ROBERT SHENTON 

Robert's Story.

Son of Mr. Peter Shenton and the late Mrs. Jane Shenton, (nee McClinkett) of Harding's Bank, Buglawton, Cheshire, they were married at St John's Church, Buglawton, Cheshire, in 1870. Peter remarried, Mrs. Hannah Shenton, (nee Williams) of 16, William Street, Buglawton, Cheshire. They were married in a Civil Ceremony in Congleton, Cheshire, in 1894. Robert went to live with his sister, Mary Ann in 1911 at Eaton, Congleton, Cheshire. He had two sisters, Alice and Sarah E. Shenton along with three brothers, James, William and Harry William Shenton. He also had three half-sisters, Minnie, Maud and Annie Shenton. He was employed as a Silk Weaver and Fustian Cutter.

He enlisted into the 12^th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment at Macclesfield, on the 8^th of September 1914, he gave his age as 34 years, when actually he was 37 and successfully passed his medical check. The 12^th battalion moved to Seaford and by December 1914 they were in billets in Eastbourne, in June 1915 they were in Aldershot. He left Folkestone on the 6^th of September 1915, as part of the British Expeditionary Force to France, disembarking at Marseilles on the 28^th of October 1915. On the same day he embarked for Salonika to join up with the British Expeditionary Force to the Mediterranean disembarking on the 6^th of November 1915. After a stay of just over two years in which time he was struck down with Anaemia, Debility and chronic malaria, he returned to England on the 26^th of January 1918, where doctors diagnosed that he was only fit for active service in France or Italy. On the 30^th of March 1918, he embarked from Southampton to Rouen, where he joined the 10^th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment, under the command of the 7^th Brigade, 25^th Division. On the 21^st of March, The German army had launched a massive assault on the British troops holding positions in the heart of the Somme battlefield. The second phase of the offensive would take place further north around Hasbrouck and Bailleul. This was a time of chaos brought about by the overwhelming onslaught of the German army. However, the Regimental History notes that the Cheshire Regiment fought well as always, but in the bewildering succession of withdrawals, regimental officers and men lost their bearings and though willing and ready to fight, and by no means feeling beaten or disheartened, did not know where best to go. It is not surprising, therefore, that these days of April 1918 are not documented in detail in the various Battalion War Diaries. There would have been no time for Battalion officers to write the diary and, in several cases, the designated officer was already dead. At the start of the battle the 10^th Battalion were in reserve at catacombs at Ploegsteert, near the Belgian border with France. The War Diary records that at 03:00 hours on the 10^th, the enemy bombarded the catacombs with gas shells and continued for 2 hours, when he bombarded with heavies. At 07:00 hours the Cheshire's were ordered to occupy Ploegsteert Wood, but they found the enemy already there. An attempt was made to attack but this failed and the Cheshire's withdrew to an outpost line 400 yards in front of the catacombs. By the evening they and a Battalion of Wiltshire's were still holding a salient pushing towards the wood. Just after midday on the 11^th orders were issued to withdraw, from their positions in the catacombs at Hill 63 at 17:00 hours in a terrible misunderstanding, the Cheshire's believed that they had been ordered to " hold out to the last. The enemy attacked and surrounded the catacombs. Only a small group managed to escape and fight their way to safety, but many were captured. By the 16^th of April the remnants of the 10^th Cheshire's had been formed into a composite unit with other troops and in the evening, were withdrawn into reserve. Further details of the day do not exist in detail but the Battalion's casualties were numbered at 30. Among those taken prisoner on the 14^th of April 1918 was Robert.

It was in April 1918 that he was reported as being missing in action, but it was then confirmed on the 27^th of August 1918, that he was in fact a Prisoner of War in Hautmont Prisoner of War Camp, which is on record as being a brutal place. Hautmont a town in the Department of Nord, five kilometres south west of Maubeuge in the valley of Sambre in France. It had been captured very early in the war and established as a Prisoner of War Camp. An insight into the conditions experienced by the prisoners was provided by a Private Henry Emerson No. 41103, an Irishman from Tyrone who was captured on the 28^th of March. Private Emerson was interviewed on the 1^st of October 1918 about his experiences at Hautmont and Fresnoy Le Grand Prisoner of War Camps. He was interned at Hautmont from the 6^th of July to the 9^th of September 1918, when he managed to escape. It is quite likely that he knew and worked alongside Private Shenton. His comments were, We were accommodated in an old building which had a roof. We had no bed or blankets. We worked at a salvage dump, eight hours a day, eight hours a day, seven days a week, pretty heavy work. We received pay at Is. 2d. per hour, the treatment was bad. We were beaten and kicked by the guards. This was the usual thing. They constantly ill treated us like this. There was no one to complain to, but if we did complain to an Officer he would give us the same. No parcels were received in my time. There was no canteen and no means of buying things. These were the conditions under which Private Shenton lived during his imprisonment. At this time there was an influenza pandemic sweeping the world. Given the crude accommodation, lack of bedding and brutal treatment meted out to prisoners, a dose of influenza would have made his life horrendous. Any recurrence of his malaria would have been exacerbated by these conditions. During his interment, Private Shenton was able to send just one letter to his sister Mrs. Sarah Stubbs of Herbert Street, Congleton (who had already lost her husband Thomas Louis Stubbs in the war) in which " he urgently requested her to send him a food parcel" It is doubtful he would have received it. It is possible that Private Emerson took this letter with him when he escaped as the Germans blocked mail going in and out of the camp. Private Shenton must have been in a sorry state. Not surprisingly he died from "general weakness" in Saxon Field Hospital on the 8^th of October 1918, just five weeks before the 42^nd East Lancashire Division retook possession of Hautmont. He is buried in the south west part of the Hautmont Communal Cemetery. German and Allied soldiers are buried there.

Roberts death was confirmed in the Red Cross files.