The Great War: N–Z · Story 9

Oliver John Pothecary (1897-1923)

Pothecary was originally a Medieval surname, derived from the occupation of an Apothecary, who was a keeper of herbs and spices, or an early pharmacist. Our Pothecarys came from Woodford, where William John Pothecary married Mary Ann Gunn on the 26th November 1896. Their son, Oliver John was baptised in Woodford Church on the 23rd May of the following year. William was a “Furnace’s Labourer” in the local iron ore blast furnaces.

In the 1901 Census they were living in Pleasant Row in Woodford and already had three children, Oliver (3), Herbert Victor (2) and William George (1). We see that William senior had been born in Wiltshire and the next Census shows that this had been in the small village of Corton on the edges of Cranborne Chase. Mary was a Woodford girl and perhaps it had been the work that had drawn William north. By the 1911 Census, the couple had two more children, Alfred and Horace Elijah. Was Mary Ann hoping for a girl? Oliver was thirteen years old and working as an errand boy for a fishmonger. War came in 1914 and conscription in 1916 but Oliver was not at first conscripted.

In the summer of 1917, he married Bertha Eleanor (sometimes Helena) Bates from across the Nene in Ringstead. She had been christened in her parish church, the daughter of William and Maud Bates, on the 16th April 1890.

Soon after the marriage Oliver was conscripted. He was enlisted with the Royal Army Medical Corps in August 1917 and was given the service number 123845. At some point, in late 1917 or early 1918, he was posted abroad to the 38th Field Ambulance (FA).

The 38th FA was part of the 12th (Eastern) Division) which fought on the Western Front throughout the war. On the 1st January 1918, the 38th FA were at Les Puresbecque and there was heavy snow. This was a farm 20 miles west of Lille in northern France, not far from the Belgium border. The 38th moved soon after to Fort Rompu in support of the Division, which was in the Front Line at Fleurbaix, west of Lille.

As we have seen in previous biographies, the Field Ambulance was not a vehicle but a medical unit that was based not far behind the Front Line. It included men and vehicles of various types. When at full strength, which was rarely, it had ten officers and 224 men. It would be divided into three sections and each one of these had a Stretcher Bearer and Tented subsection. Besides the doctors, the men would have a wide variety of roles, from nursing orderlies, to cooks, sanitation squads,, bootmakers, water carriers, and ambulance (some horse-drawn) drivers. The officers would also be responsible for inspecting the fighting men for illness and ensuring the drinking water and sanitation arrangements were safe from infection. Cleanliness was often impossible in the mud of Flanders.

The Field Ambulance was designed (in theory) to cope with up to 150 casualties and was also tasked with establishing and running the points along the casualty evacuation chain. This “chain” took the injured backwards from the Front Line through the Bearer Relay Posts to the Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) to the Main Dressing Station (MDS) and, if necessary, to the Field Hospitals, large coastal hospitals and on to England..

We do not know what role that Oliver Pothecary was assigned, and it may have varied, but it seems likely that it was one of the more physical tasks.

In March 1918 he 12th Division had moved over 100 miles further south, and were in the Senlis-le-Sec, Bouzincourt area, north of Albert, on the morning of the 24th March 1918. The Germans, however, pre-empted any Allied attack by launching the Michael Offensive. On the 26th March, the enemy were seen advancing down the slopes of the Ancre Valley and the fighting started. The Division was engaged in the Battle of Bapaume which was part of the 1918 Battle of Arras. It suffered heavy casualties in facing the massed German advance.

The German offensive continued in the rain and the War Diary shows the 38th Field Ambulance was constantly on the move as the Allied Line was driven back. The entry for the 5th April records:

A large number of gunner casualties have been dealt with and the dressing station has been working at full capacity.

On the 8th April it reports that the neighbouring village had been bombarded with gas shells which might be of a new type.

In the opinion of the Divisional Gas Officer the nature was Mustard mixed with Di-Phosgene and Chloropicrin. Cases presented certain unusual features such as delayed gastric irritation with sickness and retching. . . 6 Officers and 112 OR affected and evacuated.

It also states:

Men are tired and sodden with mud, and trench foot is beginning to appear again.

The Diary records that, besides the usual bravery awards, the men could be awarded “Blue Cards” in recognition of distinguished conduct in the field.

It is difficult to imagine the mental and physical strain of constantly moving patients, men, tents and equipment and setting it up again, often in terrible weather conditions and then having to be ready to deal with new casualties. The Diary notes on the 26th April:

No building being available, an operating tent was pitched in the field next to the water mill.

By May the tide was turning for the last time and the 38th were at Franqueville, trying to work in old Nissen huts which were in need of repair and cleaning. June came and now there was some time and energy for a football match to be organised. We see a movement forward from Le Plouy which is east of Abbeville, to Raincheval and Puchevillers. Then it was on to Harponville where they made use of a small church for the “sick”. It is important to note the emphasis on the word “sick”, for although many more men would be wounded and killed before the war was won, another scourge had moved west which would take even more lives than the war. The Diary entry for the 24th May notes that:

The present epidemic is apparently undoubtedly Influenza. The typical bacilli having been isolated in nearly all cases. It is characterised by a short period of Pyrexia [Fever] – usually three days, associated with catarrhal symptoms in nose and throat and slight bronchitis.

This was the notorious “Spanish Flu” which actually came from the East. By July, the flu had begun to affect the RAMC men, making life even harder for those not affected. On the 1st July, the 12th Division attacked the enemy at Bouzincourt but could not break through and, on the 10th July, were relieved and moved to a new part of the Front Line south of Amiens.

On the 10th July the 38th Field Ambulance moved to Herrissart, and made use of two schools for the sick, and then on to St Sauflieu. The Germans were still putting up a stiff resistance as they tried to make an orderly withdrawal and their aircraft continued to drop bombs on the troops. The Allies were still moving forward and had to take care to avoid booby traps left by the retreating enemy. Gas shells were a major source of casualties. In October, the 12th Division were part of the Final Advance in Artois. On the 21st October at Beuvry the Diary records:

The civilians have been in the habit of paying 5 marks for a visit from a doctor and 2 to 3 marks for dressing or medicine.

On the 30th October, the Division was withdrawn for rest and by the 11th November the 38th Ambulance was at Rumegies and the Diary briefly notes:

Hostility ceased at 11 am today. Cleaning and training.

The unit continued its work into December where the Diary shows:

Trouble is being caused to the Troops by civilians returning and so turning troops out of their billets.

We sometimes forget that these battles were fought across a populated, or recently populated, landscape. The new year brought an easing of the workload and the Diary tells of “a good deal of football being played” and the Divisional Boxing Championships. On the 15th January 1919:

The unit was photographed by the 1st Field Survey Battalion about three weeks ago. Lt. Col. Forsyth D.S.O. had prints for each man done at home. These are being distributed today. It is an excellent photograph and a very acceptable souvenir

For many, unfortunately, their main souvenirs were battered bodies and minds and, for Oliver Pothecary, it appears, the illness that would soon kill him.

He returned to Bertha and his child in Sivers Row in Ringstead and became a labourer on the railway. The couple had three more children, Irene on the 8th December 1919, William on the 6th March 1922 and Kenneth on the 9th January 1924.

By the time Kenneth had been born, however, Oliver was dead. He had died on the 19th October of the previous year. Bertha was entitled to a widow’s pension which included extra money for her children. Oliver had died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (T.B.) which he had probably contracted during his war service. He is not on the War Memorial or the Ringstead Roll of Honour

Bertha remarried, to Arthur Dickens, in 1926 but he too died, aged 26, after an operation for appendicitis, just two years later. Bertha married again, this time to Percy Mayes in 1936 and they were together, with the Pothecary and Dickens children in the 1939 Register of England and Wales. She died in 1950.