A Greater Game

Remembering is just the beginning...

The Remembrance Weekend just passed carried extra poignancy due to 2014 being the centenary of the start of the Great War.
For as long as I can remember, and certainly for all the time I've been involved with Easington United, the club has marked Remembrance Weekend by observing two minutes' silence prior to the start of that Saturday's fixture. 
It is a custom that I feel passionate about and I'm glad to say, so do many fellow committee members, management and players. For 2014 we decided to go one step further by attaching special commemorative poppies to our shirts. These came courtesy of the Poppies4Kits scheme and with the permission of the relevant league competitions and the East Riding County FA. 

The poppies proved a massive hit, not only because they looked good but because they have helped raise over £18,000 towards the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.

The scheme was well supported throughout Holderness. Hedon Rangers equipped all their teams at both open-age and junior level, some 270 poppies in total. Withernsea, Olympic SSC and Roos all followed suit and there were probably many others, allowing grassroots players to emulate their professional counterparts and show their gratitude to those who had made the ultimate sacrifice.

In addition to the special shirts (worn by our First Team at home to Harworth and the Stiffs in their cup-tie at Flamborough) and the traditional pre-match silence, there was a third part to our commemoration this year. 

This came via the match programme and it was here that I began a task that I fear may start to become something of an obsession over the next two years. For therein I decided to list those members of the village who had made the ultimate sacrifice in the two world wars. But having listed them I decided to find out more about them. You can possibly see now where this is going...

This "roll call" of local heroes included the twelve names listed on the village war memorial and two who are not but are interned in the local cemetery.

Just listing names in the programme didn't seem to do these individuals justice so I decided to add as many details as I could find on the various sites I have access to (Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Forces War Records etc). 

It was now that a growing list of questions started to form in my head...

Why is that man not considered worthy of inclusion on the memorial?

Why is that man on there when I can find no reference to Easington in any information relating to him?

How did that man from Easington find himself in a regiment recruited almost exclusively from another part of the country?

How did that man die?

What strand of the (insert surname) "clan" is that man from?
Where did that man live, who were his parents, what was his background?

There is only one way to find out.

2016 will mark the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme, the first day of which is generally regarded as the blackest day in the history of the British Army. I had already planned on visiting the battlefield in two years time, partly to mark this special occasion, partly as a 50th birthday "thing" and partly because I and the lads I'm planning on going with never got round to doing such a trip this year as originally suggested!

As part of the trip I've already decided I would like to visit: 

1) Contalmaison Cairn (the monument erected in 2003 in honour of McCrae's Battalion, the famous "Sporting Battalion" which included members of several prominent (and not so prominent) Scottish football teams including the full first team of Heart of Midlothian FC) - Hearts are my Scottish team

2) The East Yorkshire Regiment Memorial at Oppy

3) The Arras Memorial on which Sapper Austin Lusmore (Welsh branch of the family) is remembered

4) Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery where Douglas Morgan, the only serving Hull City player to be killed in action during the Great War is buried

To these four I now added a fifth target: the graves and memorials of all the Easington lads listed on the roll of honour. To me it suddenly appeared important that their final resting places are visited and marked by someone from the "home" they never got to return to. 

Of the fourteen names listed, ten died in the First World War. Of these, Lieutenant Francis W. Jennings is the one not remembered on the village memorial. I can guess why. He wasn't a local lad, hailing (it would appear) from the Isle of Wight. He was serving in the 3rd Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment, a training unit that from May 1915 formed part of the Humber Garrison. He was killed on the 26th March 1916 - I've been told in a training accident on Easington beach - thus becoming the first of these ten remembered men to die. He is buried in Easington village cemetery.

In chronological order, the others fell as follows:

19287, Private John Richardson Longhorn (8th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment), died 26th April 1916, aged 26

13/904, Private Arthur Carrick ('A' Coy., 13th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment), died 13th November 1916, aged 22

201393, Private George W. Tennison (1st/4th Bn., East Yorkshire Regiment), died 23rd April 1917, aged 22

204764, Gunner Lewis Abraham Clubley (B/102nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery), died 10th August 1917

64054, Gunner John Alfred Webster ('B' Battery, 174th Bde., Royal Field Artillery) died 11th September 1917, aged 24

202914, Private Louis Carrick (1st/4th Bn., Northumberland Fusiliers), died 26th October 1917, aged 34

11027, Private Clarence Edwin Sculpher (10th Bn., West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)), died 18th November 1917, aged 21

203070, Private G. W. Marritt (12th/13th Bn., Northumberland Fusiliers), died 29th September 1918, aged 39

756176, Gunner Thomas William Coupland Docherty (251st Northumberland Bde., Royal Field Artillery), died 11th November 1918, aged 27.

The last of the list is the most poignant, Thomas Docherty ("son of Thomas W. C. and Mary J. Docherty of Easington") having died of his wounds on the day the war ended.

Along with our small efforts on the Saturday, Remembrance Sunday saw villagers come together for the traditional service at the war memorial. This year's was attended by the largest gathering I can yet recall and the playing of the 'Last Post' by a lone saxophonist made things even more moving. The service was concluded by the planting of wooden crosses by villagers of all ages: "We will remember them".

It was this last part that gave me the final idea for my trip in two years' time. I have now pledged myself to ensuring that when I and my companions make the trip to the "Green Fields of France" (and Flanders) in 2016, I shall plant a cross at the graves or memorials of each of the men listed above. If the people of the village of Arlesey can manage to perform such a task for the 87 fallen listed on its war memorial then I'd be disappointed not to manage our small number (especially so given that two of which are in the village).
Once done, I'll then turn my attention to those names on the Second World War memorial.

So, that's the task. I'll keep you posted as to how things are proceeding courtesy of this blog, Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #EzRemembersYou). And obviously any information that any of you out there may have that could prove of any assistance, I'd be only too willing to receive. Here's to #Operation2016. Lest We Forget.

* Many thanks to Mike Welton for the ongoing help with my research and to Peter Martin for the additional photographs

"Lerrem 'ave it!"

11-11-11: We Will Remember Them

Every year I am sent a small wooden Remembrance cross from the Royal British Legion.  Usually I either pass it to the mother-in-law, whose father was killed in Burma during the Second World War, or I take it to the small war memorial in the village on Remembrance Sunday and hand it to the Elder Slushette to plant alongside the numerous others.

This year I shall plant it alongside my maternal grandfather's grave in nearby Skeffling.  

The inscription on the headstone can be found on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site and reads: 

In Memory of

Stoker 1st Class ALLAN DOUGLAS

P/KX 98815, Royal Navy

who died age 46

on 08 December 1944

Son of Edward and Harriet Douglas;

husband of Maggie Ann Douglas, of Skeffling.

Remembered with honour

On the Naval History website, in its list of casualties for Friday, 8th December 1944, it states he died of illness at RN Auxiliary Hospital, Sherborne.  

Up until recently, I tended to concentrate mainly on the military members of Dad's family.  These include my great grandad, Frederick, who enlisted in the Army and saw service in the Boer War and then against the Kaiser's Turkish allies in Egypt.  Then there was grandad Charles who was evacuated off the beaches at Dunkirk only to return to France in the wake of the D-Day landings.  Even dad was a volunteer, joining the RAF as opposed to being forced in through National Service, only to then come out early in order to take up farm work back in the East Riding.  It's a decision he's often regretted.  Had the requirement for a chest operation not scuppered my own attempts to follow him I could have become the fourth generation of the Lusmore family to have chosen a military way of life.

Overlooked in all this was Grandad Douglas.  Ironic really, as Mum's dad Allan is the only member of my immediate family to actually have died in service during armed conflict.  My ignorance of the man even stretched to his precise cause of death.  I'd grown up believing it to be down to an accident involving hot coals being dropped on his foot while stoking and Grandad not then getting the injury treated properly.  I'm now led to believe this not to be the case.

All I grew up knowing for a fact was that because of the timing of his passing, Granny Douglas despised Christmas.  And she never indulged my childhood interest in "what Grandad did in the war". 

From the snippets I've heard from others, Allan had a typically Douglas down-to-earth approach to the war (and life in general).  He must have enjoyed shore leave - Mum was one of ten children!  And he liked a tipple in the old Sun Inn; a tale goes that the local bus driver once had to come in to the pub and practically drag him out to ensure he didn't miss his connection to Hull for re-embarkation.  

However, my favourite tale is one recounted to me by a neighbour and was told him by my uncle Jack:  "While on shore leave, your grandad was asked what his ship had been doing.  Your grandad said, 'We've been patrolling off some foreign place or other, mekkin sure the Germans dayen't gerrit.  Having layked at the place, ah'd lerrem 'ave it!'"
But he did his duty.  As did countless others.

And so today, while pausing for thought at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (of the eleventh year) to remember those who have made - and continue to make - the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country, I'll reserve special thought for Grandad Allan who might well have come to some other arrangement with the Germans had he had his way!

If there's just one tune you play today...

It must be this one. 
Sunday 14th November. Lest we forget.

I took both my daughters to the village war memorial this morning to mark Remembrance Sunday with a healthy turnout of fellow Ezzies.  

Easington's memorial is a fairly basic but still aesthetic affair.  According to the War Memorials Trust it's one of "an estimated one hundred thousand" in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland.  Sadly, for whatever reason, it is not listed on the Royal British Legion's Roll of Honour list of Yorkshire War Memorials.
It's quite awe-inspiring to think that the scene in front of my eyes this morning was being replicated up and down the length and breadth of our fair isles, as indeed it was when the eleventh hour struck on Thursday (Armistice Day).  Proof that we will never forget.
It was the Younger Slushette's first such occasion (she slept through last year's anniversary at the Cenotaph in Hull) and she behaved impeccably.

Next year I shall regale her with tales of what her great-grandads did in "the War".  I bet she can't wait...

One in a hundred-thousand

A Home Run

Saturday 17 October - Yorkshire Main, League Cup Round 2 (home) Lost 1-5
Saturday 24 October - Thoresby Colliery Welfare (home) Drew 0-0
Saturday 31 October - FC Brimington (home) Won 3-1
Saturday 7 November - Kiveton Park (home) Drew 1-1

As described in my previous post, the fact that Hull City had a game on Remembrance Sunday allowed me to do something I've been meaning to for a few years now, namely observe the commemorations at the city's own Cenotaph in Paragon Square as opposed to the traditional gathering around the war memorial in Easington. And although the first part of the service - including the two minutes' silence - was observed from under the shelter of the new Station complex overhang, Emma and I did brave the elements to stand and observe the march past of veterans. It was a very moving experience and one I hope both Emma and Katie will want to be part of for years to come. Lest we forget.

On a far less important note, Sunday was also the first day in a month when I’ve not had to begin worrying about producing a match programme for the following Saturday. That’s because the 1-1 draw with Kiveton Park the previous afternoon brought to an end a run of four successive home matches.

Having increased the size of our match day magazine this season to 28 pages, filling four back-to-back issues has proved hard work – even for somebody who spiels at much tosh as I do. By the last one I really was struggling for inspiration and was thankful for our opponents sending me enough info on their club to fill double the space usually allocated.
On the field we haven’t really made the most of our sustained home advantage; a damaging cup defeat being accompanied by just the one win and two frustrating draws. Still, the league results stretched our unbeaten run in that competition to eight matches and we are gaining a reputation as a hard team to beat. Wins in our two games in hand on most teams would elevate us into the promotion places…now there’s a thought!
Last Saturday’s pre-match minute's silence, which was only slightly marred by spectator “Awd Wezzie” Brian who was too busy telling everybody about his recent holiday that he missed the whistle to start it, helped us play our own small part in the commemorations mentioned at the start of this piece.

It was also a moment probably close to the heart of one of our linesmen, Harry Hardy (pictured above, right), who at “allegedly” 83yrs old could easily have been remembering fellow servicemen!
Our next opponents at Low Farm are Yorkshire Main who, coincidentally were the first of our four recent weekly visitors.
That day saw a strange game in the League Cup. We started like a train and seemed to cause them all sorts of bother, eventually taking the lead midway through the first half (below) only to immediately concede an equaliser.
By the break we were 2-1 down and early in the second half it was three, courtesy of a penalty for handball for which Hutchy was dismissed. We battled to the end and for a time actually overcame our numerical deficiency to boss things. But Main hit us twice near the end to complete a comprehensive win.

Central Midlands League registrar (& Bonanza supremo) Rob Hornby was a visitor to Low Farm for the Main game and wrote a nice little piece about us on the Tony Kempster site. It’s one of several pieces submitted by Groundhoppers to various web sites over the past few years, telling of their trips down to the East End of Holderness and, I’m pleased to say, all have had nothing but compliments for the way we do things at our club.

The dedication of these people is quite staggering. In the past fortnight we’ve had a guy from Blackpool and another from London. The former had to get a taxi from Hull (24 miles) as the buses didn’t tie-in with the change to 2.00pm kick-offs; while the London Hopper stated his departure time as 5.45am on his trek north. (I actually think if I’d been making such a journey I’d have gone the extra mileage to see Bridlington entertain Scarborough in front of the NCEL’s biggest ever crowd – 1,082). But each to their own and we’re grateful for their interest.
Following the Main game we played out a goalless affair with Thoresby Colliery on the first wet afternoon of the season. It was a game we should have won but unfortunately we just couldn't find the finishing touch against another side well organised and keen to get the ball down and play.
Adding to the frustration of the result, we saw young “Van Pursey” sent off after the final whistle. As the case is currently the subject of an appeal I best not say too much but it was a decision that left most people within the club not only very surprised but also angry.

Light relief on the day was provided from the sidelines. Crowd banter is something that has been associated with Low Farm for years. Certainly when I first started watching and then playing for the club, the home "crowd" could be relied upon to provide their own moments of merriment.  During this game it was the opposition keeper who got more than he bargained for when attempting to be funny at the expense of the "Farm Faithful". As if we’ve never been called “Sheep Shaggers” before! He was soon told in no uncertain terms that, “It’s not only sheep son, it’s anything on four legs. But bah, it’s ‘elluva job tryin’ to kiss ‘em when you’re shaggin’ ‘em!”

Against Thoresby “The Shed” (aka Bonus Electrical Shelter) came into its own for the very first time thanks to the inclement conditions that forced most spectators under its protective roof. Their humour that day was mainly at the expense of the lino (or referee’s assistant) who, in fairness, took it all in good heart.
There was also a smile on Pursey's face when he bounced back to hit a stunner as we returned to winning ways against FC Brimington the following Saturday. Gav also finally broke his duck for the season with an exquisite second and after the Derbyshire side had reduced arrears, victory was sealed by one of the best own goals I'm ever likely to see – a bullet-like diving header that gave the Brimington keeper no chance.

And so to last weekend’s visit of bottom club Kiveton Park (in which Owen Mountain - above - appears to be proving the theory that kissing is indeed difficult when taking from behind!). In the event the Sheffield side reinforced our view that although the CML Premier Division might lack the “stand out” clubs of the likes of Chalk Lane, Reckitts and Sculcoates of recent HPL years (although Parkhouse in particular look a class act) the league also has no “whipping boys”. On the evidence of their performance at Low Farm I would certainly back Kiveton to give any of the teams currently occupying the lower positions in the HPL Premier Division a game.
 We “got out of gaol” courtesy of Farny’s 86th minute strike (above) that nestled nicely in the corner moments after Club Sec Judy, watching from her position behind the counter of the Tea Hut, had said: “Oh Farny, you’ve gone too far!” That's what’s known as a “Doug Clubley Moment” in Easington! Having referred to banter from the sidelines, some of the Farm Faithful’s finest moments are captured for posterity on a video of an “Old Farm” derby between United and neighbours Holmpton back in January 1991. That game was one of the last to be played by the then record goal scorer Melvin Douglas. He died from a heart attack a couple of months later, aged only 30. Also playing for the Eastenders that day was Mike “Raggy” Hudson. Six years later he too would see his life cut tragically short, at the age of just 25.

I mention both men because recently we finally managed to unveil some memorial benches named in honour of these two and local football & cricket supporter Colin Cooper. The fact that it has taken so long doesn’t reflect very well on the Club although, in truth, the work recently undertaken at the ground at least now ensures that the benches can be given a fitting home.
Returning to the present players and, after a month at home, we embark on our first away trip in five weeks on Saturday when we visit Thorne Colliery. An interesating one this. I've heard several reports of our opponents and in particular the type of support they attract to their Moorends Welfare ground. But, like much of what's been said beforehand during this wonderful Central Midlands experience we're currently undertaking, I set off down the M18 in expectation of another extremely enjoyable day out. And three points would be nice...

NOTE: Thanks to Burt Graham, Rob Hornby and Colin Brammer for most of the photos used above

Stoking the passion!

Sunday 8 November - Hull City 2 Stoke City 1
Remembrance Sunday / Up 'N' Under...

It’s not often that I’m “Mr. Popular” in our house, especially with Emma who usually accuses me of taking her younger sister’s side in arguments (she’s got a point, but that’s only because at six Emma’s huffs and sulks are shorter and less disruptive than three-year-old Katie’s, which usually involve the sort of wailing reserved for Palestinian funerals!).
Anyway, the reason for my recent elevation is that last Sunday I took Daughter No.1 to see her first ever Hull City match. And what’s more, she loved it. So much so that not only has she demanded we return “soon” but her ongoing list to Father Christmas now includes a fluffy Roary Tiger, pink hat and scarf set and some Hull City girl’s jim-jams. “I wouldn’t worry, she’ll forget about them in the morning” advised the missus. But she hasn’t, and it’s now nearly a week!
While I’d like to think that the reason for her delight (and my subsequent popularity) was a stunning Jimmy Bullard-inspired City fight back that yielded a much-needed three points in the quest for Premier League survival, courtesy of a last gasp winner by "Vinegar of Hessleroad"; it’s probably more to do with the fact that her trip to the KC Stadium gained her kudos among her classmates…and a “Wow!” from her teacher.
It's all a far cry I might add from when I bounced into school following my first visit to watch The Tigers. All I got following a 2-1 home defeat by Fulham at Boothferry Park in September 1975 was: “Never mind, you probably won’t have to go again for a while”; which I didn’t, as it happened.
Part of the reason why I had to wait so long was that Dad, a “love Geoff Boycott and eat your greens” kind of man, never has been the biggest football fan. And so it was mates’ dads who I relied on for my first glimpses of the lush green Boothferry Park turf.
The results weren’t great during those formative years. Charlton (0-2, Nov ‘77 despite Billy Bremner's best efforts) and Barnsley (0-2, Nov ‘79 after which four of us had to endure the train journey back from Boothferry Halt to Paragon Station with a coach rammed full of South Yorkshire folk) both followed Fulham out of Hull with the points. In fact the only highlight of my early visits was a Keith Edwards-inspired 4-1 win over Walsall; my first ever night match and scene of one of the greatest goals I’ve ever witnessed live. Think Roberto Baggio for Italy against Uruguay in the 1990 World Cup and you’re on the right lines. I wonder if, in later years, Emma will remember much about her first trip to City. Somehow I doubt it. To be fair much of mine is a blur and I was nine at the time. The details of the various scorers had to be looked up in books some years later, even Vince Grimes who put City one up, although I can still see the goal itself: a free-kick tapped to him about 25 yards out and arrowing into the top corner directly below where I was sitting in the front row of the South Stand behind Bunkers Hill.

I seem to recall Fulham counted George Best, Bobby Moore and Rod Marsh among their number at the time although none played. The only player I recall for them that day was bearded goal scorer Viv Busby. Apart from this my memories are confined to the abuse my mate's dad got when pre-empting another Fulham goal (he was a Londoner, they were his team hence the trip) only to be thwarted by a great save from Jeff Wealands which prompted what seemed the whole of the aforementioned Bunkers Hill "choir" to turn round and gesticulate at said mate's dad and those of us unfortunate enough to be in his company!

 I also wonder if time will distort Emma's memories similar to how they've already rearranged her recollection of the numerous rugby trips across the city to Craven Park (although she does remember the important bits - "we beat the black and whites didn't we dad?"). While I will remember the Stoke game as Phil Brown's "Last Chance Saloon", Jimmy Bullard's home debut and Olofinjana's first - and probably best - goal for his new club, my daughter will, I'd guess, retain memories of those cerise pyjamas, Roary Tiger and her dad making an arse of himself by gesticulating wildly at the Stokies following both City goals (like Tig-Chat match reporter Steve Weatherill I don't like Stoke!). Or perhaps it'll be The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling", one of her favourite songs ("this was on X-Factor dad") and the sound that accompanied our happy exit from the KC.
 Prior to the game I bought the latest (80th!) edition of “City Independent” and a decent read it is too; took me back to my own “It’s not the Programme mate” days recounted in my last blog. And for good measure I also bought an official programme, which to be fair has been consistently good for a number of years now.
Sunday’s trip to ‘The Circle’ formed part of a fulfilling day, which had begun in solemn style with a drenching at Hull’s Remembrance Day service on Ferensway and ended with yet another superb carvery at The Haven Arms in Hedon (complete with two very nice pints of proper ale - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin from Skipton and Willy’s Last Resort, a Cleethorpes brew).
The trip to Hull also allowed me to catch up on a bit of "quality" time with members of my family, something that has been restricted recently by a glut of home matches at Low Farm and subsequent time spent locked away in the study producing match programmes (see next Blog). Thankfully I did manage to "put my stint in" on Halloween and Bonfire Night.In addition I somehow wangled a "night out" of my own although it was a Monday and as it involved watching one of the worst City performances I can recall (the 2-0 defeat at Fulham via ESPN at The Holderness Inn in Patrington) it shouldn't really register. Not even a very nice pint or three of Black Sheep - and a not so nice Golden Pippin ("a word landlord please") - could salvage the evening.

The second occasion was far more enjoyable – another visit to the new Hull Truck Theatre to enjoy John Godber’s 25th Anniversary production of “Up ‘N’ Under” complete with Abi Titmuss! A cracking evening was enjoyed by my better half and I, which also included taking in a pre-show meal in the Theatre’s smart café-bar. As with “Confessions of a City Fan” this latest Hull Truck experience was worth every penny…even if the aforementioned Abi remains far too over-dressed throughout.

But, hey I've just seen City beat Stoke - you can't have everything!