In my last blogpost I wrote of Sgt Richard Morley Neale whose epitaph included a poignant verse which starts with the line saying “Now every bird he loved by wood and wave”.
I could understand the
meaning of “by wood”, but was intrigued by “and wave”. Sgt Neale’s grave is close by that of his
father, Morley Havelock Neale, and, following a little research into the Neale
family the significance of “and wave “becomes clear.
The Neales were a family of
prominent trawler owners based in South Wales.
Morley Neale was made 62nd President of The Cardiff Naturalists’ Society
in 1934/35. His father, Joshua John
Neale had been the Society’s 28th and 45th president.
J. J. Neale leased Grassholm
and Skomer, islands off the south-west coast of Pembroke shire, for ten years
in order to protect and conserve them as habitats for sea birds. Grassholm is now known for its huge colony of
northern gannets, while Skomer is home to Puffins, Manx Shearwaters,
Razorbills, Gannets and Fulmars. The two
islands are now in the care of the R.S.P.B.
The words “by wood and wave”
on Sgt Richard Neale’s grave are thus explained.
Morley Neale was made a
C.B.E. in 1952 and is listed as Member, Scientific Fishery Research Committees
of The Development Commission. The
Development Commission was a permanent Royal commission set-up under the
Development and Road Improvement Funds Act 1909 to advise and administer the
Development Fund voted annually by Parliament to benefit the rural economy of
England. The Development Commission and its
successors are now part of Natural England.
He was also a member of the
Marine Biological Association of the U.K.
Its council report for 1965/66 reported his death stating: “Morley Neale
had been a member of the Council on a number of occasions, a Vice-President of
the Association since 1951, and by a gift he made in 1958, founded the Morley
Neale Fund for “the benefit of the Plymouth Laboratory staff and ship’s crews”.
Sometime before the start of
the Second World War, Morley Neale moved with his family from South Wales to
Chaffcombe House in the South Somerset village of Chaffcombe.
In the late summer of 1940 it
looked as if a German invasion of southern England was imminent with the
British Army racing against time to reorganise and rebuild its forces. Desperate measures were undertaken including
the formation of local civilian Auxiliary Units whose task it would be to cause
mayhem and destruction in the rear of German forces which had broken through
British defences following an invasion.
The idea for these Auxiliary Units came from the great difficulty the
British military had in dealing with Boer guerrilla units during the Boer War
and Irish Republican Army methods in the years before the Irish Free State came
into being. In both cases armed
civilians with local knowledge using guerrilla tactics proved hard to combat.
Wearing the uniform of the
Home Guard, Auxiliary Units were made up of 6 or 8 man patrols based in an
underground bunker usually concealed in woods.
The men would ideally be farm workers, gamekeepers, woodsmen or
gardeners who knew their locality well and were comfortable in a rural
environment. They were expected to do as
much damage to the Germans as possible, but their life expectancy was measured
in days rather than weeks.
As a naturalist Morley Neale was
an ideal candidate to be such a “guerrilla”, and so joined the 8 strong Chard Patrol
of the Auxiliary Unit based on Snowdon Hill just west of the town. He was a member of the patrol from September
1940, when the Auxiliary Units began forming, until 1944 when they were stood
down.
Morley Havelock Neale died
aged 82 on 28th May 1965 and is buried alongside others of his family in the
churchyard of St. Michael and All Angels in Chaffcombe.
Sources:
Cardiff Naturalists’ Society.
British Resistance Archive.
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