HILLMAN, John (Jack)
Private G/82083
Royal Fusiliers 26th Bn.
Died 14-July-1918 aged 19
Son of Alfred and Helen
Hillman, of Park Farm, Banstead, Surrey.
Jack was born in 13 July
1899 at Park Farm Cottages, Holly Lane,
Banstead. his birth certificate shows the name John but he was
always called Jack . His father, Alfred, was employed as a carter and
ploughman by Mr and Mrs Garton. They owned the Banstead Wood Estate which
included Park Farm and the cottage where the Hillman family lived.
Jack had an elder brother, William, and in January 1905, a daughter, Helen, was born.
All three children attended Banstead Village School. This involved a
walk along Holly Lane until just past Chipstead Road where they turned
right up a path and across the fields which emerged at The Mint public
house in Park Road. The route then continued along Park Road until another
footpath took them across the Village Cricket Green to the school at the
corner of Court Road and the High Street.
 
Helen and Jack Hillman school photos
| Helen, had
fond memories of Jack giving her a lift on the crossbar of his bike, part
of the way to school.
When Jack left school at 14 he joined his
elder brother William to work as a gardener at Banstead Place.
Jack was musically gifted; Helen always said that, he could get a
tune out of anything! He was a choir boy at Banstead Church and
helped and encouraged Helen when she struggled to master the violin.
Jack became a member of the Banstead Silver Band playing a
trumpet. This band practised in a barn located near Court Road and
Bolter's Lane. The early members were described as 'being pretty
poor in terms of wealth - but not in playing prowess'. Most
of their engagements were at local fetes and parks, and they often
provided the music for open air dances at the Lady Neville Recreation ground.
 Jack
was a lively and likeable character and according to his sister, popular
with the girls.
In 1915, his brother William reached
the age of enlistment, (18) and off he went to join the East Surrey
Regiment. Jack however would not reach 18 until July 1917 but before that
time, a white feather arrived anonymously by post.
 The white feather was bestowed on 'slackers' by chauvinist women in the First World War. The notion of a white feather representing cowardice goes back to the 18th century, arising from the belief that a white feather in the tail of a game bird denoted poor quality. To 'show the white feather' was therefore to be 'unmanly'.
Jack, aged sixteen in (Year 1915)
Banstead Silver Band uniform .
This photo was taken at Farm Cottages,
Park
Farm. The wall in the background
remains in situ to this day although the
dwelling was demolished around 1950.
|
Jack was a healthy lively lad and
someone evidently thought he was older than he was and should
be in the forces like all the other eligible men. Jack's parents were
stunned and saddened the day that he announced he was no coward, as he had
enlisted, months before his 18th birthday. He must have lied about his age.
Jack became a private in the Royal Fusiliers and the photograph above shows him carrying a trench bugle which he must have been very proud of. His particular battalion also had a band but of course the battalion had more important work to do at the time. Buglers had more of a practical use on the field of battle but they were used sparingly in WWI.
A copy of Trumpet & Bugle Sounds for the Army,
with Instructions for the training of Trumpeters and Buglers 1914 states
that "The following trumpet and bugle sounds are
to be strictly adhered to on all occasions, and no others used in his
majesty's service. General Officers Commanding, may at their discretion,
order all or any of the peace calls to be used on active
service".
Examples include:
Continue or commence firing
Stand Fast or Cease Fire
Execute orders received
Bugle calls were sometimes used to inspire the men as they made their
attack. It was usual that once their training in England was completed, and they arrived ready for war in France, the bandsmen put away their instruments and became stretcher bearers or riflemen.
This card was sent to Helen, Jack's sister.
The picture on the front was the Royal Fusilier's cap badge shown above
| It is
not known when Jack arrived in France but he almost certainly was
there from January 1918. A card sent back home before he got to the
front shows his full confidence in the abilty of the
Royal Fusiliers who were attached to the 41st Division.
This Division was comprised
of three brigades each of which had four battalions. Jack was
attached to the 26th Battalion of the London Fusiliers known
as the Bankers. Originally this was a large battalion of some 1500 men formed in 1915 and made up
of bank clerks and accountants from all over the country. They operated in the Ypres salient,
the scene of much savage fighting where troops sought shelter in underground tunnels
when not engaged in an actual attack or defence.
 The
more elaborate dugouts, as these tunnels were
known, were often forty feet deep with a main shaft descending through
the layer of blue clay well below the surface. The blue clay was impermeable
to water and was the cause of so much mud on the battlefield as the heavy rain
had nowhere to go. The Royal Engineers
built the tunnels below the blue clay and sufficiently deep to avoid damage
from the shells of the German heavy guns. Each tunnel had basic sleeping
bunks where weary soldiers, probably officers, could get some respite from
the dangerous, noisy and wet conditions up above.
Jack
made it to his ninteenth birthday on 13 July 1918 but was to die just one
day later. He lies buried with a few hundred others, at La Clytte
Military Cemetery, Belgium.
 His parents never saw his grave but amongst the items
returned to them was a small pencil
sketch of Park Farm, Jack's home in Banstead. It is something he carried with him
to remind him of 'HOME SWEET HOME' and was almost certainly
retrieved from his pocket after he was killed.
The Garton WWI memorial in
All Saints Churchyard Banstead |
One of the wood panels in the Lady Chapel at All Saints church Banstead.
|
Grave Reference: IV. F. 12.
LA CLYTTE MILITARY CEMETERY
Heuvelland, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
 Jack's
brother William survived the war but not without serious injury.
He was
gassed at the Somme and returned to England for treatment. He went back to
the front where he later suffered serious wounds to his back, and had to have one
leg amputated. After months of treatment and the fitting of an artificial
limb, he became the caretaker at Banstead Church Institute.
|
Source : Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
All Saints Church Memorial, Banstead,Surrey
Personal details and photographs contributed by Roy Nicholson,
son of Jack's sister, Helen Hillman
Details of Bugler's duties and instructions form a
discussion on
The Great War Forum
Family research by Christine Kent
Updated 14 November
2008
Pending - Enquiry to the horncollector
..................................... back to Top Panel 7
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