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"Let those who come after see to it that his name be not forgotten." |
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As we near the end of the century, The First World War might seem increasingly distant. There are few left now who fought in it or remember much about it; it might seem to be just the stuff of history pages. The annual service of remembrance - it is argued - becomes increasingly irrelevant because who can put a face or any detail to those who died eighty or so years ago, so how are we to remember?
It’s true, of course, that it requires a leap of the imagination to see the individual sacrifices made in that war. You might, like me, have memories of a great uncle who couldn't move quickly because he'd lost a lung at Ypres or a grandfather who would insist on telling the same gory story again and again. But by and large, what remains are the statistics of the war, and it is difficult to identify with millions whose individual stories have been lost.
The names on our own village memorial at St Peter's are a case in point - they are names like any others on countless war memorials all over the country. I walked past it many times and noticed the familiar tragedies of the same surname recurring and wondered what stories might lie untold on it. And then walked on and thought about something else.
But gradually I began to wonder more and more about them. They were men like me who, when they thought of home, thought of this place but who were destined never to return here. They are our small contribution to the vast statistics of the mechanised killing of Northern France and Belgium. Didn't they deserve more than just a name and an initial - not even the barest details of their lives recorded in the villages where they lived and grew up? How can we or future generations commemorate their sacrifice if we have no idea about them as men?
I hope this article will at least go some way towards helping us and future inhabitants of this parish to identify with them as individuals and to realise the extent of that sacrifice.
Paul Smith, Avenue Villas, Claybrooke Parva.
October, 1997.
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"Let those who come after see to it that his name be not forgotten." |
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G. Baum
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| Baum | George Francis
(Acting Lc Sergeant in ‘Mercury’ lists.) Sergeant on memorial, Lance Sergeant on his tombstone. |
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Leicestershire
Regiment |
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In records as Killed in Action on 13th June, 1917. Bill Perkins (below) in letter 11.7.17 refers to deaths of George and Jack Baum. In ‘Mercury’ lists on that date. | |
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| Croiselles British Cemetery. About 13kms south-east of Arras. |
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Claybrooke Magna.
Brother of Harry below. Other brothers Frank (born 1899) and John (aka
‘Jack’) who was a butcher and was born 1887. Frank fought in the war and
spent its last eighteen months as a prisoner. John was killed, struck by
lightning as he worked in Claybrooke, at about the same time that George
died. George enlisted in Leicester. Served in France and Flanders. Wounded
twice before he was killed. Son of John Timothy Baum (a gamekeeper) and
Mary. Baptised at St Peter’s 25th July 1895. His father preceded
him.
Battn. Diary indicates that they were having a particularly quiet time on the recorded date of his death. 7th June they were at Hammelincourt in the Hindenburg Line, Junction of ‘Plum Lane’ and ‘Humber Trench’. They were relieved on the night of the 11th and went back to Battn. HQ where they passed four quiet days doing working details. They returned to the trenches on the night of the 15th and diary describes a poorly organised action. They were surprised to discover that they were going straight over the top with the Northumberland Fusiliers. The approach trenches were crowded, they could not get to the proper jumping off point and so went off from a different spot. They found the wire uncut and German machine guns every 20 yards and so the mission was aborted after 15 minutes. Two Military Medals were awarded during this action, and it seems more likely that George lost his life in it as it is the only action involving his Battn. near the stated date of his death. |
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H. Baum
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| Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte. Sangatte is a small town just west of Calais on the coast. The cemetery is just off La Rue Vigier, about 300 yards from the church. | Plot III, Row F. Grave 6. | Brother of George (qv), Frank and John. Driver/Carrier - worked for Bert Boyes, a farmer. (Farm is the one on left down Frolesworth Lane). Lived in Bell Street. Used to give people lifts to Leicester on Saturday mornings. Married Mary Burditt from Broughton Astley on 23rd November 1914 at Broughton. Telegram arrived on Sunday announcing him "missing, presumed dead" just before she went to evensong. (This information from Mr Astill.) Mrs Baum did not talk of him often other than to say "he was a nice chap". Was attached to the cavalry May 8th 1917 in York (was formerly 33565 Private Baum in GS Cavalry). Son of John Timothy Baum (a gamekeeper) and Mary. Born in Worksop, Salop. Enlisted in Lutterworth. At the time of his death, his Battalion were in The Forest of Nieppe, although the Baum family are sure that he was wounded whilst fighting in Italy and died before he could be brought back to England. His Battalion only had three men killed during April, 1918, so this could well be the case. | |||||
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| Obviously no scholars, the Baum brothers appear in Claybrooke Primary School’s punishment book for January 1903 – George for "coming to school dirty and untidy" and Harry for "idleness at Arith. Lesson." |
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W. Brown
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Boy, First Class |
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Son of Charles and Ellen, the newspaper account of his memorial service is below. |
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