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The ICCM Journal | Spring 2021 | V89 No. 1
pulpit: the boys enlisted into the army Stories of young men who joined the army during the first world war. High Easter is a village some ten miles to the north of Chelmsford. It is a lovely village with a fine church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and large a churchyard. In 2011, the population was 754. I went to visit the village and had a look around the graves and headstones. To my surprise, even to my shock, I read the headstone of one soldier, named as Private A. Staines, of the Essex Regiment who died in 1915 at the age of 16. I was really shocked. The gravestone is difficult to read, but this is what it declared, right.
My grandson Tom aged 16 by the grave of a 16 year old soldier.
I learned that he was the son of William and Sarah Mary Staines, of Chalks Cottage, High Easter. He had less than 6 months qualifying service and did not get a War Gratuity as he had no overseas service.
I immediately recruited my oldest grandson Tom, also aged 16 (above) and dragged him to High Easter to pose by this other 16-year-old’s gravestone to emphasise what a 16-year-old looks like in normal times. But how could a 16-year-old have been killed in a soldier’s uniform? I was just a bit fuming! Well, then I did some research, and all is not what it appeared to me to be at first sight. I was helped by one of the proprietors of Lodge Brothers Coaches, just down the road from the church. I got lucky! Mr Lodge went out of his way to be helpful, even leaving work to go home and fetch me a book about the village in the 20th century. He photocopied some pages, and this was a great discovery for me. The vicar of the parish, back in 1914, wrote a regular report on what was happening in the village and also reported on those villagers who were involved with the war. In April, 1915, the vicar reported as follows:
April. The War. It is with much sorrow that we think of the death of Arthur Staines, one of the recent recruits. He enlisted last November and joined the 5th Batt. of the Essex Regt quartered at Peterborough. There he was taken ill on Feb 4th and was moved to the First Eastern General Hospital at Cambridge, where he died on Feb 22nd cerebrospinal meningitis. (His burial took place at High Easter where the register records Feb 27th Arthur Staines 17)
A. Staines 2894 Private Essex Regiment 22nd February 1915 Age 16
God took him
I was relieved that Arthur didn’t die in action, but even so, how did a 15-year-old manage to enlist at all? I discovered that a man wishing to join the army could do so providing he passed certain physical tests and was willing to enlist for a number of years. The recruit had to be taller than 5 feet 3 inches and aged between 18 and 38 (although he could not be sent overseas until he was aged 19). At first, enlisting was not compulsory and as the war effort grew it became obvious that there was a need to introduce conscription. After a fairly unsuccessful recruitment scheme was introduced, known as the Derby Scheme, the Government introduced The Military Service Act on 27 January 1916. All voluntary enlistment was stopped. All British males were now deemed to have enlisted on 2 March 1916 – that is, they were conscripted – if they were aged between 19 and 41 and resided in Great Britain (excluding Ireland) and were unmarried or a widower on 2 November 1915. Conscripted men were no longer given a choice of which service, regiment or unit they joined, although if a man preferred the navy it got priority to take him. This act
