In Memory of
Private ARTHUR CHARLES HAYWARD
51231, No. 4 Coy. 16th Bn., Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment)
who died age 32
on 23 April 1915
Son of Richard William Hayward, of the Mount, Hooe, Battle, Sussex, England.
Remembered with honour
POPERINGHE OLD MILITARY CEMETERY
Arthur Charles Hayward was born in late 1882, in Hooe; his father was Richard William Hayward, who, at the age of 39, in the 1881 census, described himself as "Rate & Tax Collector, Farmer of 6 Acres Employing 1 Boy". He was born, in 1842, in Hackney, in London, where, in the spring of 1871, he married a young lady by the name of Susannah Blake., born in Bethnal Green, in 1852. They moved to Hooe, sometime in 1876 or 1877, where they lived at "The Mount", which was also known as "Quiddleswell Mount" but where the "Quiddleswell" came from I have been unable to find out.
The couple had a total of six children before, sad to say, Susannah died, aged 31, giving birth to her last child - Arthur Charles.
Early in 1885, Richard married a Marianne Hunter, in London, in the district of Islington, and returned to the family home in Hooe, "The Mount", where he became an important local figure; he was the "Parish Officer" of the village for forty-five years, and was church-warden, assistant overseer of the poor, assessor of taxes, rating officer, on the School Management Committee, Clerk to the Vestry, and Clerk to the Parish Council (from 1895-1924).
Arthur had two brothers, Alfred Robert and Stephen Richard, and three sisters Beatrice Freeman, Emmeline Susannah, and Margaret Elizabeth. Later, Alfred became an artist and took on the Chairmanship of the Hooe Parish Council, after the death of his father.
The first mention of Arthur that I found was, sadly, the Memorial Tablet in Hooe Church, which is inscribed: -
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
ARTHUR CHARLES HAYWARD
16TH BATTALION CANADIAN SCOTTISH
YOUNGEST SON OF R. W. HAYWARD OF THIS PARISH
DIED OF WOUNDS, IN ACTION NEAR YPRES, FLANDERS
APRIL 23RD., 1915 ST. GEORGE'S DAY. AGED 32
BURIED AT THE MILITARY CEMETERY AT
POPERINGHE, FLANDERS
As a young boy, Arthur may have attended Hooe School for a short while but it′s known that he went to Castle Gate School, in Lewes, East Sussex, some distance away, where his father, probably, thought he would get a better education. It, also, seems that he had always wanted to be in the military and so, at some stage, joined the "2nd Sussex Volunteer Artillery", based at Eastbourne, and stationed at Shoreham Fort, West Sussex. Assuming that one had to be 16 years of age to join (I have no proof of that, as yet) he, probably, joined in or about the year 1899 and served with them for three years.
Arthur, however, was looking for something more in his life but choice was limited, in England of the 1900s, for a young man with an education and some money, "comfortable" but not rich, so, in 1904, Arthur emigrated to Canada, which was a young country and offered a young man many opportunities; Arthur, like many other young men of the day, took that opportunity.
The most likely Canadian port, to which Arthur would have sailed from England would have been Quebec as it′s further inland that the eastern ports and it seems that he had some idea as to where he wanted to go.
It would seem, though I haven′t found any proof as yet, that Arthur went straight to Manitoba because, at some time, he joined the 12th Manitoba Dragoons, (a Militia unit), and served with them for 2 years. He later joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Rifles (based in Winipeg, Manitaoba) but served for only 6 months.
It seems likely that it was shortly after this, when he was almost 24 years old, that he moved into California to become a Ranch Manager, in California. To get such a position, he must have been involved in ranching of some sort, while in Canada, but there is no record.
When the war in Europe broke out, Arthur immediately gave up his job and moved back over the border to Victoria, in British Columbia where he joined the 88th Regiment of the Victoria Fusiliers.
He was one of many, in the Fusiliers, however, who were drafted from that regiment to England to reinforce Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry but, on arrival on Salisbury Plain, was, instead, attached to the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish), which was part of the "Canadian Expeditionary Force" (CEF).
The action in which he was killed was that of the 2nd Battle of Ypres, in April, 1915. On the night of the 22nd and 23rd of April, he took part in the action to recover what was thought to be abandoned French guns left in a wood near to the little town of St. Julien, in Belgium.
The actual story of what happened over those two days has already been told by a WW1 enthusiast on his brilliant and easy to read website, "World War One Battlefields" and I have, with the author′s permission, basically copied those sections, which apply to Private Arthur Charles Hayward.
To read the original article, click on the link here: World War One Battlefields – St. Julien
The 16th Battalion had trained in England, on Salisbury Plain and upon arriving there in December 1914 had experienced a trying time initially. On December 1st, a night training exercise on the Plain had to be abandoned due to torrential rain, and several times in early December their War Diary makes plaintive reference to their camp (at Westdown) being "frightfully muddy". They sailed for France on the 13th of February 1915, but their ship struck severe gales and several horses were killed during the journey.
On the 21st of April 1915, having just come out of the front line, they were billeted in Ypres. The next day, the 22nd, in the afternoon, the Germans started shelling the town heavily. Something was obviously afoot, and the 16th Battalion war diary records that there was panic among the inhabitants of Ypres, with civilian refugees pouring into the town, and many French soldiers (mainly French colonials - Zouaves) in flight.
At 7.40 p.m. the battalion was ordered to the 3rd Brigade HQ. This was actually based at Shelltrap (or Mousetrap) Farm, although at that point in the War the farm was known as Farm C.22.b. On arrival at the Farm they were tasked to support the 10th Battalion which had already arrived, in an attack, originally scheduled for 10.30 p.m. on the wood "north-west of St. Julien" - Kitcheners Wood. The name incidentally has nothing to do with Lord Kitchener, but derived from a translation of the original name of the wood.
The two battalions formed up just to the north-west of where Seaforth Cemetery is located today.
The 10th were in position first, and the attack was delayed whilst the men of the 16th formed up in the moonlight. The 10th battalion was in front, with two companies each in two lines; A and C at the front with B and D behind. The 16th supported them, around 30 yards to their rear. The woods loomed up in the moonlight to their front about 700 yards away. They could also see a house, which was predicted to contain German machine-guns, and did. The order to attack was given at 11.48 p.m., and the 2nd battalion's war diary describes it almost lyrically : ""not a sound was audible down the long wavering lines but the soft pad of feet and the knock of bayonet scabbards against thighs." Imagine advancing in the moonlight as silently as possible, towards an armed enemy line....their hearts must have been in their mouths.
Until the Canadians got to within 300 yards, there was no reaction from the German defenders (men of the 2nd Prussian Guards and the 234th Bavarian Infantry Regiment). Then the Canadians encountered a hedge, and the noise they made getting through this obstacle alerted the Germans who opened fire with rifles and machine-guns, and also sent flares up. The attackers lay down at first, and then those who were not hit rushed forwards and reached the German trench, attacking with bayonets and the butts of their rifles and clearing the trench in less than a minute. The 10th battalion diary reports that many Germans then encountered wanted to surrender, but as some kept firing very few prisoners were taken and many were killed. The 16th battalion war diary records 100 Germans were killed, 250 wounded and 30 taken prisoner in this action.
The Canadians then pressed on into the wood, where the men of the 10th and 16th battalions became somewhat mixed up. They came across four large guns, believed to be ones abandoned by the French but described in later accounts as British guns abandoned by the 2nd London Battery Royal Garrison Artillery. The Canadians advanced through the wood, reckoning their direction by the North Star. More Germans were encountered and "disposed of", and a note in the 16th Battalion war diary records that men were "cautioned against dealing harshly with prisoners".
They advanced a few hundred yards and reached the far side of the wood, and tried to establish a line there. However, the Germans were on their flanks, and they could not obtain enough reinforcements quickly, and so they fell back to a line of German trenches just to the south of the wood, and then back to the hedge which they had forced their way through earlier on.
Those surviving then dug a trench about 2 feet deep, with a parapet. A parados (a bank behind the trench) was also needed, due to the Germans flanking them. This trench was filled with dead and wounded, including some Germans. One of the wounded Germans, a Colonel, was sent back to the rear, presumably for interrogation. The Canadian soldiers in this trench were being fired on from all directions except the south-east. The trench was about 200 yards long, and the 10th were on the left flank with the 16th mainly on the right.
At 6.30 a.m. on the 23rd, there were just five officers and 188 other ranks of the 10th Battalion in this position - 816 men in total had started the action. There were only five officers and 263 other ranks of the 16th Battalion remaining.
As there were still more men than the trench could safely hold, they ran communication trenches back to their rear towards an area where the ground was "dead" to the enemy. From dawn on the 23rd, all day and in the evening they were shelled, taking casualties, but held on. They were initially ordered to make a further advance at 7.30 p.m., but those orders were later cancelled.
The field guns in the woods are described after the action as being "piled high with dead". It was impossible to recover these on the night of the 22nd/23rd, as no horses could have been brought up, and if men had tried to haul them back they would have been open to hostile fire. They were instead destroyed by engineers to prevent the enemy making use of them.
As night fell on the 23rd, requests for more ammunition and for stretchers were sent back. Lt Critchley of the 10th made some journeys under darkness back to the 3rd Bde HQ, seeking machine-guns and flares. At nearly midnight on the 23rd, some rations were brought up. The night of the 23rd/24th seemed quiet at first, but at 3.30 a.m. coloured signal rockets were fired by the Germans, and shortly after shells started falling to their right. At 4 a.m. they thought they could see a gas cloud approaching. The Germans were starting a series of counter-attacks along the front. In the early morning, the 10th were ordered to come out of their lines to support another unit (the 8th Canadian Battalion) on Gravenstafel Ridge. It was light by now, and withdrawal was in view of the enemy. By 4.45 a.m. most of the 10th were out, with the 16th spread out holding the trench. However, about 20 men and two of their officers could not get out due to the large number of dead blocking the trench. They finally made it about 15 minutes later, but by then the remainder of the 10th had moved off. The 16th Battalion were then relieved by the 2nd Canadian Battalion.
This must have been a highly risky operation. It was performed in daylight, close to the enemy and the relief was literally conducted with one man at a time leaving and being replaced by one from the 2nd Battalion. Incidentally, the 10th Battalion reported to the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade HQ and were sent off on their next task - despite the fact there were now just 3 officers and about 150 men remaining. They were under fire again in their new location within an hour or so.
The cost of this vital operation was high. There were dead and wounded lying all around, and the dressing station struggled to cope. Later that same day, the 2nd Battalion were ordered to retire from the trenches, which the 16th had gallantly held."
The remains of Private Arthur Charles Hayward are now buried in a grave, in the Old Military Cemetery in the town of "Poperinghe" (now renamed "Poperinge"), which is located, roughly 6 1/2 miles (10.5 Km) west of "Ypres" (now renamed "Ieper").
But this is′t the end of the story; there are a few mysteries still surrounding how Arthur died and where. We know where the 16th Battalion was on 22nd and 23rd April, we know Arthur was part of that Battalion, and the War Diaries tell us something of what happened that night but we can′t be sure where Arthur, actually, was.
The "Bexhill Chronicle", on 29th May 1915, under the heading "Roll of Honour", has a list of those who had volunteered and the branch of the service in which they were enlisted; against Arthur′s name, appears the words, "Canadian Regiment (killed at Hill 60)", while the records of Poperinghe Cemetery add that he "Died of wounds (Gas)". The war diaries of the 16th Battalion don′t mention any gas.
I′ll keep on looking but that′s all I′ve found, so far.
Below are several photographs, of the grave at Poperinghe, the cemetery, and of Alfred Charles Hayward hinself. Unfortunately the photo of Arthur has come from a newspaper of some sort and has been copied several times, not actually improving the picture but it's the best I can do. Please, click on a title to see the image:
The picture of the plaque is, truly, that of Private Arthur Charles Hayward but the scroll is not; it is one that I produced by combining several of the best images on the Internet. I added the name and rank just to complete the picture.
The Memorial Plaque (or "Dead Man's Penny") and Scroll
Arthur Charles Hayward′s Headstone and Grave, in the Poperinghe Cemetery, in Belgium.
War Diaries
