Tait Brothers Chevington Drift

[Coquet]

Here's the Gazette column dated 10th July 1915 regarding the Tait brothers, two wounded, one missing.
James was eventually declared as killed in action on the 26th April 1915. Body never recovered, or if it was, in an unidentifiable condition as he is commemorated on the Menin Gate memorial to the missing in Ypres town. Of course the area where he died was churned over by shellfire for years after, not the best conditions for preserving a soft, delicate human body.

[Coquet]

The badge Willie is wearing is the Imperial Service Badge. A lot of the guys photographed in 1914 and 15 are pictured wearing this badge. I generally have a few of these lying about; now pictured below. The copper one below is I believe a worn silver plated version.

The territorial soldiers who joined pre war were actually not obliged to serve overseas, they joined for home service only. Service overseas was voluntary, and when war came volunteers were called for for overseas or 'imperial service', these volunteers signed an agreement and were give this badge to show they had done so.

It's a great shame these badges were not individually numbered; would have been an interesting collecting field! I actually found one of these on the Braid, along the tip edge at the high water mark.

[Coquet]

On the 1911 Census all are miners as we might expect, Thomas, the older brother, has married and is in his own house at 43 Hartside Terrace, occupation 'Coal Miner'

James is a 'Breaker, Endless Rope', underground.

William, just 13 according to the census, is a 'Pony Driver'.

[Coquet]

There's quite a plethora of designs and sizes for endless rope haulers at this time. Here's one example for this period:

Interestingly they had at this time single haulers driving multiple ropes operated via brakes and clutches.

I never saw anything other than single drives in my time. Brakes would be electrically operated by a thruster lifting a heavy weight attached to an enormous 'brake shoe', in a fail safe manner - that is the thruster energising to release the brake. They still had mechanical 'winding' handle to apply the brake as well as an emergency back up. Apart from that the basic design and function just the same as 1910!

[janwhin]

I notice from the census that the father, Richard, was an incomer, born in Benton. His wife was local but all the children born at West Chevington, presumably at the colliery there, moving in to Chevington Drift.

[janwhin]

I wonder if your Imperial Service Badge from the Braid had washed out of the old rubbish tip there?