Minutes of the inaugural meeting of the Newton Servicemen's Comforts Committee

 This is a transcript of the first entry in the minutes book for the Newton Servicemen's Comfort or Welfare Fund, retrieved along with accounts , letters and receipts from the loft of a home in Littlemoor Lane, home of Mr Coupe mentioned in the minutes as Asst. Secretary. Other names will be known to the older residents, among them Thomas Cotton who rescued Newton Old Hall, and Mr Jacquest, headmaster of the school.

Newtons Servicemen's Welfare Fund

Minutes

Public Meeting Thursday December 7th 1939

Mr R Butler presided. 29 present

Proposed by Mr Cotton seconded by Mr J W Jacquest that Mr R Butler be chairman. Carried unanimously.

Proposed and seconded Mr J W Jacquest be vice chairman .

Proposed seconded and carried that Mr H L Oldfield be appointed secretary and Mr A Coupe assistant secretary.

Proposed by Mr W J Ford seconded by Mr J Johnson that Mr T Cotton be appointed treasurer.

All present were voted to committee en-bloc.

Auditors were appointed namely Mr W J Ford Mr T Kiddy Mr J Johnson

Mr Jacquest proposed and Mr J W Ford seconded that people who were desirous of joining this organisation should be admitted.

Mr A Coupe promised to ascertain whether or not Mount Pleasant was being included in the Blackwell organisation.

Mr J W Jacquest moved a resolution that postal orders of 5 shillings together with a letter asking for their preference of postal order or parcel should be sent by this organisation to Newton servicemen at home or abroad. Seconded by Mr T Kiddy.

Mr Cotton proposed and Mr Ford seconded that house to house collections should be made weekly. Carried.

Mr Jacquest promised To circulate the village warning all householders that collections would be made and explaining for what purpose.

House to house collectors volunteered to cover the following districts:

Sherwood St. Mr T Kiddy, Mr C Webb, Right Hand Side

Miss Smith, Mr N Bamford, Left Hand Side

All Littlemoor Mr Philips

Wire Lane Mr JW Jacquest

Hall Lane ) Mr J Lees

Cragg Lane ) Mr C Ellis

Main St

From Mrs Molyneux Mrs F Ford

To New Inn Mrs Parr

Both sides

Bamford St M Ellis (?)

To Mr Fords Misses J Butler and J Cuthbertson

New St to

Bottom of Newton Mr J Ford & Mr W Buxton

Mr Cotton kindly offered to have cards printed for each householder.

Mr Cotton promised to arrange the printing of cards and books to be kept by each subscriber.

Resolved that a Balance Sheet should be issued periodically.

Mr T Cotton expressed desire to have his name added to the list of guarantors: namely

Mr J W Jacquest

Mr A Coupe

Mrs Wallis

Mr Johnson

Mr F Ford

Mr R Butler

Mr E Butler

Miss Smith

Mr T Kiddy

Mr T Cotton

Date of next meeting Dec 12th 6.30 pm."

Arthur Ball and RMS Lancastria

 Ball Arthur (35) Pte 46 Coy AMPC 2188568 Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps

80 years ago next week, on 17th June 1940, Arthur Ball lost his life on his 35th birthday, when the RMS Lancastria was sunk by enemy action. Arthur was born In Old Blackwell in 1905, youngest son of John George Ball and Charlotte nee Moakes of Old Farm Cottage. His siblings were Luke, Frederick, Mary ( Polly), Samuel, John George, Joseph, William, George, Albert, Harry, and Edward. Both parents, as well as Joseph, Albert and Harry had passed away by 1940, Harry as a child of 5 years. Many of their descendants live on in our villages.

Arthur had moved from Blackwell, and is thought to have lived at Holmewood, but his name is not listed on the Newton or Holmewood war memorials, so it is fitting to remember him here. His name is on the Dunkirk memorial to the missing.

The story of the sinking of the RMS Lancastria, the worst single disaster in British maritime history, and why that is almost unknown, is told in the website http://www.lancastria.org.uk/ which includes a short video. In summary there were between 2500 and 6000 lives lost, and the news at the time was hidden from an already demoralised public. The Lancastria was a Cunard liner, drafted to the services for the evacuation of France, and up to 9000 men and refugees had been ferried to her by a fleet of smaller vessels off the west coast of France near St Nazaire

As 2188568 Private Ball, with the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps (AMPC), it is believed that Arthur had been evacuated from France to The Lancastria. The site https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/royal-pioneer-corps details the background to the AMPC. An extract reads:

In September 1939, Works Labour Companies were formed from Reservists. A month later, these were grouped together to form the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps (AMPC).

From its inception, this was ranked as a combatant unit - a status no previous pioneer unit had achieved. In June 1940, many of the AMPC's companies had to be pressed into use as combat troops during the Battle of France (1940), before being evacuated.

Samuel Granville Roberts at Dunkirk

 Samuel Granville Roberts was the first Blackwell Parish soldier to lose his life overseas in WW2. He was a private serving with the 2nd Btn. West Yorks Reg. (Prince of Wales's Own), part of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and was killed on 3rd June 1940 during the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Samuel is remembered at the Dunkirk Town Cemetery.

Samuel was a son of Samuel Roberts and Annie Eizabeth nee Jones. He had a sister Jessie M who married John Sharpe. In 1939 the family were at 126 Primrose Hill, Blackwell.

Other siblings born before 1911 were Elsie, Lillian, John, Olive , and Eric.

The Dunkirk evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo, also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week long Battle of France. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called this "a colossal military disaster", saying "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. In his "we shall fight on the beaches" speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation