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Thursday, 2 March, 2017
War stories from the
Newbury Weekly News
Four sons at war
MR JOHN Fox, a well-
known Newbury tailor, is
proud of the fact that all
his four sons are on
service, and has reason to
be also proud of their
patriotic record
(April 27,
1916).
One of them, Edward, has
been a prisoner in Germany
for 18 months.
Another, Corporal CR Fox, of
the Royal Berks, has been
twice wounded in action,
and has now been
discharged from the Army.
He has done 10 years, and
went through most of the
serious fighting in France.
A third son, AJ, has had a
rapid run of promotion. He
had been in civil occupation
in France and had a good
knowledge of the language.
At the outbreak of war he
enlisted as an interpreter
and was appointed
requisition and supply
officer in the ASC.
His promotions came
rapidly. Lance Corporal,
October; Corporal;
November, 1914; Sergeant,
December, 1914; Colour
sergeant, January; Staff
Sergeant Major, July 1915.
He has just been granted a
commission as second lieu-
tenant and posted to the 6th
battalion of the Royal Berks.
He has been home on Easter
leave.
Soldiers up for a scrap
SECOND Lieutenant AJ
Fox of the 6th Berks BEF
(see above) writes
(May
11, 1916):
“My platoon is at present
resting away from the noise
of the guns.
“I would very much like
them to have as many sports
as possible while they are in
rest – I have been able to fit
them up well with the
exception of a set of boxing
gloves.
“Could you put me on the
track of anyone with a
cheap second-hand set for
sale?
“If so I should be greatly
indebted. The local
tradesmen are demanding
fabulous sums for games,
and as they will become
useless when we go back to
the trenches, I would much
rather have a second-hand
set.
“I have several Newburians
in my platoon, and they are
quite happy and fit, and
enjoying their rest
immensely during the fine
weather.”
A YOUNG officer from Thatcham
was awarded the Victoria Cross
for gallantry during the First
World War.
Second Lieutenant Alexander
Buller Turner had military blood
coursing through his veins as his
grandfather was Admiral Sir
Alexander Buller GCB, commander
in chief of the Royal Navy’s China
Station in 1895 and who presided
over the Far Eastern Crisis of
1897/98.
The lieutenant was the eldest son of
Major Charles Turner, and the
family moved to Thatcham House,
in Turners Drive, in 1902.
Alexander was educated at
Parkside, Ewell, and Wellington
College, and shortly after war
broke out, he joined the 3rd
Battalion of the Royal Berkshire
Regiment. He was sent to France,
attached to the 1st Battalion in
June 1915.
Turner sustained a head wound
from a sniper on August 12, and,
after recuperation at home,
returned to duty on September 7.
Later that month, the 1st Battalion
were involved in the Battle of Loos,
on the La Bassée railway in a great
slagheap known as Fosse 8.
A brigade of the Scottish 9th Divi-
sion had reached the foot of Fosse 8
on September 25, but the Germans
counter-attacked the same evening
and fierce fighting ensued.
On the morning of September 28,
German bombers– men armed
with hand grenades – attacked and
Lt Price Lloyd of the Welsh
Regiment recalled: “Gallantly
though they fought, the regimental
bombers could not stem the flood,
and their colonel called down the
trenches for an officer to advance to
clear the way.
“His appeal was soon answered – in
the British Army, the occasion will
always find the man.
“Second-Lt Turner at once came
forward, and, stopping
only to pick up a bag of
grenades, made his way
along Slag Alley
towards the Germans.
“Calmly he walked
straight into that hell of
shrieking splinters, and
threw bomb after bomb
into the press of the
Germans.
“For a time they held
their ground and hurled
back bomb for bomb,
but they could not kill
this tireless
Englishman. Man after
man of them fell, and
the remnant began to retreat.
“Turner gave them no respite, but
up the deep trench, littered with
fallen earth and the horrible debris
of battle, he followed them swiftly,
flinging his deadly bombs before
him as he went.
“When his comrades reached him,
200 yards further along the trench,
it was only to find that a German
bomb had finally found its mark.”
Alexander died from his wounds
three days later on October 1, aged
22.
A letter in the
NWN
from Cpl W
Hawkings, published shortly after
the attack said: “Lt
Turner got right up
on the German
parapet, stood up
and hurled bombs at
them as fast as ever
he could.
“A pluckier deed I
never saw. I am
proud to have
served under such
an officer, and I
know Thatcham
will be proud of
him.”
Col Carter, who led
the rearguard
action, said: “His
action saved us a loss of from 200 to
300 men, and I was able to order an
immediate advance at a time when
every minute’s delay was a serious
matter.”
An account from another private
said: “If a VC was ever earned, it
was by him.”
1915: “If a VC was ever earned, it was by him”
Second Lieutenant Alexander Buller
Turner and, right, his V ictoria Cross
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