Section 8
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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A HERO Section 8 |
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RETURNING HERO
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From 3rd to 31st of October 1918 William was being looked after by Mrs Higgins in Stapleton, a suburb of Bristol. The wards and corridors of Beaufort War Hospital, where he was being treated, were so full with returning wounded that less serious cases, and by now William was classed as such, could no longer be accommodated there. Mrs Higgins took him back to the hospital every day for his wounds to be dressed by the V.A.D.s. They went by omnibus - the fare paid by the Army, as was his food. The Army also gave Mrs Higgins a small allowance for her not inconsiderable trouble. |
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He missed the Armistice celebrations on 11th and 12th November. He either sat in a wheelchair next to the fire looking depressed or lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He found it impossible to come to terms with his loss. His mother and two of his sisters visited him, at great personal cost both in terms of money and time and he perked up for their visit but lapsed back into his depression just before they left. |
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He missed the general election held on 14th December 1918 and didn't hear the pre election pledge made by Prime Minister Lloyd George that if returned to power he would make Britain a "fit country for heroes to live in".
He ignored the newspaper reports of the beginning of the Peace Conference in Paris on 18th January 1919. Still angry and frustrated with the loss of his arm he had become morose and bad tempered knowing that his loss will prevent him doing so many things that should be normal.
He didn't care about the official ending of his war - the signing of the Peace Treaty at Versailles on 28th June 1919, which placed a straitjacket on Germany so restricting that it ultimately led to another war.
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However, things did slowly improve for Will as he had met and fallen in love with one of his nurses at Bristol. On March 10th 1920 William married Alice Annie Julia Haylis, Annie to everyone who knew her. They were married at St Lawrence church, in the parish of Falmer, just outside Brighton. The setting for their wedding was beautiful, surrounded by farmland and backed by the gently flowing silhouette of the South Downs. In front of the church a large and impressive pond and on the banks, black moorhens with brightly coloured, frowning faces, in the shallows large mirror carp disturbed the mud looking for food. The honeymoon was one night in a Bed & Breakfast at Brighton, paid for by Annie's father. |  |
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William's treatment continued but during 1920 he was moved to Edmonton Infirmary, in North London. (North Middlesex Hospital - still treating the sick and injured of today.) He managed to get a job at nearby Waltham Holy Cross, Essex, as a part time caretaker in Waltham Abbey grounds. He was close enough to make the 'bus journey from Edmonton Infirmary, where treatment for his disability was progressing slowly. William and Annie had little money and few comforts, relying on family and church for their basic needs. |
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Soon after the wedding he wrote to his sister. He was now learning to write with his left hand but his handwriting was still shaky:
Hope Ward
Edmonton Infirmary
Silver Street
Edmonton
My own Darling sister
Just a short letter in answer to yours which I received quite safe. I am very sorry to hear that you are so ill dear but you must not give way to it. You must keep yourself as still as ever you can and do just what the nurses and doctor tell you. Do not worry yourself as it will do you no good to worry. I am glad to say that I am getting on fine now, but of course it will be a long time before I get out of hospital, still never mind time comes to those who wait. Well dear I had mum up hear (sic) to see me yesterday and of course Annie was hear also. I don’t know weather (sic) you are having but it is not so bad here now although it rained very hard once or twise (sic) today. Well dear I will conclude with my fondest love and kisses
From
Your ever loving Bro.
Billie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Despite the advice to his sister not to worry he was never able to forget what he had witnessed even when asleep. Cold gray nightmares edged with red swept in and out of his mind, the screams merging with his own as he struggled to awake and flee the horror. When awake his missing arm was a constant reminder of his physical and mental pain.
The economy of England boomed just after the war. The shattered towns and factories of Northern Europe needed machinery and coal to begin functioning again. The home market had been restricted during the war and when staple and luxury goods became available again, profits and wages began to rise. However the boom was short lived and by the summer of 1921 the economy slumped and two million men were unemployed. On the streets were queues of men outside Labour Exchanges waiting for their dole.
Mutilated heroes from the war were forced to beg, sell matches or busque for their food. At this time a one armed man was not an unusual sight, but a world with no work for the fit could afford to do little for a cripple.
To those that have read this far I must apologise - I have not yet found any 'dark secret', alluded to at the start. The family slowly shrugged off the war and its affects, resuming 'normal' lives as best they could, and in 1920 William's mother, Edith, moved to Hastings with her husband John Landers to retire. They lived in Ebenezer Road, in the Old Town, but had to leave as the streets were too steep and the cobbles too uneven for a woman of her age. She returned to South London and spent the last years of her life in Ivy Lodge, a home for the elderly, in Picardy Road, Belvedere, Kent. She died in 1936.
In 1922 William's in-laws, who lived at Falmer in Sussex, found work for William's sister, Ruth Landers. She worked as a nanny at Charleston in Sussex, the home of the artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, influential members of the Bloomsberry Set of modern artists. Ruth eventually married into the Killick family and moved to Chatham in North Kent. Much later, after Ruth became widowed, her unmarried sister, Edith Landers moved in with her. Ruth & Edith (Will's sisters)lived there until they died, sometime in the 1990s.
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William Bentley?? Well, recently, and due to this 'Hero's Story', William's Grandson, Eddie, has contacted me with some good news. It seems that Will did return to some kind of normal life, and he did have a happy family with Annie. They had 5 children, 4 boys & a girl; George, Arthur, Dennis, Pamela & Ronald. It appears that Will managed to keep working thoughout his life, despite his disability. His jobs included Caretaker, Air-raid Warden, Night Watchman for D-Day landing equipment, and he ended up working for Hampshire County Council. Will & Annie were bombed out 3 times during the Blitz, and they lost most of their possessions. It seems that his strength of character and positive attitude helped him do most things despite the loss of his arm. The early years of training in the Army stood him in good stead, and he was a strong man who enjoyed swimming to keep him fit. He was a family man and I have also been contacted by his neice, who knew him as Uncle Bingy. Annie worked in the munitions factory at Woolwich, and was even a London bus driver for a while. William eventually died in 1962, Annie lived on until 1988 working as a House-keeper/Companion. |
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3 of William's children are still alive today (2007). I wonder if they know their father was indeed a hero and went through far more than most people today dream of. We are cocooned by our times, with little understanding of hunger, hardship or hopelessness. Modern living can provide everything that we require to prevent reality penetrating. We are in danger of becoming so protected that there is little chance of us becoming true heroes and yet, less than 100 years ago, William Bentley was but one hero amongst millions.....
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DOES IT MATTER? Does it matter? – losing your legs?… Does it matter? – losing your sight?… Do they matter? – those dreams from the pit?… SIEGFRIED SASSOON |
FIRST WORLD WAR DEAD, ALL NATIONS ~ 10,000,000 Men....
LAST UPDATE OF SECTION 9 - 13/07/2003
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