Welsh mining

It was another productive day at Woking, though it didn’t start off so well.

Normally, when I turn up, there’s someone in the office to open the security door for me but not this morning. When this happens I have to wait for the main entrance to open (9:30). Fortunately there’s a lovely shade drenched bench under a tree where I can read. Of course it means almost half an hour of time not spent researching.

Eventually I was sat at the computer, trying to login. I haven’t logged on for ages and, no surprise, my password had expired. I sent out an SOS to Kirsty to come and save me. I then wondered how long I’d wait but didn’t have time to answer as she appeared, clad in a splendidly summery floral frock.

My logon was easily fixed and I was soon hard at it. Easily my most productive dead soldier was a chap called Mervyn Crawshay.

Although he has very little to do with Farnham, he and his wife, Violet, did live in Heath End for a while and I guess that’s enough to claim him. In fact, Violet was born in India so she’s not exactly from Surrey either. Her father, Bernard Edward Mumm, was a Captain in the Queen’s own Hussars.

Mervyn was the son of a very wealthy colliery owner from Glamorgan, North Wales. Mervyn’s grandfather was reportedly the wealthiest man in North Wales and his son took over the business. Mervyn preferred horses to mining and joined the Dragoon Guards in time to head over for the final moments of the Boer War.

But his story isn’t just about the wars. His expert horsemanship was enough to make him an international champion, competing in horsing events as far away as the US.

He was also a prolific diarist, writing an entry every day as often as possible. In fact, when the Great War began and his company was one of the first to go as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) he wrote of his experiences in a very down to earth manner. I particularly like the entry for October 5, 1914:

“Kavanagh and I go straight to the Ritz where we are taken in free, it has just reopened… Round Paris, to Chatham Champs Elysee and tea at Café de la Paix… Harvey of the 9th Lancers joins up, we go to Moulin Rouge.

“All too soon recalled to report back to the Regiment, after managing to obtain petrol and a furious night drive… I motor on to the billet with Osborne, everyone surprised to see me back so soon, and sound.”

Shortly after this he was badly wounded and died as a result. And while he didn’t last very long, his diaries are still extant, held in the Glamorgan archives.

Captain Mervyn Crawshay. Unit: 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) Dragoon Guards. Death: 31 October 1914 Killed in action Western Front Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205292866

In the course of researching Mervyn, I discovered why Belgium was such a bloodbath. It’s all down to the 1839 Treaty of London. It was as a result of this treaty that Belgium became separate from the Netherlands and a country in its own right. It was also declared neutral. So, when Germany decided to invade Belgium in August 1914, the King of Belgium invoked the treaty and said that France and Britain had to step in a repulse them. And so began WW1.

German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg quite famously exclaimed that he could not believe that Britain and Germany would be going to war over a mere ‘scrap of paper’ which was the treaty. A scrap of paper which could have prevented the deaths of millions of young men and women had all parties adhered to it.

Okay, I’ll admit that WW1 was much more than just the breaking of the Treaty of London – there was an awful lot of political machinations occurring throughout Europe however, had the Germans not invaded Belgium on their way to invade France, Britain would more than likely have not entered the conflict when they did. How different things would have been then.

Not that that helped poor Mervyn.

…and before I forget…tonight we had roast sea bass on Mediterranean vegetables: