When They Came Home......
As soon as the War was ended the Isle of Ely County Council accepted Councillor W J C Luddington’s proposal that in making all public appointments for posts, or all allocations of smallholdings, preference should be given to returning ex-servicemen, especially those who are disabled. Also ex-servicemen should be given the first opportunity to apply for any tenancies of new cottages erected by the Council. Those who had been given war time exemptions from service were advised by the Council that they should remain in their jobs and not seek new employment at the expense of ex-servicemen and, especially, that conscientious objectors should not expect to compete with others for work.
The Help Available
The Comrades of The Great War were formed in 1917 as a non-political association to represent the rights of ex-service men and women who had served or had been discharged from service during World War I. (Comrades of The Great War was one of the original four ex-service associations that amalgamated on 15th May 1921 to form The British Legion.) In Ely it was Colonel Goodwyn Archer, who had himself been invalided home, who took on the chairmanship of the organisation. From January 1919 onwards the numbers of Comrades began to swell as men were demobilised. In the early years the Comrades’ various committees played a strong role in helping ex-servicemen in difficulties by claiming War gratuities on their behalf or finding allotments. By August 1919 Colonel Archer stated that they had dealt with literally thousands of enquiries and offered assistance. The Comrades also tried to keep the ex-servicemen together by setting up a clubhouse and reading room and organising sport and social activities. However, by 1920 (when over 300 local men were registered with the Comrades ) it became very difficult to enthuse members to join in activities, or pay subscriptions, and only a core group kept the organisation functioning. Nevertheless, in January 1920 the Comrades started up an employment bureau, asking local businesses to notify them as vacancies arose.
Employment and Self-sufficiency
A number of ex-servicemen returned to Ely to find that they no longer had work. Late in 1918 about one hundred German POWS had arrived at Littleport and were working on local farms. By August 1919 there was much ill-will in the district as demobilised farmworkers were unable to find employment. The local Labourers’ Union petitioned the Government to remove the Germans, but it was not until the Union members demonstrated publicly that the German labour force was suspended (other than those prisoners engaged in vital fen drainage work). The local Employment Bureau regularly announced how many people were on its books seeking work and from this it appears that there were approximately fifty ex-servicemen in the Ely Urban Area who had no permanent employment, although about half of these were taken on as seasonal labour at harvest time. This was in addition to more than twenty other men seeking employment.
In 1919 the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act was passed which instructed local authorities to provide smallholdings and allotments for returning ex-serviceman (who did not even need to have previously been farmworkers). Land was compulsorily purchased across the Isle of Ely, but in the city itself men chiefly wanted allotments. By March 1920 there was a waiting list of about forty ex-servicemen asking for their promised allotment and the Council purchased the land still in use for this purpose on the Stuntney Road. The Council also attempted to purchase the field by the Tower Workhouse to make up the shortfall, but the local Poor Law Guardians refused to give this up.
With the cost of food having increased by more than 176% since 1913, the ability to grow one's own vegetables was important for many ex-servicemen. It was noted that as late as February 1922 there were still at least twenty ex-servicemen's families that were depending on relief and were in receipt of five shillings or ten shillings vouchers for meat or vegetables, according to need.
In 1919 the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act was passed which instructed local authorities to provide smallholdings and allotments for returning ex-serviceman (who did not even need to have previously been farmworkers). Land was compulsorily purchased across the Isle of Ely, but in the city itself men chiefly wanted allotments. By March 1920 there was a waiting list of about forty ex-servicemen asking for their promised allotment and the Council purchased the land still in use for this purpose on the Stuntney Road. The Council also attempted to purchase the field by the Tower Workhouse to make up the shortfall, but the local Poor Law Guardians refused to give this up.
With the cost of food having increased by more than 176% since 1913, the ability to grow one's own vegetables was important for many ex-servicemen. It was noted that as late as February 1922 there were still at least twenty ex-servicemen's families that were depending on relief and were in receipt of five shillings or ten shillings vouchers for meat or vegetables, according to need.
Council Housing
The Ely Urban District Council built a number of new houses, some with parlours and some without, along Brays Lane with the intention that the tenancies would be offered to ex-servicemen. (These homes were demolished in 1990 - they were on the site of the Waitrose car park.) Over eighty men put their names forward and the first tenants, who started moving in in May 1921, were John Cornwell, Charles Wayman “whose claims for a house were among the most deserving of the long list of applications" , Charles Woolard, Herbert Dunham, H W Hawkes, J W Parker (a GER ticket collector and the first to move in) and the severely disabled George Speechley. These first Brays Lane non-parlour cottages were occupied at cost of 8s per week plus rates. Less than a year later (Ely Standard of 24th April 1922) it was reported that one of Brays Lane tenants has left the house in a filthy condition and damaged the walls – to clean and repair it before the new tenant moved in would be £3-£4. At the same time another tenant had asked to take in borders, but was refused permission because his was a non parlour house.
The Re-establishment of the Terriers
Many of the first Ely Volunteers in 1914 had been members of the Territorial Forces (Cambridgeshire H Company). With the War the Cambridgeshire Territorials became the Cambridgeshire Regiment. In February 1920 the decision was made nationally to rebuild a Territorial Army and, as might be expected, in Ely this was a popular move, attracting both ex-servicemen who had originally been "Terriers" and new recruits. The timeline of the first year was as follows (dates are the publication dates of the Ely Standard):
- 30/4/1920 recruiting begins for the new county Territorial Force. Men locally were told to report to Sergeant O’Neil at the Silver Street Barracks.
- 25/6/1920 A meeting takes place under Major Archer about the re-establishment of the Territorials in Ely District – there is good attendance of former members of the Cambridgeshire Regiment. They decide to hold a smoking concert in September. The Territorials are to be given a hut which can be used for recreational purposes. They could also soon start using the miniature rifle range. Conditions of service and pay are to be more favourable than formerly, and there will be camps, as previously, at seaside watering places.
- 23/7/1920 A national offer is made of a £5 “Territorial Force Bounty” to men who complete 50 drill sessions between now and 1st November – men who join up now will be eligible for this.
- 26/11/1920 12 men recruited to Ely Territorials this was a “noteable improvement”. The recreational hut to be erected next week and will be a reunion and social event for all Terriers past and present.
- 3/12/1920 Terriers’ reunion – first social in the new hut since the annual “smokes” which ceased in 1914. Musical items from Messers Sillett, Hodkinson, Cooper, Keating, R H Plumb, and the City Band under Sgt A C O’ Neill. Major Archer talks about how they want a new Cambridgeshire Territorial Regiment D Company under Captain Warren.
- 9/9/1921 shooting contest. Will soon leave for their first camp since were re-established.