Corps History: Talbot House Altar

Corps History

Salvaged REME Altar finally returned to Talbot House

On 9th May, during the VE weekend, Cpls Steven Holt and Ryan Morrison who are Armourers based at European Joint Support Unit SHAPE, took part in the event to return the altar to Talbot House after going missing for more than 50 years.

Scribe- Cpl Holt

Talbot House

Talbot House was built by the wealthy hop traders of the Lebbe family in the 18th Century. Maurice Coevoet, a local brewer, bought the house in 1911. In 1915, after the house was struck by a German shell, he decided to leave for a safer place with his family. Soon thereafter, the house was rented to the 6th Division of the British Army. It was here that Chaplain Philip “Tubby” Clayton opened a soldier’s club as an alternative for the often-controversial nightlife in the rest of the city.

At first the club was called “Church House”, but Colonel Reginald May proposed despite of Head Army Chaplain Neville Talbot’s protest - to call it “Talbot House” after Gilbert Talbot, Neville’s brother who died on 30th July 1915. Gilbert Talbot became the symbol of a

Cpls Morrison and Holt with Belgium reenactors and Gp Capt Fowler

22nd Advanced Base Reme Workshop Lot nr Brussels who gifted the altar

“Golden Generation” of young men who sacrificed their lives in the war.

Tubby oversaw the clubhouse and wanted to make sure that there was a cosy and homely atmosphere for all, regardless of rank and status. The sign on the door of Tubby’s office, the Chaplains room, still reads:

“All rank abandon ye who enter here.”

This sentence became one of the pillars of the house. Everyone who entered did so as a member of the human race and not as a soldier or officer. Orders were also prohibited in the house. Tubby insisted that Talbot House had to be a place where people could forget about the war for just a moment. The sign next to the front door saying: “To pessimists, way out!” speaks volumes in this respect. The house is full of similar signs that, by making

something clear in a humorous way, subtly takes away the need for orders. Keeping a soldiers club without order and discipline might seem impossible, but by doing this Tubby succeeded none the less.

Today Talbot House is a vibrant museum and guesthouse displaying 500 artefacts, each linked to personal accounts of Talbotousians, to let you relive the old days. The guesthouse offers seven historical bedrooms in which every room is named after a historical person, event, item, valuable to the house or the association.

Dunkirk Altar

In July 1944, a few weeks after the famous landings in Normandy, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers set up three advanced workshops in the neighbourhood of Caen. One of them, the 22nd Advanced Base Workshop, was specialised in tank maintenance. In the bombed-out church of Saint-Étienne-le-Vieux, they salvaged a simple wooden altar which they used for their chapel.

In March 1945, the 22nd ABW was moved to Lot in the vicinity of Brussels. Talbot House Padre Richard Tuesday was appointed Chaplain and received the altar as a gift for his new chapel. Padre Tuesday of course regularly entertained the men during outings to Talbot House. These visits would always culminate with a service in the Upper Room, the historic chapel of the club. When then 22nd ABW was transferred in October to the area of Hamburg, Padre Tuesday was recalled to England and the unit donated the altar to Talbot House “as a memorial to our comrades who gave their lives in the battles of Normandy and Germany, June 6 1944 – May 8 1945”, as the text on the memorial plaque reads. In the meantime, the emblems of the unit as well as Monty’s 21st Army Group had been added to the altar.

The Altar soon became known under

Plaque on the altar

Cpls Holt and Morrison loading altar

Cpls Morrison and Holt carrying the altar through the garden

Talbotousians as the Dunkirk Altar, in memory of the evacuation in 1940 and the Battle of Dunkirk in 1945.

In preparation for the 50th anniversary of Talbot House in 1965 and the royal visit by Her Majesty the Queen & the Duke of Edinburgh in 1966, founding Father Tubby Clayton had the chapel reorganised as it was during the First World War. Hence the Dunkirk Altar was moved to storage. Rolande Blanckaert, a local volunteer who had been present when the altar arrived in 1945, saved it and arranged for it to be gifted to the local Scouts. After an impressive journey of various owners, in 1988 the altar moved to the ‘Europa Centre’ in the former Brewery Feys on the FranceBelgian border.

Padre Williams conducting blessing

Fortunate Reappearance

In 2012, Ghent entrepreneur Hendrik Nelde purchased the former Brewery Feys and in 2017 the adjacent Brewery Chateau. Shortly after the purchase, local heritage enthusiast Halbe Fabriek, was asked to take some photos of the site. He discovered the memorial plaque and started his search for its origins. When Halbe joined the Talbot House volunteers, he showed the photos to Talbot House Manager Simon Louagie on the off chance of finding a clue. Simon recognised the photos immediately and visited its new owner Hendrik the same day. The Talbot House Association is very grateful to Mr. Nelde for lending us the altar for a starting period of five years. The Talbot House Association will make sure the Altar is restored to its former glory and hopes quietly its journey will come to an end when it is back in the Upper Room where it belongs.

Bringing the altar home

On the morning of the 9th May, we met at the current home of the altar, Brewery Feys and were joined by Belgium reenactors in WW2 British uniforms and several Union Jack branded historic vehicles. As we waited for the event to begin, we had the chance for a quick brew and croissant whilst chatting with the brewery owner, Hendrik Nelde and Talbot House manager, Simon Louagie. Once it was confirmed that the press was ready for us to start, we assessed the weight of the altar to determine the numbers required, and being typical Brits, decided we could tackle it alone. We carefully walked the altar out of the Brewery doorway and slid it onto the back of the WW2 Dodge Jeep. The Belgium reenactors piled in afterwards essentially wedging the altar in place. A short drive later, we all assembled outside the front of Talbot House. After a brief shower (typical Belgium weather) and a few more press interviews we began to unload the altar. It felt a lot heavier this time around, and we made our way through the house. After some careful manoeuvring through the doorways, we finally reached the garden. A quick stint over the grass and we began to place the altar down. As we steadily rested the altar on the grass, albeit a stumble on his backside from Cpl Morrison, we were done and able to regain the feeling back in our fingers. After a quick meeting with the Defence Attaché Belgium and Luxembourg, Group Captain Justin Fowler and newly posted EJSU Padre, Captain Nia Williams headed over to give the altar a blessing which included the REME Collect. After the speeches concluded, we were treated to some fine Belgium beer as we were guided through Talbot House by the local historian. A fascinating tour included stories from WW1, right through to WW2 including various artefacts displayed around the house really showed you how important the house was to the boosting of morale for serving soldiers throughout both wars.

A fabulous day out for all involved, and a great feeling to be part of such an historic REME event, we both look forward to seeing the altar once it’s been restored back to its original glory. Talbot House is a great venue steeped in rich history and is highly recommended to be added to any battlefield tour schedules.

Cpl Holt, Padre Williams, Gp Capt Fowler, Cpl Morrison