After the Armistice – When Coming Home From War Was Only the Start of the Battle
The First World War ended 100 years ago this month. Sputnik spoke to Pam Summers, about the shocking domestic situation which greeted one soldier, Private Sydney Feist (pictured, far left) on his return after being demobilised.
November 11, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and dozens of events are being staged in Britain and France to mark the event.
But Britain's victory over Germany after four hard years of trench warfare on the Western Front was only the beginning of the story for many soldiers who often returned home to find situations which had changed out of all recognition while they had been away.
British troops occupied the Rhineland – the last occupation force left in 1926 - and many soldiers were not allowed to return home to England straight after the Armistice.
But Britain's victory over Germany after four hard years of trench warfare on the Western Front was only the beginning of the story for many soldiers who often returned home to find situations which had changed out of all recognition while they had been away.
British troops occupied the Rhineland – the last occupation force left in 1926 - and many soldiers were not allowed to return home to England straight after the Armistice.
Private Sydney Feist served in the 9th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment and was finally served his discharge papers (pictured) in October 1919 after a spell in occupied Germany.
He returned home to the village of Barnham in Sussex to find his life had turned upside down.
Over the next few years he would leave his adulterous wife, the mother of his three children, and set up home with a war widow.
He returned home to the village of Barnham in Sussex to find his life had turned upside down.
Over the next few years he would leave his adulterous wife, the mother of his three children, and set up home with a war widow.
Sydney had married Janet Luxford in 1913 and they had three children – Jack, born in 1914, Tom in 1915, and Jean in 1917. He would later have two other children – one of whom is Pam Summers, now 80, who said she was always led to believe that when her father came back from the First World War he found his children had been put in the workhouse.
"In those days the workhouse was where you went where you had nowhere to go. It was a Victorian idea. The idea was to have people doing work to earn their keep. But for children it was just somewhere to keep them off the street and when they were older they would learn a trade," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
"In those days the workhouse was where you went where you had nowhere to go. It was a Victorian idea. The idea was to have people doing work to earn their keep. But for children it was just somewhere to keep them off the street and when they were older they would learn a trade," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
But in 2016, out of the blue, Mrs. Summers received a letter from a stranger, Jamie Carter, which shed new light on what had happened.
Mr. Carter was exploring his own family tree and had run into problems while researching his grandmother, Jessie, who was born in 1920.
Jessie's mother was Janet (pictured) and she had put Sydney Feist down as the father.
Mr. Carter was exploring his own family tree and had run into problems while researching his grandmother, Jessie, who was born in 1920.
Jessie's mother was Janet (pictured) and she had put Sydney Feist down as the father.
"It turned out Janet had lied about who the father was and had also lied about Sydney to her children. She claimed he was a German who was interned during the First World War," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
"It was all a bit of a mystery to us. Our great-grandmother, Janet, had made up a story and I believed for many years that Sydney was my great-grandfather and that he had been German. I was researching my family history way back in the 1990s and then when the internet came along I typed his name in and was amazed to find out that he was not German but had served in the British Army," Mr. Carter told Sputnik. Mr. Carter and his cousin have unearthed even more skeletons in the cupboard.
Divorce shame splashed across local newspaper
They unearthed a newspaper cutting from 1921 which revealed the tawdry details of Sydney and Janet's divorce.
Sydney, who worked as a butcher and slaughterman, sued for divorce on the grounds of adultery in July 1921.
The cutting, from the Worthing Herald, said Sydney joined the army in 1915 but was only sent to the front in early 1918.
But according to the records office of the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment - which merged with the East Surrey Regiment in 1959 - Private Feist, who was 34, only joined the East Surreys in July 1918.
The British Army was running low on manpower and was calling up older men and those who had previously been excused from duty.
Sydney, who worked as a butcher and slaughterman, sued for divorce on the grounds of adultery in July 1921.
The cutting, from the Worthing Herald, said Sydney joined the army in 1915 but was only sent to the front in early 1918.
But according to the records office of the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment - which merged with the East Surrey Regiment in 1959 - Private Feist, who was 34, only joined the East Surreys in July 1918.
The British Army was running low on manpower and was calling up older men and those who had previously been excused from duty.
A bagpiper at the funeral in 2014 of William McAleer, who died in the Battle of Loos in 1915 but whose body remained undiscovered for 99 years
The East Surreys made up part of the "new army" which Lord Kitchener created in 1914 from raw recruits to supplement the professional soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force in Flanders. The East Surreys suffered horrific casualties at the Battle of Loos, just inside Belgium, in 1915.
"We were absolutely done up and staggered back to a field, still well under shellfire, and there came the sad part of calling the roll. After the excitement of the fight wears down, it's heartrending to hear name after name of one's calls pals called out, and no answer to it. Many a brave deed was done that day and a fine battalion of men had been badly smashed," wrote Sergeant Fred Billman of the events of September 26, 1915.
"We were absolutely done up and staggered back to a field, still well under shellfire, and there came the sad part of calling the roll. After the excitement of the fight wears down, it's heartrending to hear name after name of one's calls pals called out, and no answer to it. Many a brave deed was done that day and a fine battalion of men had been badly smashed," wrote Sergeant Fred Billman of the events of September 26, 1915.
Betrayed by 'friend' who missed war on medical grounds
Private Feist - army number G/49010 - would have spent most of his time slaughtering cows, lambs, pigs and chickens and butchering their carcasses to provide fresh meat for the regiment.
He was demobilised in October 1919 and returned to village rumours that Janet had cheated on him with his friend Cecil Walling.
Walling had served with the Sussex Yeomanry before the Great War but was "turned down for active service on medical grounds".
He was demobilised in October 1919 and returned to village rumours that Janet had cheated on him with his friend Cecil Walling.
Walling had served with the Sussex Yeomanry before the Great War but was "turned down for active service on medical grounds".
The Worthing Herald reported Janet told the court she shared "musical tastes" with Cecil and she admitted they had slept together on at least one occasion in September 1919.
She admitted what she had done to Sydney in writing but Cecil later forced her to write a second letter in which she recanted the confession.
Mr. Justice McCardie "believed the letter written by the wife denying the rumours was written by the wife at the dictation of the co-respondent. In the circumstances he was satisfied that the petitioner had established the charge of misconduct between his wife and co-respondent and he would grant petitioner a decree nisi."
She admitted what she had done to Sydney in writing but Cecil later forced her to write a second letter in which she recanted the confession.
Mr. Justice McCardie "believed the letter written by the wife denying the rumours was written by the wife at the dictation of the co-respondent. In the circumstances he was satisfied that the petitioner had established the charge of misconduct between his wife and co-respondent and he would grant petitioner a decree nisi."
It would appear Sydney was then granted custody of the three children, who may have been in the workhouse with their mother.
Janet (pictured) had given birth to Jessie in the infirmary at Littlehampton workhouse in June 1920 but had apparently been abandoned by Cecil Walling, an entrepreneur who would in that same year set up the Silver Queen company to run buses between various destinations in West Sussex, a business he ran until 1944.
He married a woman called Maud in 1924 and died in 1972, aged 84.
Janet (pictured) had given birth to Jessie in the infirmary at Littlehampton workhouse in June 1920 but had apparently been abandoned by Cecil Walling, an entrepreneur who would in that same year set up the Silver Queen company to run buses between various destinations in West Sussex, a business he ran until 1944.
He married a woman called Maud in 1924 and died in 1972, aged 84.
Casualties during First World War:
1
885,138 British military deaths plus 229,776 from other parts of the Empire
2
1,663,435 British troops and sailors wounded (including gassed)
3
The Germans suffered 2,050,897 fatalities and 4,247,143 wounded
4
France lost 1,397,800 men and 4,266,000 wounded, while 300,000 civilians were killed
5
Russia suffered 1,811,000 dead and 4,950,000 injured before it quit the war in 1917
"My mother wasn't very tactful but she was kind and a hard worker and she loved children. She would have made clothes for Jack, Tom and Jean because she had very little money," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
In 1923 Sydney bought a piece of land in the village of Slindon and paid his friend, Harry Overington, to build a cottage.
Two years later he put an advert in a local newspaper for a housekeeper and child carer to come and look after him and the children in the cottage.
"My mother, Mabel Ambrose, replied to that ad. Her husband, George Ransome, had also served in the war and had been gassed. He was a postman after the war but he died of a haemorrhage shortly after their child, Elsie, was born in 1920," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
Mabel Ambrose (pictured) was employed by Sydney Feist as a housekeeper and childminder but romance soon blossomed between the pair and by 1926 they had married and had a child, Betty.
Their second child, Pamela, was born in 1938.
"Dad never mentioned his first wife to me. Divorce was terribly shameful in those days. My mother was not even allowed to join the Mothers' Union because it was held in the village church and she was married to a divorced man. She was absolutely shocked and horrified by that," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
Two years later he put an advert in a local newspaper for a housekeeper and child carer to come and look after him and the children in the cottage.
"My mother, Mabel Ambrose, replied to that ad. Her husband, George Ransome, had also served in the war and had been gassed. He was a postman after the war but he died of a haemorrhage shortly after their child, Elsie, was born in 1920," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
Mabel Ambrose (pictured) was employed by Sydney Feist as a housekeeper and childminder but romance soon blossomed between the pair and by 1926 they had married and had a child, Betty.
Their second child, Pamela, was born in 1938.
"Dad never mentioned his first wife to me. Divorce was terribly shameful in those days. My mother was not even allowed to join the Mothers' Union because it was held in the village church and she was married to a divorced man. She was absolutely shocked and horrified by that," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
Mrs. Summers said her half-sister Jean tracked her biological mother down in the late 1930s and went to visit her in Aylesbury, near London.
"Jean had a job at the time and was earning good money. I remember being told she had gone to see her real mother and had come back in a terrible state, saying she never wanted to see her again. All her mother wanted was her money. She was bitter for the rest of her life and was very jealous of Betty and I," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
"Jean had a job at the time and was earning good money. I remember being told she had gone to see her real mother and had come back in a terrible state, saying she never wanted to see her again. All her mother wanted was her money. She was bitter for the rest of her life and was very jealous of Betty and I," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
"My father didn't talk about the war but he said that when he was in Germany he met a family who had the same surname," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik.
Feist — or Fiest as it was spelt on Sydney's birth certificate — was originally a German name but Sydney was English through and through.
In 1936 - 10 years after the British army of occupation left the Rhineland, Adolf Hitler ordered his army to enter the region, blatantly ignoring one of the key tenets of the Treaty of Versailles.
It was the Führer's first test for the British and the French and they failed it.
Further appeasement followed before the patience of the British and the French finally ran out and they declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded Poland.
This time Sydney Feist, who ran a butcher's shop in Arundel (pictured), would watch the war from afar, from his rural idyll in West Sussex.
In 1936 - 10 years after the British army of occupation left the Rhineland, Adolf Hitler ordered his army to enter the region, blatantly ignoring one of the key tenets of the Treaty of Versailles.
It was the Führer's first test for the British and the French and they failed it.
Further appeasement followed before the patience of the British and the French finally ran out and they declared war on Germany after Hitler invaded Poland.
This time Sydney Feist, who ran a butcher's shop in Arundel (pictured), would watch the war from afar, from his rural idyll in West Sussex.
His eldest son Jack had died, aged 17, but Tom volunteered and joined the Royal Sussex Regiment.
He was captured while fighting with the Desert Rats in North Africa and spent the rest of the war as a POW, eventually ending up in the Stalag VIII camp in German-occupied Poland. Mrs. Summers, who was only a child at the time, remembers German planes crashing in the fields near her home after engaging in dogfights with Spitfires based at nearby RAF Tangmere. Sydney Feist died in 1961 and Mabel passed away in 1982.
He was captured while fighting with the Desert Rats in North Africa and spent the rest of the war as a POW, eventually ending up in the Stalag VIII camp in German-occupied Poland. Mrs. Summers, who was only a child at the time, remembers German planes crashing in the fields near her home after engaging in dogfights with Spitfires based at nearby RAF Tangmere. Sydney Feist died in 1961 and Mabel passed away in 1982.
Janet died in 1970, taking many of her secrets to the grave.
Janet, a very strong character, had three other children — Hazel, Geoff and Marie — between 1925 and 1930 by another man, Frederick Reading, but did not apparently marry him and would hide the shame of her divorce from her family.
Geoff, like Jack, died aged 17. In October 1945 Geoff was washed overboard "in strange circumstances" on a merchant navy vessel and although the war had already ended he is included on the Second World War memorial for merchant seamen.
Mr. Carter said he had quizzed his grandmother, Jessie – who he called Nanny – about her childhood but she had been kept in the dark by Janet.
Geoff, like Jack, died aged 17. In October 1945 Geoff was washed overboard "in strange circumstances" on a merchant navy vessel and although the war had already ended he is included on the Second World War memorial for merchant seamen.
Mr. Carter said he had quizzed his grandmother, Jessie – who he called Nanny – about her childhood but she had been kept in the dark by Janet.
"Nanny thought Sydney Feist (pictured) was her father and she went to her grave thinking that," said Mr. Carter.
"She never volunteered anything about herself. When she was very young she lived in a house called Maple Drakes in Surrey, which was owned by a Captain Belsham and his wife, who were in India. Nanny told me her mother earned some money playing violin in an orchestra and often left her alone in this big old house while she went out for the evening playing the violin. You have to remember that this was a woman on her own trying to bring up her children without any help from anyone," Mr. Carter told Sputnik.
In the 1920s Jessie, Hazel and Geoff all spent time being fostered by various families when Janet was unable to cope but around but around 1930 they were all reunited, along with Marie, in the village of Kimble in Buckinghamshire when Jessie, aged 10, helped to bring up her younger siblings.
"Nanny later had nine children in 10 years, brought up those children and lived a full and active life. But her early years remained a mystery," Mr. Carter told Sputnik.
In the 1920s Jessie, Hazel and Geoff all spent time being fostered by various families when Janet was unable to cope but around but around 1930 they were all reunited, along with Marie, in the village of Kimble in Buckinghamshire when Jessie, aged 10, helped to bring up her younger siblings.
"Nanny later had nine children in 10 years, brought up those children and lived a full and active life. But her early years remained a mystery," Mr. Carter told Sputnik.
He said he was continuing to research his family's history but would have to wait until 2021, when the 1921 National Census will be published, before he can find out exactly what happened to his great-grandmother after her acrimonious divorce from Sydney.
"They were very different times. There was no birth control, no welfare system and adultery and divorce were very much frowned upon. Janet may have made some bad choices in her life but it is difficult to judge her when you don't know all the circumstances," Mr Carter told Sputnik.
"They were very different times. There was no birth control, no welfare system and adultery and divorce were very much frowned upon. Janet may have made some bad choices in her life but it is difficult to judge her when you don't know all the circumstances," Mr Carter told Sputnik.
"I cannot imagine how my father reacted when he came back from the war and found out about Janet and Cecil. He never mentioned her when I was growing up and he loved Tom and Jean the same as me and my sister. But deep down he must have been very hurt," Mrs. Summers told Sputnik
All photos © courtesy of Sydney Feist's family, courtesy of Jamie Carter's family, AP
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