Ringmore Church 2
- Gethin Thomas
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
In Part One we saw the church building and its interior. I had so many pictures of the beautiful stained glass in the church that I decided to split the information into three posts. This one will feature the War memorial window of 1919. Part Three will feature the other windows.
This is a detail from the window showing St. George as a knight in armour kneeling with his sword in an imagined landscape that features all of the aspects of that terrible war.
Western Morning News - Monday 24 November 1919
RINGMORE MEMORIALS.
BISHOP OF EXETER CONDUCTS DEDICATORY SERVICE.
The Bishop of Exeter held a confirmation in All Hallows' Church, Ringmore, on Thursday, and on the same occasion dedicated a window, the gift of the parishioners, to the memory of the men from the parish who fell in the war, and a processional cross, the gift of Mr. Miller and his family, in memory of his son Henry and his friend Alfred Tremlett, who were killed in the same action. The arrangements for the unveiling were ably carried out by Chief Coastguard Officer Haloran and his men from the Challaboro' Station, who, at a signal from the Bishop, lowered the Union Jack screening the window.
The Bishop spoke impressively on sacrifice, pointing out that there was a danger that the patriotism which had been so strongly manifested during the war might grow cold, and that the remembrances of the sacrifice which men had made for their country should be the incentive to drive out all thought of selfish interest. That window, he hoped, would keep alive in the parish the spirit which was necessary to each one of them in their respective spheres, if they would work for the good of their country.
The window, which is exquisite in colouring and design, represents St. George, Patron Saint of England. kneeling at a wayside crucifix. A battle scene in France is depicted in the background in one of the lights, and in the other a sea scene with the battle-cruiser Queen Mary, while an anti-aircraft gun and aeroplane illustrate the part taken by these respective forces. Two angels complete the picture, one in the quatrefoil above holding the Crown of Life; the other at the base holding a laurel wreath, and a scroll, bearing the names of the fallen.......
........The following are the names and inscription :- " In proud and undying memory of those who gave their lives for them in the Great War, 1914-18, this memorial window is erected by the parishioners to the glory of God .-
James L.Triggs, H.M.S. Queen Mary, Jutland, May 31, 1916;
Henry C. Miller, 8th Devons, Paschendæle Ridge, October 26, 1917;
Alfred Tremlett, 8th Devons, Paschendæle Ridge, October 26. 1917;
Alfred Triggs, 8th Devons, Paschendæle Ridge, October 26, 1917;
George W. J. Freeman, A.S.C., M.T., Q Battery, Anti-aircraft section, Villers Faucon, near Ephy, March 21, 1918;
Anthony J. Prowse, 3rd Hussars, died of wounds, Boulogne, November 13th 1914;
Wright T. Squire, 2nd-lieut., R.G.A., Soissons, June 30th, 1918;
William J. Cox, s.s. Hazelwood, M.M. mined October, 1917 .-
"Greater love hath no man than this."
Of note amongst the names and dates is the fact that one death was at the very start of the war and one only months before the end. The shocking thing above all is that four of the eight who never returned were killed in the same month, and most shocking of all, the village lost three of its young men on the same day in the same battle. All are represented in the window by soldiers in trenches, an anti aircraft gun and the HMS Queen Mary at sea.
James Little Triggs, although born in Scotland was the son of a local man, who was stationed in Scotland in the Royal Navy. He soon returned to Devonport with his family and James and brother Philip who were twins, both signed up in 1915 aged 15, in the Royal Navy. After training as Cabin Boys when their ranks were upgraded from Class 2 to Class 1, James, "all 4 feet 11 inches of him with light brown hair and blue eyes", was fatefully transferred to the HMS Queen Mary, then a modern battlecruiser.
Only 9 months later the HMS Queen Mary became involved in the largest naval battle of the First World War, The Battle of Jutland.
The Queen Mary, equipped with modern rangefinders, fired off about 150 shells and did significant damage to the German vessels she faced, but she soon became the target of the powerful SMS Seyditz. The Queen Mary's turrets were hit in quick succession by 12 inch shells which caused explosions in the Queens Mary's magazines. She listed to her port side and sank. Inverclydeww1
James Little Triggs was one of 1,266 men on board when the Queen Mary went down. Only 21 survivors were picked up after the ship sank.
This is an eyewitness account, a week after the event, of the sinking of the Queen Mary from one of those survivors, Midshipman Lloyd Owen.
Cambridge Independent Press - Friday 09 June 1916
Special Interview with Midshipman Lloyd Owen.
A representative of this paper, who had an interview with Midshipman Lloyd Owen found
him looking none the worse for his stirring experiences.
"We went to our action stations about 20 minutes to four on Wednesday afternoon," he said. "As far as I know we did not know whether the enemy were in the vicinity or not. The first thing we heard was at a quarter to five, when we got the order, 'Enemy in sight, both guns load." I was in the after turret. We opened fire about seven minutes to five. "We fired until about 24 minutes past five, when a terrific explosion occurred somewhere about the middle of the ship. Both our guns in the after turret were put out of action. I sent my gun house crew up on deck.
"When they got up I went on deck myself, and found the ship lying on her port side with the bow sticking up out of the water at an angle of 40 degrees, and the stern sticking up in the same way. She had broken in the middle."
Midshipman Lloyd Owen explained that the ship was lying on her port (left) side and the bow and stern were pointing away from the port side-to the right. Continuing, he said: "I just glanced round when I got on top of the turret. I saw the men slipping off into the water. In a few minutes another explosion took place, apparently blowing the bow clean out of the water. At the same time the ship gave a terrific lurch, and threw me off into the water. "Just before I reached the water another explosion occurred, apparently just above my head, presumably the after part of the vessel being blown up. I sank and went down deeply. It seemed hours before I came to the surface. When I came up there was no sign of the ship except wreckage.
"After remaining in the water for about 35 minutes I was picked up, in an exhausted and unconscious condition, by a destroyer. That was about 6 p.m. The destroyer I was in remained in action until 3.30 the following morning.'
When I looked at the window in more detail I noticed something about its design. I had already photographed the view down the valley to the sea, from right outside in the churchyard, and I noticed a major similarity, not the least of which was this stone cross dating from the early 19th century.
Although the window as a whole is an idealised landscape, this section of it seems to have been inspired by that view. I am not able to find out anything about the maker or designer of the window, but I cannot help but think that they saw this view and used it as a basis for the design.
The window encompasses a story that includes the forces of land, sea and air and takes place in a landscape that seems to symbolise England itself, as the coast line sweeps around to the left to include the White Cliffs of Dover. The trenches, complete with barbed wire, are therefore placed in the local fields of England, maybe symbolising how near the war had come to even small remote villages like Ringmore.
Passchendaele Campaign: The Third Battle of Ypres was a series of battles from July to November 1917, and the 8th Devons fought during this period.
Heavy Losses: The regiment endured heavy losses throughout the campaign. On October 26th, during an attack on Gheluvelt, Private Alfred William Tremlett of the 8th Battalion was presumed killed in action. The 8th Devons were directly involved in a major divisional attack on Gheluvelt (Gelukveld) along the Menin Road on October 26, 1917. The attack was launched at 5:40 am. The 9th Devons led the advance, but came under heavy fire from German machine-gun posts and fortified positions, including "Lewis House". The 8th Devons followed in support but the two battalions became intermingled as the 9th got bogged down in the deep mud and heavy resistance. The battalion sustained heavy losses during this action.
Battle Conditions: The weather was a defining factor in the battle, with relentless rain turning the ground into a "swampy quagmire" by August. This mud made movement and logistics extremely difficult and contributed to the high number of casualties, which also included men and animals drowning in the mud. Google search
Henry Charles Miller - Private of the 8th Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment. Battle of Passchendaele Ridge October 26th 1917.
"I died in hell, They called it Passchendaele."
Soldier poet Siegfried Sassoon
Alfred Triggs - Aged 33, 8th Battalion. Devonshire Regiment. Alfred is buried at The Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is located 9 kilometres north east of Ypres town centre, on the Tynecotstraat, a road leading from the Zonnebeekseweg.
George William James Freeman - Aged 29, Army Service Corps. Died 21st March 1918. Pozieres is a village 6 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert. The Memorial encloses Pozieres British Cemetery which is a little south-west of the village.
On March 21st, 1918, Villers-Faucon and Epehy were British-held villages that came under massive attack as the German Army launched Operation Michael (also known as the Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht). This was the first day of the major German push to break the Allied lines and drive the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) into the sea. The German offensive began at 4:40 a.m. with an intense, five-hour-long "hurricane" artillery and trench mortar bombardment along a 50-mile front. Over a million shells, including many gas shells, were fired, targeting British trenches, artillery, and communications centres.
The Motor Transport (MT) Q Anti-Aircraft (AA) Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), was a type of mobile anti-aircraft unit operating in the Somme.
Anthony J Prowse - Awarded the 1914 Star, British War medal and Victory medal. Anthony died from his wounds in Boulogne on the 13th of November 1914. On November 13th, 1914, Boulogne continued to serve as a critical base of operations, supply port, and "hospital city" for the British Expeditionary Force. It was closed and cleared on the 27 August 1914 when the Allies were forced to fall back ahead of the German advance, but was opened again in October and from that month to the end of the war, Boulogne and Wimereux formed one of the chief hospital areas. Until June 1918, the dead from the hospitals at Boulogne itself were buried in the Cimetiere de L'Est, one of the town cemeteries.
Wright Thomas Squire - 2nd Lieut. 78th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, died 30th June 1918 near Soissons.
On June 30th, the French Intelligence Bureau issued an appreciation of the strategic situation, forecasting a renewal of the German attack in the Oise and Marne area. Allied air forces were very active on this day, conducting extensive reconnaissance, photography, and bombing missions on German targets (railways, dumps, billets) to prepare for future operations. Soissons was heavily shelled by German artillery, and the city itself was in ruins.
When this window was designed the traditional floral symbol of remembrance was the Forget me not. Following the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, Canadian physician John McCrae was moved by the sight of red poppies blooming on the war-torn fields. He wrote "In Flanders Fields," a poem that became famous and linked the flowers to the fallen soldiers. The poppy later became formalised as the flower of remembrance in 1921 when the Royal British Legion ordered poppies to be sold for the first Poppy Appeal, making the poppy a symbol of remembrance for those who died in the war and later conflicts.
William James Cox - Royal Naval Fleet Reserve attached to the Mercantile Marine. Died 19th October 1977 aged 33.
The Hazelwood was a British vessel, owned and operated by Constantine & Pickering Steam Ship Company (official number 113908). At the time of the sinking the Hazelwood was on route from the Tyne bound for Nantes with a 32 man crew and was carrying a cargo of coal. The vessel was armed with a 12 pound, 12cwt stern gun. Originally thought to have hit a mine but now thought possibly torpedoed.
By all accounts, the Hazelwood sank rapidly without any survivors. The location is 22 ½ miles west of St Catherine’s on the Isle of Wight and eight miles south east of Anvil point. William James Cox, a Leading Seaman, is attributed as having a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
Part Three features the rest of the windows in All Hallows church.
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