Carved into the simple obelisk commemorating the fallen are the names of five sons of Margaret and John McDowell Smith. There’s a story behind the name that isn’t there — a sixth brother, Wilfred — and a century after World War I a local historian has dug out the details from archives.
Wilfred Smith’s survival is a story of sacrifice amid a war that demanded so much of it from virtually every family in Britain.
Because long before there was the fictional tale of Saving Private Ryan, there was the real-life story of saving Pvt. Smith.
The people of Barnard Castle have long known the story of the Smith brothers and that Wilfred, or Willie as he was known, survived.
But how that happened was largely unknown until local historian Peter Wise searched the recently digitised archives of the local newspaper, the Teesdale Mercury . In a minuscule item buried at the bottom of a long gray column came the answer — Queen Mary, wife of King George V, heard about the sacrifice of the brothers and intervened to send Willie home.
A century later, the news has stirred memories and inspired a mixture of pride and astonishment.
Wilfred was the youngest son of a chimney sweep who scraped by in the slums of Barnard Castle, a market town nestled in a landscape dotted by herds of deer and turreted castles in northern England. When Wilfred was 12, there were 10 members of his family living in three rooms in Poor House Yard, according to the 1911 Census of England and Wales.
For many poor young men, joining the army was an adventure, a chance to get regular meals and pay, especially since recruiters told them the war would be over in a matter of months. Wilfred didn’t want to go, but did when his country called. Robert 22, died first, in September 1916. George Henry, 26, died less than two months later.
Frederick, 21, died in July 1917, while the eldest, 37-year-old John William Stout died in October 1917. The fifth son, Alfred, died in July 1918.
Margaret’s grief was apparently more than the vicar’s wife, Sarah Elizabeth Bircham, could bear. Bircham wrote to Queen Mary about the deaths of Margaret’s five sons and how she had a sixth son still at war.
The Teesdale Mercury reported what happened next, printing the reply of the queen’s secretary, Edward Wallington.
“The Queen has caused Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s request concerning their youngest son to be forwarded for consideration of the War Office authorities.”
So Wilfred went home to Barnard Castle though little is known about exactly how that came about. He suffered the lingering respiratory effects of a mustard gas attack and newspaper reports suggested he was temporarily blinded. But once home, he worked as a chimney sweep and a stone mason.
At the Bowes Museum, a memorial was erected to residents who fell in the Great War, including Wilfred’s brothers. His mother laid the first wreath at its dedication in 1923 chosen by the war veterans for the honor. Wilfred was at her side.
Wilfred Smith lived until 1972, when he died at age 74. He was a frequent visitor to the monument at the Bowes Museum that bears his brothers’ names.
