HISTORY
The Death Of Volunteer Tom Jewitt, Oxfordshire Home Guard
Tom Jewitt was born on July 26th 1908 in County Durham, son of coal miners family Thomas & Mary (Stewart) Jewitt. Thomas & Mary had 3 sons, John, Tom and Maurice.
Tom came to Oxfordshire and worked at Turners Court – a vocational training centre for underprivileged boys in Wallingford. Tom struck up a friendship with William (Bill) Harvey & his wife Edith, who also worked at Turners Court, Bill as a carpenter & Edith as a cook. Tom lodged with the family. By 1940 Tom, now an iron moulder, had lived with the family for 10 years, Tom & Bill were now working for Lister Wilder in Crowmarsh and all were now living at No 2 Dormer Cottages the Street Crowmarsh Gifford Oxfordshire.
14th May 1940, after Sir Anthony Eden’s speech on the BBC asking for volunteers Tom & Bill Joined the Local Defence Volunteers at Crowmarsh (later to become the 5th Battalion (Henley) Oxfordshire Home Guard). Both men were keen to do their bit as their jobs were reserved occupations.
Late on in the day on 1st June 1940, a knock came at the cottage door. LDV from Wallingford (Berkshire) who were on the other side of the river came to ask for volunteers to help down the railway line to keep an eye out for saboteurs, reports had come in that there was indeed a real case of spies and 5th column all over England that needed action. Bill and Tom were asked to go on duty despite not finishing work long. Bill needed to put the siblings to bed as Edith by this time was in very poor health, Tom said he would go so that Bill could stay home with his sick wife and their 3 children.
At 8.45pm the patrol set off down the river to the Cholsey Railway Viaduct on the GWR London – Bristol mainline that span the River Thames that divided the two county’s of Berkshire and Oxfordshire
It is believed that the men on duty that night were:
Berkshire LDV
Volunteer Frederick James Ivermee (In charge of the Berkshire side of the viaduct)
Volunteer John Croxford
Others unknown
Oxfordshire LDV
Volunteer Roland Leonard Green (In charge of the Oxfordshire side of the viaduct)
Volunteer Frank Wilder
Volunteer George Wheeler
Volunteer Tom Jewitt
At 3.00am, 2nd June 1940, on the Oxfordshire side of the viaduct, Volunteers Green and Wheeler went to relieve Volunteers Jewitt and Wilder. Wilder reported that Jewitt had been missing for 20 minutes. Wheeler stood guard and Green went up the line to find Jewitt.
Meanwhile, on the Berkshire side of the viaduct, Volunteer Croxford reported to Volunteer Invermee that the sentry on the Oxfordshire side was missing from his post. The two men set off up the line and after fifty yards they found a smashed rifle. Volunteer Croxford went forward and found a body.
Oxfordshire Volunteer Green met Berkshire Volunteer Croxford with the body that was identified as Tom Jewitt, he had been hit by a train. Tom’s body was moved from the track and Volunteer Croxford was sent to get Dr Cooper and the Police. Tom was 31 years old when he died
According to Jim Harvey (Bill’s son), his father never really got over the death of his friend Tom and never forgave himself, for not accompanying him on duty that dreadful night. The inquest concluded that ‘death was due to shock due to injury caused by a passing train, and that such injury was caused by misadventure’.
Tom was buried at St Mary’s Church, Newnham Murren not far from his home in Crowmarsh Gifford on the Oxfordshire side of the river. There is a stone to those who lost their lives in the war at the Parish Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Tom is one of five commemorated on that stone, another twist to the story is that the stone was spelt incorrectly ‘T Jowett’. Perhaps this was how local people knew Tom, as his North East accent may have made Jewitt sound like Jowett.
There was no record of Tom on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) so members of The Redline, along with members of Oxfordshire Home Guard Living History Group, applied to get Tom recognised by the CWGC and in 2023 Tom Jewitt was finally given CWGC Statues and his name has been added to the Home Guard Roll of Honour.
We believe Volunteer Tom Jewitt may have been one of the first LDV (HG) to have been killed while on duty, his first duty with the LDV.
Lest we forget.