John Prater, Private, 2nd Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
Above photo: John Prater (1)
John Thomas Prater was born in 1879.
In the 1881 census, he is living with his parents, James and Isabella Prater in a mansion block at 91 Devonshire Street, Marylebone, London along with seven other families. His father, according to the 1871 census, had been a cab driver who, by 1881, was working as a general labourer. Besides John, there are two older brothers and two older sisters residing at the same dwelling.
In 1885, John’s father, James, dies.
The 1891 census states that John Prater, aged 11, is living with forty other people at Sunbury Orphanage, Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.
The “head” of this residence is a woman named Hephzibeth Cunnington, a “certificated mistress”, aged 40. There are also five servants between the ages of 20 and 28 years old who are looking after 53 orphans between the age of 5 and 16. It is not clear when John Prater was taken to the orphanage but it might well have been shortly after his father had died as his mother, Isabella, would, most likely have had to find work to put food on the table for not only John but also his four older brothers and sisters and that while John’s older brothers and sisters might have been able to cope without their mother and seek employment of one form or another, John, a six year old, might have found this more challenging. If this was the case, his mother, Isabella would have realised that she had too many mouths to feed.
John Prater’s parents were Primitive Methodists, an offshoot of Methodism. The former sought to live by the doctrines of Wesleyan Methodism which, according to Primitive Methodists, had been diluted by mainstream Methodism. While the consumption of alcohol was not strictly banned by Primitive Methodists, they strongly encouraged abstinence when it came to the use of this drug.
The orphanage that John Prater was sent to had as one its conditions of entry a strict prohibition on the use of alcohol by the parents of the child being orphaned. This was a sine qua non. So, it is possible that John Prater’s mother had been a tea totaler all of her life. If not, she would undoubtedly have had to have taken a vow of abstinence to get her son, John, into the orphanage.
The orphanage in Sunbury-on-Thames was set up by The Good Templar and Temperance Orphanage.
“The Independent Order of Good Templars was an organisation – existing to promote tea-totalism. It was-founded in the USA and then set up its first lodge in Birmingham in 1868.
The (Birmingham) orphanage was set up in 1874 for the children of parents who were complete abstainers. In 1881, Mount Pleasant in Sunbury on Thames, which had been a private school, was bought for use as an Orphanage.” (2)
Below is a public relation statement of the time in regard to this orphanage.
“This Institution was founded in 1875 to receive, maintain, clothe, and educate, orphan children, male and female, being children of Good Templars or other Total Abstainers from Intoxicating Drinks. It is now located at Sunbury-on-Thames, a pretty riverside village sixteen miles west of London, a favourite resort of boating parties and anglers.
A large room adjoining the main building is used for the school, which is in charge of a resident certificated mistress. The school is examined annually by H. M. Inspector whose reports are invariably very good, and the grants earned are above the maximum allowed by the Education Department. The schoolroom is not quite up to the modern standard, and funds are being raised for the erection of a more suitable building.” (3)
As the above states, the orphanage put an emphasis on education so, perhaps, the education that John Prater obtained at this institution was to give him an advantage in later years over his older brothers and sisters.
In 1899, according to the UK Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services, John Prater, aged 20, signs up in the Royal Navy for a period of engagement of 12 years. His first assignment in the Royal Navy was at Pembroke II which was a shore establishment based at Sheerness, Kent. It was a naval dockyard and naval gunnery school.
Above photo: The Old Dockyard Police Station and Police House, Sheerness, today (Wikipedia)
On 1st June 1909 the above-mentioned Royal Navy register states that he was “shore by purchase”. In effect, John Prater had bought himself out of his contract with the Royal Navy which still had two years to run.
In the 1911 census, John Prater is residing with a widow, Annie Brown, aged 76, in Kingsland, Herefordshire. John Prater’s occupation is “carpenter”. He is working on his “own account”. It’s quite likely that he learned this trade in the Royal Navy.
A year before, according to “The Poor Law Hospital Admissions and Discharges” register, his mother, Isabella, aged 63, was admitted in February of that year to a Poor Law Hospital. These hospitals originally came about for the treatment of workhouse residents who were provided with free medical care which was not available to those outside. Every Poor Law Union had a medical officer. Most workhouses had a small infirmary block, but nursing was in the hands of the other inmates, most of whom could not read.
“Responsibility for administration of the Poor Law passed to the Local Government Board in 1871, and the emphasis shifted from the workhouse as "a receptacle for the helpless poor" to its role in the care of the sick and helpless. The Diseases Prevention Act of 1883 allowed workhouse infirmaries to offer treatment to non-paupers as well as inmates, and by the beginning of the 20th century some infirmaries were even able to operate as private hospitals. By the end of the century only about 20 per cent admitted to workhouses were unemployed or destitute, but about 30 per cent of the population over 70 were in workhouses.
In 1901 there were 3,170 paid nurses employed in workhouses, with about 2,000 probationers - about one nurse for 20 patients. They normally worked a 70 hour week with two weeks paid holiday a year. In 1911 there were more than 100,000 sick in workhouses.
The Royal Commission of 1905 reported that workhouses were unsuited to deal with the different categories of resident they had traditionally housed, and recommended that specialised institutions for each class of pauper should be established, in which they could be treated appropriately by properly trained staff. The "deterrent" workhouses were in future to be reserved for "incorrigibles” such as drunkards, idlers and tramps". (Wikipedia)
So, it is difficult to ascertain how close to destitution John Prater’s mother was at the time of her admission. But 10 months later, she died at this Poor Law Hospital.
In 1914, John Prater marries Isabella Cook. The marriage was registered in Kington, Herefordshire.
Later that same year, John Prater enlisted in Leominster in the 2nd (Service) Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (66th Brigade, 22nd Division).
The division trained at Seaford, Sussex, spending the winter in billets at Eastbourne returning to Seaford in March 1915. They moved to Aldershot in May for final training and proceeded to France on 5th September, the division concentrating near Flesselles.
During the first months of 1915 2/KSLII (King’s Shropshire Light Infantry) were deployed to trench holding operations in the Dickebusch sector and later at St Eloi near Ypres. The conditions of trench warfare in the winter 1914-1915 had an immediate impact on the soldiers. In one two-day trench holding operation about 300 officers and men in 2/KSLI were unable to march owing to frost bite. Some were not to return to fitness for some months. (4)
“On 22 April 1915 the German Army launched an attack east of Ypres on French and Canadian positions preceded by the surprise first use of chlorine poison gas. The assault tore a five mile gap in the Allied lines which the Germans penetrated to a depth of up to two miles. The resulting struggle to gain tactical positions continued until early May. 2/KSLI were in support dug outs in the Bellewaerde Wood and Polygon Wood area behind the Front Line when the German attack started. They were initially deployed to a new trench line to prevent further German penetration which fortunately did not occur.
Above photo: 2/KSLI frontline at Bellewaerde Lake (5)
In the days that followed 2/KSLI were ordered to regain some of the territory gained by the German attacks. On 25 April and again on 27 April 2/KSLI attacked a German occupied communication trench located at the apex on the Ypres Salient in the middle of the Front Line near Broedesiude.
On 25 April just two platoons (Numbers 13 and 14) of Z Company attacked but failed with the loss of all four officers. The attack was then repeated using X Company this time which was also unsuccessful. They suffered 32 casualties. The enemy held communication trench was connected to the German Front Line and making it well garrisoned and defended by machine guns. There was little British artillery support and the quality of British trench mortars and bombs (improvised hand grenades) was poor. At 2.40 a.m. on 28 April 1915 W and Y Companies attacked the same German held communication trench. The attack again failed. On this occasion the moonlight had aided the German defenders and the attack lost momentum with the early loss of leaders. W and Y companies suffered 53 casualties including three officers.” (6)
This dreadful loss of life for 2/KSLI for what was a minor tactical objective within a major defensive engagement reflects the beginning of a very steep learning curve for the British Army at this time. A shortage of artillery, shells and in particular high explosive shells, together with little or poor communications enabling efficient cooperation between supporting units meant that assaults were not effectively supported. A lack of intrinsic firepower within assaulting units, namely portable machine guns and bombs and poor assaulting techniques matched with poor training would continue to plague assaults for months to come. Overall 2/KSLI lost 11 officers and 152 other ranks killed, wounded and missing in this battle.
Above photo: Taken near Hooge, a photo of the first attack on Bellewaarde Farm by the Liverpool Scottish
(Wikipedia)
A month later there was a doomed repeat of what had taken place the month before.
“The Germans launched an assault on the Bellewaerde Ridge on 14 May 1915 preceded by a gas and artillery bombardment. German infantry attacked and were largely beaten off but penetrated the British Front Line in several places. 2/KLSI was deployed to retake the lost positions located in Bellewaerde Wood and Railway Wood. Advancing along the Ypres Menin road, two Companies, namely X and Y Companies attacked. Y Company led by Lieutenant Anthony Peere Williams-Freeman initially captured the German position in Railway Wood but found their position untenable being surrounded on three sides so had to withdraw. The attack failed to secure its objectives. Small scale attacks on a narrow front were generally doomed to fail and suffer significant casualties in trench to trench assaults because of a combination of enemy firepower on the flanks preventing reinforcement and the depth of enemy defences. Rapid enemy counterattacks often reversed any gains. 2/KLSI suffered 8 officers and 198 other ranks as casualties in this battle.” (7)
By late 1915,the 2nd King’s Shropshire Light Infantry had been sent to Salonika.
The Salonika Campaign
“The Great War 1914-1918 had started with the attack on Serbia by Austria-Hungary. By the late summer of 1915 Serbia was under dire threat from Austria-Hungary and also from the entry of Bulgaria on the side of the Central Powers. Greece was neutral but Allied pressure to intervene to support Serbia pressured Greece into accepting an Allied expedition of French and British troops.”
The Gallipoli campaign against Turkey was crumbling and the Allies saw an opportunity to support the Russians and the Balkans. With the Austrians controlling the Adriatic the only suitable port for the Allied expedition was Salonika. From there the Allies could advance north to Serbia and Bulgaria. On 16 October 1915 the 2/KSLI was deployed to Salonika arriving on 4 December 1915. The Allies were not strong enough to mount an offensive and had sufficient forces for defence only.
The geography of the area north of the port of Salonika was mountainous with steep ridges and deep gorges but was swampy in the south. Malaria was prevalent in the swampy areas which was served by many pools, ponds lakes and rivers.
Above photo: British Army soldiers on parade for their daily dose of quinine, Salonika (AWM)
First there was the bitter cold -
“Very bad night – no shelter from the cold and wet. I had a rotten passage around the line, falling and stumbling up to my shoulders in some places. The snow kept on falling yesterday evening and part of the night and then changed to a most intense frost. This morning everything is frozen hard and every track is too slippery to walk on….
Our overcoats are frozen hard, and when some of the men tried to beat theirs to make them pliable to lie down in they split like matchwood. The men can hardly hold their rifles as their hands freeze to the cold metal. Everyone is tumbling and falling about in the most ludicrous way...We had an enormous sick parade this morning nearly 150 men reporting. There are many bad cases of frostbite in hands and feet.” – Diary of Captain Noel Drury, 6th Battalion The Royal Dublin Fusiliers 27th-28th November 1915 (NAM)
And then there was the scorching heat -
“Marching is very hot and tiring and we get a thirst which no amount of drinking will satisfy; our water bottles are very precious things. Our bottles are filled before moving off and no man must drink until the order is given, although we get a longing to empty the bottle in one glorious drink. The water men have difficulty in keeping up the supply, which has to be carried in leather bags on the mules.
We go a long way up the Seres Road, one of the few decent roads in the country, then branch off… I begin to lose interest in life and when we lie down again would like to stay there and die, but there is some strange force which says “stick it” until you drop from sheer exhaustion… Through the endless night we put one foot in front of the other, aching in every joint.” Diary of Private George Veasey, 8th Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, July 1916 - (NAM)
From a logistical point of view the area was poorly served by roads and the Allies were at the end of a long lifeline served by shipping and a single railway.
2/KSLI was to remain on campaign in Salonika for the remainder of the Great War. Its role was until the last few weeks mostly defensive. This entailed long periods of occupying and holding defensive trenches interspersed with logistical improvement works and periods of rest.
On 27 January 1916 2/KSLI took over defensive positions at Rendina and they remained until 26 June 1916. Between July and September 1916 they were used as a labour source to construct new defences, roads, paths and develop water supplies." (8)
Above photo: British forces in the Salonika Campaign (IWM)
The battalion saw their first action in the second week of December in the Retreat from Serbia.
The Birdcage
“Outnumbered and lacking sufficient artillery, the Anglo-French forces fell back on Salonika. Luckily for them, the Germans prevented the Bulgarians from continuing their advance into Greece, as they still hoped to win the Greeks to their side.
Nevertheless, fearful of a Bulgarian assault on Salonika, and uncertain of neutral Greece, the Allies spent the first half of 1916 constructing a fortified line known as ‘The Birdcage’ in the hills around the city.
Above photo: A 6 inch howitzer in a camouflaged position, Salonika 1916 (NAM)
'The Birdcage' was a fortified line constructed by the Allies in the hills around Salonika. It was given this nickname due to the huge quantities of barbed wire used in its construction.
Above photo: Part of ‘ Birdcage’, Defences of Salonika (NAM)
The Bulgarians did not attack Salonika. And the Allies, once reinforced, were able to advance north and west during 1916. They established a front line that ran from the Albanian coast through northern Greece to the Gulf of Orfano on the Aegean Sea.” (NAM)
In 1916, the 2nd Battalion KSLI fought in The Battle of Horsehoe Hill and The Battle of Machukovo.
Above photo: British forces in the Salonika Campaign (IWM)
In 1917, the battalion was in action at The Battle of Doiran (April 1917). Doiran was a strategic position held by the Bulgarians.
Above photo: The Doiran Front Seen from Sal Grec de Popovo by William T. Wood (IWM)
The British Salonika Force attempted to capture Bulgarian positions around Doiran.
Above photo: A Bulgarian telephone station with trench periscope observing the enemy's position at the Doiran front, March 1917 (Wikipedia)
When this offensive failed, static trench warfare continued until autumn 1918.
On 11th June 1917 there was heavy shell fire on the 2nd Battalion's (KSLI) trenches with two men being killed and one wounded.
Above photo: Wounded being sent to hospital on a light railway, Salonika (NAM)
Private John Prater was one of the two men who were killed. He was 39 years old.
Above photo: Remains of Bulgarian trenches in Star Dojran (Doiran) North Macedonia (Wikipedia)
He is buried at Mikra British Cemetery, Kalamaria now a municipality in the city of Thessaloniki.
Above photo: Mikra British Cemetery, Thessaloniki (CWGC)
“Salonika (Thessaloniki) was the base of the British Salonika Force and it contained, from time to time, eighteen general and stationary hospitals. The British cemetery at Mikra was opened in April 1917, remaining in use until 1920. The cemetery was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from a number of burial grounds in the area.” (CWGC)
MIKRA BRITISH CEMETERY now contains 1,810 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, as well as 147 war graves of other nationalities.” (CWGC)
Rory MacColl
Sources
1/ Kington Times July 14th 1917)
2/ https://www.formerchildrenshomes.org.uk/temperance_orphanage.html
3/ https://www.formerchildrenshomes.org.uk/temperance_orphanage.html
4/ https://www.soldiersofshropshire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2%EF%80%A2KLSI-1914-1918-1-1.pdf
5/ https://www.soldiersofshropshire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2%EF%80%A2KLSI-1914-1918-1-1.pdf
6/ https://www.soldiersofshropshire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2%EF%80%A2KLSI-1914-1918-1-1.pdf
7/ https://www.soldiersofshropshire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2%EF%80%A2KLSI-1914-1918-1-1.pdf
8/ https://www.soldiersofshropshire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2%EF%80%A2KLSI-1914-1918-1-1.pdf