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Arthur Bates D.S.O. TD
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Arthur Sydney Bates D.S.O. TD (1879 - 1958)

Col. Arthur Sydney Bates D.S.O. TD
Born in Paddington, London, Middlesex, England, United Kingdommap
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Brother of , , and
Husband of — married 26 Apr 1905 in Pirbright, Surrey, England, United Kingdommap
Father of
Died at age 78 in Manydown Park, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, United Kingdommap
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Contents

Biography

Middlesex (historic flag)
Arthur Bates D.S.O. TD was born in Middlesex, England.
Notables Project
Arthur Bates D.S.O. TD is Notable.

Col. Arthur Sydney Bates D.S.O. was an infantry officer in the British Army in World War One who experienced the Christmas Truce of 1914, an expert marksman who represented Britain in shooting championships. He was descended from military officers, textile merchants, ship-owners, East India Company servants, churchmen, gentry and ultimately medieval nobility. He was a ship-owner, Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society in London, was on the Livery of the Merchant Taylors and collected watch-cocks. He was mentioned four times in Despatches; received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and was created a Companion of the DSO.

Birth and Parentage

rthur Sydney Bates was the eldest child and only son of Sydney Eggers Bates of Manydown, Hampshire, and grandson of Sir Edward Bates 1st Bt of Bellefield. His mother was Elizabeth née Malet daughter of Lt.-Col. G. G. Malet, 3rd Queens Own Bombay Light Infantry.[1]He was born at home, 15, Talbot Square, Westminster, London, Middlesex, on 18 June 1879, and christened a month later at St James, Paddington, Westminster, on 17 July.[2][3][4][5]

England and Wales Census, 1881 for Sydney E Bates, Talbot Square, Paddington, London, Middlesex, England [6]

Profile Relation to Head Sex Age Marital Status Profession, Trade, Employment or of Independent Means Place of Birth
Sydney Bates Head Male 29 Married East India Merchant Lancashire, Liverpool
Elizabeth J Bates Wife Female 26 Married India, Grejerate
Arthur Bates Son Male 0 Single Paddington, Middlesex
Ellen R Busse Servant Female 26 Single Cook Illegible
Emma Bortley Servant Female 25 Single Housemaid Aldsey, Bedfordshire, England

Education

He was at first educated at Ashampstead School, Eastbourne ('an establishment for Young Gentlemen')[7] where the headmaster was the Reverend James Howard Palmer, (married to Marian Palmer née Edwards), [8]

Arthur S. Bates, Upperton Road, Eastbourne St Ann's, Sussex, England, United Kingdom [9][10]

Profile Relation to Head Sex Age Marital Status Profession, Trade, Employment or of Independent Means Place of Birth
Arthur S. Bates Pupil Male 11 Scholar Middlesex, Paddington

Arthur was one of 20 pupils. The small school had a cook, parlourmaid, kitchenmaid, housemaid and groom, and apart from the Rev. Palmer, the only other schoolmaster was bachelor Sidney E. Clark.

Arthur then went to Winchester, (House: Moberly's (Toye's, or 'B') where, like many of his cousins, he shot in the VIII. [11][12] He was a Private in the 1st Hampshire Volunteer Battalion between 1896 and 1898.[13]

rthur joined the 1st London Rifle Brigade as 2nd Lt (supernumerary) in April 1900.[14]

England and Wales Census, 31 March 1901 - Sydney E Bates, Paddington, London, England, United Kingdom[15]

Profile Relation to Head Sex Age Marital Status Profession, Trade, Employment or of Independent Means Place of Birth
Sydney E Bates Head Male 49 Married Ship Owner V I P Lancashire, Liverpool
Elizabeth J Bates Wife Female 46 Married India, British Subject
Arthur S. Bates Son Male 21 Single Clerk in Shipping Office Paddington, Middlesex
Norah E Bates Daughter Female 19 Single Paddington, London
Dorothy Bates Daughter Female 8 Paddington, London
Sarah Arthur Servant Female 34 Single Cook Domestic Scotland
Isabella Trinner Servant Female 28 Single Lady's Maid Domestic Southampton, Hampshire
Florence Noller Servant Female 27 Single Housemaid Domestic Occold, Suffolk
Maria H Brown Servant Female 20 Single Housemaid Domestic Upton Park, Essex
Elizabeth Philpott Servant Female 18 Single Kitchen Maid Domestic Herne Hill, London
Mary Woolford Servant Female 16 Single School Room Ward Domestic Paddington, London
John Smith Servant Male 32 Single Butler Domestic Winstead, Hampshire
John Collier Servant Male 19 Single Footman Domestic Highclere, Berkshire


  • Arthur was promoted to Lieutenant in 1901[16]and
  • Captain in 1905: 5th Battalion City of London Rifles Regiment. [17]

He followed his father into the family ship-owning business and became a partner in P. Wigham-Richardson & Co, steamship owners, coal and coke exporters, ship and insurance brokers, (later better known as Swan Hunter) writing from 4, Fen-Court, London EC, on 1 January 1905.[18][19]

Colonel Philip Wigham Richardson of Whigham-Richardson & Co was a member of Bisley, where the National Rifle Association (NRA) and numerous other rifle and clay shooting clubs have had their home since 1890, and received an O.B.E., V.D. (Volunteer Officers' Decoration) for services rendered throughout the Empire for 40 years in connection with rifle shooting. [20]The 'popular secretary' of the National Rifle Association was at that time Lieutenant Colonel Charles Robert Crosse. Arthur Bates was a keen marksman, a member of the NRA, and his frequent attendance at Bisley would certainly have meant that he was present at Bisley Meetings and social events, where he would have met the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Crosse and his wife Catherine, née Porter, who lived at the Secretary's Lodge.

Shooting

[21]

Bates, an expert shot, won the National Rifle Association Bronze Medal in 1907.

the finest score of all fell to the rifle of Captain A. S. Bates, of the London Rifle Brigade, who finished with aggregate of 103 out of a possible 105. At 200 and 500 yards scored 34 points, and at 600 he got the possible. Captain Arthur Sydney Bates, who thus wins the N.R.A. Bronze Medal, is 28 years of age. He is son of Mr. S. E. Bates, of Manydown Park. Basingstoke, and a grandson of the late Sir Edward Bates, of Gym Castle. Flintshire. Captain Bates some years ago established his reputation as a marksman. In civil life he is a partner in the well-known shipping firm Wigham, Richardson and Co., of Fen-court, Fenchurch-street. City, and his wife is a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Crosse, the popular Secretary the National Rifle Association.[19]

He was Adjutant for the winning British Olympic Team in 1908 and the British Empire Team in 1910 and 1913. [22][13]

On 12 September 1909, Lloyd's Weekly News reported on various doings by the Territorials, including the (5th City of London) London Rifle Brigade, who held their final shoot at Bisley, at which 'Captain Bates headed the scores with 330'.[23]

Manydown

Manydown Park, near Basingstoke, Hants., Arthur's home, now legendary for being the place where, in 1802, Harris Bigg-Wither proposed to Jane Austen and was the next day refused, was the location of the Manydown Rifle Club. Probably founded in 1901 or 1902, the Club range was built on a large field named 'Rifle Butts', and is still part of the 5,000 acre estate currently owned by The Manydown Company, farmed by the Oliver-Bellasis family.

The Hants and Berks Gazette and Middlesex and Surrey Journal of Saturday 24 October 1903 reported on Manydown Rifle Club's Annual General Meeting, held at Wootton Village Hall, and attended by the President, Arthur's father Sydney Eggers Bates. He presented prizes to the winners of the bronze medal at a previously-held prize meeting, and the National Rifle Association Rifleman's Certificate to five men, including Arthur, 24, who scored highest, with 138. (Conditions: 30 shots at 50 yards; highest possible score, 150.) Arthur was presented with a walking stick,

a handsome one with a tortoiseshell handle as a mark of appreciation for the time and trouble he had taken in superintending the shooting and instructing members. By this stage, Manydown Rifle Club already had 35 members and honorary members. [24]

That Friday 6 November the Club held its weekly meeting and competed against Malshanger Rifle Club. Manydown won with Arthur shooting the highest score of 61. [25]

A cutting of the Hampshire Chronicle of 1907, reporting on the Club's first prize meeting held at Manydown Park provides one of the earliest documented existence of The Manydown Rifle Club. The prizes were presented by Lt. Col. R Crosse, Arthur's father-in-law. On Empire Day, (24 May) that year, Col. Bates gave a speech on patriotism and service at Perin's School, Alresford, (Est. 1698), where the scholars competed in a rifle competition, after which the Colonel himself presented the prizes. [26]

The Manydown Rifle Club was supported keenly by the family. On Saturday 9 October 1909, the Hampshire Observer and Basingstoke News reported on the 7th annual prize meeting; by this time, Arthur's sisters Dorothy and Edith were also shooting, with success. Dorothy herself scored 46 out of 48 in the 50 yds handicap. Arthur scored 44 out of 44, and Edith 41 out of 41. In the Aggregate Scores, Dorothy shot 36 deliberate, 35 rapid, (81 total). Arthur shot 44, 34, (78 total. Edith: 41, 32, (73 total). [27]

The English Twenty Club record books also show that Arthur was a member. Lieutenant A.S. Bates LRB was honorary secretary from 1905-1906 and in 1907, as Captain, won Silver in the Club Championship Jewels. [28]The English Twenty Club's archives contain several photographs of Arthur in both the Mackinnon Cup and the National.[29] Another English Twenty member was P.W. Richardson, Arthur's shipping company partner.

Marriage

Arthur was 25 when he and Mary da Costa Crosse married in Pirbright, Surrey, on 26 April 1905,[30][19] a mere six days after the death of his grandmother, Dowager Lady Ellen Bates, on 20 April. Her wedding present to the couple was table silver. [31]It was, of course, a Society wedding; There were eight bridesmaids; Mary's sister Jeanette, Arthur's sisters; Norah Ellen, Edith and Dorothy, three cousins of the Bride; the Misses K. and H. Crosse and Miss B. Porter, and a friend, Miss Alice Baker. The wedding reception took place at the 'Canadian Hut', Bisley Camp, lent by the Dominion Rifle Association, and the guest list, which was very long, included minor nobility, as well as members of the Bates and Crosse families, the Malets, the Porters, the Crosses, Thompsons, the Föhrings (Arthur's great aunt Emma and her German husband Dr Heinrich Föhring) (who had sailed over from Hamburg for two family weddings, as Arthur's first cousin Margaret Ellen Nicol, daughter of Arthur's aunt Ann Millicent and her husband Donald Ninian Nicol, MP for Argyllshire, was to be married the following day). Arthur's aunt Norah and her husband Stanes, (Mr and Mrs S. Chamberlayne), from Witherley, were also present, and gave the couple three silver sauce boats.

England and Wales Census, 2 April 1911 for Arthur Sydney Bates, Paddington, London, England, United Kingdom[32]

Profile Relation to Head Sex Age Marital Status Yrs married Profession, Trade, Employment or of Independent Means Est. D.o.B. Place of Birth
Arthur Sydney Bates Head Male 31 Married 5 SHIP-BROKER CAPTAIN LONDON RIFLE BRIGADE 1880 Paddington, London
Mary Da Costa Bates Wife Female 33 Married 5 1878 Canada Nova Scotia Resident
Alice Wyeth Servant Female 25 Single COOK 1886 Cliddesden, Hampshire
Ada Lawrence Servant Female 28 Single PARLOURMAID 1883 Deal, Kent
Lilian Martin Servant Female 24 Single HOUSEMAID 1887 New Brompton, Kent
Lucy Lawrence Servant Female 14 Single UNDER HOUSEMAID 1897 Walmer, Kent


The Great War

Not long after war broke out on 28 July 1914, Arthur was commander of D (No. 4) Company of the original first battalion when they embarked in Southampton for Le Havre, France on the Chyebassa, on 4 November 1914.[33]

Christmas Truce 1914

Present at the legendary Christmas Truce of 1914, [34][35] commanding the battalion’s Number 4 ('D') Company, he snatched a moment to write home to his sister Dotty.

[36]
[37]
On Christmas Day itself at many locations along the front something resembling football occurred. Private William Tapp of the Warwickshires wrote at Christmas from just above Ploegsteert Wood, ‘We are trying to arrange a football match with them’ — the Saxons — ‘for tomorrow, Boxing Day.’ Harassing British artillery fire, he claimed later, prevented it. There were other plans for competition, right up to New Year’s Day, once the clearance of corpses from No Man’s Land had exposed potential fields for play. However dotted by half-hidden turnips and cabbages, the spaces between the lines were at least as wide as a conventional soccer pitch. A London Rifles officer whose letter appeared in The Times on 1 January reported that ‘on Christmas Day a football match was played between them and us in front of the trench’. Perhaps because it was more appropriate later to deny it, the brigade’s official history would claim that no match happened, ‘because it would have been most unwise to allow the Germans to know how weakly the British trenches were held’. [34][38]

An account of the Christmas Truce appeared in the Northern Whig - Saturday 16 January 1915 in a letter to his mother from Private Willie Walsh, 1st Bn R.I.R:

Just a few lines to let you know, I am well and kicking. If the rain would only stop away we would not mind the frost so much. We are up to the knees in mud in the trenches. We spent Christmas in peace and quiet. On Christmas Eve night the Germans put up lights the top of their trenches as greeting, and shouted over to us English, "A happy Christmas to you," and responded by repeating the same. They then challenged to send over one man halfway, and they would do likewise, I got out our trench and walked over. I was met by a young German soldier, who shook hands with me, put his arms around my neck, and brought me right over to their trench. They came out, gathered round me like bees to shake hands, and gave a cheer of joy. We exchanged greetings, after which they gave me boxes of cigarettes, cigars, and some chocolate, and I gave them all my cigarettes. A German officer, probably thinking I was seeing too much of their trenches, approached and, shaking hands with me, wished a happy Christmas, after which he said I must return. When parting he said, ‘I beg of you not to fire and we won’t.' I promised that we would not. He gave me a German field postcard with his name and address. The translation in memento Christmas, 1914-15. Alivin Obermeier, Petershagen, Westfallen (Weber).’ I then returned to our trenches, and as soon as the boys saw me they cheered for all they were worth. Not a shot was heard that night nor on Christmas Day. Both sides took their turn singing the whole night through. Immediately after Stand to arms!’ voice broke the silence by shouting ’Good morning,’ and the Germans returned the compliment. The distance between is only 200 yards. They walked about all day in front of the trenches, and did the same. They would meet our fellows half-way, and have a chat and exchange things mementos. They gave us what we call the 'German brown bread'. It is a brown colour like our own wheaten. I had some of it. and it was all right. asked one fellow how liked the war, and said didn't like it He expected it would be over noon. They looked very clean and well cared for. As soon as dusk drew near both sides returned to their trenches, singing, fresh as until the danger rocket was fired at twelve o’clock, when all resumed their old positions. We were again blazing away at each other hard as ever. [39]


The Sligo Champion reported on Saturday 9 January 1915:

CHRISTMAS TRUCE.
How it occurred at the Front in the Trenches.
ENGLISH AND GERMANS PAL TOGETHER.
CALL FOR "TIPPERARY".
From letters that have come from the front it is now clear that at certain points an informal truce was observed during Christmas amongst the hostile armies at the front. The Germans and English for a couple of days fraternised together. In a letter home a sergeant describes how the Germans called for “Tipperary” to be sang to them and how an Irish regiment responded.
An Officer writes:—“Strolling down to the trenches on Christmas morning I was staggered to find Germans and English all crowded together between the opposing wire entanglements. I felt my pocket to make sure my revolver was there, and went over, too. It absolutely beat cock-fighting. Tommy Atkins was swopping Woodbines for rank cigars and talking a desperate lingo of Cockney, French, and pidgin—English. I found one fellow, small, grubby, and ill-shaven, who knew a few words of English. I asked him if he had ever been in England. He said, ‘No, but I am & clerk, and do business with England.’ ‘What is your business?” I shrieked with joy as he gravely said. 'Exporter of mouth-organs.’ Then heard a tittering sound behind me and looked round see a very small Saxon standing on tiptoe trying to reach the top of head, to the great joy of his pals. At regular intervals one would point to something and say, “Made in Germany,” and they would laugh to burst their seams. The one English phrase they all seem to know is ‘Made in Germany.’
A Gunner writes - ‘‘On Christmas Eve there was a lull in the firing going at all after 6 p.m. The Germans had a Christmas tree in the trenches and Chinese lanterns all along the top of the parapet. Eventually the Germans started shouting: ‘Come over here. I want to speak you.’ Our chaps hardly knew how to take this at first, but one of the 'nuts’ started to walk towards the German lines. A German met him half-way across. They shook hands and became quite friendly. In due time the ‘nut’ came back, and told all the others all about it. Some more of them took it in turns and visit the Germans, but the officer commanding would not allow more than three men to at time. ”I went myself Christmas Day and exchanged some cigarettes for cigars and this game was going on from Christmas Eve till twelve midnight Boxing Day without a single shot being fired.
‘‘Fancy a German shaking your hand though he were trying to smash your fingers, and then few days later trying to plug you. I hardly know what to think of it, but I fancy they are working up a big scheme that they can give us a doing, but our chaps are prepared.”
A Sergeant writes:—‘‘Christmas Day was the most wonderful day on record. From the German trenches came the sound of music. Right along the whole their line were paper lanterns. As I stood in wonder a rousing song came over to us. We were listening to ‘The Watch by the Rhine.” Some of our chaps were (or shooting the lights away, but almost at the first shot came a shout in really good English, “Stop shooting.” Then began a series of answering shouts from trench to trench. It was incredible. “Hallo, Hallo! you English; we wish to speak.” And everyone began to speak at once. Some were rational, others the reverse of complimentary. Eventually some sort of order obtained, and lo - a party of our men got out from the trenches and invited the Germans to meet them half-way and talk. “And there in the searchlight they stood. Englishman and German, chatting and smoking cigarettes midway between the lines. A rousing cheer went from friend and foe alike. The group was too far away for me to hear what was said, but presently we beard a cheery ‘Goodnight, merry Christmas and happy New Year you all,’ with which the parties returned to their respective trenches. “After this remained the whole night through, singing with the enemy song for song. Give us ‘Tipperary,’ they cried. Whereupon an adjacent Irish regiment let tremendous 'Whoop,' and complied with the request in way such as only Irishmen can. Presently there came a lull, and taking advantage of the comparative quiet, someone we could not tell who, walked across our front, went almost up to the German trenches, and after brief conversation with those who came out to meet him. He returned just as calmly as though had visited old acquaintances.’’ [40]

A letter to the Walsall Observer published on Saturday 20 February 1915 was entitled:

THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE.
We have received the following letter from a lance-corporal of the North Staffords at the Front:
Sir,—Reference your paper dated January 23, Private G. Taylor, 3rd Battalion British Expeditionary Force. Will you please allow through the medium of the Observer to contradict one letter which appears in your paper. I also was in the trenches Christmas Day, and personally interviewed the Germans. I cannot think why G. Taylor should condemn all people who wrote home regarding the truce at Christmas; and, regardless of what regiment he belongs to, he should first make the acquaintance of what regiments took part in it; also, if he refers to Army Orders, which I believe have been issued to the effect, That nothing of this kind of thing must take place again,” I am afraid he cannot then condemn us all as telling lies, for the statements are only too true. Yours, etc , X Y Z. [41]

Henry Williamson, the author of Tarka the Otter, joined the 5th Battalion City of London Regiment, London Rifle Brigade (LRB), (enrolment No. 9689) and joined P Company as a private. His account of the Truce appeared many years later in the Daily Express on Christmas Eve, Friday, 24 December 1937. He recalled,

All Christmas Day grey and khaki figures mingled and talked in No Man’s Land. Picks and spades rang in the hard ground. It was strange to stare at the dead we had only glimpsed, swiftly, from the trenches. The shallowest graves were dug, filled, and set with crosses knocked together from lengths of ration-box wood, marked with indelible pencil. ‘For King and Country.’ ‘Für Vaterland und Freiheit.’
Fatherland and Freedom! Freedom? How was this? We were fighting for freedom, our cause was just, we were defending Belgium, civilisation . . . These fellows in grey were good fellows, they were – strangely – just men like ourselves.
‘How can we lose the war, English comrade? Our cause is just, we are ringed with enemies, the war was thrust on us, we are defending our parents, our homes, our German soil.’
A most shaking, staggering thought: that both sides thought they were fighting for the same cause! The war was a terrible mistake! People at home did not know this! Then the idea came to the young and callow soldier that if only he could tell them all at home what was really happening, and if the German soldiers told their people the truth about us, the war would be over. But he hardly dared to think it, even to himself.
The next day was quiet, and the next. Waving hands from the trenches by day; singing and reflected blaze of trench bonfires at night. It was a lovely time.
On the third afternoon came a message from the Germans. ‘At midnight our staff officers visit, and we must fire our automatic pistolen, but we will fire high, nevertheless please keep undercover.’
At 11 p.m. – Berlin midnight – we saw the flashes going away into the air. Two days later an Army Order came from G.H.Q., to the effect that men found fraternising with the enemy would be court-martialled, and, if found guilty, would suffer the death penalty.[42]

Gommécourt

Arthur was promoted to Major (second in command) on 8 January 1915, and became the first Territorial officer to command the battalion, succeeding Lieutenant-Colonel W.D. (Lord) Cairns on 16 March 1915 when the latter was invalided home. He was then promoted to temporary Lieut.-Colonel on April 16th, and commanded the 1st Battalion through the second battle of Ypres.He then had a period spent at G.H.Q., at St. Eloi with the 3rd Division.

On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Bates took part in the attack on the Gommecourt Salient; a British operation against the northern flank of the German 2nd Army. Carried out by the British Third Army (Lieutenant-General Edmund Allenby), it was intended to be a diversion to draw the German reserves away from the main attacks to the south and protect the northern flank of the main attack. In the Battle, which raged from 1 July to 18 November 1916, nine corps of the French Sixth Army and the British Fourth and Third Armies attacked the German 2nd Army (General Fritz von Below) from Foucaucourt south of the Somme, northwards across the Somme and the Ancre to Serre and at Gommecourt, 2 mi (3.2 km) beyond, in the Third Army area. The objective of the attack was to capture the German first and second defensive positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road and the first position from the road south to Foucaucourt.[13]

The London Division (56th) planned to break through the German front-line to the south of Gommecourt, and the North Midland Division (46) to the north.[43]

[44]
Every detail of the advance was planned down to the 'n'th degree with timings set to the minute so that troops, artillery and supplies would arrive on time at the required locations. Repeated rehearsals over replicas of the German trenches drilled into officers and men every action they should take, every line of trenches they were to occupy, the movement of every box of ammunition and bombs and every roll of wire. Dozens of orders were written, printed, marked secret and distributed. One such, Operation Order No. 1 (Part One), was issued on 26" June by Lt. Col. Bates of the London Rifle Brigade. This covered in detail almost every conceivable aspect of the battalion’s planned actions on the day of battle (and those not immediately covered were done so subsequently in Operation Order No. 1 (Part Two), Operation Order No. 2 and Amendments 2 and 3). Communications, synchronising watches, dress, battle surplus, formations, timing of the advance — all this and more were set out in painstaking detail. What is clear from reading these documents, however, is just how much it was anticipated that the troops were going over to occupy the German trenches. The L.R.B. was going to attack on a three company front, ‘A’, ‘C’ and ‘D” from left to right. Each company was to advance in six waves. After the battle surplus, Quartermaster’s section, etc., had been discounted, the strength of the battalion was 26 officers and 803 men, in other words, just over 200 men per company. This meant that, after taking away ‘B’ Company, about 620 officers and men were going to advance in the first six waves. The first wave was slightly reinforced to allow extra men for special details to enter and clear all dug outs, otherwise successive waves were of a similar size...[13]

Extracts from the diaries of soldiers at Gommecourt state that the trenches were full of water and mud. [45]There had been heavy rain on 24 May, [43]and the unhelpful weather continued through the next month, hampering progress. [46] Indeed the War Diary for 30 June 1916 states that 'The weather during the month was quite abnormal, there being an extremely heavy rainfall and the temperature at times quite cold.'

On the first day of the Somme, the 56th lost 4,314 casualties (making it the 6th worst-hit division out of 16 used on the day). About 2,000 Germans were killed or wounded. This appalling loss of life was no hindrance to Brigadier-General Francis Lyon's writing to the officers and men of the 56th Division:

The Corps Commander wishes to congratulate all ranks of the 56th Division

on the way in which they took the German trenches and held them by pure grit and pluck for so long in very adverse circumstances. Although Gommecourt has not fallen into our hands, the purpose of the attack, which was to contain and kill Germans, was accomplished, thanks to a great extent to the tenacity of the 56th Division.[47]

Lt-Col J. Brind forwarded the message thus:

Forwarded: The General Officer commanding the 56th wishes all ranks to know how proud he is of the splendid way in which they captured the German trenches and of the way they held on to them until all their ammunition and grenades were exhausted. He is satisfies (sic) that the main task of the Division in containing and killing Germans was most thoroughly accomplished.[47]

The Short History of the London Rifle Brigade, by Anonymous but possibly written by Arthur S. Bates himself,[48] stated:

The following extract from the account published in the Press is given here, not because the writer of these notes does not feel able to give his own account, but because he might unwittingly say more than the Censor would feel able to pass:—
"I am about to give, on first-hand information, an account of the part which has been played by certain of our famous London Regiments. These regiments, which included the London Rifle Brigade, the Queen Victoria's Rifles, the Rangers, the Queen's Westminsters, and London Scottish, had assigned to them certain objectives near Gommecourt, towards the northern end of our original line of advance, where, as is well known, owing to the extraordinary preparations which the enemy had made in that direction, we did not fare so well as we have done, and continue to do, further south. The London Regiments, which fought with magnificent gallantry and tenacity, did, in fact, accomplish their primary objects, but, owing to circumstances beyond their control, they subsequently had to retire to a line which nearly corresponds to that they occupied before the battle began. . . . ."[49](Author's emphasis).

The last two weeks of his summer in Gommecourt, written in the LRB War Diary, lead up to the end of his command there.

Hannescamps August 1916 1st Bn LRB 1st. Work on all trenches proceeding very well, but work rather hard during day on account of great heat. 'A' Patrol under command of 2nd Lt MOORE went out at night but had nothing to report. 2nd. As above, slight shelling again and (in?) direct hits on our trenches sustained. 3rd. Ditto ditto Casualties 2503 Rfn JARVIS, W., killed, 2 men wounded and Major Husey slightly wounded, but remained at duty. ‘B’ Coy relived ‘D’ Coy in left sector of Batt’n front, ‘A’ Coy and ‘C’ Coy remaining in front line for 8 days. 4th. Being second anniversary of the War, the Germans indulged in an intense bombardment of the trenches on our left, held by the 5th LEICESTERS, 46th Division, apparently very little damage done, and few casualties sustained. We had no casualties. Bombardment started at 3:30am and our artillery replied promptly. Weather very hot. 5th. 5th LEICESTERS in the evening, after a heavy bombardment by our artillery, attempted to carry out a raid just N of the MONCHY RD. It was not successful. Bombardment commenced 10.5pm. Enemy retaliated but we had no casualties although only just 5 of the LEICESTERS trenches. 6th. Work as usual. Weather continuing very hot and fine. Corps Commander visiting Battn. HQ. 7th. As above. Battn was relieved in the evening by the 2nd London Regt. Relief complete at 8:45pm. Battn marched to ST AMAND and billeted there. Intimation received during the day from the Brigade that the following honours and awards had been made Capt. F.H. WALLIS, Lt. E.R. WILLIAMSON, 2nd LT. R.E. PETLEY => Military Cross; 515 Sergt. LILLEY W.M., D.C.M. and subsequently the Croix de Guerre. 8th. Battn at rest and Coys training with the exception of small fatigue parties. Battn arranged for at GAUDIEMPRÉ 9th. Ditto Ditto 10th. Presentation of …….by Division Genl. Battn and oddments from other Battns marched past to the Regimental march played by Division Band. Fatigue party of 600 strong carried gas cylinders into trenches of 167 Brigade 11th. As above 12th. Ditto. Lieut. SEDGWICK rejoined Battn. 13th. Resting. Col. A.S. BATES proceeded to the Base on account of ill health. Major R.H. HUSEY assumed command of the Battn.[47]

He left the BEF on 15 August [50]for England, where, recovering, he may have occupied himself by writing the Short History ...", published in Aldershot in 1916. The Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot cared for patients from the Front, and Tylney Hall, Hampshire was used as a recuperation annex (with 45 beds) for officers. [51]According to his grandson, Arthur was probably worn out; Gommécourt had affected him deeply. [11]

Bates took over command of the 3/5th Lancashire Fusiliers, a Territorial Force unit, formed in Bury on 11 October 1914. They embarked for France on 28 February 1917 and arrived in Le Havre on 1 March. [52] He was given the full rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 4 June 1917. Returning to England on 7 January 1918, he was given command of the 4th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment on 23 January 1918.[11][53][54]

Mentioned in despatches four times, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1915[55] and the Croix de Guerre with Palm from the French Government in 1918.[56] He eventually retired in 1919.[54]

Post-War

fter the War, he captained the British Empire Shooting Team in 1919.

In 1920, Lt. Col. Bates was recorded as living at 22, Stanley Crescent, Kensington, London. [57]and from 1923 [58]to 1927,[59] his name appears on the list of Members of the Council of the Royal United Services Institute. The R.U.S.I. is the oldest defence and security think-tank in the world and was founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellesley. Headquartered in London, its original objective was to study naval and military science. [60] By 9 August 1924 Lt-Col. A.S. Bates D.S.O. T.D. (Territorial Div.) had been promoted, ... to be Bt. Col/ with precedence as from 16th Feb. 1924. [61]By August 1925, however, he had resigned from the LRB.[62]

Between 17 November 1924 and 25 January 1925, General Sir Ivor Maxse, K.C.B., C.V.0., DS.O., (whose wife was Arthur's 6th cousin once removed), Arthur, and Capt. B. H. Liddell Hart were occupied in reading military essays entered for the Gold Medal 1924, written on the subject: Given, that there is maintained at Home in peace-time a Field Army of Five Regular and Fourteen Territorial Divisions, with Army troops; how can they be best organised to provide for expansion which a war on a national scale will demand?

The winners were:

  1. First (No. 6 Essay): Perseverantia et Industria Major L. J. Cowper, The King’s Own Regiment, Risborough Barracks, Shorncliffe.
  2. Second (No. 2 Essay): Be prepared, Lieutenant F. A. S. Clarke, First Battalion, The Essex Regiment.
  3. Third (No. 5 Essay): They only deserve liberty and life Who conquer them daily anew, Captain and Brevet Lieut.-Colonel R. H. Beadon, C.B.E., R.AS.C., p.s.c., Royal Army Service Corps Training College, Buller Barracks, Aldershot.[63]In the vote of thanks proposed by Admiral of the Fleet Sir F. C. Doveton Sturdee, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O., "It is a great thing for us to have three such distinguished Officers to adjudicate on the Prize Essays, and I feel that we owe them our hearty thanks for their labour."

General Sir Edmund G. Barrow G.C.B., G.C.S.I seconded the resolution.

Arthur became a JP for Hampshire and a Liveryman of the Merchant Taylors Company. A Member and Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society from 1 January 1910[64][65], in the 1930s and 1940s he became a prolific amateur film-maker, whose home movies are now in the Wessex Film & Sound Archive. [66][67]

He proved the will of Mrs Edyth Shipton Schuster (20 February 1886 – 22 July 1929), professionally known as Edyth Goodall, the Scottish actress, on 24 August 1929. His wife Mary was one of the executors.[68]

He was a member of the Antiquarian Horological Society, which, after his death, acquired his antique watch-cock collection. The watch-cock was part of the mechanism of an 16th, 17th and 18th century verge escarpment pocket watch and acted as a cover to protect the watch movement. Each unique watch-cock was hand-crafted by specialists, intricately designed with flowers, faces, sea-creatures, birds, stars, crescents or disks. Eventually, in the 19th century, verge watches were replaced with new watch mechanisms. [69][70][71]

As landowner of Manydown Park in 1950, he appears in the Water Acts of 1945 and 1948. [72]

Death

Letter H

e passed away at Manydown Park, Basingstoke, Hampshire on 7 May 1958.[73]His obituary in the Toc H journal for July 1958 noted that Arthur Sydney Bates had

served for some years, while resident in London, on the original Central Executive Body, and it was mainly due to his endeavours that Toc H in Southampton and Liverpool and New York took a warm interest from the first in all the growth of Talbot House, Southampton, also in Gladstone House in Liverpool, and through Sir Ashley Sparks (Cunard, New York) enabled Padre Pryor Grant to undertake the special Chaplaincy to junior grades. including bell boys, when they went ashore at both ends of their run to Toc H Centres.

The Obituary notice also said that

When commanding the 2nd Battn. of the London Rifle Brigade in Flanders, he frequently made his Communion in the Upper Room, to which his Chaplain, the Rev. Guy Vernon Smith, M.C., brought many Confirmation candidates and communicants.
Tubby took part in his Memorial Service, and 'Light' was held for him at the June meeting of the Central Executive.[74]


Sources

  1. ↑ Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage. London: Dean & Son. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 23 Apr 2023.
  2. ↑ Debrett's peerage, baronetage, knightage, and companionage. London: Dean & Son. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 23 Apr 2023.
  3. ↑ Debrett's peerage/baronetage 2003., (2002)., London: Macmillan. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 24 Apr 2023.
  4. ↑ Arthur Sydney Bates, 1879 in England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008. FamilySearch Online Database, citing Birth Registration, Kensington, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  5. ↑ Arthur Sydney Bates in the London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923. Retrieved from Ancestry Sharing (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  6. ↑ Sydney E Bantis, (sic) Paddington, London, Middlesex, England in England and Wales Census, 1881. FamilySearch Online Database with images, citing p. 36, Piece/Folio 18/49, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,214. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 2 Feb 2023.
  7. ↑ McCrery, Nigel (2015)., Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War. Pen and Sword. Retrieved from Google e-Books (Here;) Accessed 4 Oct 2022.
  8. ↑ Eastbourne past - Ashampstead House boys' school - 13 Upperton Road - c1890. Retrieved from Flickr (Here;) Accessed 4 Oct 2022.
  9. ↑ Arthur Sydney Bates in 1891 census. Retrieved from Ancestry Sharing (Here;) Accessed 4 Oct 2022.
  10. ↑ England and Wales Census, 1891. FamilySearch Online Database with images, citing PRO RG 12, Sussex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 30 Dec 2023.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Biographical information supplied by Charles Oliver-Bellasis. 03.03.11. Retrieved from calm hants (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  12. ↑ Wainewright, John Bannerman., (1907). Winchester College, 1836-1906: a register. Winchester College. n 50038080; Winchester: P. and G. Wells. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 30 Dec 2023.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 MacDonald, Alan., (2008)., Pro patria mori: the 56th (1st London) Division at Gommecourt, 1st July 1916. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette., 10 April 1900, Iss: 27181, p. 2353. Retrieved from tlg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  15. ↑ Sydney E Bates, Paddington, London, England, United Kingdom in England and Wales Census, 1901. FamilySearch Online Database, citing St John Paddington subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 2 Feb 2023.
  16. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Morning Post - Monday 26 October 1908. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  17. ↑ Durano and Hastings., (1952)., The London Rifle Brigade.. p. 15., Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  18. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Lloyd's List - Saturday 28 January 1905. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 British Newspaper Archive. Morning Post - Thursday 18 July 1907. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  20. ↑ SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 4 JUNE, 1921. Retrieved from tlg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  21. ↑ Public Domain: Illustrated London News. 27 July 1907. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  22. ↑ English Rifle Team Canada 2019. Retrieved from english twenty (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  23. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Lloyds Weekly News. 12 Sept 1909. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  24. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Hants and Berks Gazette and Middlesex and Surrey Journal. Saturday 24 October 1903. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  25. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Hants and Berks Gazette and Middlesex and Surrey Journal - Saturday 07 November 1903. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  26. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Hampshire Chronicle - Saturday 25 May 1907. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  27. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Hampshire Observer and Basingstoke News - Saturday 09 October 1909 Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  28. ↑ English Twenty Club Records Summary 1864-2000. Retrieved from english twenty (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  29. ↑ The History of The English Twenty Club. Retrieved from english twenty (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  30. ↑ Mary Da Costa Crosse in the Surrey, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937. Retrieved from Ancestry Sharing. (Here;) Accessed 4 Oct 2022.
  31. ↑ Surrey Advertiser - Monday 1 May 1905. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  32. ↑ Arthur Sydney Bates, Paddington, London, England, United Kingdom, in England and Wales Census, 1911. FamilySearch Online Database, citing PRO RG 14, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 4 Oct 2022.
  33. ↑ Retrieved from the Great War (1914-1918) Forum. Rogers, C. (2011). Retrieved from gwf (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Christmas Truce 1914. London Rifle Brigade. Members of 5th Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) who participated in the Christmas Truce of 1914. Retrieved from lotfww (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  35. ↑ Weintraub, Stanley, (2014)., Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce Of 1914. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved from Google Books (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  36. ↑ Private papers of Arthur Sydney Bates, Imperial War Museum MISC 70 Item 1080 (10083). Retrieved from llt (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  37. ↑ Wikipedia. "Christmas truce.," Retrieved from Wikipedia. (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023. Original photograph from Illustrated London News - Saturday 09 January 1915. Retrieved (with sub) from the bna (Here:) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  38. ↑ A.S. Bates, C. Harrison Jones, H.G., Wilkinson et al., The History of the London Rifle Brigade, 1859-1919 (London, 1921), (no online version available).
  39. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Northern Whig - Saturday 16 January 1915. Retrieved from the bna (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  40. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Sligo Champion - Saturday 09 January 1915. Retrieved from the bna (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  41. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Walsall Observer - Saturday 20 February 1915. Retrieved from the bna (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  42. ↑ Henry Williamson Society. Henry Williamson and the Christmas Truce. Retrieved from hw (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 British Military History in World War 1: Hills, J.D., Capt., M.C., Croix de Guerre., (1919)., The Fifth Leicestershire. 1914-1919. Loughborough: Echo Press. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  44. ↑ Credit: UBC Library. No copyright restrictions. Wikimedia Commons. File: Official Photographs taken on the Front in France - A German front line trench before Gommecourt (15560801016).jpg. Retrieved from Wikimedia (Here:) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  45. ↑ Derbyshire Territorials in the Great War. Retrieved from dt (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  46. ↑ Cave, Nigel., (1998)., Gommecourt. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Cooper. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 WAR DIARY; 169 Infantry Brigade: 1/5 Battalion London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade). Ref: WO 95/2961/1 Retrieved from tna (here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  48. ↑ Henry Williamson Society. Henry Williamson and the London Rifle Brigade, 1914–1915 - an illustrated timeline. Retrieved from the hws (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  49. ↑ Book Index. Short History of the London Rifle Brigade. (1916)., Compiled Regimentally. Aldershot: Printed by Gale & Polden Ltd., Wellington Works. Retrieved from ajhw (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  50. ↑ British Military History in World War 1. Short History of the London Rifle Brigade. (Appendix C. p.40)., Retrieved from the Internet Archive (here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  51. ↑ The Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot Retrieved from FoAM (Here;) Accessed 28 Dec 2023.
  52. ↑ The Long Long Trail. Lancashire Fusiliers. Retrieved from tllt (Here;) Accessed 27 Dec 2023.
  53. ↑ The Great War Forum. Lt Col A S Bates DSO 1/5th (London Rifle Brigade), London Regt. Retrieved from the gwf (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 Short History of the London Rifle Brigade. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved from pg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  55. ↑ The London Gazette., 22 June 1915., Supplement: 29202., Page:6126. Retrieved from tlg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  56. ↑ The Edinburgh Gazette:19 August 1918., Issue:13306., Page:2900., Retrieved from tlg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  57. ↑ The London Gazette., 2 January 1920., Issue: 31715., Page: 97. Retrieved from tlg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  58. ↑ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution 1923-02: Vol 68 Iss 469. Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 1 Jan 2024.
  59. ↑ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, 1927-11: Vol 72, Iss. 488. Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 1 Jan 2024
  60. ↑ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution 1923-11: Vol 68 Iss 472. Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 1 Jan 2024.
  61. ↑ The London Gazette., 8 August 1924. Issue: 32963. (p.5958). Retrieved from tg (Here;) Accessed 1 Jan 2024.
  62. ↑ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. 1925-05: Vol 70 Iss 478. Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 1 Jan 2024.
  63. ↑ Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. 1925-05: Vol 70., Iss. 478. Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 1 Jan 2024.
  64. ↑ The Association of British Philatelic Societies. Who Was Who in Philately? BATES, Lt Col Arthur Sydney DSO TD 1879-1958. Retrieved from ABPS (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
  65. ↑ Royal Philatelic Society (Great Britain)., The London philatelist., Vol 19 (1910)., Retrieved from the Internet Archive. (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  66. ↑ Wessex Film and Sound Archive. Manydown Park film, 1929-1930. Retrieved from yt (Here;) Accessed 29 Dec 2023.
  67. ↑ (447) Bates of Gyrn Castle, Manydown Park and Hinderton Hall, baronets. Bates, Arthur Sydney (1879-1958). Landed Families of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved from LFBI (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
  68. ↑ The London Gazette: 30 August 1929., Issue: 33530., Page: 5685., Retrieved from tlg (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  69. ↑ Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Volume 9, Pages 1-460 Publications Committee. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
  70. ↑ Articles - Antiquarian Horological Society. E-Paper. Articles. Yumpu.com (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
  71. ↑ National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. Cherico (RI), Vincent., (2023). The Rediscovered Watch Cock Collection of Lt. Col. Arthur Sydney Bates. Retrieved from nawcc (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  72. ↑ Great Britain: Ministry of Health. The Water Acts, 1945 and 1948: handbook of local legislation relating to water supply, 1st August, 1948 to 31st July 1949. p.121., London : H.M.S.O. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.
  73. ↑ Probate for Arthur Sydney Bates, 1958, in England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations). Retrieved from Ancestry Sharing (Here;) Accessed 4 Oct 2022.
  74. ↑ Toc H Journal July 1958. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 26 Dec 2023.




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Frances (Piercy) Piercy-Reins
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Images: 11
Christmas Truce
Christmas Truce
Bates - Debrett's Peerage
Bates - Debrett's Peerage
German front line trench before Gommecourt
German front line trench before Gommecourt
Manydown Park in Winter
Manydown Park in Winter
Major A. S. Bates
Major A. S. Bates
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B  >  Bates  >  Arthur Sydney Bates D.S.O. TD

Categories: Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire | Shipping Industry | Merchant Taylors' Company, City of London | British Empire Games | Bisley, Surrey, Sport Shooting | British Army in World War I | British Army Officers | Philatelists | Notables