The Wolds Waggoners - page 10
Image details
| Corps | RPC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Books |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | The Wolds Waggoners |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1988 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1908 |
| Late date | 1983 |
| Transcription |
relatively high wages paid on Yorkshire farms attracted men from all over the country, but particularly from East Anglia - there were around seventy men from Norfolk and 1 Suffolk in the Wagoners ranks, fifty of them carters and a further twenty far:;i servants. In the light of modem views regarding the benefits of an outdoor life, it is also noticeable how many of the men would not have been allowed to join the Army in peacetime on account of their size. Five per cent of the recruits failed to meet the minimum height requirement of 63 inches (160 cm): Wagoner 323 Bertie Woodger was only 60 inches (152 cm) tall, and was the shortest man in the Wagoners, whilst 979 Frank Simpson was only half an inch taller. The average height was 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm). Wagoner 950 Thomas Slater was 63 Vi inches tall, but weighed a mere 98 pounds (44.5 kg), as did 959 Fred Hunter, who stood 62 Vi inches tall - Slater was only eighteen and perhaps had not stopped growing, but Hunter was nearly twenty-six years of age. However great their skill with horses, all these men would have been turned down by 1 the Army even after Lord Kitchener's Your Country Needs You campaign of 1914. In order to further interest in the Wagoners, special driving competitions were organised in 1913 and 1914. These became popular village occasions, and in their turn, aged The competitions took nlace agricultural shows in the area, but such was their popularity, that they became sim elimination rounds for a final contest. The site for the finals was a field in York D belonging to farmer Francis Cook of Fimber Nab Farm, not far from SJedmere. Writing of the 1914 competition, the Yorkshire Herald asserted that, The day is regarded as a holiday by many farmers. It would be impossible to find a finer sight for the lover of heavy horses than the ve but active pairs numbering over 60 - greys, out. They all had well-cleaned 'gears' and blacks, roans and browns - which had i harness, and the men had decorated them with brasses, rosettes and ribbons in a most effective manner. The drivers are to be warmly praised for their splendid grooming, while those masters present who had teams out could not fail to take a just and 1 pleasurable pride in the valuable animals they sent. - But although team was competing against team, farm against farm, and even village against village, this was not merely a social occasion. The day's events included three competitions - a general driving competition, a driving competition open only to members of the Wagoners, aad a competition for Roadmasters. Entry to the first two was restricted to those under 3 5 years of age, and in the employ of a bona fide farmer. The course was based on the test undertaken by drivers of the Royal Artillery and the Army - - - ~ - - Wagoner 1007 1 Johnson ('John ) Leighton before the Great War. Leighton was the first wagoner to lose his life in the Great War, in November 1914. He can be seen wearing r s e a s y ° \ ^ [ • t h e traditional double-breasted waistcoat and flared trousers. |
| Book number | R0398 |