57. Arthur and Alice Wheaver of Warwickshire

Arthur Barnes Wheaver was born on 16 November 1881 in Sutton Coldfield. His parents were John and Caroline Wheaver.

Alice Elena Lambert was born in 1879 in Barrow-in-Furness. Her parents were Daniel and Mary Ann Lambert.

Arthur and Alice were married in 1907 in the Aston district. In 1911, he was a primary schoolmaster for the borough council. They lived at Glenart, Chester Road, Erdington. He was generally referred to as 'AB': he called his wife "Tiny".

They had two children:

• 61.1.1 - Terence Lambert Barnes Wheaver (18 July 1909)
• 61.1.2 - Kathleen Elise Wheaver (24 March 1915). She was named when Arthur was at war, and - on his return - he renamed her Stephanie!

More on these individuals in Chapter 61.

Arthur is recorded as having received the Victory and British War medals, as a Corporal in P112 the Royal Garrison Artillery. I don't know which unit, Arthur served in, but I think he was at the Somme. Almost every battery of the RGA was in France. Wikipedia tells us:

"From 1914 when the army possessed very little heavy artillery, the RGA grew into a very large component of the British Army, being armed with heavy, large-calibre guns and howitzers that were positioned some way behind the front line and had immense destructive power.

Battery of 9.2 inch howitzers (credit)

 "With the new long-range small arms available to the infantry in the era before World War I, artillery fighting in the infantry line was increasingly vulnerable to small-arms fire. The solution to this was the principle of standing off and engaging the enemy with indirect fire. Henceforth the artillery would be positioned well behind the infantry battle line, firing at unseen targets, controlled by a forward artillery observer. Later in the war, advances in the science of gunnery enabled guns to be aimed at co-ordinates on a map calculated with geometry and mathematics. As the war developed, the heavy artillery and the techniques of long-range artillery were massively developed. 

15-inch howitzer, the Somme, 1916 (credit)

"The RGA was often supported by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) who had devised a system where pilots could use wireless telegraphy to give corrections of aim to the guns. The RFC aircraft carried a wireless set and a map and after identifying the position of an enemy target the pilot was able to transmit messages such as A5, B3, etc. in Morse code to a RFC land station attached to a heavy artillery units, such as Royal Garrison Artillery Siege Batteries.
The RGA significantly increased in size, especially the Heavy Batteries, which increased from 32 Regular and Territorial Force batteries in 1914 to 117 by the end of the war. The Siege Batteries increased from just three Regular batteries in 1914 to 401 by the end of the war. Siege batteries (such as 9th Siege Battery at the Battle of the Somme) had the largest guns and howitzers; mounted on railways or on fixed concrete emplacements."

Arthur Barnes Wheaver

Unsurprisingly, the war affected Arthur, and - like so many - hardly spoke of it. Apparently, he'd felt guilty about being with the artillery at the back, rather than in the trenches. It didn't take much research to realise that this was misplaced, and that his position would have been a specific target for enemy guns. Steph told me that he'd stayed away on charitable missions, after the war, helping orphans perhaps. Alice died in 1928, just a year after his father died, and also a year after this photograph was taken. 

Arthur and Alice Wheaver (with Terry in front)

In 1934, Arthur married Maud Beatrice Pring, whom I knew as Granny Joy. She was a nurse. She may have been born in the USA, and appears to have travelled back and forth in childhood. We were not local but I remember visiting her in a residential home, and some exchanges of letters and cards. She died in 1986. Arthur and Joy had a daughter:

• 57.1.3 - Ann Barnes Wheaver (1935). Sadly, she died in 1937. My understanding is that little Ann had never been healthy. Steph remembered taking her out to splash in the puddles, which gave Ann a rare experience of simple joy - cruelly, it was years before Steph was able to dispel at doubt that she might have caused a worsening in Ann's condition.

In 1939, Arthur was a schoolmaster. He and Maud were living with Stephen and Mabel Vernon at 33 Northway, Leamington. My photos of Leamington are here.

Arthur at school

He died in April 1963, having apologised to his grandson for not being able to last until the latter's wedding day that summer.

If you can help me add to this story, please let me know.

Next (Arthur's Siblings)