[Your Towns and Cities in the Great War 01] • Isle of Wight in the Great War by Trow M.J

Author:Trow, M.J. [Trow, M.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, World War I
ISBN: 9781783463015
Goodreads: 29331123
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2015-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

Carrington was probably talking about city boys but the rural poverty of the Isle of Wight – which had seen many families try their luck in other parts of the Empire before the war began – produced very similar results. The editorial also pointed out however that with the appalling death rate, there was a greater need than ever to look after the children, because they would be the citizens of Empire of the future.

Looking after the children was not as easy as it had been. The absence of father-figures was a major problem, both because the principal bread-winner had gone (separation allowances from the Front were often late or inadequate) and because of the absence of a strong role model. Mrs Sheaf of Robin Hood Street, Newport, had five children and the eldest was Ronald. He (sometimes) attended Barton School on the edge of the town where the fearsome, yet kindly, headmaster, William ‘Skipper’ Ouseley, who would be given an MBE for his fund-raising during the war, received a desperate letter from Mrs Sheaf.

‘Dear Sir,

I am writing to know if you would give my Ronald a good thrashing.’ Ronald had done a bunk with money she had given him to get some medicine for her from the chemists; he had spent it on the cinema, sweets and cakes and was gone for eight hours. ‘I can’t do anything with him,’ the bed-ridden Mrs Sheaf complained, longing for the reassurance of her husband’s belt on the boy. ‘He is always going to the pictures [the Medina Cinema in Newport High Street]. I’m sure I don’t know where he gets his money from as his father is away in France so he takes advantage of him being away. I don’t think he will be any better until he is put away somewhere.’10

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