The children were fairly well nourished. The other four children who were at school were well nourished. .Inspector Stanton said the children were in a ragged state and badly shod. The woman asked him to give them a chance and they would do better, but in spite of warnings there was no improvement. P.C. Mann said the man was of drunken habits. He asked if he could pay for his children who were in the Workhouse. The Chairman said it was one of the worst cases that had come before that Court. The man would be sentenced to three months hard labour and the woman to three months in the remand division.

German Prisoners – Refusal to Employ Objectors – A meeting of Evesham market gardeners and fruit growers, convened by Evesham Town Council to consider Mr Willis Bund’s scheme for the employment of conscientious obectors on the land, was held at the Town Hall. The Town Clerk read the circular letter from the County Authority and the replies suggested by the Town Council. To the question, are there any small holders or market gardeners in your parish which require additional labour to cultivate them so that the same amount of food could be produced as in 1914. The Council proposed to reply in the affirmative. To the second question the Council had resolved to reply that they though that the market gardeners of Evesham would be willing to employ suitable imported labour and to the third question their answer was that the labour of conscientious objectors would not be suitable or acceptable.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team