Dear Blog,
Last Thursday was the 98th anniversary of the death of one of Godiva Harriers in WW1. I thought you might like to read about him.
A Synopsis from part of ‘The History of Coventry Godiva Harriers and other clubs in the city during the last 140 years’ detailing one of the club members who lost his life in the Great War.
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the Eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given,
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
It goes without saying that WW1 impinged on all facets of life in Coventry just as it did in every other part of the United Kingdom. All sections of society were affected during the four years of conflict not least amongst some of the local sports clubs whose members were called to the colours to serve their country and made the ultimate sacrifice. Several Godiva members never returned to the city. It might seem appropriate in this anniversary year of the commencement of hostilities in the Great War that we remember one of the Coventry Godiva Harriers club’s members.
As the war dragged on into its second and third years, conscription was introduced. With insufficient numbers of bachelors, a Military Service Bill was introduced in January 1916 and was passed in March, providing for the conscription of single men aged 18–41; in May conscription was extended to married men. And later that year married man Charley Davenport was conscripted into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Men who were due to be called up for military service were able to appeal against their conscription; they or their employers could appeal to a local Military Service Tribunal in their town or district, one such existed in Coventry. These appeals could be made on the grounds of work of national importance. We are therefore left with the conundrum of why one particular Godiva Harrier enlisted when he worked as a miner, one of the classification of workers who could successfully appeal to the Military Service Tribunal as mining was one the industries which gave exemption, as the supplying of coal from the mines was considered to be employment which was of national importance [1]. On the other hand, if he joined the colours in anticipation of adventure, the question has to be asked as to why he did not enlist in the first flush of national enthusiasm in 1914 instead of waiting two years, by which time the brutal reality of war was apparent for all to see as local casualty lists grew and were well publicised in the Coventry Graphic [2] amongst other local news sheets. The suspicion might be that he was conscripted for his mining expertise to help facilitate the building of deep tunnels built under the German lines to enable large scale explosions to take place to break the stalemate which existed on the Western Front. [2a] However, a contra argument would discount this speculation as the ‘Warwickshires’ was a regiment not known for being involved in such activities.
Although a local appeals panel existed to consider cases brought by potential conscripts, increasing pressure from the military meant that repeated appearances before a panel seemed to lead to the previous successful exemptions to military service being superseded. It is ironic that one future local international athlete only took up the sport after he had been put in uniform! He was conscripted following two successful appeals for exemption, his third being declined and he was assigned to the colours as a machine gunner, serving his first posting in India, being de-mobbed in 1919. His appeal was based on the fact that his father was a farmer too infirm to run the farm efficiently, depending on his son for management. The newspaper reports of his final appearance contains no information as to why there was a change of heart, given that the country still was dependent on home food production. The fact that America had entered the war and the success in transatlantic shipping was improved by their involvement. This particular athlete may have survived the carnage, but other runners were not so lucky. As mentioned, one such was Godiva’s Charlie Davenport. He joined the Harriers in 1909 and soon became a successful runner over the country.
Perhaps more unusual from the perspective of athletic history was the fact that he competed in road races in the summer rather than following the usual practice of participating in the plethora of local handicap track races [3] at the various, fete, flower, horticultural or agricultural shows around Coventry and the Warwickshire County where rich pickings in prizes could be had by a competent club athlete. Although road racing might be highly popular activity in the modern era, road racing as we now know it, hardly existed in the first decade of the 20th century. 1903 saw a boom in road races for walking competitors, mostly long distance[4] but road running was slow to follow suit; most races were termed ‘marathons’ although the distance now established at 26 miles 385 yards was not recognised until the early 1920s, despite it being used for the first time in the 1908 Olympic Games in London. Charlie Davenport had the sobriquet ‘marathon’ runner’[5] attached to many newspaper reports referring to him racing; but the only road racing results, as yet, which has been found is the 6th placing in the 1915 Polytechnic marathon. To highlight the cruelty of war and the contrasting fortunes, Davenport joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment about six months after the Godiva Harriers club secretary; Davenport lost his life, the club secretary won the Military Cross.
When Godiva had another of its periodic financial crises in the first decade of the 20th century, local industrial cum philanthropist, Siegfried Bettmann [5a], joint founder with Moritz Schulte of the Triumph bicycle / motor bike / car company, baled them out. Besides a cash donation which he stipulated had to be matched by members’ contributions, he gave a silver trophy for annual competition amongst Godiva runners during the winter months.
The Annie Bettmann Cup [6] which is still competed for annually, was given to the member who achieved the highest number of points in a series of designated handicap races[7] during the winter months. The first placed runner in a particular race was given 7 points; second 6 points etc. with each competitor gaining one point for participating. The winner at the end of the season was awarded a substantial solid gold club medal, suitably engraved, and a set of postcard copies[8] of the large photographic portrait taken of each of the individual winner[9] which was to be displayed in the club headquarters, which ever pub that happened to be at a particular time! Each handicap which took place during the winter and formed part of the Bettmann competition was sponsored by one of the great and good of the city, no doubt at the behest of Bettmann and Schulte[10] .
Charlie Davenport won the Annie Bettmann Cup in the 1910/11 cross country season, which meant he was the second club member to win the Trophy. He beat the club handicapper the following season to retain the cup, a feat repeated only once since when Alan Dowall won in successive seasons beginning in 1959/60. And of course, Davenport was able to pick up various prizes in each of the handicaps during the winter – not only in his Bettmann winning season, but in other races during his five year running career.
Besides the race results in which Davenport featured in the prewar years, from his distinctive facial features, he can always be spotted in the frequent club group photographs taken at that time. One possible theory advanced as to the reason for the frequency of photos appearing in ‘The Coventry Graphic’ was to ameliorate members at a time as not many of the few championships which existed, were actually entered by the club. Besides not entering any / many championship races, few inter-club competitions took place and there were no ‘open’ cross country races to take part in so competitive activities were held almost exclusively within the confines of the club. Interestingly, one series of ‘inter club’ type races did take place during the first few month after war was declared. Coventry was a town with a military barracks [11], and was used as a staging post for various regiments on their way to the front lines. The newly elected club secretary at the time was a well organised forceful personality who showed signs of placing positive ambition within the ranks of the members which had been lacking for some time; any member wanting success resigning in favour of Birchfield, Walthamstow or Small Heath Harriers. He arranged for cross country races to take place against the visiting regiments, the Royal Munster Fusiliers (Feb 1915) and the South Wales Borderers before they left the country for the slaughter which awaited them in the Dardanelles. These fixtures were run from the Butts in the Spon End area of the city with a social and concert to take place later in the evening when race presentations were made [12].
On one occasions for reasons which are not clear, a race consisted of multiple laps which were run almost entirely within the confines of the Butts, the cricket field and the nearby park. And of course, Davenport featured in these races against, it must be admitted, not very good opposition.
It is worth quoting a passage sent to me about an attack by Davenport’s battalion in which he was killed. “… after completing their [6 weeks] training, [the battalion] had gone into the trenches at Fauquissart before Laventie, where on July 19th, 1916, the 2/6th and the 2/7th took part in an extensive attack, which penetrated deeply into the enemy’s defenses and inflicted severe loss. In the 6th the attacking companies at once came under heavy shellfire, with the result that all the offices were killed or wounded, nevertheless the men held on and two platoons reached the enemy’s parapet; but the attack being unable to make progress at this point was eventually abandoned. The conduct of all under the most trying conditions had been excellent. … the casualties in the 2/7th [Davenport’s] were even greater, over 300 killed”. The German’s had shifted some of their troops up to the Somme to give added strength to the defenses there. British intelligence knew of this degree of troop movement and the British Command thought that the weakened front offered a chance to attack a weakened German defensive line. It was little comfort to anyone when Haig described the enterprise, which was a total disaster, as “a gallant effort”. He went on to say that the attack “… had by no means been in vain; it had accomplished its purpose, which was to impress on the enemy the risk he would run, if, in order to reinforce the Somme front, he weakened his line elsewhere.” I am sure the remnants of the fruitless British attack were greatly comforted by the reassuring words. Davenport was seriously injured and died five weeks later from his wounds. He, like his namesake, lies in Loos Memorial Cemetery.
It is unfortunate and rather sad that no commemorative plaque is dedicated to Charlie Davenport in the Coventry War Memorial Park, where many other local casualties are so remembered. He does however appear on the list of fallen inside the foyer of the Information Centre.
Ref [1]: The number continued to decline towards 40,000 a month, as essential men were needed for war work and the poor health of many others remained, even as the requirements of man power were progressively reduced. A very large number of men appealed: by the end of June 1916, 748,587 men had appealed to tribunals. Over the same period around 770,000 men joined the army. Most men were given some kind of exemption, usually temporary (between a few weeks and six months) or conditional on their situation at work or home remaining serious enough to warrant their retention at home. In October 1.12 million men nationally held tribunal exemption or had cases pending; by May 1917 this had fallen to 780,000 exempt and 110,000 pending. At this point there were also 1.8 million men with exemptions granted by the government (for example, those working in war industries); if these exemptions are combined, they covered more men than were serving overseas with the British Army.
Ref [2]:- The Coventry Graphic began life as a locally produced sports paper founded by a Godiva member under the banner of ‘The Coventry Reporter’ in the 1880s; a sporting pink [or sporting green] of the time! The title metamorphosed several times until it became the Graphic in 1908.
Ref [2a]:- Charlie Davenport joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment [13] in 1916. After a century it might now seem strange that, as a coal miner, he was not relocated to a regiment / battalion concerned with the deep tunneling under enemy lines; the burrows were built to house huge quantities of explosives charged to cause widespread devastation to the German front lines. A similar observation might be made about his non assignment to a cycling battalion, coming from a city renowned for its cycling industry, the Pioneer Cycling Company being one local firm selling huge quantities of bikes to the military. The Cyclist Memorial in Meriden which commemorates fallen cyclists in the Great War is testament to cycling in WW1 and is the focus of an annual Service of Remembrance. The centre of England monument was initially conceived as a memorial to cyclists who were on active duty as cycling soldiers rather than soldiers who had a hobby of cycling in civilian life. It has to be remembered that transportation of goods, supplies and weaponry was nearly all done with horse power a century ago. Hundreds of thousands of horses were a requirement of warfare before the use of the internal combustion engine was widely available; when a horse was killed, as they were in their many thousands, a replacement was required. The horses were lost in large numbers because of the atrocious muddy conditions which prevailed in or near the front lines or on the supply routes. And a horse is an easy large target for a gunner to hit. It was realised in the Boer War that soldiers on bicycles would free up more horses for mundane labouring work and large orders were placed with Coventry bicycle factories. A stream of patents was consequently taken out to improve the efficiency of the bike to cope with the demands of warfare. And in the arid conditions of South Africa, regiments of bicyclists could be rapidly deployed as a fast response force. As a consequence of this, it was thought by the military thinkers at the time of WW1 that a similar use of the bicycle could be used in the various theatres of war in Europe and specifically dedicated battalions of cyclists within certain regiments were formed. The muddled thinking of the time did not seem to realise that the underfoot conditions and weather in Europe was vastly different from that in South Africa.
Ref [2b]:- For very many years it was widely believed that the Coventry Godiva Harriers was founded in 1870. This date appeared on letter headings, membership forms and medals besides being quoted in many books on athletic history such as the AAA Centenary, the History of ECCU and features in magazines such as ‘Athletics Weekly’.
Ref [3]:- A handicap race in the summer took place invariable on a temporary grass track marked out specifically for a ‘sports’. Usual to squeeze the track into the confines of a agricultural field or similar, the track would be measure about 300 yards, the minimum oval which would allow a 100 yard straight to be accommodated in the centre of the arena. The classier events might have the 100 yards demarked by tape [string] strung between small metal stakes [about a foot] running the length on the straight; there would be no lanes on the oval grass track. There would be multiple starting lines for the 100 yards and cards pinned to small wooden stakes around the oval. These were to facilitate the ‘ handicap marks’ given to the athletes, each runner starting a different point, the allowance giving some indication of the ability of the runner, the slower ones being given a generous allowance on the back marker or scratch man. The meeting handicapper tried to equate the abilities of each athlete from past performances, trying to ensure all the field crossed the finishing mustard at the same time, thereby providing the paying public with an exciting race. Most sports had only running and cycle events, the cycle races being similarly handicapped as the runners were, the difference being that the cyclist operated under the National Cycle Union rules, the athletes under the Amateur Athletic Association regulations, each sport having its own list of official handicappers.
Ref [4]:- Coventry to Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham, Birmingham to Leicester, Northampton to Leicester, Birmingham to Nottingham.
Ref [5]:- A ‘marathon’ in the early years of the 20th century was a term given to any distance race, usually but not exclusively, over 10 miles. The distance of 26 miles 385 as we now know was fixed in the early years of the 1920s despite this distance first being covered in 1908 at the London Olympic Games. Another Coventry athlete in the army, ran a 14 mile ‘marathon’ just after the WW1 hostilities ended.
Ref [5a]:- He also incorporated Godiva members into the novel medical scheme he operated for his employees.
Ref [6]:- The cup was dedicated to his wife.
Ref [7]:- The arrangements for cross country handicap was different to the system operated on the track. Handicaps took on two forms. A yacht handicap was a race in which all runners set off together but none of them knew what allowance the handicapper had given them. It was only after the race had finished that the handicap time was made known and the result of the handicapper adjusted the actual finishing time for the runners according to the handicap time he had given them. For example if a particular runner had been allocated an allowance of 2 minutes say and finished with a time of 30 minutes and 24 seconds, his handicap time would be 28 mins and 24 seconds which would be used to find the race finishing order. It was from this list that determined the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. The actual winner [the fastest man] was also given an award. The other handicap was arranged so that each athlete was given a time allowance to reflect his ability. The slowest man was sent off first, the second slowest next and so on until the fastest man was dispatched with all the other runners already scattered around the course. 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were given to the first three to cross the finish line, a prize also awarded to the man with the fastest time.
Ref [8]:- All portraits, group and race photographs at this time were taken by Charles Winterbourne who came to the midlands from Lewes in Sussex, first living in Birmingham and joining Birchfield harriers before moving to Coventry and joining Godiva.
Ref [9]: With the exception of two portraits, all the originals have been lost. Luckily in the late 1960s when it was suspected that our centenary was imminent6, some unknown member had copies made, most of which have survived.
Ref [10]:- More circumspect than Bettmann, Schulte was as equally philanthropic, his main sporting interest lying with cricket.
Ref [11]:- Reasons for this are discussed in ‘The History of Coventry Godiva Harriers and other clubs in the city during the last 140 years’. Although there was a military barracks in the city where the aptly named Barracks car park is now situated, many visiting soldiers were billeted in the houses of the city folk.
Ref [12]:- The Hen and Chicken pub was favoured to the closer, Albany, as the latter was utilised as the headquarters of the Coventry Branch of Small Heath Harriers, a nearby close rival from Birmingham who employed the tactic of setting up ‘branch’ clubs to poach athletes from other clubs!! Birchfield Harriers, another Birmingham club, did the same.
Ref [13]:- Care should be taken as a ‘Charles Davenport’[private 3858] – the Godiva Harrier - and a ‘Henry Charles Davenport’ [Lance Corporal 3492], both from Coventry, joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment within a week of each other and both died in the same battle in July/August 1916. They were in the same 2/7th battalion. Both are buried at the Loos Memorial. Unfortunately some local press reports get the exploits of the two men muddled. It seems that the initial mistake was never corrected and subsequent reports merely made matters worse, each article probably relying solely on the previous one for its facts.
Colin
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