The Curious Case of Harold Dutton Part 2

Today we have the second of Archives Volunteer Carol Mayo’s blogs about the life of Harold Dutton, a man convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act in Warrington during WWI. If you haven’t read it yet, part one can be found here https://wmag.culturewarrington.org/2021/07/21/the-curious-case-of-harold-dutton/  Carol continues the story below:

 

Harold’s first blog ended in October 1914 with Harold’s punishment, six months hard labour for breaking the 1911 Official Secrets Act . After completing the blog, I thought there would be very little or nothing else to discover. I was wrong.

The witness statements in the spying trial are the starting point for this blog. The first witness statement was made by John Barker. It tells us that he shared lodgings with Harold at 4 Tanners Lane and Barker was employed as a Furniture Dealers Assistant.  It was John Barker who reported Harold to the Police after Harold had shown him the secret papers. Another witness was Harold’s girlfriend Elizabeth Boardman who lived at 30 Farnworth Street in Widnes. She told the Police that she had known Harold since December 1913. She visited his lodgings for tea on 12th August 1914 and recognised the exhibits from her visit. Harold showed her the envelope containing the official papers. He asked her to look after them for him and then quickly left the kitchen. She looked at the envelope and papers and put them to one side on the dresser. The third witness was James Quinlan O’Brien who was also employed as a clerk and worked alongside Harold at Major Hare’s office in Portsmouth. In his statement  he said it was possible for Harold to type up the Major’s notes. The final military witness was Colonel John Antill Moggridge, the Commander of the 40th Regimental District of Warrington. He had perused the papers and concluded that “the prisoner had no right to retain the document. It was a copy of notes written on Government paper for a lecture which was marked SECRET and contained information that would likely to be of great value to the enemy”. It is logical to wonder why Major Hare, Harold’s Commanding Officer, did not give a statement. The Runcorn Examiner recorded on 5th September 1914 that Major Hare was on active service, and he was unable to be contacted.

 

In his statement Harold repeated that he had no intention of doing any harm and he held on to the papers for eighteen months. He confessed to showing the papers to one or two men from his regiment, one of his brothers and John Barker. “That is all I wish to say”.

I found a surprising fact about Harold and other prisoners’ conveyance to jail. Harold would have been liable for his transport costs to the prison. This did however change with the Criminal Justice Administration Act of April 1915. Harold’s punishment of six months hard labour, what did this mean? Hard Labour meant compulsory physical labour in addition to the prison sentence. Evidence given by the Home Secretary Reginald McKenna from May 1914 to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Criminal Justice Administration Bill sheds some light on this question. For the first twenty-eight days the prisoner worked alone confined to his cell and was given a plank bed but no mattress. After the twenty-eight days he was allowed to work with the other prisoners but the work was carried out in silence. How did Harold cope with the isolation and prison discipline ?

 Solitary Hard Labour

Another question I have asked myself is “What happened to Harold after his release?” To my surprise I came across a newspaper article which answered this question. The Runcorn Weekly News on 1st October 1915 headline reads “Hough Green Man Wounded In “The Big New Movement”. Harold’s mother, Hannah Dutton of Bank Buildings, Hough Green received a letter from her son. Private Dutton said that he had been wounded by a nearby exploding shell. “I was crossing over in the German trenches with the result that my left wrist is shattered. I have just seen the doctor and his report is I have a shrapnel wounded wrist and a compound fracture of the arm. The casualties were very heavy. I expect to be in England again soon.” The article also discloses that prior to enlisting he had been employed in the laboratory at Widnes Alkali Works.  On 4th February 1916 The Runcorn Weekly News published another revealing article. Private Harold Dutton of the 2nd South Lancashire Regiment (S.L.R.) had been wounded in the left arm at Loos in September 1915. Harold had not only been part of the biggest battle in 1915 but he had witnessed the first use of poison gas by the British.

I had several thoughts, have I mistaken him for another Harold Dutton? No. The 1901 census lists Hannah and Joseph as his mother and father, and his brothers Frederick and Hamer are also listed alongside Harold. In a later newspaper article from the Runcorn Weekly News 4th February 1916 “Hough Green Soldier Killed”  shows how the Dutton family were hit hard by events. Frederick, one of his older brothers was a Sergeant serving in the Dardanelles with the West Lancashire Royal Engineers. On December 17th1915 he was killed by a bullet wound to his head. Frederick’s Commanding Officer Major W.F. Nixon-Nuttall and the Chaplain personally wrote to his parents. Hamer, also an older brother was a Corporal serving with the 5th Dragoon Guards. He was wounded by a bullet in his left arm at Ypres in November 1914. Hamer was discharged as a result of his injuries and on his return to Widnes he too was working at United Alkali Company.

At first, I thought it incredulous that he had re-enlisted and wondered how this was possible? Could he have lied to re-join the army or was his crime overlooked during a period when Britain’s troop numbers were depleted, and the authorities were desperate to recruit ?

I think I may have found the answer. By searching the term South Lancashire Regiment in the British Newspaper Archive for the period prior to these reports a particular headline stood out. On 4th June 1915 The Runcorn Weekly News covered  an open air recruitment meeting held by the South Lancashire Regiment in Victoria Square in Widnes. Their aim was to recruit men to “fill the gaps” with particular emphasis upon recruiting men from the “United Alkali Company Men”. Due to heavy losses and casualties the regiment needed to recruit another 1230 men. Colonel Thomas addressed the crowd and asked women and men who could not serve to influence those who could. In the Colonel’s words “enlist without delay” and you can say “you did your manly duty”. He went on to say that all recruits would be sent for training to Kirkham near Blackpool and then on to the south of England prior to taking their place at the Front. Harold could have attended the meeting or been aware of the recruiting drive, as he was an employee of the United Alkali Company. This article appears to have answered my question surrounding Harold’s re-enlistment but as we will see it also relevant to another part of Harold’s life.

Runcorn Soap and Alkali Works

 

Harold’s story is far from over. Searching military records on-line I came across an admission and discharge record from No.2 General Hospital. Further research shows that the hospital was based at Quai de Escales in Le Harve. According to this record 23 years old Private Dutton 19396 of the South Lancashire Regiment had an injured wrist and he had completed three months service with his company. He had been treated for two days at Le Harve and went on to join a sick convoy on 28th September 1915. Harold returned to England on the H.S. (Hospital Ship) Asturias. A further search revealed that the Asturias was requisitioned by the Admiralty in August 1914 and converted into a Hospital Ship which accommodated 896 patients. The H.S. Asturias operated from France, transporting the injured from the Western Front back to Britain. There is an especially interesting line from the article published on 4th February 1916 which reveals Harold location. Harold “was now at Lathom”. Harold was back in England, in Ormskirk West Lancashire.

No.2 General Hospital, a requisitioned Hotel at Le Havre

 

Attempting to locate the convalescent home in Lathom has been problematic. I contacted Ormskirk Archives and asked if there were any sources relating to the hospital but I was informed the only military activity in Lathom was at Lathom Hall. It was here where thousands of horses were trained for the Front but no military hospital.  I tried a different approach and searched the Ormskirk papers for Lathom but this also resulted in a blank. By changing the search term to “convalescent hospital” for the Ormskirk papers there were several articles. All of which referred to a newly established Soldier’ Convalescent Hospital at Aughton. From the articles I have ascertained that the hospital was administered by the Red Cross and was an Auxiliary Hospital. Here the nursing staff were V.A.D. (Volunteer Aid Detachments) comprised of usually local women. The hospital opened in May 1915 and it was based at the Aughton Institute. After a period of fund raising and sanctioning by the military authorities the building was transformed from a local meeting and entertainment centre to a military hospital with twenty beds. From the convalescent home the next mention of Harold  is on Saturday 2nd June 1916 when the Burnley Express published an announcement of marriage. On May 31st 1916 at St John’s Church Lytham Harold Dutton of Bank Buildings, Hough Green married Ellenor Pickles of Lytham.

The next questions are who was Ellenor Pickles and why did they marry in Lytham ?