Great War - The fallen sons of Annesley Hall

Today’s tale from Watnall Hall looks at the terrible losses suffered in the Great War by one generation of the Musters family of Annesley Hall, the family that Watnall's young Lancelot Rolleston grew up with. Three of their seven sons were killed, one severely injured and one of the boys' cousins and brother-in-law killed too. The boy's letters home from the front as they learn of their brother's deaths are particularly poignant and show considerable British stiff upper lip. We’ll also look at the family’s WW2 Norwegian special forces connection.

Background

After his father died, 14-year-old Lancelot Rolleston was taken under the wing of the Musters family until he was old enough to inherit Watnall Hall.

Lancelot’s mentors were John Chaworth Musters (1838-1887), who himself was orphaned at a young age, and his wife Lina, née Sherbrooke (1842-1912). Lancelot remained close to John and his family and is even listed as living with them in the 1871 census. In 1872 they were jointly commanding the Watnall Troop of the South Notts Hussars and they’d ride, fish and hunt together around Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and also in Norway at the Muster’s fishing lodge on the Laerdal river. John's second born son was named Lancelot. His eldest son was named John Patricius or "Patrick" to the family.

At the time of his father’s death in 1887 (and highly unusual for the time³) Patrick was living in Norway with Mary Anne Sharpe ('Polly'), a former housemaid to the Musters family, and their three children, all of whom were born in Norway³. Patrick and Mary Anne subsequently married in 1888, and the following year returned to Annesley to take charge of the estates. They also changed the family name by using the dual surname and arms of “Chaworth-Musters” by Royal Licence. 

They still had roots in Norway though owning a house at Aarnes where the family took regular holidays. Patrick’s brother Lancelot was for a time the partner of local girl Ane Nilsdatter Røv and they had a child together. Patrick’s youngest son Jim lived at Surnadal in Norway in the 1920s and was fluent in Norwegian. He was recruited to the Special Operations Executive when the Germans invaded Norway in 1940 and was employed by the Norwegian Government in exile to interrogate escapees from Norway. He was also heavily involved in recruiting and training the Norwegian WW2 special forces Kompani Linge who carried out the famous "Heroes of Telemark" raid. For this work he received the Norwegian War Medal and is regarded as a war hero today in Norway. In 2004 a statue of him and a plaque dedicated to his wartime work was unveiled in Surnadal. His full biography is shown below after his brothers'...

The Great War

At the outbreak of WW1, families great and small around the country answered the patriotic call and sent their young sons off to fight. The Chaworth-Musters were no exception but they were to pay a heavy price. Patrick and Mary Anne would see 6 of their sons go off to war. Only 3 would return alive, one suffering a severe head injury. Their son-in-law Capt.Hugh Pattinson was also killed in action in 1915 within a year of his marriage to their daughter Catherine ("Lina"), leaving behind his young widow and new-born twin girls. Patrick's nephew Roger Chaworth-Musters of the Royal Flying Corps was also killed in aerial combat aged 19.

There is a family memorial in All Saints Church, Annesley Woodhouse:

‘To the glorious memory of Patricius George Chaworth-Musters , Philip Mundy Chaworth-Musters MC  and Robert Chaworth-Musters MC, eldest, fourth and fifth sons of John Patricius Chaworth-Musters Esq of Annesley Park, Notts, and their cousin, Roger Michael Chaworth-Musters, Lieutenant 50th Squadron Royal Flying Corps, second son of Lancelot George BM Chaworth-Musters Esq, of Field Dalling, Norfolk, He fell in aerial combat in France May 7th 1917 aged 19. In the morning of their lives.’

These are their war stories, all so sad and ultimately so pointless...

Patricius ('Pat') George Chaworth-Musters (1888-1915), MC

Pat was born in Norway and educated at Rugby School. He was already a regular soldier at the outbreak of the First World War, having been commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifles on 1 October 1907 aged 19. He was wounded in September 1914 during the retreat from Mons (see his war diary below)¹ and recovered in Britain before being sent back to active service in France. He was hit by a British high explosive "Lyddite" shell that landed short, right on his trench, in early January 1915 at La Bassée and was severely injured. His right arm was amputated, but he died of blood poisoning a few days later, aged 26. He was buried at Béthune in France. He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross in 1916 for conspicuous gallantry.

The news of the oldest son and heir's death was a huge blow to the family. Still training in England, his brother Jack (below) wrote movingly to his parents.. 

"It was a most awful shock to get your telegram today... I am most awfully sorry about Pat and I am sure both you and father are pretty cut up about it. I wish I could cheer you up a bit. It is rotten luck after having escaped once. When I got your wire today, I felt that if I had a German of any sort near enough, I should slay him in cold blood without the least confrontation. Somehow it made me feel it was a much more personal matter now. Try to keep Father from getting too depressed if you can. I know you will find it hard as you will feel it as much yourself, if not worse. I'm afraid I can't write what I feel but I think you will know.

With all of my sympathy.

Your loving son Jack."

John ('Jack') Neville Chaworth-Musters (1890-1970)

Jack was educated at Rugby School and the Royal Naval College, Osborne. When the First World War broke out, Jack got a commission into the South Nottinghamshire Hussars. The regiment was based in Norfolk for the first few months of the war, but was sent to Egypt in March 1915. He took part in the Gallipoli campaign at Suvla Bay in late 1915 and returned to Egypt and Palestine for most of the rest of the war. He received the Distinguished Service Award in 1916. By 1918 he was with the Warwick and South Notts Hussars Machine Gun Battalion in France. 

On the way to France on 26 May 1918 his regiment boarded the troop ship SS Leasowe Castle but soon after midnight on 27 May 1918 the ship was struck by a torpedo from German submarine SM UB-51 104 nautical miles north west of Alexandria. The ship sank with the loss of 101 lives. Even its Dazzle pattern camouflage paint job could not save it. The survivors were returned to Egypt. 

On the same day John was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in the Kings Birthday Honours list. In 1921, John’s father Patrick died and he inherited the family estates. In 1939 with WW2 looming, John was confirmed as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Artillery. However, tragedy struck when his eldest son John Henry Chaworth-Musters was killed in action while serving with the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards in Tunisia on 12 April 1943. After the war he took on many local administrative roles, sold off the old family estates at Wiverton and Edwalton and replaced much of Annesley Park with plantations of conifers. Annesley Park was altered again in the 1960s when it was split in two by the new M1 motorway. His youngest son Robert Chaworth-Musters "Major Bob" inherited on Jack's death in 1970. Since 1960 he'd been living with his family at nearby Felley Priory, another of their properties. In 1973 he sold Annesley Hall and moved permanently to Felley. Since then the old Hall has once again been left neglected and slowly decaying. However, in 2021 at least the roof is being replaced after a series of fires destroyed much of the original one. 

Anthony ('Tony') Chaworth-Musters (1892-1987)

Tony was educated at Rugby School and was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery. In September 1914, aged 22, he was digging a trench system on the Aisne, and went back to help his colleagues out of the trench following a German shell strike. Another shell landed and Tony sustained severe head wounds. Following his recovery, he was unable to take any further active service as his injuries brought on periodic epliletic fits. He continued to work for the army as a gunnery trainer in England during the war. He had been recommended for the Military Cross by his Battery Commander, but despite efforts by his mother, Tony did not receive the medal. Tony joined up again at the outbreak of the Second World War, despite his unfitness for service, and worked on anti-aircraft command.

Philip ('Phil') Mundy Chaworth-Musters (1895-1917), MC

Phil was educated at Rugby School. He joined the British Forces, aged 19, soon after war was declared, and was commissioned to 28 Brigade Royal Field Artillery in October 1914. Phil was posted to France in November 1914 and served continuously in France and Belgium for the next 33 months.

In August 1915, Phil heard the sad news that his brother-in-law Hugh Pattinson had been killed. Phil was particularly close to Hugh, and being based near him, the pair often met up for lunch or tea in the billets. Hugh was superintending a working party digging communications trenches at Houplines, about two miles from Armentieres. He was shot by a German sniper. He'd married Phil's sister Lina in August 1914 and she'd just given birth to twin girls. Phil wrote to his parents... 

"At 8pm he [Hugh] took out a couple of working parties on trench work. He was hit about 8.20pm. A bullet from a land rifle far back in the German line had gone through his brain. He lived for ten minutes but was quite unconscious, but he smiled slightly at first. He could not have possibly suffered any pain. I saw him at tea yesterday afternoon, and he was in great form. I am writing to Lina and Mrs P [Hugh's mother] but I find it rather a hard task. The curious thing is that he was not on a dangerous job. They were quite 800 yards behind the firing line, and he was the only casualty. I have been to see the place where he fell and I have also seen his body. The funeral is tonight at 6pm. I am quite sure he is alright. He looks quite peaceful in death, but it is Lina and the twins I am so worried about... The day Hugh was killed was one of the quietest I ever knew."

Phil was put in charge of a Howitzer battery, quite unusual for a 21-year-old. He also had a pet ferret with him in the trenches to kill the rats that fed on the plentiful corpses. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and promoted to Captain. He was hit by a British shell near Hooge, Flanders, on 17 July 1917 and died instantly, aged 22. He was buried at Poperinghe, Belgium.

Robert ('Bob') Chaworth-Musters (1896-1918), MC

Bob was educated at Rugby School. He joined the British Forces at the age of 18 in 1914 and was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps, serving with the 12th Service Battalion. Bob saw action at the battles of Neuve Chapelle and Aubers Ridge in 1915 and was recommended for the Military Cross. The decoration was awarded to him following the battle of Loos, near Ypres, the following year. 

"Military Cross, Temp. Lt. Robert Chaworth-Musters, K.R.R.C. For conspicuous gallantry during operations. He moved constantly up and down his trench under heavy shell fire, in order to encourage his men, and several times crossed over [broken trench lines] to an isolated company though sniped at every time. He also brought in a wounded man."

He suffered from various illnesses during his time in the trenches, including trench fever, laryngitis, diphtheria and pleurisy, and by July 1917 had been taken away from the front line to serve as an instructor in the 3rd Army Musketry Camp. His health was assessed in February 1918 at Cap St Martin, and soon afterwards he was posted to the Hythe School of Musketry in England. However, by May he was staying in a convalescent home, Langstone House in South Hayling. There, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which it was said he had had for five years. In August he was moved to Cosham Military Hospital. His health appeared to be improving, but in October he caught Spanish flu, and then pneumonia. He died on 10 October 1918, aged 22.

Phil and Bob met up in Oct 1916. Bob had just received
his Military Cross (MC). Both died aged 22 

Douglas Chaworth-Musters (1898-1957), MC

Douglas was educated at Rugby School. He was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery on leaving school, and by July 1917 aged 19 was in France with 504 Battery of 65 Brigade RFA. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918, and a second Bar in May 1918. Douglas stayed in the army after the war ended, and served in India and Ireland, but by the mid-1920s he had returned to England and began farming at Durnford Hall in Suffolk. He gave the farm up as a result of the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Douglas went back into the army in June 1939, into an anti-tank regiment, and worked as an instructor in Northern Ireland. His Military Cross citation reads: 8/1/1918 Gazette issue 30466. M.C. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an intense hostile bombardment of his battery. When an ammunition store was hit and set on fire by an enemy shell, he removed the burning ammunition and extinguished the fire, by his prompt and gallant action preventing the fire spreading and causing very serious damage. On the following day, although heavily gassed by a shell which fell within five yards of him, he refused to report sick, as his commander would have been single-handed. Awarded the Military Cross.

James Lawrence ('Jim') Chaworth-Musters (1901-1948)

Jim was educated at Rugby School and took geography at Cambridge University. He was too young to fight in the First World War. From 1920 until the outbreak of the Second World War, Jim travelled on various scientific expeditions, with a particular interest in mammals and birds. A collection of his drawings of whales and plants, executed mainly in Norway between 1921-1928, is part of the University of Nottingham Chaworth-Musters collection. A new species of aquatic salamander, 'Musterii', was named after him in Afghanistan. He joined the Royal Geographical Society in 1921. In the 1930s and 1940s he undertook voluntary work at the British Museum (now the Natural History Museum). In 1946 he was appointed as Assistant Keeper in the Department of Zoology.

In 1939 Jim was working as British vice-consul in Norway. As we’ve already seen, he was fluent in Norwegian, as his parents had owned a house at Aarnes in Norway and the family took regular holidays there. Jim lived at Vaulen near Surnadal in Norway in the 1920s. He was recruited to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) when the Germans invaded Norway in 1940 and, after escaping to Scotland by fishing boat, was employed by the Norwegian Government in exile to interrogate escapees from Norway.  

Kompani Linge tribute Glenmore,
Cairngorms, Scotland.

He was said by Norwegian sources to have been the major player on the British side in the first sabotage measures in occupied Norway. He started irregular warfare in Norway as soon as could after he reached Lerwick following his escape across the North Sea.  A few weeks after his return, twelve men set off for Western Norway to set up an arms dump and sabotage key infrastructure needed by the Germans. He also acted as a liaison officer between SOE and the Norwegian Government in exile in London. Communications between the Shetlands and Norway were maintained by fishing vessels, or craft disguised as such, crossing during the winters between Lerwick and Norway - the ‘Shetland Bus’ carried agents, commandos, materials and refugees. Formally, he was commissioned as Lieutenant (Special Branch) in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve on 4 March 1941.

He was also responsible for spotting Norwegian refugees who would be suitable for sabotage missions in Norway. He later co-founded Kompani Linge, or Norwegian Independent Company 1, that celebrated group of Norwegian commandos who amongst other exploits sabotaged the heavy-water plants that could have been used by Germany in the development of nuclear weapons. They went down in history as the "Heroes of Telemark". All of the things he did must have been helped by the fact that he spoke the Surnadal dialect ‘like a native’. He died unexpectedly in 1948 aged 46. He was apparently in good health and in the best of spirits and just about to publish his natural history manuscripts which had been delayed due to his appallingly indecipherable handwriting!

The fate of the Hall

Annesley Hall, the ancestral home of the Chaworth-Musters family, was sold in 1973 when the family moved permanently to nearby Felley Priory. An auction was held and the contents and family possessions picked over and sold. The grand staircase was removed and stored in an outhouse, the wooden panelling stripped from the walls leaving a bare shell of a building. A series of arson attacks destroyed much of the roof and years of vandalism and break-ins by ghost hunters and pagan worshippers have left the old hall in a sorry state. However, after 50 years of neglect, there are once again lights glowing through the hall's dusty windows as builders start re-roofing and repairing the infrastructure.    

Source: Manuscripts and Special Collections Nottingham University

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/chaworth-mustersofannesley/biographies/firstworldwarservice.aspx

Notes:

1 - The diary is written in pencil, in a consistent style, and was probably written up during Chaworth-Musters' convalescence; it covers the period from his departure from Farnborough via Southampton to begin active service with the King's Royal Rifles Corps on 12 August, until he was wounded in action and brought back to a military hospital in England. Records his arrival at Givry, Belgium, on 23 August and his first experience of German aircraft fire; the battalion's retreat through various villages over the next few days; giving support to the Berkshire Regiment on 26 August near Mervilles; supporting the 4th Guards Brigade at a battle near Villers Cotierets on 1 September, during which Chaworth-Musters was wounded, and taken by waggon to a temporary hospital at Betz where he was bandaged; and his journey back to Britain by waggon, tram and train in the days after 2 September, which he was asked to make on his own as he was able to walk. https://mss-cat.nottingham.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=ChM%2fF%2f13

2 - Jim Chaworth Musters in Norway and WW2 special ops

https://www.tk.no/speilet/overveldet-over-musters-markering/s/1-113-1238000

https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawrence_Chaworth-Musters

https://zoologyweblog.blogspot.com/2021/10/mouse-chaworth-musters-gentleman.html

Obituary https://www.jstor.org/stable/1375206?read-now=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Ray Mears "Real Heroes of Telemark" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUfiMoY30ac&list=PL9pMBAGDqeF1NvdiD4FsTaayfPs7UvJ6I&ab_channel=Leonardo

SOE/Kompani Linge training school Aviemore https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170111-the-surprising-place-where-wwii-agents-learnt-to-fight-nazis

Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Alliances-Operations-Intelligence-Perspective/dp/1785904779

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shetland-Bus-Courage-Endurance-Survival/dp/1493032941/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

3 - Love, Duty and Sacrifice: One hundred years of a Victorian Nottinghamshire family 

It goes into great depth with diary extracts about the boy's WW1 experiences. It fleshes out and makes much more personal the limited biographies I use here.

Paperback – 1 May 2023 - A true love story that defied convention and class. At the height of the Victorian era, John Patricius (Patrick) Chaworth-Musters is born, heir to a wealthy landowning and mining dynasty. Worlds away, Mary Anne Sharpe is born into a family of Bedfordshire straw plaiters. Mary Anne joins the Chaworth-Musters as a junior maid in 1881. Less than two years later, Patrick (aged 23), gets 20-year-old Mary Anne pregnant. His parents fail to part them but send them to live in Norway, unwed, but away from ‘polite society’. Four years and four children later, Patrick unexpectedly inherits the family’s estate and returns to England. Contrary to convention, he marries Mary Anne, legitimising their children. She reluctantly takes on the daunting role as ‘lady of the manor’, having to manage the servants she had so recently reported to. This is a Victorian story of love, duty, and sacrifice, which within 100 years, leaves the dynasty shattered and the family’s wealth drained.

by Nicola Webb (Author) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Duty-Sacrifice-Victorian-Nottinghamshire/dp/1914002342/ref=sr_1_1?crid=294672F5D7IU3&keywords=Love%2C+Duty+%26+Sacrifice&qid=1687343935&sprefix=love+duty+%26+sacrifice%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-1

4 - from the Hucknall Dispatch 2nd Aug 1917

CHAWORTH-MUSTERS AT WAR

If ever a history of the Great War is written from the local viewpoint, a place of honour must be accorded in its pages to the noble part played by the family of Mr. & Mrs. Chaworth-Musters of Annesley Park. Their six sons all resolved to fight for England on the outbreak of war. Some were already in the regular army and the others immediately caught the spirit and entered the conflict to overthrow the German menace.

The first born was Lieut. Patricius George Chaworth-Musters of the King's Royal Rifles who was an early participant when the task of the 'contemptible little army' was particularly heavy. It was through him that news reached Hucknall of the loss of Private George Worley also in the K.R.R.. The lieutenant was wounded about that time at La Bassée and unfortunately he made the supreme sacrifice on January 11th 1916 at the age of 27 years.

Capt. John Neville Chaworth-Musters was in the South Notts. Hussars. He served in part of the ill-fated Dardanelles Expedition, and for a time was stationed at Alexandria. He is now with the Salonica Army.

Capt. Anthony Chaworth-Musters is the third son and was in France very shortly after the outbreak of war with the Royal Field Artillery. It was his misfortune to be wounded on the Aisne and he is an instructor at the Woolwich Academy at the present time.

The fourth son Lieut. Philip Mundy Chaworth-Musters of the King's Royal Rifles was killed instantaneously by a shell on July 18th 1917. It was in the early days of November when he entered the Royal Field Artillery and on going to France he did valuable work with the forces.

A reward for his gallantry and devotion to duty was shown in December 1915 when he won the Military Cross. In the face of very heavy shell fire he bound up a corporal who was badly wounded, took him to safety and then returned and personally worked a gun under circumstances of great difficulty. At the time of his death he was a divisional Trench Mortar Officer and had won the encomiums of the general for his valuable work preparatory to the Messines battle. Moreover the Captain was regarded as the best type of an English gentleman and everyone in the Division was proud of him.

Capt. Robert Chaworth-Musters, the fifth son, is also in the King's Royal Rifles and is now in France.

Sec. Lieut. Douglas Chaworth-Musters, the sixth son, is also on active service in France with the Royal Field Artillery.

A son-in-law Capt. Pattinson has also given his life for his country's cause.

Such a record as the above must form one of the outstanding features of the war. This locality has something of which to be proud. While the sons are fighting both Mr. & Mrs. Chaworth-Musters are doing noble work by assisting in the sustenance of prisoners of war from the Annesley neighbourhood. Sympathy to wives or parents who have lost husbands and sons is genuinely expressed. Indeed they are indefatigable in their labours on behalf of the local lads especially those who are captives or wounded. In the villages their names are mentioned with gratitude for their many kind deeds. It goes without saying that people are likewise sympathetic to them in respect of their second loss.

SOURCE: Hucknall Dispatch 2nd August 1917