Lives of the First World War

One of those whose name is on the memorial is Stuart Hodgson. His details give an insight into the atmosphere which caused him to enlist and the conditions which were commonly found. He was the son of Marion Hodgson who was Housekeeper to John Bayley from 1901. Consequently Stuart had lived within the Bayley household from the age of 3. He was a pupil in the college but left at age 16 in September 1914 when he started training at an electrical works in Wolverhampton with the intention of going to Birmingham University two years later. However he looked older than he was and consequently was being given white feathers as a sign of cowardice. He decided that he would enlist and do his bit in the army. Jonas Hammerton, deputy to Headmaster John Bayley, obtained papers for him to enrol in The York and Lancaster Regiment. Stuart completed the papers but did not give his age and did not include his birth certificate. He was called for interview at Roker and the Colonel never asked his age. On hearing of his experience of 2 years with the OTC, the colonel said “We want young fellows like you who have done some training”. His commission came through a week later with orders to report to Roker in two weeks when he was attached to the 3rd Battalion in April 1915 as a second-lieutenant at the age of sixteen and a half! He went to France just after his 17th birthday in September 1915 and served in the Ypres battle of that winter. In a letter home he described his early experiences. “We have just come out of the trenches, having had six days in. We have been fairly lucky this time and have not had a great number of casualties. I must say I felt a bit queer when I saw the first man fall. The trenches are so bad now that we keep moving about every two days. Some naturally are much worse than others, and we went into some where the water was right up to the waist. We are fitted with gum boots reaching to the thigh, but even then we often get very wet. The winter is now coming into greater prominence. We have had several hail storms and every night there is a heavy frost, which makes things rather unpleasant to work. As you know, we work all night and try to sleep by day.” He was wounded and invalided home. While recuperating he did some service with the regiment in Sunderland before returning to France in September 1916. He was killed during the Battle of the Somme on 12th October 1916 just a few weeks after his 18th birthday. His body was never recovered and his name is recorded on The Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval (Pier 14 Face B) amongst over 70,000 others who have no known grave. This news must have been very distressing for his mother, Marion Hodgson, particularly as a Voluntary Auxiliary Hospital had just been established in the college using College House and Newlands to provide nursing care and recuperation for up to 25 wounded soldiers. Marion Hodgson was acting as a liaison between the college and the military staff. She continued to act as housekeeper to John Bayley until he sold the college in 1920 when it became Wrekin College. She kept contact with him for many years and was later to present a copy of the 1613 King James Bible for use in the chapel as a memorial to Stuart Hodgson. This bible contains copies of letters and documents from which these notes have been compiled. There is also a framed collection of the medals, badges and other memorabilia relating to her son, together with the ‘death penny’. Mervyn Joyner (OWA Secretary)

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