{"id":463,"date":"2014-11-05T14:31:46","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T14:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plattwarmemorial.org\/?page_id=463"},"modified":"2024-05-27T15:15:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T15:15:34","slug":"jesse-joseph-bush-1887-1917","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/world-war-one\/jesse-joseph-bush-1887-1917\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesse Joseph Bush (1886 &#8211; 1917)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;margin-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 0px;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-three\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:31px;margin-left:0px;\"><h3 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:24;line-height:1.5;\">A\/Bdr Jesse Joseph Bush (1886 &#8211; 1917)<\/h3><\/div><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-dropshadow imageframe-1 hover-type-zoomin\" style=\"-webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);box-shadow: 3px 3px 7px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\" title=\"royal-artillery_badge\" src=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/royal-artillery_badge-1.jpg\" alt class=\"img-responsive wp-image-5663\" srcset=\"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/royal-artillery_badge-1-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/royal-artillery_badge-1.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><\/span><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On 19 June 1915,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Kent<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Messenger<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0published an article entitled \u2018A Patriotic Family\u2019 that related to the Bush family from Crouch and the standard headline used by the press at the time for families\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">who had<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0several members serving in the forces, either overseas or at home. The article erroneously states that Mr &amp; Mrs Bush had ten sons in uniform when in actuality there were only four, with Jesse Joseph, the second oldest, recently discharged from the Navy for \u2018Service No Longer Required\u2019 (which in layman\u2019s terms meant he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was sacked<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.) Jesse\u2019s father, also named Jesse, was ex-military and served with the Royal West Kent Regiment in the first Boer War during the early 1880s. In 1883, while stationed in Dublin, he married a local girl named Katie Martin, and shortly afterwards, he went into the Army Reserve, and they set up a home in Birling, Kent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">By 1886, the family had moved to Larkfield when Jesse Jnr. was born on 12 August, and in 1891, they were living in Clare Park near East Malling. Jesse\u2019s father had found work as a farm labourer, a job young Jesse followed into once he\u2019d left school. Like many people working in agriculture, the Bush family lived wherever they could find work and, in 1901, were based in East Farleigh before eventually settling in Claygate Cross, near Crouch, around 1911. However, in June 1902, shortly before his sixteenth birthday, Jesse decided that labouring in the fields was not for\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">him,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and joined the Royal Navy. At the time, he\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was recorded<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">being<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a05\u2019 4\u201d with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was rated Boy 2nd Class, which covered boys aged 15 to 17 and rated as such on entry to a training ship of the Royal Navy.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Such admission was conditional on a boy\u2019s adequate physical height, weight\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, medical fitness and evidence of being of \u2018good character\u2019.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0The boy\u2019s parents or guardians would sign\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">a declaration<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0that he would serve in the Navy for a minimum period (usually 12 years). Jesse\u2019s first posting was to HMS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Impregnable<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, a training ship moored in Devonport, Plymouth, and he was based there until 30 October 1903, when, as he was now over 17, he was rated Boy 1st Class. Jesse\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was then transferred<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to HMS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Agincourt<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, another training ship, before being assigned two months later to HMS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Berwick<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, a recently completed armoured cruiser of the Monmouth Class.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jesse enlisted on his eighteenth birthday and rated Ordinary Seaman, rising to Stoker, 2nd Class in September 1905. After time spent at the naval barracks in Chatham and two years on the Sapphire II (a depot ship based at Portland), Jesse became Stoker 1st Class and posted to HMS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bedford<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, another Monmouth class armoured cruiser that had recently been recommissioned and sent to China Station. The\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bedford<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0was eventually wrecked on 21 August 1910 off Quelport Island in the China Sea; fortunately, before then, in 1909, Jesse had transferred to HMS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Andromeda<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, which was operating in the same region. Until that point, Jesse\u2019s naval career was not unblemished, and he regularly spent time in the punishment cells (including 28 days of hard labour), totalling 48 days by the time he left China and returned to Chatham. Unfortunately, there are no records of his misdemeanours, so how severe they might have been is unknown. He served on several more ships over the next few years, and when war broke out in August 1914, he<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">was on board HMS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Shannon<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0&#8211; the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. In October 1914, the ship patrolled the coast of Norway and almost intercepted the armed merchant cruiser SS\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Berlin<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0on several occasions. Having remained relatively trouble-free over the preceding five years, Jesse fell back into his old ways, and between 13 November and 9 February 1915, he was given 90 days of hard labour for an unspecified reason. Following this last round of punishment, Stoker Bush found himself discharged from the Navy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">By the summer of 1915, Jesse\u2019s brothers Leonard and Frank were serving with The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and Sydney with the Army Service Corps (Motor Transport Department). Leonard was recovering from a leg wound sustained at Ypres, and Frank had recently contracted spotted fever in the trenches. It probably won\u2019t be known why Jesse re-enlisted; however, it seems likely that he would have been under pressure from his father and siblings to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Based on his service number, Jesse probably visited the recruiting office in Maidstone in September 1915, where he joined the Royal Field Artillery. Regrettably, his service papers have not survived, but we do know that he was sent to France later that year on 15 November.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Without any<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0documentation from this period, it is\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">impossible<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to say where and with whom Jesse served; however, in 1917, he was part of the 29th Battery, 42nd Brigade RFA.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Based on the possibility he had joined this particular unit when he arrived on the Western Front, he may have been present at some or all of the following battles:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1916: Actions of the Bluff (14-15 February), Actions of the St. Eloi Craters (27 March-16 April),\u00a0The Somme: Battle of Albert (1-13 July, including the capture of Montauban, Mametz, Fricourt, Contalmaison and La Boisselle), Battle of Bazentin (14-17 July, including the capture of\u00a0Longueval, Trones Wood and Ovillers), Battle of Delville\u00a0Wood (15 July-3 September), Battle of the Ancre (13-18 November, including the capture of\u00a0Beaumont Hamel.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">1917: First Battle of the Scarpe (9-14 April,\u00a0including the capture of Monchy le Preux and the Wancourt Ridge), Second Battle of the Scarpe (23-24 April, including the capture\u00a0of Gu\u00e9mappe and Gavrelle), Battle of Arleux (28-29\u00a0April), Third Battle of the Scarpe (3-4 May,\u00a0including the capture\u00a0of Fresnoy), Capture of Roeux (13-14 May), Battle of the Menin\u00a0Road (20-25 September)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Between 26 September and 3 October 1917, the 3rd Division, of which the 29th Battery formed part, was involved in the Battle of Polygon Wood, the fourth phase in a series of battles collectively known as the Third Battle of Ypres (or Passchendaele). It was during this battle that Jesse was wounded and later died in hospital of his injuries on 9 October &#8211; possibly in Le Tr\u00e9port.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jesse\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">is buried<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in Mont Huon Cemetery in Le Tr\u00e9port, and his parents\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">were eventually sent<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0his medals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Scott Wishart<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-463","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10287,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463\/revisions\/10287"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/plattmemorialhall.org\/warmemorial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}