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Features

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    Lord Kitchener (1850-1916)

    Lord Kitchener did not live to learn of the disaster that befell “Kitchener’s Volunteer Armies” on July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was drowned on June 5, 1916 when HMS Hampshire, an armored cruiser just returned from the Battle of Jutland, which was carrying him to Russia for negotiations with Britain’s ally, struck a German mine near the Orkney Islands. Of its 655 crew and 7 passengers, only 12 crewmen survived.

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    Gala night for charity

    A nice crowd, delicious food, mellow music and good fellowship made for a very successful annual fundraiser for Operation Care for the third year in a row.

    The Mercy Omega Gala, Saturday night at Claudia Sanders Dinner House, raised more than $30,000 for Mercy Medical Clinic and the Omega House, a women’s shelter, run by Operation Care, said the organization’s executive director, Jeff Johnson.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    On July 8, 1916, Florence Bareham, not knowing whether her husband, Reginald Bareham, my father, was alive or dead, gave birth to her only child, Ronald Reginald Bareham [later Van Stockum]. On the occasion of my Christening, Lady Waldstein, wife of Sir Charles Waldstein of Newton Hall Farm, for whom Reggie had worked, presented my mother with a set of engraved sterling silver baby utensils in a fitted case.

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    Bad to the bone

    The Shelby County Public Library will be filled with tales of murder, womanizing and drinking Thursday when the infamous Edwin Terrill and Bill Marion ride into town.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    Commendation

    On July 5, 1916, the Commander of the 101st Infantry Brigade sent the following congratulatory message to the Commanding Officer of the 11th Suffolks, my father’s battalion, a component of his brigade:

    Dear Colonel Somerset,

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    A small body of men, which came under the command of Captain Osbert Harold Brown, was successful in reaching the enemy lines. Brown was in command of A Company of the 11th Suffolks, which, as the carrying company, was following the rest of the battalion with coils of wire, extra ammunition, tools, etc., and was not expected to fight.

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    Fitness program really works out

    Fun and fitness may not be a concept that meshes well for many people, and doubly so for some women when an exercise class involves wearing weighted boxing gloves part of the time.

    But one class at the Family Activity Center transcends that image, as evidenced by the enthusiasm with which students do their punches and other moves, in a high calorie-burning workout that sometimes gets pretty intense, said Piloxing instructor Tristen Stansfield.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    The tremendous and sustained artillery bombardment that had commenced on June 24 culminated in a crescendo during the hour preceding the attack. Its purposes were to create gaps in enemy barbed wire for use by advancing troops, and to kill enemy troops or keep them in their trenches or dugouts until they could be overrun in a bayonet charge.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force. – Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891), known as “Moltke the Elder.”

    The 11th Suffolks Battalion, a component of 101 Brigade of the 34th Division of III Corps, had the mission of capturing German positions immediately to the south of the village of La Boisselle, now a heap of rubble, on the Albert-Bapaume Road. On Z-Day at 6:30 a.m., the tempo of supporting artillery fire would increase.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    A tremendous and sustained artillery bombardment commenced on June 24, 1916, lasting eight days and culminating in a crescendo of fire during the hour preceding the attack.  It was described by Sir Andrew Wright, who had served as a lieutenant with my father in the 11th Suffolks, as “the biggest bombardment of all history.” Wright further writes in his history of the 11th Suffolks:

     

  •
    Shelby County's Fabulous 5

    David Eaton

    David Eaton, a former educator, Shelbyville City Council member and mayor, and current Simpsonville city administrator, went above and beyond this year in looking out for the best interest of the people of Simpsonville by spending a great deal of time and effort by doing all he could to promote new business and industry that came to his city in 2014.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.– Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891), known as “Moltke the Elder.”

     

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    BEHIND SHELBY’S DOORS: O’ Christmas...

    “Some of my friends make fun of me, but I just love Christmas!” exclaimed Chrissy Critchfield, her glance taking in a huge tree in the living room.

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    My Father, British Sergeant...

    In the spring of 1916 the 34th Division, of which my father’s 11th Suffolks battalion was a component, was relieved from the Armentières front lines and given an extended period of rest and special training. Wrote Lieutenant Wright, who served in the 11th Suffolks:

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    Black Friday is bright in Shelby

    From experienced shoppers to novice beginners, shop owners and customers alike expressed delight in how Black Friday Sales went, which encompassed the entire weekend.

    Gina Slechta, vice president of marketing for Horizon Group Properties, said she does not have exact figures yet for sales for the Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass’ first Black Friday experience, but that it went well.

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    My Father: British Sergeant...

    The 11th Suffolks Battalion, as a component of the 34th Division, having completed its indoctrination in trench warfare, was pulled out of the front lines on February 7, 1916. An inspection by Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, followed, which was described in terms that are understandable to most military veterans. 

     

  •
    My Father: British Sergeant...

    On January 7, 1916, the 34th Division left for France, crossing the English Channel from Southampton to Le Havre.

    Martin Middlebrook, in First Day on the Somme [July 1, 1916], a classic study of “one of the blackest days in the history of warfare,” describes a British Division as follows:

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    Super truck

    Not many people can say they have an 85-year-old vehicle that still runs and has only 38,000 miles on it.

    Not only that, but “Mater” as the pickup truck has been dubbed by its new owner’s kids, is a Shelby County icon, particularly in Simpsonville where it was formerly used by a towing service.

    Michael Stephens acquired his “new” truck in September, but he’s already repaired it all over.

  •
    My Father: British Sergeant...

    Iquote from “11th Bn, The Suffolk Regiment (Cambridgeshire),” a definitive history of the 11th Suffolks by Andrew Wright, a lieutenant in Company D of that battalion. Later, as Sir Andrew Barkworth Wright, KCMG, CBE, MC, he was Governor of Cyprus from 1949 to 1954.

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    Watch for the footsteps

    The silence on Cry Baby Bridge was broken only by chirping of crickets, the forlorn call of a lone owl echoing in the darkness and the gurgle of water underneath.

    Oh, and yes, also, a faintly, ghostly whispering.

    Was it the wind in the trees, or the spirit of a young mother that reputedly drove herself and her infant to their deaths off the bridge many years ago?

    A paranormal investigation at the bridge Thursday, located on Bellview Road in Shelby County, left ghost hunters uncertain.