Ernest Tuttle

Pte E. Tuttle Worksop Guardian 14 July1916 It is with regret that we have to announce the death in action of another Worksop Man, a man whose name will add to the Abbey Boys School Roll of Honour. It is Pte Ernest Tuttle, the son of Mrs Arthurs, of 48, John St:, who with her husband have been residents there for a long time, and are well known and respected. As yet no official information has been received, but from what has been conveyed to them by letter, Pte. Tuttles parents have only too good a reason to believe that their so has fallen. But he has fallen amongst the brave, upon the field of Honour, fighting for the cause of right and for all that stands for freedom. After leaving the Abbey Boys School, Tuttle went to work at Manton Colliery, where he put down his tools to take up his rifle, and enlisted on the 9th August last year. He joined the 12th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, and was, after his training, drafted out to France in March. He was killed on the 3rd inst., after over three month’s in the trenches, and his parents were notified by letter from one of his comrades-a man from Edwinstowe- whom the deceased had known since his enlistment. “It is with deepest regret”, the letter reads, “My painful duty to inform you of the death in action of your dear and gallant soldier son. He died a Hero’s death whilst in the execution of his duty, and it is his last wish that I should inform you if anything went wrong with him, I don’t like the task, but I am only fulfilling his last request. It might console you a bit to know that you have the deepest sympathy of everyone in his Company-From the Officer Commanding to humble privates. He will be much missed as he was very popular, and had a cheery word for all. Don’t worry over it, dear Mrs Arthurs, he has done his duty nobly for King and Country, and he is only one of many who have laid down their lives for freedom. You may be rest assured we shall have full revenge for this foul crime. ……I must now close, as it has upset me so much that I hardly know what I am writing about, but I felt it my duty to fulfil Ernest’s request. Do not worry, Mrs Arthurs, he will receive a proper burial, and will be laid to rest by the side of his brave comrades in a British Cemetery.-Yours sincere friend Jack” Mr and Mrs Arthurs were acquainted with the date of their dead son by a kind and sympathetic letter from the deceased’s captain, who wrote:- “It’s with deep regret that I am writing to inform you of the death of your son Pte E. Tuttle, who was in my Company, He has been under my command since his enlistment, and I have always found him a keen and good soldier. On July 3rd some special work had to be undertaken, and your son was one of the volunteer’s to do it. During this work the officer in charge and several men were wounded, and Tuttle and three other’s-his pals-were killed, I wish to convey to you and yours the heartfelt sympathy of myself and my officers in your loss, and at the same time to assure you that I have lost a man who always did his duty well, and a man I could trust. He was liked by all, the officers and the N.C.O’s in the company. I am your obedient servant, F.R. Ludlow, Captain” Pte Tuttle was 19 years of age, and a smart soldier, one of the many good men from Worksop whose blood has been shed for their Country. Ernest Tuttle Pte 29716 Ernest Tuttle is something of an enigma. There are two reports from different authoritative sources in the Worksop Guardian as to his death in 3 July 1916 whilst serving with the 12th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters in Flanders. The 12th was a pioneer battalion responsible for digging trenches and providing labour for road building and similar civil engineering works. On 3 July the working parties had been heavily shelled and sniped. However there is no record of his death in the official records and his name has been included on the plaque “just in case”. Ernest was the son of William and Maria Tuttle being born in Abbey Street in 1897 but his father died when he was seven. Following the remarriage of his mother to Bernard Arthur, he moved in with them at 48 John Street and, after working as an errand lad, he moved to work at Manton Colliery until he left to join the Foresters. There is a record of Ernest Tuttle marrying in 1919 but a definite answer as to his survival may have to wait until the 1921 census can be accessed. Courtesy of Robert Illett

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