James William Gannaway was born 25th February 1899 to Henry James (known as James) and Caroline (Kennedy) Gannaway. James was the second eldest of (at least) 11 children, 9 of whom survived infancy. At the time of his baptism he was living with his parents and elder sister (Caroline Louisa) at 87 Weymouth Terrace, in the parish of St Mary’s, Haggerston, Shoreditch.Weymouth Terrace is highlighted pink on the Booth Poverty Map, which indicates that most who lived there were fairly comfortably well off. This was to be the first of many homes in the area for James as his family moved several times.
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| James' baptism entry |
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| Weymouth Terrace before demolition in 1964 |
I haven't been able to find James in any of the school registers for Haggerston but two of his siblings were registered at Hammond Square School; George Alfred (b.1902) in 1907 and Florence(b.1905) in 1909, both entries show their address as 22 Ely Place. By 1911 the family had increased to a household of eight and had moved to 12 Essex St (now Shenfield St) Shoreditch. Here they occupied just two rooms in a house shared with 3 other large families.
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| Ely Place |
James was born into a family of furniture makers so it's hardly surprising that he was working as a cabinet maker by the age of 15. In the early 1900's Shoreditch was the leading furniture making area of London. He must have grown up with the sound and smell of wood being worked and probably learnt his craft from an early age. The 1901 census and his baptism entry show his father was a chair and couch maker with his "own account" which I assume to mean that he was self-employed. However, on the 1911 census he has entered his profession as cabinet maker, worker so it would appear that his business may not have fared well.
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| Cabinet making workshop |
When Britain declared war on Germany on the 4th August 1914, James was just 15. He was one of the 250, 000 underage soldiers who lied about their age to fight for their country. James wouldn't have understood the real effects of war and what was in store for him, like many boys he was probably enticed by thoughts of heroism and thought it would be a few months of adventure away from the dreary norms of work and daily life. By this time the family were living at 10 Eliza Place, Drysdale St. which Booth's maps indicate was a very poor area with some criminal activity (blue and black). On August 22nd 2014 he enlisted to the Territorial forces (8th London Howitzer Brigade) at Woolwich claiming he was 18 (18 was the minimum age a soldier could join the Regular Army, 17 for the TF). Even if he was suspected of being under age it was unlikely that he met much protest. Recruitment officers were paid for each recruit they signed and as the surge of patriotism swept the country, many officers and even head teachers and parents colluded with the boys. There was great pressure to do your bit for the war. Medical tests were designed to ensure the recruit was fit enough rather than old enough. The minimum height to enlist was 5ft 3ins with a minimum chest measurement of 34". At 5ft 4" James met the height requirement but his records show his chest measurement when fully expanded was only 33" so he didn't even meet the physical requirements in that respect, but he was still accepted.
James was a driver so as well as receiving basic military training he also would have had to learn
how to handle a horse and keep it calm and under control in the most stressful of situations.
I wonder if he already had some experience of horsemanship as it appears he was given the rank of driver on enlistment.
He would have been one of three drivers in a team, each having charge of two very strong horses, that made up the team of six that pulled the 18-pound guns. His duties would have also included caring for the horses and their equipment and it was likely that he was also trained to man the gun, this quote from a public message board, discussing the role of Drivers, explains:
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When the guns were in action, the drivers remained at the wagon lines and assisted in the supply of ammunition. They were also available to replace casualties, so had to have a grounding in gun drill and duties of the various gun numbers."
It appears that James was quite a rebellious teenager and didn't take naturally to Army life, his service records contain three discipline sheets listing the various punishments awarded to him for numerous offence's between 1915 and 1918 including several instances of failing to appear for parade on time if at all, overstaying leave, disobeying orders, using obscene language or insolence to N.C.O's, even riotous conduct on one occasion. The punishments he received for his misdemeanour's included: loss of pay, being confined to barracks (often referred to as jankers), extra piquets (sentry duties), and field punishment No. 2.
On 10th September 1915 James was attached to *2/7 London Brigade R.F.A part of the 60th Division. On 24th June 1916 the Brigade embarked from Southampton and disembarked at Le Havre the next day and so began James real and probably shocking experience of the western front. From the war diaries, I have managed to ascertain that his brigade was based near Arras and provided artillery support to the front line.
*2/VII London Brigade RFA, formed on mobilisation from those men of the original units who had not volunteered for overseas service or were under-age, consisted of 2/18, 2/19 and 2/20 London Batteries RFA (TF). The batteries were lettered A, B and C in May 1916 when 2/22 London (Howitzer) Battery joined as D and the brigade was numbered 302.
Conscription was introduced in January 1916, with the British troops boosted by conscripted men, underage soldiers were not in such great need. In June 1916 the war office agreed that if proof was provided that a soldier was under the age limit they could be sent home . With constant news of heavy casualties and deaths reaching England every day, the government were inundated with letters from parents. Some boys admitted they were underage themselves or were simply found too small to fight. At the beginning of November 1916, 4 months after he arrived in France, James aged 17, was sent back to England. Those that were 18 were held at base camps until they reached 19 (the minimum age for overseas service).
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| It appears James was attached to 303 Brigade before being sent home |
Back in England, James was attached to B/346th Brigade and spent the next year or so training in Doncaster and Grimsby before joining 2A reserve brigade on the training camp at Preston. By April of 1917 he had managed to work his way up to Acting Bombadier (similar to Lance Corporal) but his promotion was short lived; after two more slip ups "letting a horse loose" and letting horses stray from the lines" he was demoted back to the rank of Driver in June 1917. He was posted back to France on 4th May 1918, the entries on the pages of his service records that cover this time period are very hard to read but from what I can make out he joined A battery 286th Brigade. From this point it seems he had adapted to army life there are no further entries for misconduct entered on his form. The 286th brigade was part of the 57th division, in 1918 they were involved in the following engagements:
Remarkably James survived WW1 unscathed, at least physically. He returned home to his family in June 1919 who by then were living at 69 Charlotte St, Old Street, Shoreditch and was demobilised the following month. He received The British War Medal and The Victory Medal.
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British War Medal
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| Victory |
James married Daisy Frances Moss (nee Le Fever) on August 22nd, 1920. Daisy was a young widow, I haven't yet found out what happened to her first husband Charles Moss, but I hope to discover this when I write her story. It would appear, from their marriage certificate, that they were neighbours living just doors away from each other in Cropley Street, which I assume may be how they met.
The couple had eight children, three girls and five boys, one of whom was my beloved Grandad, Joseph Henry Gannaway born 6th January 1925, who followed in his father's footsteps when at just fourteen he lied about his age, to join the merchant navy during WW2. I wonder how it was for James watching his sons go off to fight in another war just years after 'the war to end all wars'.
On the 3rd March 1962, James collapsed at a bus stop. He had suffered a heart attack and died on the way to Whipp's Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, Essex. He was just 63 years of age.
