Pic Tor, Crich Stand and a 92nd Anniversary.

The 26th of April 2009 marks the 92nd Anniversary of the death, in action, of my fiance’s Great Grandfather, 28512 Lance Corporal Edmund Henstock, 2/5 Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. I’ve written about him before but didn’t want to let the day pass without a mention and a few photographs I managed to take today.

He is buried in the Cemetery at Jeancourt on the Somme alongside the two men of the Battalion who died with him, Privates Harvey and Merchant. Edmund was in the line as a stretcher bearer with the 2/5 South Staffs and had been for a few days. We will never know precisely what happened but it now seems almost certain that, by whatever means, Private Harvey or Merchant was wounded. Edmund, and whichever of the other two men who was not wounded, were detailed to carry the wounded man back to a Regimental Aid Post or Field Ambulance. At some point on the journey out of the line, something happened which killed these three men instantaneously. There can be little doubt that it was a shellburst. It seems that the three men were buried by another unit either moving into or out of the line. In the meantime, the three soldiers were just listed among the missing. Edmund’s Battalion came out of the line too and it wasn’t until at least May 3rd that the Battalion received news of their deaths. This is why Kate Henstock was originally informed that Edmund had died on the 3rd of May rather than the 26th of April. It’s hard not to imagine what Edmund’s last few hours were like. Were they filled with terror? Loneliness? Longing? Regret? Did he have a sense of foreboding? Had he made peace with himself? The only thing I can be sure of is that if he is the man I believe him to have been, he died simply doing his best.

Though he died with the South Staffordshire Regiment, Edmund initially served in England with the Sherwood Foresters, the Notts & Derbyshire Regiment. From Matlock himself, he is now remembered on Matlock’s War Memorial on the summit of Pic Tor.

Lisa, her mom, brother and Grandfather all journeyed down to Matlock from Runcorn in Cheshire while I headed up there from Walsall.

The Memorial at Pic Tor is quite stunning as is the view. 179 men from Matlock and the surrounding area are commemorated on the Memorial including both Edmund and his brother Samuel.

The long building with the cupola is now the Council buildings but from the late 1800’s it was the home of Smedley’s Hydro. Almost all of Edmund’s family worked there at some point in their lives and it is believed that Edmund lived in various tied accommodation in the narrow streets and terraces beyond and around the Hydro.

Due to time constraints Lisa and her family had to head back up North but I decided to go and have a look for Crich Stand (pronounced Crych.) I’d seen it before from a distance and knew that it had been erected as a Memorial to the men of the Sherwood Foresters who died in the Great War. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Located, as one might expect, on a hill, the Stand itself makes for an impressive sight.

As you walk up to the tower you pass the recently erected Memorial to the fallen of the Regiment since 1945.

The inscription above the doorway makes for very sobering reading.

At the top of the tower (58 steep steps judging by the pain in my legs) is a light which apparently was once an airfield beacon.

The small viewing area at the top also gives fantastic views over Crich Church, the Tramway Museum and the surrounding Countryside.

After climbing to the top of Pic Tor, up to Crich Stand and then to the top of the tower I’m afraid I’d had enough and so set off home.

Accept my apologies for the quality of the photographs and lack of editing. it seems I have forgotten how to use the camera.

Regards,

kev35