Lest We Forget

“Well, it’s a brand new year and the world is at peace. The last 25 years has been a blessing in terms of Medical advancements as well as Transportation and Communication improvements. In the world of medicine we now have vaccines for diseases that had been around for 1,000’s of years. Due to the improvements to hospital sanitation, fewer were dying in hospitaI. New technology had brought about the X-Ray machine as well as other innovations. In the world of transport, the Suez Canal would mean that the distance travelled between Great Britain and India had almost halved. The newly opened Panama Canal meant that the South American route with the tretcherous Cape Horn could now be by-passed. A bonus in safety, time and fuel”.

“ Organisations such as the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts had recently started up in the Country. The London Underground was being extended and the Metro Subway was opened in Paris. The Napolinic, Crimean, and the Boer war were now a thing of the past as were the many colonial wars. People genuinely believed we were heading into a golden age of peace,understanding and enlightenment. No one wanted any more Wars let alone a World War however their was two events niggling away in the background.”

Since the beginning of the 20^th Century, Germany became a big industrial power but never enjoyed the export options of the British, French and Dutch. The German’s had decided to “eclipse” the Royal Navy so as they would have control of the seas forcing countries to trade with them. A slow “arms race” developed where Britain would likewise respond to changes by Germany. It was not enough to start a war but it was a worring development. As a response to the growing build up of Germany’s naval threat, 12 air stations were to be opened up, and operated by the Royal Flying Corps. The Flying Station in Montrose went operational in 1913, these stations were built to keep an eye on German North Sea activity as well as duties in search and rescue. The Flying Corps were the air-arm of the British Army before and during the first World War until it merged forming the RAF.

In another attempt to turn the tide of Germany’s increasing naval strength a new deep water repair yard and safe anchorage began construction at Rosyth, Fife. It was constructed in 1909 with a large deep water basin and two dry docks with a third added in 1916. War ship repairs were carried out at berths in the outer basin.

The Balkan Wars were a series of military campaigns fought in the Balkan region of Europe. In 1912 Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro attacked Turkey, securing swift victories. Turkey surrendered most of her European territories on condition of the creation of a new state (Albania).

The British Animal Charity, (Our Dumb Friends League) was founded in 1897. It launched the Blue Cross Fund to assist militery horses during the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913. The fund continued during WW1 and by the wars end it had treated 500,000 sick and injured horses as well as 18,000 dogs. Their emblem in battle became a Blue Cross flag to distinguish it from the Red Cross for injured men. It also gave Blue Cross identification to all Animal Ambulances and Vet supply transportation, sent to the Front Lines.

Tensions among the great powers of Europe was considerably increased. Another Balkan War the next year had Bulgaria attacking her former allies. Worrying times but, to many it still seemed a long way away, until the 28^th June 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia. It was here that the touch paper for WW1 was lit.

In June 28th 1914 the arch duke and his wife Sophie traveled to Sarajevo to inspect the Imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The annexation had angered Serbian nationalists, who believed the territories should be part of Serbia.

Princip was a Serbian nationalist and a member a terriost organization called “Black Hand” whose aim was independence for southern Slav peoples in the Austro-Hungary Empire. An earlier bomb was thrown at the archduke’s car as they drove to a reception but the device bounced off their car and exploded under the following vehicle and injured 20 people.

The archduke and Sophie arrived at the Town Hall a bit shaken up but they decided to go ahead with the rest of the programme. They were going to open a new Library, visit a carpet factory and they were to finish at the hospital to “check in” on the injured driver from the bomb attempt. All was going well until the forward/leading cars failed to turn off for the hospital but sped on ahead. The archdukes car was stuck on its own in a crowd of people and had stopped right beside Princip and a fellow conspirator.

Princip seized the moment and shot the duke in the neck and the duchess in the stomach. On their way to hospital the duke told the duchess “please live for the sake of the children”. The Archduke was mortally wounded, for a bullet had severed an artery before lodging in his spine. Sadly they both died within 15 minutes of each other. Pricip the assassin then tried to shoot himself but he was tackled by onlookers. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in an Austrian Prison, where he died 4 years later from tuberculosis.

“For many years Europe with its mass of small countries and principalities have been likened to an old house that only manages to keep standing as long as nobody disturbs even a single brick. In the Balkans in 1914 a brick had been disturbed”

Following the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, German Emperor and Kaiser Wilhelm II encouraged the Austrians to adopt a uncompromising attitude against Serbia. This meant that Germany would be prepared to write a “blank cheque” to support Austria-Hungary even in the event of War. This decision would bring Russia into the war to help their Serbian Allies 29-30^th July. The Tsar Nicholas II would send 1,200 troops to assist Serbia. Germany then went to war with Russia and France. On 28^th July 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia

So, the system of allegiances by which the nations of Europe hoped to protect themselves looks set to bring about their destruction. The latest recruit to the European conflict is Great Britain. H.M Government had given Germany until 11pm G.M. (August 4^th 1914) to signal it’s willingness to withdraw from Belgium. The German’s refused and started to head to the coast to take control of the Channel ports.

On 1^st October 1914, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police ordered that bright exterior lights were to be extinguished or dimmed in the London area and street lamps were to be partially painted out with black paint. In other regions of the country the decisions were left to local authorities. Confidence was high that the War would all be over by Christmas.

One month previous on July 31^st 1914 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany rejects a British offer of mediation in the Austro-Serbian crisis as insolence.

“ The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”.

On August 4^th 1914 Germany invades neutral Belgium, the invasion of Belgium was a violation of its neutrality. It was the first act of WW1 and was designed to give the German troops control of all the French and Belgian Channel ports which would have made the British struggle to land Supplies and equipment.

On 4^th August 1914, King George V declared War on the advice of his Prime Minister Herbert H. Asquith.

World War 1 saw many firsts, it marked the first use of TANKS, AIRPLANES, AIRSHIPS, BATTLESHIPS, GRENADES, FLAMETHROWERS, TRENCH WARFARE, LETHAL GAS as well as U-BOATS.

The Defence of the Realm Act was passed in parliament on 8^th August 1914. This Act gave the War-time government many powers in order to strenghten the homeland position during war. These requirements could change at anytime, becoming less strict or more strict depending on the situation. See below a list of restrictions from WW1.

8) £5 reward to be paid to the National Homing Union for information leading to the prosecution of a person shooting homing pigeons.

9) The back-light on Big Ben was switched off in 1916 to prevent it acting as a beacon for German Airships / Aeroplanes.

In August 1914 Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War realised that Britain needen a much bigger army. He made a direct appeal to the men of Britain. Posters were displayed with Kitchener pointing his finger and saying “YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU”.

In all 54 million posters were issued, 8 million letters were sent, 12,000 meetings were held, 20,000 speeches were given by military spokesmen. In the first week of the war 3,000 men a day were recruited and by the end of the year a total figure of 1,186,337 had enlisted!

* When Austria – Hungary began making up recruitment posters they had to be written in 15 different languages to allow for all the different ethnic groups within their Empire. *

OVER 30 NATIONS DECLARED WAR BETWEEN 1914 – 1918 ON WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY A WAR BETWEEN EUROPEAN EMPIRES.

“Great Britain has been fortunate to be an island nation with a long sea-faring tradition. The number of ports around the country allows for no-one port to be over-used and thus more vunerable to enemy action. When the British and French stopped the Germans taking control of the Belgian and French ports at the 1^st Battle of Ypres the British could now re-supply the front relatively easily.

The northern half of the country would give deep water protection to the British Fleet whilst the Southern coast would be involved in direct supplies to France with new harbours being specially built for the purpose.”

DEEP WATER ANCHORAGE : SCAPA FLOW , CROMARTY FIRTH, LOCH EWE, ROSYTH, LAMLASH BAY, (ARRAN), MILFORD HAVEN, HAULBOWLINE,(CORK), SOUTHAMPTON.

SUPPLY PORTS : TO GET MEN AND HORSES ACROSS TO FRANCE : SOUTHAMPTON, DUBLIN, GLASGOW, QUEENSTOWN, (COBH) BELFAST & JERSEY.

SHIPBUILDING REPAIRS : BELFAST, GLASGOW, PORTSMOUTH & LITTLEHAMPTON among others.

LANDING PORT : PLYMOUTH / DEVONPORT would become a landing port for US Troops prior to embarking for France. On arriving in France they docked at St NAZAIRE.

RICHBOROUGH : A new Railway Station, Line and Port were built in Richborough in Kent as Dover reached its full capacity during the war. Known as the secret harbour, it transported tons of materials for the war effort on train wagons from the tracks to ferries. It carried more than 1.2 million tonnes of supplies and munitions. The secret harbour itself was camouflaged with all its buildings painted to match the background of a low flying area.

This new harbour was constructed to provide the B.E.F with heavy equipment – Tanks, Guns, Railway Locomotives, Ammunition, Horses and Fuel. It was here that the first use of specially designed sea going ROLL ON / ROLL OFF ferries began operation. Locomotives and railtracks had to be shipped across to France because the Field Guns were so large and heavy they had to be transported to the battle area by rail.

MILFORD HAVEN : Was situated on the South-West coast of Wales and was one of the most important bases. It played a vital part in the Naval defence of the Irish Sea as well as anchorage for the British Fleet.

*Tired soldiers and sailors coming home on leave would be greeted by volunteers providing free refreshments paid for by donations. The free Buffet at Waterloo Station fed more than 8 million soldiers and sailors between 1915 – 1918. *

At the beginning of WW1 many British fishermen entered the services and swapped the familiar hazards of life at sea for the dangers of the Trenches or naval work. For those who remained at home, fishing became severely restricted. Fishermen were left with small areas to fish in, they also had to contend with a constant U-boat threat. On top of all these problems there were many fishing boats that were requistioned for the Navy for coastal patrols / minesweeping duties.

In August 22^nd 1914 the British Expedionary Force (B.E.F) arrived in France to support the left wing of the French Army against German attack. The Allies prevented the Germans from “taking” the Belgian and French ports which would now allow the British to re-supply the war effort from the English Channel. The British Expeditionary Force was first established in 1906. They are best remembered from the evacuation of the beaches of Dunkirk in 1939. During WW1 the principle ports to unload British Men and Supplies was BOULOGNE, CALAIS, DUNKIRK & St NAZAIRE.

In the early months of the war there was panic buying and hoarding of food in Great Britain, however the government did not see the problem as critical and no rationing was introduced at that time.

“During the first few months of the war the casualties on all sides were horrendous. Men with little or no protection were up against Shelling, Machine Gun fire and grenades. The B.E,F had lost almost all it’s professional soldiers and were relying on recent volunteers. The decision was taken to form a series of Trenches of protection to keep the men relativly safe from the military bombardment. The German forces did likewise and from this time onwards the First World War became a war of ATTRITION, a slow wearing down of the enemy with little ground gained.”

The British Troops were responsible for the digging of their Trenches with the help of Chinese labourers. The Chinese did not play a combative part in WW1 but they gave men to the allies to assist in building and tunneling projects. The length of the Western Front was massive, it stretched from the Belgian North Sea coast all the way to the Swiss Border. The Trenches were not built in a straight line but were zig-zaged, built to a certain length. This zig-zag was done to prevent enemy troops from getting access to a section of the trench and firing all the way down the line causing untold devastation. With the zig-zag they could not fire down a line of Trenches just that one Trench.

In British Trenches, drinking water was transported to the Front Line in Petrol Cans. It was then purified with chemicals. In the case of the British they used Liquid Chlorine compressed in steel cylinders, other armies used salts. To help disguise the petrol taste the water was boiled up and made into tea and poured into their individual water bottles and carried cold by the men.

Duckboards or trench grating were used throughout the First World War usually placed at the bottom of the Trenches to cover the sump pits drainage holes. The duckboard was fine as long as it was dry, which was not very often. According to the soldiers, duckboards came by their name because anyone walking on a wet duckboard was liable to slide off them, much like water slides of a duck’s back!

A Puttee was the name given to a covering for the lower part of the leg from the ankle to the knee, alternatively known as Legwraps, Bindings, Winingas or Wickelbander. A Puttee is a cloth band that was wound round a soldier’s leg from the ankle to the knee. They were designed to provide support when walking and protect against harsh weather conditions. They also prevented debris and water from entering the boots. Khaki coloured wool Puttees were widely worn with ankle boots by British Empire soldiers during the First World War.

There were 2 men given the job of Sanitory Personnel who had the difficult task of keeping the latrines in good condition for each company. They would routinely pour Creosote (a strong smelling, anti-septic, wood preservant) into the cess-pits and latrines to try and improve the smell. The cess-pits were dug 1.5 metres deep. Not an easy task when your fighting against the smell of human waste, decaying bodies, stale food dead rats, and also the smell of rotting clothes, oil and gunpowder. Rats would eat any soldiers unable to defend himself.

Hot Food was not supplied to the Front Line soldiers until late 1915 perhaps the Military Top Brass felt the war would be long over long by then, it’s difficult to say. What I can say is that a biting cold winter was no time for cold food. The men would try anything they could find to heat their food up including candles. Some soldiers lucky enough to have a small stove would boil up any food available including stale biscuits, or add these biscuits to the canned food provided, this became known as Trench Stew.

Thankfully the men at the Front and the men at sea would have the benefit of hot drinks of Tea, Coffee or Cocoa thanks to the 19^th century inventions of Evapourated Milk and Condensed Milk. The main meal for the men would remain tins of Bully Beef (corned beef). Another standard ration was Maconochie beef stew and biscuits, (not your fancy biscuits). Maconochie’s had been providing British Army Rations since the Boer War. The company had been set up by two brothers and had factories in Fraserburgh, The Isle of Dogs, London and Lowestoft in Suffolk. There they also had food processing plants and made many preserved foods. When the stew was heated it had a reasonable appetising aroma but when it had to be eaten cold there was little smell or taste and the fat inside the can became a cold congealed lump.

Sleeping arrangements were very basic, a large hole in the ground reinforced to stop loose earth from shelling falling on top of them. Some men slept by themselves or with a friend for body warmth. They would dig a hole into the wall of the trench and board up the top and sides to prevent loose disturbed earth landing on top of them. The average nights sleep was only 2 ½ hours.

If you thought the latrine attendants had a poor job, spare a thought for the barbed wire maintenance men. During heavy artillery the metal spikes that held the barbed wire in place would become dislodged and with further shelling the barbed wire would “turn-in-on its self”, into a big ball giving no protection to the Trench Line. A couple of “volunteers” would need to go out into no-mans-land and stretch out the barbed wire and re-peg it in place. Although the enemy Trench could be fields away sometimes no-mans-land was as little as 30 metres (30 yards). Sandbags were constantly being replaced to strengthen the Trench walls which could collapse due to heavy rain seeping through the soil behind the Trench walls or from burst bags at the top of the Trench, caught up in cross fire.

Stretcher Bearers were the first to reach a wounded soldier so they became responsible for administering initial first-aid (an emergency field dressing) Gun shot wounds would be dealt with by applying an iodine bandage to the impact wound and then another bandage to the exit wound, they would then get the wounded off the battlefield to Casualty Clearing Stations or Hospitals behind the Line. Casualties among stretcher bearers was high and there were times when they never had enough stretcher bearers left to effectively remove wounded men from the battlefield. Eg : during the Battle of Passchendaele it took the stretcher-bearers 3 days to clear the wounded from the muddy fields. Four men would carry a stretcher 3 miles to safety – a trip that took them about 4 hours. Despite the cover from enemy fire all sides still took a great deal of casualties as well as infections and disease.

Around 16,000 men refused to take up arms or fight durind the First World War. This was for a number of reasons, Religious, Moral, Ethical or Political reasons. They were often treated harshly and vilified.

They all had to go to a Military Service Tribunal to see if there claim “held water”. 4,500 went to work on farms for work of national importance. 7,000 became Stretcher Bearers. 6.000 men were forced into the Army, if they refused orders they would spend 2 Years in Prison. 142 were imprisoned for life and 17 were given the death penalty.

Animals were used for TRANSPORT, COMMUNICATION & COMPANIONSHIP. There was HORSES, DONKEYS, MULES & CAMELS that carried Food, Water, Ammunition and Medical Supplies to men at the Front. Dogs and Pigeons carried messages and light packages. There were also CATS, CANARIES, MICE, SLUGS & GLOWWORMS. Dogs and Cats were responsible in keeping the infestation of rats at bay. Cats were also good at gas, early detection. Due to the communication lines being damaged by artillery shells dogs made excellent runners from A-B because they were closer to the ground than a human and a lot quicker. Canaries and mice were used to detect the presence of gas in mining projects. Slugs were particularly sensitive to Mustard Gas and Glow Worms made a safe back-light for reading maps in the Trenches or letters from home which would be read, reread and read again.

The battles and Trenches were often in muddy fields with dificult terrain, off the main roads. Trucks could not make it across these areas so there was a great reliance on animals especially pack animals. Thousands of Cats were “drafted” into the war the majority were from American and British Cat owners. Britain had all but run out of horses so they gratefully accepted Mustangs from America, The Mustang is a free-roaming horse from the Western U.S.A. They are decended from horses brought to America by the Spanish. They are known as wild horses, but were descended from once-domesticated horses and are actually feral horses. Described as a small hardy naturlized horse.

*The British began the First World War with just one war dog! It took a civilian dog breeder Edwin H Richardson to convince the military establishment of the value of using dogs. Richardson who had wrote an article on the subject in 1911 had previously trained and supplied ambulance dogs for the Russian army during the Russian-Japan war of 1904. He managed to convince the British War Dept who gave him the task of starting the British War Dog School. He began training Sentry and Patrol dogs in autumn 1914 using mainly Airedales and farm Collies.*

Pigeon’s were litterally bused in Double Decker buses (Like the omnibus you see in the old grainy black and white news reels) they were converted into portable pigeon lofts and they would see service in Belgium and Northern France dragged along by horses to take them closer to where they were needed. This gave the Army a quicker response for the need of pigeons. During WW1 the Germans had Photographer-Pigeons with small cameras strapped to the pigeons stomach for reconnaissance of the British Lines. This procedure only stopped with the introduction of aerial reconnaissance airplanes.

The origins of Seeing Eyes for the Blind or Guide Dogs for the Blind began during WW1. Germany had a large dog training programme with many German Shepherds trained as sentries, message carriers and for light transportation but as the war progressed more and more German Soldiers were blinded in battle. This led to the dogs becoming increasingly used to assist these soldiers. After the war’s end the large number of Blinded War Veterans led to the the organization of a Guide Dog Programme in Germany which was later adopted world-wide.

The German Trenches were built for the “long haul” and included bunk beds, furniture, cupboards, water ranks, basins with taps, and electrical light.

The Cats Protection League did not exist during WW1 however there were many concerned people that were horrified by the Bombings causing many homeless and injured pets. People would visit bombed areas to check on the cats and encourage owners to keep their cats in at night. Some women would “shop around” to find food scraps and place them on Street Corners.

In 1927 The Cats Protection League was founded at a meeting at Caxton Hall in London, under the chairmanship of Miss Jessy Wade. The Cats Mews Sheet was founded in 1931 with Jessy Wade as editor. The news sheet continues to this day. There was a name and logo change in 1998 and the Cats Protection League was shortened to CATS PROTECTION. The welfare of these animals still continues to this day.

In WW1 there were 3 major stretches of Trenches. The WESTERN FRONT that stretched from the Belgian coast – Swiss border, over 400 - 500 miles, (800 km) appproximately.

The EASTERN FRONT stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. It involved most of Eastern Europe, and stretched deep into Central Europe as well. A distance of 1,000 miles or (1,600km).

The fighting in the Alp mountains, (THE WHITE WAR) between the Italians and the Austrians stretched for 372 miles or (600km).

The high number of cats that were drafted in WW1 was due to two reasons : 1) The men had been throwing waste food into no-mans-land or behind the trench perhaps believing the war would soon be over or they would soon be on the move. Sadly neither were true and the number of rats grew many fold. 2) They made good gas detectors and could quickly run out of harms way.

“They said it would be all over by Christmas, pity they never said which one!”

2) The Western Front was not a few miles of Trenches but stretched from the Belgian coast all the way to the Swiss border. Airedale dogs were big terriers and assisted the cats in keeping the rats/disease down.

During WW1 as the conflict began to take greater casualties, guard dogs took over the sentry duties of all the British ammunition factories and government war factories thus allowing more soldiers to be released to the Front. Germany also had a war dog programme, German dog handlers worked mainly with Airedales, Boxers, Dobermans, and German Shepherd dogs.

*American Corpral Lee Duncan and other members of the 136^th Aero Division were on a scouting mission when Duncan discovered 5 German Shepherd puppies at an abandoned German War-dog station. Duncan’s pup Rinty, became the units mascot and in time he became the country’s most beloved canine movie stars : Rin Tin Tin. *

During WW1, Germany had an advanced programme of war trained dogs, one branch of dogs were known as Sanitatshunde or (Sanitary Dogs). These dogs were equipped with saddlebags of medical supplies, they sought out the wounded and gave comfort to the dying.

One unusual dog used during WW1 was the YMCA cigarette dogs. These small dogs were sponsored by the YMCA and had the task of delivering cartons of cigarettes, attached to their sides like panyards, for the soldiers stationed on the Front Lines.

The SSPCA or Scottish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals was set up in Edinburgh back in December 1839 when they began to champion animal welfare to protect them from harm. One of its first aims was to improve the welfare of cart horses. Over the next Century and a half the charity grew and merged with other SPCA’s in different areas of Scotland. In its early days the organization was set up on the back of one women’s conviction that animals deserved better.

This Lady, Martha Gibson, sadly passed away just a few years later but her vision has endured to this day. The SSPCA had it’s first Centenary just as the Second World War began. There would be less cart horses but plenty homeless pets and sea birds contaminated in oil and diesel from sea warfare. Since the last few years the SSPCA have built a Wildlife Rescue Centre in Clackmannanshire and the battle continues to help and protect all animals in need.

The RSPCA operate in England and Wales but not in Scotland. The RSPCA and the SSPCA are not affiliated and are different organizations. The RSPCA is the oldest animal charity that was founded in a London Coffee Shop in 1824 to prevent the abuse of carriage horses in the days before automobiles. Horses were driven through freezing cold winters and stiflingly hot summers often with little food, water or rest. As years roll by and perhaps the animal priority’s have changed but sadly there are always many animals needing help and protection.

During WW1 the plight of the messenger pigeon was more precarious with enemy snipers being rewarded for shooting them out the sky. One safeguard used by the British was to have the pigeons dyed black so as to be mistaken for a common crow. During both wars, pigeon loft owners had to take a sworn oath never to divulge the location of the birds or the nature of the messages.

British Mine Sweeping Ships / Boats operating during WW1 carried pigeons so that in the event of a U-boat attack a pigeon could be released from the sinking ship. The pigeon would have a message confirming their position, which would hopefully increase their chance of rescue.

September 23^rd 1914 : The German submarine U-9 has sunk three British Cruisers off the Dutch coast, with 1,500 lives lost. The war at sea had begun in earnest on August 28^th, when a British fleet raided the Heligoland Bight and sank four German ships. Todays battle off Holland shows the new shape of sea warfare. Powerful warships were helpless against the silent attack of one small submarine. The German fleet is outnumbered and blockaded in the North Sea, but U-boats are not so easily stopped. German mines have also claimed several British ships. Two U-boats had been spotted in Scapa Flow, it was decided to sink some older ships to block off the gaps between the islands on the Eastern approach to Scapa Flow to keep any U-boats out. In WW2 these gaps would be permanently closed as part of the Churchhill Barriers. ( Having a U-boat in Scapa Flow was akin to having a hungry fox in a chicken coop)

A WW1 Seaplane Station was established at Thurso in Caithness within days of the outbreak of war. The planes were used to check for enemy surface ships making their way through the Pentland Firth towards Scapa Flow. The Seaplane Station at Thurso would later merge with the Seaplane Station at Scapa Flow.

THE BATTLE OF MARNE : Sometimes called The Battle of Paris was an early battle in WW1, in which General Joffre’s French armies and the British Expeditionary Force halted the German forces that had crossed the Marne river and were approaching Paris therfore depriving the German’s of a swift victory.

*One amazing event from this battle was that the French required greater military support so they literally bused in thousands of French soldiers using Paris Taxi cabs! *

“Music Hall’s gave performances up and down the country in cities and larger towns for family entertainment. It also helped to strengthen patriotic feelings and was a place of encouragement for men to inlist for the Army or Navy.

The Musical Halls provided a variety of acts, and in WW1 they would finish with a melody of war songs to boost the audience and help create a feel-good-factor.”

The Music Halls would have different acts such as Singers, Musicians, Dancers, Acrobats and Comedy Sketches and sometimes short plays. One woman’s comedy sketch would be copied up and down the country and proved to be a great boost to war recruitment. Her name was Vesta Tilley and she became known by her character “Tommy the Trench” and another sketch she called “Sailor home on leave”. After her performance men could get information/leaflets on recruiting from an Army recruitement officer. If any young men “disappeared” to the toilet at this point, when they returned a woman sitting close by would pluck a feather from her hat and set it on the young man’s seat as a symbol of cowardice. ( A terrible injustice if the poor man was simply suffering from a bad case of the “two bob bits”)

After her sketches there would be a big sing-song with all the audience joining in, and featuring all the most popular songs of the day.

IT’S A LONG WAY TO TIPPERARY : This song had never been heard in Britain until it was sung by the Connaugh Rangers (Galway) as they marched through the town of Boulogne, France. Tipperary county and town lies near Limerick.

PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES IN YOUR OLD KIT BAG : When brothers and Music Hall stars George and Felix Powell penned the song “Pack up your Troubles in your old Kit Bag” they thought it was piffle and abandoned it. However the tune was pulled from a drawer marked “duds” for a contest to find a marching tune for the troops-and it won!

KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING : This song became an anthem of WW1 and was popular on both sides of the Channel. The song evoked a strong sense of homecoming and a release from the horrors of war. David Ivor Davies was an Actor, Dramatist, Singer and Composer. Ivor moved to London in 1913 with his mother. She set him up as a voice teacher /coach. He adopted his mother’s middle name Novello to become Ivor Novello. His first big hit in 1914 was “Keep the Home Fires Burning”and was enormously popular during the First World War.

GOODBYE DOLLY GREY : Although this song was not a WW1 song, it was popular amongst the WW1 soldiers and families. The sentiments of the song are very similar to WW1 songs, Dolly Grey talks about a loved one leaving to fight the Boers and the strong desire to see him return safely.

GOOD-BYE-EE Weston and Lee got the inspiration for this song from factory girls, during a break, calling out goodbye to marching soldiers making their way to Victoria Station, it became a hit in 1917.

WE DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU : “But we think you ought to go; For your King and your Country both need you so”. The above songs would get the audience worked up with patriotic fevor as they sang along, and finaly all would be upstanding for ; God Save the King.

WERE HERE BECAUSE WERE HERE BECAUSE : This anti-war song would never be played in the Musical Halls but it was popular with the men in the Trenches. The song expresses the futility of the war that no one can explain why they were there. It was sung to the melody of Auld Lang Syne.

ABIDE BY ME : Written by Henry Francis Lyte, this hymn was very popular with the men in the Trenches when they were in a thoughtful reflective mood and they would often sing together. It was the song Edith Cavell recited on her way to her execution. This was not not sung on the Music Hall circuit.

KEEP RIGHT ON TO THE END OF THE ROAD : When Harry Lauder was at his peak and considered the most popular entertainer in the English -speaking world he was dealt some terrible news. His only son John, who was a Captain in the 8^th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was killed in action on 28^th December 1916 at Pozieres during WW1. In time John’s death would be the inspirational for Harry to write a song to help others to “keep Going” despite all life’s adversity, and so the song, “Keep Right on to the End of the Road” was born. Although this song never appeared until after the War it still “spoke out” to all those suffering from gas inhailation, lost limbs, disfigured features and many women who had lost loved ones.

With women and children in the audience, the material was never too risque. Most Music Hall songs were sentimental and/or comic takes on everyday life, as well as spoofs of the rich and famous. Some well known artists that got their start in the Music Halls includes Harry Lauder, Stan Laurel, Gracie Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Lupino Lane, Marie Lloyd, Vesta Tilley and, Little Titch who could bend down ( without using his hands) and place a top hat on his head. Up and down the country the bigger venues could attract 1,000 + audiences with up to 3 shows a day but the coming of the cinema was to be a big blow to the Music Halls

In North America, Vaudeville was a style of multiple act theatrical entertainment which florished in America from 1880’s -1920’s in some ways similar to British Music Hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Germany had its Cabaret and brass Bands. In France at this time there was a song called La Madelon or Quand Madelon which in English means “I’ll be true to the whole regiment” this song was very popular with French troops during WW1 in France.

In Britain, at least there had been a mood of optimism that the war could all be over by Christmas. Less than 3 months later the more realistic were aware that this conflict was not just an isolated war but a World War. By the end of November the Western Front stretched over 500 miles from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border and the opposing armies were deadlocked in deep trenches. Already the loss of life had been enormous on both sides and there were few professional soldiers left, with recruitment having been stepped up as fast as possible.

Christmas for the men at the Front could barely be more miserable, spent in Trenches at below zero temperatures bleak and cheerless. One advantage of the biting cold weather was at least it froze up the mud all around. Darkness came and the men settled down whilst longing for home. However in one sector of the Front there was movement and not the usual movements of war. The British had look-outs that noticed a number of small lights along the German Front Lines. Later still, they heard the rising buzz of voices and then music from a harmonica or the like. As the sound floated across no-man’s-land it became apparent they were singing Christmas Carols!

Overcome by the spirit of Christmas men from both sides began to sing carols. Some Germans came across with a Christmas Tree while singing Stille Nacht, (Silent Night) and then some British soldiers started to leave the Trenches and walk across no-man’s-land, there were no gun shots. The men amazingly met and started to greet one and other. Soon more men were scrambling across the parapets, the trickle became a rush as platoons hurried across to shake hands. Cigars and cigarettes were exchanged and toasts were made with Schnapps and Whisky. All the men took out photos of their families back home from their wallets and a rough converation was achieved thanks to a German soldier who had lived in America pre-war and understood English.

A suggestion was made to mark Christmas Day by having a football match which the Germans won 3-2. Afterwards the men all agreed that there should be no more shooting until after midnight. Another heart-warming story from the Christmas Truce that took place on no-mans-land was : A German soldier was seen errecting a small make-shift hut. Apparently before the war he was a barber, so he decided to give a free haircut to both the German troops and the British troops!

“ The Christmas Day Truce of 1914 gave the world a much needed boost in humanity and hope. The guns, shells and, grenades fell silent, having no place amongst newly found friends.”

“In this world there have been many wars, some have even been necessary such as WW2, however WW1 was to test mans endurance beyond breaking point. For what?

One of the last survivors of The Christmas Truce was a man called Tom Anderson from the Angus Region of Scotland. When he was interviewed about his greatest memory of the Truce. He replied, “the haunting weird silence as the guns fell silent”.

Gifts from loved ones began arriving across the English Channel, there was safety razors, gloves, lighters and toolkits (small practical tools). Millions of packages made their way to the men at the Front. The soldiers who delivered these presents were known as (Santa’s in Khaki’s).

In 1914 King George V’s daughter Princess Mary worked as a nurse to assist the wounded, she also set up a fund to provide a gift for each man serving at the Front or at sea that Christmas. It was a gilt box containing 2 packets of cigarettes and 1 of tobacco including a message of goodwill from the King and Queen. For those who did not smoke the tins also contained sweets or chocolate. Concert parties were put on to entertain the troops, if all was quiet at the Front. These temporary wooden stages were known as GAFFS, a word used today to describe someone’s house but in the 18^th century it meant a fair, or a cheap music hall or theatre.

Acts would come across from the South coast Musical Halls and put on a performance for the men. On occasions the men at the Front may help to put on a concert performance/party themselves. Some men were relieved of duty for Christmas but could not go home in-case problems started brewing. Some kindly French and Belgian families that lived near-by befriended some of the British and had them over for Christmas dinner.

Army rum was drunk in the Trenches, if you were on the Front Lines you received a ration of 2.5 fluid ounces (70ml) daily. If you were serving behind the frontlines or resting it was given twice a week. The rum served up in jars could boost morale and help men better cope with battle stress. It was also helpful in getting quiet soldiers to open up and talk and not bottle their feelings up. Irish regiments were given Irish Stout in their mess cans.

The Royal Navy Christmas was a more ceremonial affair and traditional with a religious service followed by Christmas Dinner. Decorations and entertainment would lift everybody’s spirits.

Families would enjoy a trip to the Music Hall to see a Christmas special performance. In working class, industrial towns and cities up and down the country it was common to find 2 or 3 pubs on every street. A pint of beer would cost 3 pence which would rise to 5 pence by the end of war. The beer remained reasonably strong. Spirit drinks may have been watered down. Some people may have met up in the many cafés. Children’ toys for Christmas would include anything by the Military B.E.F. Toy Soldiers, Ships, Guns, Uniforms were immensely popular. For girls Santa would bring home-made gifts such as dolls or nurses uniform. The Christmas Goose favoured by the Victorians had been replaced by the turkey. The fledgling cinemas of the early 20^th century were beginning to grow in popularity.

It was during this time you could get an update on the state of the war in cinemas by watching Newsreels called the Pathe Animated Gazettes. Britain’s first cinema opened in London’s Piccadilly Circus in 1896. The Pathe reels would remain silent until 1928 and were heavily sensored just like the WW11 equivalent, yet they gave a unique insight into the war and were the only footage available outside of the press. The newsreels ran for 4 minutes and were issued fortnightly.

FOOD ITEMS FROM WW1 include Edward’s Desiccated Soup, where hot water was added (forerunner of the packet soup). Five Boys Chocolate, Bourneville Chocolate, Evaporated Milk for Deserts, Condensed milk for Tablet making or baking (on odd ocassions), Sage and Onion Stuffing, Gravy Salt, Triumph Tea as supplied by the Salvation Army, Custard Powder and Walnut Whips made originally by an Edinburgh Company and Margarine costing 4 pence a pound. Kleenex tissues were also in use, although their main function was as gas-mask filters. From 1906 the British schools began serving up a midday dinner for its pupils that were in need. The dinners were of good substance.

Charity drives were organised around the country to get tobacco and cigarettes over the channel and into the hands of the soldiers as fast and with the greatest quantity as possible. (Champion Tobacco, Woodbines, Capstan Full Strength, Sailor Cut).

John McCrae was born at Guelph, Ontario in Canada he was a WW1 Soldier, Physician and Poet. (November 30^th 1872 – January 28^th 1918). McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. He was buried in the Commonwealth War Graves, a section of Wimereux cemetery just a mile from Boulogne.

McCrae’s former friend was Lt Alexis Helmer who was killed in the 2^nd Battle of Ypres in 1915 and his burial inspired the poem, “In Flanders Field” written on MAY 3^rd 1915.

The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die. We Shall not sleep

“ Well, the war was not all over by Christmas and it was now entering a more deadly phase. The Christmas truce along the Western Front was now a memory as the battle’s recommenced with even greater intensity and, with a new threat from the air.”

On the 7^th of January 1915 Keiser Wilhelm II gave permission for the Zeppelin Fleet to invade Great Britain.

A new and sinister form of destruction has been added to the already terrifying list of WW1 warfare. Aerial bombardment began on 19^th January 1915, when Zeppelin Airships crossed the North Sea from its base at Fuhlsbuttel, Hamburg to bomb the East Anglia towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn, brilliantly lit up and unsuspecting it made an easy target for the Zeppelin L3. It also dropped its payload of 10 bombs on the working-class area of St Peter’s Plain, Great Yarmouth. Twenty people died with many more left with horrendous injuries.

The Zeppelins were the invention of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and was an airship not unlike a modern-day blimp but much larger. The framework was made of metal strong but light and it was covered by a rubberized cloth. The ship was powered by 2 Daimler engines each attached to propellers. The ship achieved its high altitude thanks to many large bags of Hydrogen Gas placed inside the structure. The gas was kept in bags made from cow intestines which proved to be incredibly resistant to tearing and yet thin and light. In Germany these intestine skins were used to make sausage skins however all sausage production was halted to concentrate on the manufacture of the Zeppelin’s.

On the May 30^th 1915 the L.Z 38 Airship bombed London, dropping 3,000 lbs of bombs on the London boroughs of Stoke Newington, Stepney and Leytonstone. The citizens jumped from their beds and ran into the streets. This occurrence became so regular that special night-time air-raid attire was soon to be marketed for women to protect their “honour” as they dashed to the nearest shelter. One Zeppelin was last seen heading East over the Darnall district of Sheffield.

A large proportion of Zeppelin raids occurred at night favouring calm conditions. One Zeppelin attack with 9 airships was destined for the port city of Liverpool but the airships were blown of course and ended up dropping 4,900 lbs of explosives on the Midlands. Zeppelin L21 caused the most damage captained by Max Dietrich, the uncle of soon-to-be famous singer and actress Marlene Dietrich. It was initially believed that the Zeppelins could only bomb coastal towns, sadly this was not the case.

In other occasions in both 1915 and 1916 other towns and cities were targeted with bombs falling on Northumberland and Tyneside on April 14th 1915. Appearing over Blyth on the 14^th the L9 Zeppelin dropped bombs then headed to Tyneside. Bishop Auckland and its coalmining capability was another target as well as Leeds. Other raids in 1915 included the bombing of Ipswich, Southend, Dover, and Ramsgate.

On 7/8 September London’s East End was targeted again including, The Isle Of Dogs, Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, New Cross, Golders Green, and the Smithfield Market, which was the main London meat market, situated just outside the old city wall. Warehouses close to St Pauls Cathedral were also hit and the remaining bombs landed on Liverpool Street Railway Station. On the 5^th & 6^th of April 1916 the communities of South-West Durham was indiscriminately bombed, hitting Evenwood / Ramshaw and Eldon Lane.

The British found it difficult to remove the threat of the Zeppelins which were at such an altitude no artillery or bi-planes could get near to them. They were often unheard because as they approached their target area they would switch their engines off. For the large part they could neither be seen or heard yet their impact was certainly felt.

Another raid took place North of the Border on 2^nd April 1916. Dozens were killed and injured when buildings in Edinburgh and the docks at Leith were destroyed by Zeppelins L14 and L22 a total of 24 explosions. It was strongly believed that the Zeppelin’s target was the destruction of the Forth Railway Bridge and the Docks at Rosyth with perhaps the weather/visibility causing them to change their minds. They then headed to the lights of Edinburgh which was relatively close. By sheer bad luck a stray Zeppelin bomb fell on the village of Chirnside in the Scottish Borders.

*The Zeppelin Airships made a total of 51 bombing raids on Great Britain in which 557 were killed and 1,358 were injured. The Airships dropped 5,806 bombs however the terror they instilled was much greater and more widespread. There was 30 Airships lost either shot down or lost in accidents.

During February 1915 The British Admiralty issued orders forbidding neutral fishing vessels from using British ports.

The light cruiser “Dresden” was sunk by British warships in Chilean waters off Juan Fernandez in March 1915.

The Gallipoli campaign was a bold strategic plan that was to go badly wrong. The Allies were made up of Anzac Forces, an acronym of (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) alongside the British, Royal Naval Division, and the French Navy. The aim was to take control of the Gallipoli Peninsula, thereby cutting off Turkey from her German and Austrian Allies. This would have the effect of forcing Turkey out of the war. Then the Allied powers could open up a new Front in the Balkans to strike at the Central Powers.

Sadly the element of surprise was lost when Allied ships bombarding the Dardanelles forts were to strike mines, thus giving the Turks time to reinforce their defences. The Allies landed at Anzac Cove on April 25^th ,1915 where they met stiff resistance from Turkish Forces. The Turks were guarding the approaches to Constantinople (Istanbul). The Allies wanted to destroy the Turkish forces to open up a route to assist Russian forces. The Turkish forces led by Mustapha Kemal under the direction of German General Liman von Sanders would soon out-number the Allied forces. Another two attempts were made to penetrate the Turkish forces but both failed. In November 1915 the British cabinet had little option but to order the evacuation of the campaign at the loss of wounded, missing or dead 250,000 British and Empire troops. French 47,000 The Turks lost 250,000. The British Military incompetence would cause bitterness among the Anzac’s and would cost Winston Churchill his job as 1^st Lord of the Admiralty. So what went wrong?

A) They landed at the far end of the Dardanelles which meant they would have to travel approximately 40 miles to get to the main body of the Turkish Defences.

B) They landed facing steep rocky cliffs with the Turks at the top with machine guns.

C) The beach was so small if the tide was out you would be lucky to have 10 ft of beach to work from.

D) How could you fire shells successfully when you couldn’t get enough trajectory from a small beach to hit the hill tops.

E) The heavy artillery from WW1 could still do a lot of damage if used today, yet the canons that arrived at Anzac Cove looked better suited to the Crimean War or the American Civil War.

F) There was no purpose -built landing craft and the troops received no special training.

There were further Allied landings at Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula on April 25^th but to no avail. All troops had left Gallipoli by December 1915.

This true story begins in South Shields in the North-East of England where on the 6^th July 1892 , John Simpson Kirkpatrick or Jack Simpson one of a family of eight was born. Jack grew up with a great fondness for animals and as a boy he worked as a “donkey lad” on the sands at South Shields. When he grew up he joined the Merchant Navy as a Stoker which took him around the world to Australia. In 1914 war broke out in Europe and Jack enlisted with the Australian & New Zealand Army better known as the Anzac’s. He became a stretcher bearer due to his stamina and upper body strength honed-in ship’s engine rooms. Jack’s original reason for enlisting was to get a free berth back to Britain but fate had much more in store for Jack.

On the 25^th of April 1915 the Anzac’s arrived at Gallipoli, of the 1,500 men in combat only 755 remained in active service by the end of the day. Due to the high casualties, stretcher bearer parties were reduced in size from 6 to only 2 men. The Anzac’s picked up a number of donkeys from neighbouring Greece, they were used to carry drinking water to the troops in old kerosene tin containers. Jack spied Duffy grazing in an overgrown gully, before long the two of them were heading up the one and a half miles of steep slope at Anzac Co.

Jack would whistle and sing almost oblivious to the Turkish bombs, shrapnel, machine-guns and snipers. Duffy would carry water to the wounded men and Jack would give emergency First Aid. When treating the men Jack made sure Duffy had some cover from enemy fire. They would then take the wounded directly down to the beach for quicker evacuation. His work continued day and night after existing on less than 3 hours sleep. The donkeys were rested and rotated, there were 4 donkeys, Duffy, Murphy, Abdul and Queen Elizabeth but Duffy was by far his favourite. Jack was averaging 12-15 trips a day, down the valley whilst the 2-man stretcher bearers were lucky to make 6. Private Simpson and his little beast earned the admiration of everyone at the upper end of the valley.

Simpson and Duffy would leave the Anzac Troops spellbound, they seemed to have an aura of almost divine protection. After rescuing hundreds of wounded soldiers, less than a month later Jack’s luck finally ran out when he died after being hit by machine-gun fire on 19^th May 1915. Despite being a very strong candidate for a Victoria Cross medal it was never awarded. Jack was independent, unorthodox and a free-spirited character which did not endear him to the military “top Brass” who could be small minded or perhaps they wanted no more mention of Gallipoli.

After Jack’s death Duffy continued up and down the slope led by New Zealander Richard Henderson until the Anzac’s left Gallipoli. Duffy had now reached iconic status with the troops and was heading back to Australia, however in a stopover on the donkey’s island home Duffy went missing. The troops hunted high and low but it seems he was glad to be away from the war and happy to be back in his homeland. No matter, the men on Anzac Cove would not forget Duffy the Donkey and his pal Jack Simpson.

During early 1915 Germany begins U-boat blockades of British waters, while the U.S. warns Germany against attacking American ships. On March 11^th The British declare a blockade of all German Ports.

During some of the opening battles of the war it was noticed that British casualties were much higher than the Germans. It soon came to light that the British artillery shells were failing to explode in high numbers. The Daily Mail newspaper had found on good authority that the Shells that were ordered up by the Secretary of state for War, Lord Kitchener were of little good. The British should have been using High-Explosive Shells but instead they were using Shrapnel Shells. If the Government did not quickly change-over the shell type many additional lives and indeed the War could be lost.

The Daily Mail had a few problems that had to be surmounted, firstly how do you explain that The Secretary of-state- for War and War hero had made a massive blunder. Also the Newsgroups were working in a time of censorship due to the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act. If they pushed too far they may have had their paper heavily censored, given a large fine or cancelled. They felt confident in the technical details of the bombs and slowly lobbied for support until the Government agreed. Despite the knowledge that they were doing the right thing the Daily Mail circulation dropped by 238,000 copies although the numbers soared in France and the Front Line.

SHRAPNEL SHELLS : These shells were anti-personnel artillery munitions which carried individual bullets close to the target area and then ejected them. They relied almost entirely on the shells correct velocity for their effectiveness. They were used mainly against the Boers during the two Boer wars. There was the additional problem of these shells in that they could not detonate in the thick muddy conditions of the Western Front. To this very day the French are still pulling large numbers of unexploded shells from the early battlefields of WW1. Another problem was that the high rate of shell fire over a long period was not anticipated and therefore the British stock of shells were close to depletion. The British Military had created a reliance on shrapnel shells.

HIGH EXPLOSIVE SHELLS : This shell superseded the role of Shrapnel Shells. The Picric acid “high explosive shell was employed principally for reducing fortifications through the blast effect that was triggered by a time or impact fuse.

The shell crises brought about the downfall of Prime Minister Herbert. H. Asquith being replaced by David Lloyd George in 1916. Kitchener who was Secretary of state for War remained in office, responsible for training and equipping the volunteer armies (which he did with distinction) but lost control over mutations and was increasingly side lined from control of military strategy. The British knew they needed High Explosive Shells in massive numbers and preferably “yesterday”.

With millions of men away to war, women would fill the manufacturing and agricultural positions on the home front.

A decision was made to “up” production in Britain of High Explosive Shells with a new plant being opened up on the English / Scottish border. The plant was going to be situated 9 miles from Dornock near Annan all the way to Mossbank, Eskdale in Cumbria. It was situated in a relatively sparsely populated area in case of explosions.

The work began in 1915 with 10,000 Irish construction workers getting the project under-way. The plant would be ready by Spring 1916 and its workforce would number over 20,000 from all over Great Britain and the Empire. Due to the danger of explosion the women could not wear earing’s, rings brooches and had to wear rubberised soles on their shoes. In the north of England the women would wear wooden clogs as many already did. In the munition factories for a similar reason, non-sparking soles or clogs became popular. In the North of England, Flemish Weavers brought them over at the time of the Industrial Revolution.

The clogs were ideal in the cold wet conditions of the North. The feet were insulated from the cold and the rain and the flagstones in the houses and mills. The clogs were incredibly strong and hard wearing and relatively cheap. The women would be paid 20 shillings or 1 pound a week if they had replaced a male worker who had gone to war. In some cases women were still being paid half the wages of men.

The women working at this factory were called Gretna Girls but the general name for munition workers were called Green Canaries due to the toxic chemicals they worked with that turned their skin and hair yellow. They manufactured Cordite and TNT and their work included filling shells and bullets. They were given overalls and a cap for their hair but that was basically it.

During the course of the War over 1,000,000 people were at work in British and Irish munition factories. The contents of the mixture at the factory led to the name THE DEVILS PORRIDGE by a visitor to the site, none other than Sherlock Homes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who noticed the colour and texture of the mixture was just like porridge. The nitro-glycerine and gun-cotton are kneaded into a sort of Porridge. Another problem from working with high explosives was the acid from the air-borne chemicals would attack the girl’s gums and if they were exposed to it for too long their gums wound rot away and their teeth would fall out. A high-profile visitor to the site was King George V and Queen Mary. Chemists and Engineers came to work at the plant from as far as South Africa and Australia.

The factory stretched for 9 miles and had its own independent railway network, power source and water supply system. The worker’s township had 11,576 woman and 5,066 men.

Hazards of working in this explosive environment include the yellow chemicals penetrating the skin. Some workers gave birth to “bright yellow babies” and when they went for their tea-break their cups saucers and table started to turn yellow. The workers risked losing hands or fingers, burns or blindness if a shell detonator was tapped down with too much force thus activating the detonator explosive. The workers also complained of headaches, nausea, and hives.

A more serious consequence of working with TNT powder was liver toxicity which led to anaemia and toxic jaundice which would kill 1 in 4 of workers that had the disease. In the advertising section of many newspapers around that time there was a Face Cream called “OATINE” that was specifically marketed at the Canary Girls. It was said to protect the women’s face from the various damaging chemicals. Whether it worked or not is anyone’s guess. In time the factory ventilation system was improved and they began issuing the workforce with masks.

One of the worst shell explosion happened at a munitions plant in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire which flattened the whole area. There was another explosion at a village called Barnbow close to Leeds. Apparently a male worker managed to save 12 women from the explosion, for his efforts a bridge and road in Leeds was named after him. In Belfast (Mackie & Son) munitions produced an estimated 75 million shells as well as Belfast having approximately 30,000 workers involved in the ship building / ship repair industry at Harland and Wolff during the war. There were also munition factories in Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Waterford with County Wicklow producing a hundred tons of cordite a week.

Irish women also played an important part in the war against Germany when they started doing jobs traditionally done by men. They began working as bus conductors, farm hands and office clerks. Many women were involved in voluntary roles such as fund-raising and preparing comfort packages for troops.

Over in Britain the number of women working on the railways rose from 9,000 – 50,000. In 1914 the first Woman Police Officers began serving during WW1 known as Women’s Patrols. Women provided support on the Front Lines as nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers and translators. In total 100,000 women joined Britain’s Armed Forces including the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. For the first time in history women had taken over the work of men in many occupations to allow the release of men to the Armed Forces.

In Great Britain despite the hazards of the munition factories, the women enjoyed the company of other women and having a disposable income for the first time. On days off the women would all love to play football. The Gretna plant team was called the Mossband/burn Swifts F.C. and they would play other munitions teams to raise money for charity. They all choose to play in shorts rather than skirts. Considered to be the best team around was Dick, Kerrs Ladies Football team, they were the team to beat and would play to large crowds in Preston. Another fine team from the North-East of England was Blyth Spartans who had in their ranks one of the Countries top players, Bella Reay who had played many times for the English National Team.

An advertisement in a Belfast newspaper would say “Ladies Football Match in aid of STRIPES V WHITES. To take place at Grosvenor Park on Friday evening. This was 6^th September 1917.

The Stripes and Whites were (Distillery) who would play against (Belfast Celtic) and drew a crowd of 16,000 in aid of the Belfast sailors and soldiers. Wounded soldiers and sailors admitted FREE. * After the war the woman’s game was banned in the UK and was only reinstated in 1971. *

* By the War’s end Britain employed 950,000 women / men in munitions factories while Germany had 700,000 *

Poison Gas was Chemical Munitions fired in artillery shells or released from containers which spread toxic or disabling gases onto the battlefield. WW1 gases included MUSTARD GAS, PHOSGENE & CHLORINE and sometimes a mixture of 2 types. The very first gas attack of WW1 took place on the Eastern Front when Germany fired TEAR GAS at the Russians. Tear gas is only a disabling gas not a lethal gas. It was best remembered in breaking up riots in America and Europe during the 1960’s. Many shells of tear gas (XYLYL- BROMIDE) were fired at the Russian lines but nothing happened. This was because on the Eastern Front the temperature was so low that the gas turned to liquid and was ineffective. No one ever used Tear Gas again during WW1.

The Germans were the first to use Chlorine Gas at the 2^nd Battle of Ypres on April 22^nd 1915. It forced the British to shorten their defence line in the Ypres salient. By April, German chemists had tested a method of releasing chlorine gas from pressurised cylinders with thousands of French / Algerian troops being smothered in a ghostly green cloud of chlorine at the 2^nd Battle of Ypres. With no protection many died from the agonies of suffocation.

One of the best-known soldiers of The Royal Scots Fusiliers was Lt Col Winston Churchill. In 1915 the future WW11 leader commanded the 6^th Battalion of the Regiment in the “hell- hole” of the Ypres Salient. Churchill earned the respect of the men by leading them into battle and surviving over 30 forays across no-man’s-land.

CHLORINE GAS : This gas destroyed the respiratory system of its victims which led to a slow death by asphyxiation. It could also lead to Corneal Burns, Violent Cough, Nausea, Vomiting and Chest-Pain. The gas, a greenish yellow cloud had a strong smell of bleach.

MUSTARD GAS : This gas was first used in 1917 and was found to blister the Skin, Eyes and Lungs it killed thousands of men. Even if a soldier had breathing protection, on a wet day the mustard gas could seep through his damp unform causing large painful blisters. The gas had a smell reminiscent of garlic or horseradish.

PHOSGENE : This gas was used extensively during WW1 as a choking (pulmonary) agent. The Gas or liquid form can irritate the Skin, Eyes, Throat and Lungs and in high concentrations a Pulmonary Oedema or fluid in the lungs can develop within 2-6 hours. Phosgene symptoms were similar to mustard gas but with more nausea and vomiting. The gas had a strong smell resembling rotting hay.

It was estimated that as many as 85% of the 91,000 gas deaths in WW1 were a result of Phosgene or the related agent, Diphosgene. Gas would soon become a routine feature of trench warfare, horrifying soldiers much more than any conventional weapon.

ANTI-GAS-FANS : There were 100,000 anti-gas-fans issued to the British troops on the Western Front. The fan was like an old fashioned “carpet beater” but it was solid and used to “sweep” or drive away any gas or residue that had accumulated in shell holes or uneven ground or dips after an attack.

THE BATTLE OF LOOS took place on 8^th OCT 1915 and was the first time that the British used gas however due to the unpredictability of the weather much of the gas blew back on some of the British lines.

In 1915 the French discovered that if they mixed Chlorine Gas which was very light with a heavier gas such as Phosgene it spread out better on the opposing trenches.

The gas was delivered initially by canisters but it became more accurate when delivered inside shells. The gas was placed in the shell in liquid form and the shell could be fired from a greater distance. When the shell detonated the poisonous liquid would vaporise over the intended area.

Lord Kitchener was desperate to find out more about this gas and how to protect the men so he called over to France a Respiratory Specialist from Edinburgh named John Haldane. John quickly discovered the gas was likely to be chlorine from the corrosion in the Frenchmen’s uniform buttons. He went to work experimenting on the gas often using himself as a guinea pig! The most basic step in protection was for the men to urinate in a sock or handkerchief and place it over the mouth if attacked by gas. The urine present in this crude mask caused the Chlorine to Crystalize preventing pulmonary damage to occur if kept in place properly.

However you can’t win a war with one hand holding a mask and so a cotton wool gauze and rubber band attachment was the next step up followed by Cotton Wool rapped in muslin and soaked in a solution of Bicarbonate of Soda which later progressed to Sodium Thiosulphate. Improvements continued with the Black Veil Respirator coming soon after with chemical absorbing fabric fitted to the complete head. The British SMALL BOX RESPIRATOR was to become the standard issue gas mask. This gas mask absorbed the poisonous gases by using a wood charcoal filter. In the later years of the War it was found that the charcoal produced from coconut, chestnut shells, peach stones, including other seeds produced a better filter. These waste materials were collected from the British public in re-cycling programmes to assist the war effort. Standard tissue paper was used as a cover for the filter. The progress/development of the Gas Mask was the collective work of many individuals.

Dogs at The Front also needed gas masks, after all they delivered messages, helped the fallen, carried out sentry duty and were rat catchers as well as being loved companions. Dogs were vital to the War effort so after 6 months scientists succeeded in developing a mask for dogs which was safe and comfortable for dogs to wear.

Horses would also be given gas masks. The British and German’s adapted a feeding bag for horses with a 14inch flannelette and cheesecloth bag attached to the horse’s head. The outside of the bag would be laced with gas retardant chemicals. Sadly for some horses they would chew through their bag after mistaking it for feed and therefore the protection was lost.

* Any gas veil or mask required the user to see out by using the circular lenses fitted. Back in war-time there were few options for the material so the lenses were made from glass, mica or cellulose acetate. In the heat of battle the lenses would crack or break and would constantly need replacing. *

One of the best detector of gas attack was the humble garden slug, they proved to be a great asset to the Allies during WW1. They proved to be extremely sensitive at detecting poison gas, detecting 1 part of mustard gas in 10-12 million, which allowed time for the men to react to the incoming attack and don their gas masks. The slugs had a method of shutting off their breathing when the gas struck, this meant they survived intact and could be reused for future use. The slugs were kept on the Front Line in shoeboxes with wetted sponges inside. “I haven’t got the heart to tell Grace that the slugs who are munching her Hosta Plants are related to war hero’s”!

In the British ranks the carrier pigeons were homed quite far from the Front lines so they were kept relatively safe from gas attacks. On the German side the carrier pigeons were housed in the actual trenches in large steel lofts. It was found that, on the whole the birds were resistant to all but the deadliest of gas in strong concentrations.

* 3% of all gas casualties died immediately, hundreds of thousands of ex-soldiers continued to suffer for years after the war. *

Deutsch-Sudwestafrika or German South-West Africa was a colony of the German Empire from 1884-1915. The South-West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of South-West Africa in 1915 by forces from the Union of South Africa, acting on behalf of the British government. Today this country is known as Namibia.

During the 2^nd year of WW1 German U-boats operating from the ports of Kiel, Bremerhaven and Heligoland. They were responsible for sinking millions of tons of Allied shipping, especially in the Atlantic. Across the Atlantic the US government was maintaining its policy of neutrality. That neutrality would be strongly contested on May 7^th 1915. As far as the German Embassy in Washington was concerned the rules of engagement for naval action were perfectly clear. Vessels flying the flag of Britain, or any of her allies, were liable to destruction in the zone of war, including that of the waters adjacent to the British Isles.

The 31,500-ton British passenger liner The Lusitania was one such vessel which was making the crossing from New York Harbour to Liverpool with close to 2,000 passengers and crew. Reports of increased German U-boat activity in the Southern coast of Ireland, prompted the British Admiralty to wire the Lusitania to adopt “zig-zagging” manoeuvres and other evasive actions. The warning had gone unheeded and U-boat Captain Walter Schwieger ordered a torpedo to be fired from U-20. The torpedo exploded amidships on the liners starboard side, followed by a heavier explosion in the engine room boilers.

Only 20 minutes later the ship sank with 1,198 passengers perishing, including 128 US citizens, some of which were personally known by US President Theodore Roosevelt. The RMS Lusitania sank approximately 11miles (18km) off the old head of Kinsale on Ireland’s south coast. The Naval Station at Queenstown received the Lusitania’s distress call and sent all available tugs and trawlers to the scene including the motorless RNLI Lifeboat the James Steven No 20. Despite the grim sight they managed to pull survivors from the water and one of the Lusitania’s lifeboats to safety. A further 12 volunteers from Courtmacherry launched their own boat the Kezia Gwilt, sadly the conditions were too calm to use the boats sails so they had to row the entire 12 miles. By the time they arrived it was now a body recovering exercise however their efforts assured that many more victims received a decent burial and many families now had a place to mourn.

On SAT 22^nd MAY 1915 a Liverpool bound troop train carrying half the 7^th Leith Battalion of the Scots Regiment collided head on with a passenger train. The crash happened near Gretna Green at Quintinshill just over the Scottish border. Five separate trains were involved and it was reckoned that 227 people died. Two signalmen were blamed with one being sentenced to jail for culpable homicide for 3 years whilst the other was jailed for 18 months.

The Battle of Loos took place in France on the Western Front from 25^th September – 8^th October 1915. The British lost many men to German machine gun fire as they attacked positions around Loos without the aid of artillery support. (Shells were no good). The British suffered 50,000 casualties with the Germans around 25,000 casualties. This was the biggest attack of 1915 and the first time the British used poison gas. It was for his actions at the battle of Loos that Piper Daniel Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross.

During the worst of the bombardment, Piper Laidlaw, seeing that his company had been badly shaken from the effects of blown-back-gas, with absolute coolness and disregard of danger he mounted the parapet. He then marched up and down and played the company out of the Trench. He marched alone into no-man’s-land playing Blue Bonnets Over the Border. Daniel never stopped playing until the position was won despite becoming injured.

The Royal Leicestershire Regiment in WW1 fielded 19 Battalions fighting in all theatres of war from France – Mesopotamia. The regiment won 3 Victoria Crosses and earned 37 Battle Honours.

Edith Cavell was a British nurse that was born in the village of Swardeston, Norfolk in England. She became a nurse in 1895 and matron of the Berkendael Institute of Brussels in 1907. During the early part of the First World War she tended to friend and foe alike however she was arrested for her role in an underground movement that helped 200 Allied soldiers escape from Belgium to neutral Holland where they could then return to active duty.

It was at the hospital that the departing men received money and guides from Belgian Philippe Baucq who was sentenced with nurse Cavell. Cavell had confessed to providing shelter for escapees at the hospital, they were both given the death sentence. Edith and Pierre were to be shot by firing squad on 12^th OCT 1915. Efforts were made by the neutral Spanish and American ambassadors in Brussels but to no avail.

Even in her last days her goodness and kindness shown through in a letter that she wrote home she said, “ I am proud to die for my country but I realise patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone”. These famous words can be seen on the plinth of her statue in London. When she was being led to the firing squad she was reciting the words of the popular hymn Abide with Me. When her body was released by the German authorities she was given a Memorial Service in Westminster Abbey before her burial in her native Norfolk.

* In admiration and respect for Edith Cavell many new- born girls were given the Christian name Edith, including one of the most haunting and powerful singers of the 20^th Century, French-women Edith Piaf born 15^th DEC 1915. *

The Women’s Institute was originally brought into existence to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. In the summer of 1915 the first Women’s Institute meeting took place in a garden shed in Anglesey, Wales. By the end of WW1 the Woman’s Institute had helped raise Britain’s food self-sufficiency from 35% to over 60% by 1918. The government viewed their contribution as vital, and at the end of the hostilities the Women’s Institute was awarded an annual grant of £10,000.

*Britain’s Jockey Club decided to continue racing, but at a reduced level / schedule. The Grand National race took place on March 26^th 1915 the 77^th in its history. The National was won by legendary jockey Jack Anthony winning his second of three Grand Nationals. *

During WW1 the Scottish Women’s Hospitals provided care and support to thousands of soldiers, an action that only a few years earlier would have been considered unbelievable.

Elsie was born in 1864 , her parents nurtured her intent in medicine, and she became one of Scotland’s first female doctors qualifying in 1892. She obtained a post in at the New Hospital for Women in London as well as a position at the Rotunda in Dublin, a leading maternity hospital. When she arrived home she expressed a desire to work with the sick and injured of WW1 but she was not taken seriously by the Medical establishment. Non–the-less she began work in Calais helping Belgian soldiers. A little later she was now heading for the S.E. Front where she would spend the most time with her beloved Serbians.

The ever-growing need for medical support across Europe quickly saw numbers increase. Over time Elsie Inglis and the Partridges were responsible for setting up an incredible 17 hospitals. This would include bases in France, Serbia, Russia, Greece, Romania, Corsica, and Macedonia. With the exception of France their work was all on the South-East Front, The Balkans. On top of this, satellite hospitals and dressing stations were set up in other locations affected by the war in both Western and Eastern Fronts.

After Russia’s war involvement ended in 1917, tens of thousands of Serbs faced certain death. Elsie herself was taken Prisoner-of-War but she managed to convince both sides that she would supply medical care to them all with the hope of a reduction in fighting. Among her many battles Elsie was fighting a battle of her own, she had cancer. Her condition worsened and within a short time back home Elsie died.

Of the 1,500 personnel that served the Scottish Women’s Hospitals only 20 were men. The women carried out tasks as Doctors, Surgeons, Ambulance Drivers, Orderlies, cooks, and even grave diggers.

The Grey Partridges were given their name due to the grey overcoats they wore. There contingent was made up of Trained Doctors, Nurses, Scottish Woman’s Ambulance Core and General Workers. The women provided help to soldiers on the Romanian Front in the most difficult days of WW1. They finally reached Romania via a long and arduous voyage through the Baltic Sea with a strong risk of being torpedoed. They set up a hospital at Medgidia treating the wounded in terrible conditions under bombardment and in retreat as the Front collapsed. They also managed to convert an abandoned building in the city of Galati into at operational hospital.

* Death through disease was even greater on the Eastern Front than the Western Front. The biggest problems being Malaria, Cholera, Dysentery and also Typhoid Spotted Fever, transmitted by lice. *

The women were spread out between Greece, Serbia, Salonika, Romania on the South (Balkan) Front.

Another group that was doing their best to help on the island of Salonika was some hardy Australian women, marshalled by Agnes Bennett also on a mission of mercy .They would have to be careful as the island was full of spies.

* Flora Sandes from Yorkshire (GB) was believed to be the only British woman serving on the front lines when she arrived in Serbia during WW1. *

On the Eastern and South-Eastern Front the Central Powers also occupied Poland and most of Lithuania, with Serbia being invaded.

One of several British ships sunk around this time was the British Hospital ship “Anglia” which was sunk by a mine off Dover on 17^th November 1915. The ship was returning from Calais to Dover carrying 390 wounded officers, a mine exploded close to Folkestone with 134 men lost. DURING WW1 A TOTAL OF 26 ALLIED HOSPITAL SHIPS WERE SUNK.

“If the war was not bad enough, the men at the front had to deal with the possibility of catching many diseases that were going around. With their reduced resistance to disease many fell prey to illnesses that spread like wildfire through the trenches.”

In 1915 a British Medical Officer on the Western Front reported on a soldier who was suffering from a relapsing fever, dizziness, lumbago, and shin pain. Within months more cases were described, mostly in frontline troops, and the new disease was called Trench Fever. More than a million troops became infected with the Fever during WW1, with each effected soldier unfit for duty for more than 60 days. It would take a further 3 years before it was realised the condition was caused by lice.

No one in the Trenches could escape the lice, some men shaved their hair and body-hair but the lice were still living in their clothing. Even after their clothing was washed, the eggs of the lice that lay in the seams of the clothes would survive and re-infect the soldiers.

*The term “CHATTING” was a word used by soldiers to describe the killing of lice by crushing them between the fingernails. *

Trench Mouth would cause “crater-like” ulcers between the teeth, a grey film of dead flesh and skin that would build up in the mouth. The condition was an extremely painful form of Gingivitis where the gums became red, very swollen and bleeding, also accompanied by mouth ulcers. The problem stemmed from the Soldiers at the front being “run down” from poor nutrition, bad oral hygiene, smoking and stress. The habit in wartime of smoking cigarettes “hands free” also contributed to the problem. When the Trench was busy the cigarette in their mouths would burn down, often oblivious to the soldier. In the heat of the moment the cigarette was the last thing to worry about.

* One makeshift cure for Trench Mouth that became popular in the Trenches was to smear your mouth and gums with butter and then chew on a large spoonful of sugar. The abrasive action of the sugar would help scrape the dead skin and flesh away! *

Once again this condition was brought about by living in unsanitary surroundings. Trench Foot would start by standing in water for long periods, this would become worse when the water was cold, thick, and muddy. The soldier’s foot /feet would begin to get numb and turn red or blue, if caught in time the foot could be treated in a Field Hospital for 5 days and the soldier could return to duty. Sadly if the foot was left too long, there would be an aroma of rotting flesh which allowed Gangrene to “set in”, requiring the foot to be amputated.

In the early part of the 20^th Century Tuberculosis or TB was a deadly scourge on the population, much like Cancer is today. In Victorian times it was known as “consumption!” as the disease slowly consumed the lungs. In the poor crowded and damp conditions of the WW1 Trenches the disease spread easily. TB was the leading cause of discharge accounting for 13% of all British servicemen at the Front. The flow of casualties was soon to overwhelm the existing British medical facilities including pre-war mental asylums.

There was no effective drug treatment for TB until after WW2. The early 20^th Century hospitals or sanatoriums advocated plenty rest and fresh air as a means of slowing the disease down, on some occasions the men would be cured. Working class families living in Britain were particularly susceptible to the disease as they tended to have large families living in cramped and often cold damp homes. The Factories Act of the Early 20^th Century forbade the spitting in the workplace as the bloody sputum was known to spread the disease, sadly in the WW1 Trenches these rules would be impossible to halt /control the spread of TB.

Dysentery was caused by a lack of sanitation in the Trenches and an irregular supply of clean drinking water. Soldiers would sometimes have to rely on melted snow or water from shell-holes, this unsanitary water caused bacterial infections of the intestines, diarrhoea, fever, vomiting and stomach aches. Best cure available was eating onions in the form of a soup, which could kill the bacteria in some cases. However many men in this dehydrated state would often die. Garlic was also popular for dysentery and infected wounds.

Tetanus is a dangerous bacteria that you can pick up through a cut or wound from soil, dust or manure. The manured fields of Belgium and Northern France made it a disaster waiting to happen. You could also get the infection from deep punctures or wounds by nails or knives however you could also get infected from a simple scratch from an infected piece of material such as wood. When the bacteria had invaded the body, it produces a poison “toxin” and causes painful muscle contractions. Another name for Tetanus is “Lockjaw” causing the person’s neck and jaw muscles to lock, making it difficult to open the mouth and swallow. Without treatment Tetanus can be fatal.

An infectious disease commonly carried by rodent’s urine also known as Leptospirosis. People bathing in canals or stagnant fresh-water pools such as those seen in or around the Trenches may be affected by the organism penetrating the skin through cuts or abrasions. Can cause muscle pain and jaundice, the condition carries a 20% mortality rate. (That’s why pets must be vaccinated against Leptospirosis.)

The 1918 the Flu Pandemic was an unusually deadly strain of influenza, it spread to over 500 Million people across the world killing 100 Million. The reason it was called Spanish flu was because of one high-profile casualty, the gravely ill King of Spain. In truth the countries of Germany, Great Britain, France, and the U.S.A, all had similar mortality rates as Spain but they were censored to prevent the damage to their own nations morale and to prevent giving the enemy a morale boost.

The flu took hold in Europe due to the weakened immune system of men all living in close proximity in the Trenches with unhygienic living conditions. The sad irony was that many men suffered and survived the years of the war on the Western Front only to be killed by the Spanish Flu.

During WW1 the British Army dealt with 80,000 cases of shell-shock, some 16,000 victims came from the battle of the Somme. Low ranking officers suffered some of the worst symptoms because they were called on to suppress their emotions to set an example to their men. Before a big battle the men who could “switch off” their negative thoughts had a great advantage, however those who ruminated on all the negative outcomes could find themselves in greater danger of Shell-shock. The victims of Shell Shock found themselves unable to eat or drink sometimes suffering deafness, blindness with some becoming mute or paralysed, many were shaking uncontrollably with others displaying facial tics.

Many were wrongly executed by the British Army as cowards and their families have borne the brunt off the stigma and injustice to this very day. In WW1 the standard treatment for shell-shock, according to the Army Medical Officers was, Solitary Confinement, Emotional Deprivation, Shaming and Physical Re-Education. In the years following, the men would try different therapies that allowed the brain to heal from its trauma, even knitting, along with care and attention. For some it worked but for others they remained locked in a world of fear.

Although it was said that the executions stopped earlier in the war the truth was that the executions by firing squad continued later in the war but were carried out quieter, without the official documentation of earlier years. It was due to the suffering of all the Shell-shock victims that the “lid was lifted” on P.T.S.D or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in future conflicts. The Shell-shocked victims of WW1 were only one set of casualties there were also countless men who were psychologically wounded in many different ways.

In 1915 parrots were kept at the top of the Eiffel Tower so their remarkable hearing could warn of any enemy aircrafts approaching. They would squawk at this new sound of aeroplane engines. The birds served valiantly but the programme was later discontinued when the parrots were unable to learn the difference between German and Allied aeroplanes. (you need a WW2 blitz cat for that job or Freda the Duck)

This helmet was used by German troops during the first two years of WW1. It is made mainly of leather with a metal spike on top and a brass emblem at the front. It was originally introduced for the Prussian Infantry in 1842. The helmet gained popularity and, it was used by the military police forces in Mexico, South America and Scandinavia and even inspired the shape of the British Police helmet.

The helmet was phased out in 1916 when leather became scarce. The main source of leather came from South America and was now blockaded by the British. At this time Germany decided to produce a heavier more protective steel helmet, (the Stahlhelm) not unlike the ones Germany used in WW11. Since the introduction of the steel helmets head wounds dropped by 70%. The spike at the top of the older helmets were designed to deflect a sword / sabre blow to the head in the days of Prussian cavalry charges and hand to hand fighting.

Physicist Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-Rays in 1995 at the University of Wurzburg, Bavaria. He wished no reward or financial gain for this invention so that it could be used for everyone requiring it. Due to his generosity the red tape and costs were done away with, so the X-Ray machines were up and running by 1915 in the Tent Hospitals of the Western Front.

The X-Ray’s allowed for the exploration of the internal body without having to resort to surgery first. The X-Ray machines at the Front were used mainly to detect Shot Gun wounds, Shrapnel wounds or Broken Bones.

In 1912 Italy, Germany, and Austria/Hungary, renewed their Triple Alliance for a further 6 years but all wasn’t well with the Alliance. Germany was “currying favour” with the Turks (The Ottoman Empire) as a potential partner during WW1 to fight the Central Empire’s cause in the Middle Eastern region. In 1911 it was believed that Italians in Libya were being mistreated by units of the Turkish Forces, it was also believed that German Forces were singing anti-Italian songs. Italy decided to remain neutral during WW1. As time moved on the Allies wanted Italy’s participation because of its border with Austria. There was a strong sentiment in Italy to go to war with the Austrians within the general public and the political classes. Italy was promised Trieste, Southern Tyrol, Northern Dalmatia in return for a pledge to enter the war on the Allies side.

The Treaty of London was signed on 26^th April 1915 and was to see Italy going to war along-side the Triple Entente (Allies). Italy declared war against the dual Empire of Austria / Hungary on 23^rd May 1915. When Italy declares war on Austria / Hungary it opened up a new front in WW1 stretching 600km, mostly mountainous, known as the (White War).

The mountain range was the natural border between Italy and Austria. If the Austrians crossed the border they could find themselves in the Lombardy region or North Italy. If this area fell to the Austrians, Italy would have lost the country’s main industrial and economic centre including the main city of Milan. Likewise the Austrians were very wary of the Italians coming over the mountains and taking possession of the important Tyrol region of Austria. A decision was made to close the Mountain Passes at both ends which left this conflict as yet another war of attrition.

From 1915-1918 over 60% of all that died on the mountains were victims of the elements, Avalanches, Frostbite, Landslides, Cold and Exhaustion. Only 30% were the victims of direct military action. Winter temperature would drop to -40 Degrees Celsius. Avalanches in 1916 killed over 10,000 Italian and Austrian troops in just 2 days. The supply lines were to include the use of many ropeways to reach the troops at the higher altitudes. All manner of artillery had to be dragged up the mountain. Mules, Dogs and Men would have to pull the heavy artillery and munitions.

The St Bernard dog was a considerable asset on both sides of the conflict. These dogs were named after the Monastery of Saint Bernard in Switzerland. They were trained by monks over 1,000 years ago to track down anyone lost in the mountains and with a loud howl they would let known their location. They would also carry food and a small barrel of brandy around their neck to help revive their casualty. They are also the heaviest breed of dog at 220lb or 100kg which made them useful in the mountain war for pulling sledges of supplies up the mountain.

The fighting took place in a zone above 2,000 ft , at high altitude, avalanches was a big problem and the men would have to continually dig snow. The winters of 1916 and 1917 brought the heaviest snows of the century.

GUGLIELMO MARCONI was an Italian electrical engineer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909 for his work on the transmission and reception of Radio Waves. Marconi served in the Italian Armed Forces and directed his countries radio service. He began experiments with Short-Wave radio and Narrow-Beam transmission, making detection by the enemy much harder.

ENZO FERRARI was a Motor Racing Driver and an Entrepreneur, the founder of the Ferrari Motor Racing Team.

Meanwhile across the mountains fighting for the Austrian / Hungarian side was a young officer called ERWIN ROMMEL. He would go on to become known as the Desert Fox and was respected by friend and foe alike.

By late 1917 much needed reinforcements were to arrive on the mountains from the British, French, and German side. It has been estimated that 600,000 Italians and 400,000 Austrians, were to die on the Italian Front.

* The PASUBIO OSSUARY is a stone tower that holds the remains of Italian and Austrian soldiers who had fought in the mountains during WW1. Valli del Pasubio is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. *

As the weather becomes milder an amazing sight has been witnessed on Mt Scorlozzo. Caves made by the Austrians at 3,000 ft used as shelter from the elements. The caves were made for 20 men and came to light as the climate becomes milder. This cave was found in 2017 but it is believed there could be many more shelters on the mountains.

On the 30^th December 1915 the British Cruiser (Natal) exploded with the loss of 405 lives. It is believed that there was no enemy involvement but may have been caused by an exploded magazine. The Cromarty Firth was used in both World Wars as a large, long, and deep-water anchorage. The town of Invergordon was of vital importance with its large fuel depot and repair base for the British Fleet. The once quiet town of Invergordon changed overnight with the influx of thousands of Naval and Army personnel. The remains of the crew of the Natal explosion were buried in a near-by Gaelic Cemetery.

Wilfred Owen (1893 – 1918) was a British Soldier and Poet from WW1. He was born near Oswestry in Shropshire and was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry told of the horrors of the Trenches and gas warfare which stood in contrast to the public perception of the War at that time. He died in action crossing the Sambre-Oise Canal one week before the signing of the Armistice. To make matters much worse the Church Bells were already ringing out all over Britain for peace when Wilfred’s family received a telegram to say he had been killed and was to be buried in Northern France.

“Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

And towards out distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shot. All went lame; all blind. Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling. Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling and stumbling.

And Floundering like a man on fire or lime. Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin.

If you could hear , at every jolt from the froth corrupted lungs, obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud”.

“Of , incurable sores on innocent tongues – My friend, you would not tell with such high zeal. To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie : In Latin : “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria Nori or in English, “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”

“The last few embers of 1915 had all but burned away, what will 1916 be like? Will there be Allied breakthroughs or German break-throughs? What can be done with the menace below the seas and the menace above the clouds. No one has ever seen War-fare like it. They call it the War fought with 20^th Century Artillery and early 19^th Century tactics! A War of men led by donkey’s, will anything change during this new year. Will it really become the War to end all Wars” ?

“ January 1916 would see the beginning of CONSCRIPTION in Great Britain. The British Military Expedition who left for France in 1914 were all but gone. and the early volunteers of Lord Kitchener’s recruitment drive of over 1 million enlisted men had now dwindled away. Although the Trenches gave some protection there was still many battles taking place all around Belgium and France that took a heavy toll of casualties. There was also the heavy loses of the Gallipoli campaign and the constant battle with Trench diseases and infections.

With all that in mind Kitchener came up with a plan to build the British numbers up by Conscription : which means compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces. This was initially for single men but it was extended to married men from 18 – 41years, being raised to 51 year of age by June 1916. To make the recruitment more palatable for many, Kitchener allowed the men to form their own PALS BATTALIONS.”

The Pals Battalions had a lot of benefits over recruitment into the regular Army where you may be from a different part of the country and don’t know anyone. The Pals Battalions would be set up in your hometown with people you have known for years. For mums and dads who wanted their son “looked after” while in France, they could speak to a local teacher, blacksmith, shopkeeper etc and ask them to keep an eye out for their young son. They will all be together in France so this would give the mums and dads a little peace-of-mind.

Another advantage was if The Pals Battalion was formed from a common interest such as a professional or amateur Football or Rugby Club or any other common interest in their town, they would have plenty to speak about. This can be so important when time goes slowly, especially during those soul-destroying times in the Trenches before going “over the top”.

The downside of the Pals Battalions was that, if they took heavy loses some could lose many good friends that they’ve known all their lives. Another disadvantage was that, if a Pals Battalion was hit badly, back in their hometown a whole generation could be lost including many teachers, tradesmen, blacksmiths, bakers, butchers etc. Lord Kitchener had his faults but when it came to the recruitment and training of troops there was few that could match him. These new Battalions were known as KITCHENER’S ARMY.

The very first British professional football team to form a Pals Battalion was Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). Initially Hearts were top of the Scottish league when 16 players from the 1st and 2^nd team enlisted as well as 500 supporters and ticket holders. Some background staff were to join them. The Battalion was known as McCrae’s Battalion named after Colonel Sir George McCrae. The Battalion figures were boosted by 150 Hibs followers and men from Falkirk FC, East Fife FC, Dunfermline FC, and Raith Rovers FC. Tragically the war took the lives of 7 of the Hearts players with many others wounded. A memorial cairn was constructed in the village of Contalmaison on the Somme.

During Conscription Dundee had a female dominated jute industry that limited male employment. This led to the city having one of the highest proportion of reservists and serving soldiers than almost any other British city.

With the introduction of conscription in January 1916 every region of the country was now affected. It would be impossible to list all the Pals Battalions but, here are some that show how widespread they were and how they were affiliation to larger Regiments.

16^th Glasgow, most were recruited from ex Boys Brigade, Glasgow Boy’s Brigade Battalion.

If a large number of men were lost in battle it was common to form a new Pals Battalion from the remnants of other Battalions.

January 1916 brought about some positive news on the war at sea with the invention and distribution of the depth charge. Depth charges were set to explode by means of an adjustable pressure switch. It was not perfect but it was a lot better than nothing. At its peak the U-boats were sinking almost 2 Allied ships a day. * The first German Submarine, the U-boat 1 entered service in 1906. *

January 1916 brought about Military Tank trials at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Back in October 1914 an officer of the Royal Engineers (REME) suggested the idea of a power-driven armoured vehicle on caterpillar tracks to overcome the deadlock of trench fighting in WW1. His idea reached Winston Churchill who was already experimenting with this idea of armoured cars himself. As quickly as possible the design was made practical and by 1916 the first armoured vehicle was now ready for action.

All efforts were taken to avoid the enemy “getting wind” of this new invention so when the Tanks were shipped over to France the parts were placed in huge crates marked Tanks (as in water tanks) to be constructed a bit like a flat-pack. (A pussycat would need to “pump a lot of iron” to have it away with the contents of this flat-pack) Anyway, the Tanks were assembled and were known as male or female tanks. Male tanks had cannons whilst female tanks had heavy machine guns. The machine guns were manufactured in Newcastle.

On February 21^st 1916 the battle of Verdun began which would last until December the 18th . Verdun was a haemorrhaging of men and spirit the likes had never been seen before. The battle began with a furious bombardment by 1,220 German guns on a narrow 8 mile (13km) front. This section of the Western Front turned into a “mincing machine” as artillery inflicted slaughter on an industrial scale. German losses would soon match those of the French.

France funnelled in Fresh troops and supplies and appointed a skilled defensive commander, Petain. In the Autumn, after pressure had been removed from Verdun by the mainly British offensive on the Somme, French counterattacks retook almost all the ground lost to the Germans. The German plan had failed but the debilitating experience of Verdun created widespread mutinies in the French army in 1917.

* If you feel you have been unlucky in life, then take a look at one German Soldier that lived through the whole of the Battle of Verdun only to be called up in WW11 where he ended up enduring the Battle of Stalingrad! *

In April 1916 a German Battlecruiser Squadron bombarded the costal ports of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. The Germans main aim was to entice out to sea the British defending ships. They had hoped to “pick off” the British Ships using a German Battle Cruiser Squadron however the British had “second guessed” the tactic.

The Battle of Jutland was the only major sea battle of WW1. The British Fleet under Admiral John Jellico was led from Scapa Flow and intercepted the German High Seas Fleet off the West coast of Jutland (Denmark). Although the battle was inconclusive and although the Germans had the edge over the British, the German naval chiefs withdrew their fleet back to port and turned instead to unrestricted submarine warfare as a means of challenging the British at sea.

For the last 20 years the German Empire had challenged the British command of the oceans, and in particular the North Sea by the building of the new Dreadnought battleships that would dominate the world’s Navy’s. The Dreadnoughts had heavy calibre guns and steam turbine propulsion however the British had also been building state-of-the-art ships. Like many state-off -the-art weaponry that came before, the Dreadnought quickly became obsolete with the development of aircrafts and aircraft carriers.

* Of the 150 ships of the British Fleet that fought at Jutland, no fewer than 63 were constructed in shipyards on the Clyde. * In WW1 Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyards, built Monitors and Cruisers including the 15 inch gun armed large-light-Cruiser. The yard specialised in mass-produced ships of standard design developed for the First World War.

“ In a time long ago in a land far away there were 3 crofter cats that were “drafted” into the Royal Navy at a time of unrest all over Europe. The cats were placed onboard the biggest ship in the Royal Navy HMS The Salty Hammock. The oldest cat was known as Senior Ships Cat “Haggis” and he was responsible for Rodent Control on The Top deck. His younger brother Able Sea/cat 1^st Class “Neeps” was responsible for patrolling the mid deck and, as it was such a big ship the youngest brother Able Sea/cat 1st Class “Tatties” patrolled the lower deck.

The cats all settled into their different roles but in 1916 the ship was ordered to engage the enemy of the Danish coast. The cats were all very nervous as the ship steamed towards the battle zone. After a brief silence all hell opened up. You could hear loud bangs, deep rumbling noises, the screeching of metal. Neeps and Tatties were very nervous and frightened so “Haggis” told them to go to down to the galley where there was a door with a cat flap. Go inside and you’ll both get help for your anxiety. Quickly now!

The cats found the door which said in blue writing (Stress Management For Cats) They entered the Cat-flap and found an Emergency ball of wool and Cat-nip. Not long after they were rolling around in the bits of catnip like children rolling around in newly cut grass. They then started to drool like a person with a numb mouth trying to hold a conversation with the dentist. They then put their paws on each- other’s shoulders and in Cat language they exclaimed “I LOVE YOU MAN” They started playing with the ball of wool but only slowly, a bit like the Tennis computer game from the mid-seventies.

Then there was a very loud thud and explosion coming from near the bow. At first “neeps” thought it was due to the strong catnip but alas no. Engineers were mustered to the damaged area and quickly “Battened down the hatches to prevent sea water from spreading throughout the ship and closed off all valves. As no one had renewed their 10,000 metre breaststroke certificate it would be best to head home immediately. However they were not out of the woods yet as the ship was listing badly. One of the officers fed “Haggis” and set his bowl on the deck, sadly the list of the ship caused the food and bowl to slide along the deck and fall into the sea. “Haggis” wouldn’t have minded so much but it happened to be his favourite, (Kitty Chunks in a Rich Gravy!) As they made their way back the wind was much stronger. Haggis felt there was little pleasure in trying to puke up a fur-ball in a force ten gale, “these young cats nowadays they don’t know their born”! said Haggis.

Also enlisted along with the cats was Able Ships dog Blossom the Beagle also known as “Blameless Blossom”. She was enlisted to “take care” of the larger rodents aboard the ship and, also to check for any men pilfering from the galley. Blossom’s job was to get rid of the larger rodents, she would kick them overboard with her big “muckle paw”. It was later found that many shell pies had gone missing. As the battle heated up Blossom was busy decanting Pies from the Galley to Lifeboat No3. She crawled inside and threw the tarpaulin over the lifeboat with her teeth. She checked her pie stash and decided to perhaps have a small nibble of a pie later. A cry went up on the decks, we can’t find Blossom! She is missing presumed fed.

The next day whilst the ship was in dry dock a sailor heard snoring noises coming from Lifeboat No3. In closer inspection as he lifted the tarpaulin he found Blossom the Beagle surrounded by half-eaten pie crusts. Sometime later “Blameless Blossom” was to be given a dishonourable discharge from the Navy. Charge 1( Dereliction of duty whilst the crew were at Battle Stations.)

Blosson, Haggis, Neeps and Tatties were all returning to their mum and dad and the Croft they missed so much. They all fell asleep by the warmth of the fire. Haggis started to mumble in his sleep, “Cats nowadays they don’t know their born”! Blossom started to dream of a time yet to come. There were 7 little Puppies that helped everyone and saved the day with strange gadgets. Blossom wondered if she could get a part-time job as Sea Dog 1^st Class aboard Captain Tarbit’s Boat!

The long and distinguished military career of Herbert Kitchener was abruptly brought to an end when the SS Hampshire hit a German mine and sank off Marwick Head just off the west coast of Orkney. He was travelling to Russia to have talks with Tsar Nicholas II. Only 12 people survived the sinking of the ship in June 1916. A monument was erected and paid for by the people of Orkney at Marwick Head. He was best remembered for his poster recruitment and training volunteers to a high professional standard during the 1916 subscription, (Pals Battalions) known as Kitchener’s Army.

*Despite farming being a reserved occupation during WW1, more than 170,000 farmers fought in the Trenches and up to half a million farm horses were requisitioned by the War Office to help on the Front Lines. *

“ It’s impossible to talk about the battle of the Somme without bringing to mind the whole of WW1 and its sheer waste of men. Perhaps what made the Battle of the Somme worse was because it was fought on a larger scale. It was not one battle but a series of overlapping large battles that only finished in November due to the rain and boggy underfoot conditions.”

JULY 1^st 1916 : Along the Allied Trenches there were 13 British Divisions North of the Somme river and 11 Divisions of the French 6^th Army astride the south of the river, The French army contained many soldiers from North Africa. The Somme offensive was conceived as a counter-attack intended to breach the lines of the German Army which had occupied Northern France since 1914.

* During WW1 engineers along the Western Front would cut down trees in the night and replace them with prefabricated observation points. These observation points had been decorated as highly detailed replica trees. *

The Allies that day were made up from English Battalions and Pals Battalions, Scots Battalions included The Seaforth Highlanders and Sutherland and Argyll Highlanders and Welsh Regiments. There were also Ulster Regiments and Nationalist Regiments from Southern Ireland. There were many Indian Soldiers,130,000 in total which included men from what is now Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. They served along-side the ANZAC’s and there was no shortage of Canadians including a Newfoundland Regiment, South Africans, and Rhodesians.

Also part of the British Army had its ranks swollen by 100,000 Gurkha’s who fought in many theatres of WW1, winning 100’s of Gallantry medals as well as 3 Victoria Crosses. The barraging of the German Lines had stopped with an eerie silence. The time to attack was close with all the Trench ladders put in place. The word was given to all the pipers to make their way onto no-mans-land with the different regiments playing their own march. It was now time to blow the whistles to get the men “over the top”.

As the pipers began marching across no-mans-land all the men would follow. Sadly the death rate among pipers was very high as they were seen by the enemy as a “modern day flag bearer” However the sound of the pipes on a battlefield stirs the Scots up both mentally and physically. Many pipers were awarded for their bravery and some received the Victoria Cross while others received the French Award of the Criox de Guerre.

* Not all Pipers belonged to Scottish Regiments. Many of the Allied Countries were marched into battle by Pipers. *

Many men were “cut down” from machine gun fire from the German MG08 machine guns. Survivors of the Somme include C.S. Lewis, author of (Chronicles of Narnia), J.R.R. Tolkien author of (Lord of the Rings) and his son. On the French side there was composer Maurice Ravel (Bolero) an ambulance and truck driver. The German’s had set up their machine guns in a way that there were no safe or “blind” areas on the battlefield because the firing from the German Machine guns overlapped the entire battlefield. During the course of WW1 100 Battalions had approximately 2,500 Pipers. 500 Pipers were killed and 600 wounded. After a battle the Piper would return to play a Scottish lament for those dead of the Battalion. Usually a pipe tune called the “Flowers Of The Forest”. ( Lament for the dead : “according to tradition the bagpipes are the only musical instrument that can be heard in Heaven. The piper helps to direct departed souls towards Heaven’s Gate. The piper then walks away, this symbolizes that the Piper leading the departed has stopped short of the gate through which he cannot pass. This is why some pipers at funerals, after they stop playing, turn their back and keep a distance from the procession”.)

The Bugle which was more associated with English Regiments especially Cavalry Regiments is used on the battlefield to give directions or to signal. The Bugle would relay instructions from officers to soldiers during battle. This could mean Signalling, ADVANCE, ATTACK, CHARGE and RETREAT as well as for MUSTERING the troops. Cavalry would have played a bigger part in WW1 if not for the rain and boggy conditions.

During the opening period of the Battle of the Somme the men from the 10^th Battalion West Yorkshire would suffer the highest first day casualties. The Bradford Pals of over 2,000 men lost nearly 1,400 that went over the top. The fate of the Accrington Pals very clearly shows the downside of the Pals Battalions. 720 men of which 584 were killed, wounded, or missing. Few if any of the town’s population had been untouched by the tragedy. There was not a street in Accrington and District that did not have their blinds drawn, and the bells at Christchurch tolled all day despite restrictions on the use of church bells.

Telegrams were also known as Wires or Cables. They were expensive to send which meant that the messages were brief. War Telegrams would always start with “We regret to inform you”. The Telegrams were delivered by boys of 14 years of age. In 1914 the Post Office employed over 250,000 people, the largest single employer of labour in the world. In August 1914 11,000 Postal Staff enlisted and by December that figure rose to 28,000 staff.

The Post Office had its own Battalion known as the Post Office Rifles which took heavy casualties at Ypres and the Somme. This next true story happened in Nottingham during the 2^nd World War. One man remembered delivering 3 Telegrams in Nottingham to the one home. The first said, “your son is missing”. The second letter had the incorrect news that said, “your son had died”. The 3^rd Telegram said, “he was actually in a prisoner of War camp” (“Talk about playing with your emotions!”)

One man from the 36^th Ulster Division described the machine gun fire as like “a fine shower of hail”. It became a one-sided carnage which gave birth to the expression “the Germans were crying into their machine guns”. Another expression that took root around this time was “Lions led by Donkeys” a reference to the ineptitude of the British High Command under Douglas Haig. Some men from the 36th Ulster received Victoria Cross that day some awards would be posthumous. On the first of July the 36^th Ulster Division were tasked with attacking and capturing the German positions to the east of Ancre, including the Schwaben.

The 16^th Irish Division (South of Ireland) would receive great praise for capturing the German held village of Ginchy, depriving the Germans of observation posts from where they could observe the battle (near the Somme).

To assist the wounded on the battlefield there were only 18 stretcher bearers per Battalion of 700 men. Bear in mind there was no Penicillin /Antibiotics during WW1, if a soldier was hit by a bullet, iodine would be applied to disinfect the area, a sterile dressing would be placed on the entry wound and exit wound. Unfortunately few casualties were that straight forward, heavy artillery shelling created large pieces of flying shrapnel as well as craters in no-mans-land which could fill up with “standing water”. These craters could conceal decomposing corpses or body parts and the deadly urine of rats. Any soldier found near these areas would sadly have a much less chance of survival.

The British soldiers all had a First Aid Kit as they went into battle however they also had to carry a maximum of 66lb back-pack a hazard if they fell into water filled craters. Working on the British Ambulances / Red Cross at that time was famous English writer Somerset Maugham and also Scottish Physician and Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming who would discover Penicillin and the anti-bacterial enzyme, Lysozyme, he worked for the Royal Army Medical Corps. During his time in France he worked on many procedures to improve the effectiveness of battle dressings.

Poor communication also took its toll as one British officer mistook a German for a British signal indicating success / progress, so they deployed 801 men of the 1^st Newfoundland Regiment. Just a few of that volunteer force returned unscathed 500 died and 300 were wounded from the small population of the Canadian province.

The campaign failed its objectives and on the first day alone 20% of Britain’s entire fighting force were killed, the worst loss ever sustained by the British Army. The total Killed, Wounded or Captured on that first day for the British, French and Germans came to 74,000. The German barbed wire was meant to have been broken but it was tangled up and an even more lethal trap than before. The soldiers were also told that the British bombardment would have all but destroyed the German Trenches but this was not the case either. On 14^th July on the Somme Battlefield, Rhodesian Troops (Zimbabwe) entered the fray among others at Delville Wood.

On 15^th September 1916 the first attack took place on the Somme using 50 tanks as they advanced towards the German Trenches. Although the early tanks were prone to breaking down the potential could be clearly seen. However these faults would need to be fixed before any subsequent battles. The engineers would be working night and day to solve the tanks problems.

BULLET SPLASH : Bullet splash is the name given to the German Bullets that didn’t quite penetrate the tanks armour but caused the tanks inner metal to flake away and ricochet around the tank, being red hot causing burns to the tank crew. Eventually the Tank’s steel plate would be thickened but in the meantime the men were given googles to wear. They would also place a thick ring of leather around their neck and from it would hang a “chain link” protection for the throat not unlike the “Medieval knights”. This would keep all particles at bay.

THE ENGINE : The engine would be moved further away from the 4 drivers. This would reduce the noise and pollution with acoustic damping to the engine and also better disposal of engine fumes, carbon monoxide, cordite fumes, diesel, and oil.

COMMUNICATION : Many wireless (radio) broke down in the heat of battle. Communication with Command Posts was achieved by 2 pigeons that were kept in a space with a small exit hatch.

NEW GENERATIONS : The new generations of tank would have thicker armour making them immune to German K Bullets (Armour Piercing). The problems with “bullet splash” would be sorted. With the engine removed away from the tank crew and better ventilation the temperature within the tank had dropped down from 120 degrees F to a more comfortable level.

The Allies failed in their goal to take Bapaume the town that had been the original objective. Douglas Haig called off the battle during the heavy rains of mid-November.

THE TANKS : There weight was almost 30 Tons and they would run at a speed of 4mph or 6.5kph.

Welshman David Lloyd George became British Prime Minister on the 6^th December 1916 until 19^th October 1922. Many say that Herbert Asquith was defeated because of his slowness to act on the Shell Problem of 1915.

“The most grim, futile and bloody fight in the history of war, the result of stubborn and narrow egotism, unsurpassed among the records of disaster”.

“ The year 1916 will not be easily forgotten around Great Britain. The battle of the Somme lasted from July 1^st unto late November with the loss of 1.2 million men for almost no advance of territory. The Pals Battalions set up in January were basically halved in number. It was the worst showing in Britain’s proud Military History.

Unfortunately that was not the only problem because the U-boats that had been blockading British waters had stepped up their presence. The Germans unleashed unrestricted U-boat warfare in an attempt to cripple Britain economically before any assistance could come from America. The German people themselves, were suffering badly from the Royal Naval blockade of German ports.”

Disaster struck when in 1916 the poor weather conditions resulted in a calamitous wheat harvest. In the British national Grain stores there was only 6 weeks of grain left. Cats were “drafted” to guard the Grain stores, flour mills and bakers to slow down the loss of grain from rodents. In Britain grain had become like gold dust. At the Front the men’s food was usually canned corn beef, bread, and biscuits. However by the winter of 1916 flour was in such short supply that bread was being made from dried ground turnip. The soldier’s main food was now a pea soup with a few lumps of horsemeat. The kitchen teams would have to work hard to source local vegetables. If they couldn’t-they- would use weeds, nettles and leaves to flavour soups and stews. Very popular soldiers around this time were those with a “travelling folk” background or those brought up in a rural background. They could set traps for wild rabbits and when successful the troops were presented with a superior meal to enjoy.

The main problem was the German U-boats turning their attention to the North American grain ships. Up to late 1916 Britain received the bulk of its grain from Canada and America. Coal was also becoming in short supply and individual homes requiring coal would be supplied according to the number of rooms in the house requiring coal. Many shipments of coal around Britain were ending up at the bottom of the sea which was creating a shortage.

Karl Doenitz was born near Berlin and briefly became leader of Germany’s Third Reich after the suicide of Adolf Hitler. During WW1 he first served aboard a light-cruiser and then as a submarine officer who served aboard U-boat UC-68, in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. He became a WW1 prisoner of war of the British Forces.

While interned at a P.O.W. Camp at Lodge Moor on the edge of the Peak District he formulated what he later called (Rudeltaktik) or commonly known as “Wolfpack” which was implemented during WW2. However the time spent by the German’s setting up a strike with the maximum of U-boats made them easier to locate as they were constantly in contact with the (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote) or master control. The British had by this time a “High Duff” or High Frequency Detection Finder making the Wolfpacks less problematic than they once were.

Although at the beginning of WW1 there was some hoarding and panic buying of food the authorities allowed the situation to remain and see how it goes. (A bit like Homer Simpson with Santa’s Little Helpers heart murmur) This was the case until October 1916 when the government had to act to ensure a reasonable, albeit a smaller ration of food for all. New laws were set out by the government introducing a way that was fair. Sugar, Meat, Butter, Flour, Margarine, and Milk were all rationed. Each person had special Ration Cards, the Cards could be used in certain shops, Coal was also Rationed. Rationing became a necessity when the U-boats stepped up their operations around the British Isles. In 1917 the decision was made to grow more food with the help of the Woman’s Land Army. Although Rationing was unpopular it did ensure that malnutrition in poorer communities was avoided.

In Germany, the British since early 1915 was now causing the Germans a lot of grief. The Winter of 1916 – 17 was known as the “Turnip Winter” They decided to grow Swedish Turnip instead of potatoes due to the poor potato harvest. The problem with Germany’s harvest was 3-fold : 1) All the produce that was shipped to German cities had rotted away. 2) Growing was difficult because of excessive rain. 3) There was no Copper Sulphate to treat potato blight because all the copper was used up on Shell Casings and Electrical Wiring. Malnutrition and illness were commonplace claiming thousands of lives.

Bread Rationing centres in Germany were being broken-into, the Berlin bread commission was often burgled particularly during the harsh winter of 1916 – 17. This would fuel the growth of the Black Market. The British Naval Blockade had managed to keep out food imports that Germany relied on in the pre-war years to feed its growing population. Shortages in Germany included Butter, Margarine, Cooking Fat, Sugar, Potatoes, Coffee, Tea, Fruit, and meat, due to the lack of sufficient Cattle Feed.

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In the Trenches of 1916 – 1917 it happened to be bitterly cold and freezing conditions. Trenches requiring repair had to be left ondone, as the ground was frozen solid. Water bottles were frozen solid and the men had to suck the frozen ice out of the water bottle. The simple task of shaving was near impossible. Men with facial hair were now more susceptible for the invasion of lice.

However it was not all bad, as during that Christmas the men received a ration of Christmas Pudding that had been sent out. The officers brought some wine for the troops and they received an extra rum ration. * On Christmas day 1916 German and Canadian soldiers reached across the battle lines near Vimy Ridge to share Christmas greetings and exchange presents. The Canadians traded bully-beef for cigars. I’m sure they all had “something” to keep the cold out!*

The high number of loses at the Battle of the Somme were taking its toll on the British People. The bad harvest and U-boat action were making life difficult. There would be precious little Turkey and trimmings this year, they would have to make do on MUTTON SHOULDER & BRAZED CELERY. Woman repaired their socks and stockings with men carrying out the family shoe repairs on a cast iron “shoe anvil”/former that allowed for 3 different shoe sizes and would cut the cost of professional shoe/boot repairs. Despite the restrictions of sugar there were still sweets for the children. Margarine would cost 4 pence a lb. Meat was very difficult to get in Britain. As there was no Fridges in the country, food would be kept to some extent fresh by keeping it on a thick marble slab and the slab would be kept in a cool cupboard. Large quantities of frozen meat were shipped from Liverpool – France for all those fighting / working at the front, while it lasted.

Those who lived along the coast may have gone out to coastal waters with a fishing line and hooks to attempt to catch some fish. If he was successful he might share his catch with friends or neighbours.

In poorer families there was only one meal a week that had meat, usually a Sunday. Many survived from day to day on Tea and Bread with Dripping. Dripping was the name given to Pork fat that solidified and could be bought from butchers. It could be spread on bread as it would soften with heat to a workable consistency.

Coal was rationed due to the large shipments that had ended up at the bottom of the sea. It would be a lean time for Christmas Toys for the children but at least there was still sweets to enjoy. One good thing about the Cinema’s rise in popularity was Mack Sennet’s new slapstick (The Keystone Cops) that gave everyone a much-needed laugh. Full Rationing was finally introduced in 1918.

By 1916 the British Blockade of German Ports was taking effect. The Turnip (Rutabaga) was usually used to feed pigs but this very bland vegetable was having to help the German people from the increased risk of starvation. The planting of Swedish turnip seeds became known as The Turnip Winter (steckrubenwinter). Workers strikes were now common in Germany. The most notable strike took place in Dusseldorf in 1917 where workers complained of uneven food distribution. A prominent Berlin physician stated that 80,000 children had died of starvation in 1916. Towards the end of the War the Germans made their coffee from some form of vegetables.

* Heligoland is an island off North-West Germany 40 miles offshore from the North German coast. It was also used as a U-boat base. *

Kaiser Wilhelm 11 knew the value of Red Cross Dogs, (Sanitatshunde) when visiting a hospital behind German Lines on the Eastern Front. There he saw a soldier in one bed and a dog beside him in next one. Lieutenant von Wieland led a party of men in an attack on the Russian Trenches where he became wounded before sending his men back to safety. He lay there in the blood, muck and filth of the battlefield, The Russian fire was so heavy that no one dared bring him in.

Instinctively a dark figure bounded out from the German Trenches, rushed to Lieutenant von Wieland’s side, grasped his coat between his teeth and foot by foot dragged him to safety. Once only for a moment did the dog loosen his hold and that was when a bullet creased him from shoulder to flank. The blood gushed from the wound, but the dog took a fresh hold of the coat and finished his job by the edge of the Trench.

There willing hands lifted the Lieutenant down to safety. They had to lift Stief the dog down also, because just then a bullet broke both his forelegs. The Emperor awarded and presented the Iron Cross to the Lieutenant and Stief the dog. He tied the medal to the dog’s collar for this very brave canine.

The German Iron Cross was also awarded to a dog named, (Tell), a dog in the Kaiser’s “Canine Corps”. Tell was part of the German Army on the Eastern Front, while advancing through enemy territory. Tell alerted them to a Russian ambush and through the dogs warning he was able to save an entire unit. This action was to earn Tell a well-deserved Iron Cross.

Cher Ami was a registered Blue check carrier pigeon and the name Cher Ami means “dear friend” in French. She was donated to the US Army Signal Corps by British pigeon fanciers. She helped to save the lost battalion of the 77^th Division in the Battle of the Argonne on October 3^rd 1918. Five-hundred Allied soldiers were trapped in a small depression on the side of a hill without food or ammunition.

They were under attack from German troops yet they couldn’t leave the hillside because they were also being hit by friendly fire. On the second day the number of men left had dropped from 500 – 194. At this point 2 carrier pigeons were re- leased at different times but they were both shot down. The only homing pigeon left was Cher Ami and a note was placed in a canister on her left leg. The note read, “We are along the road parallel to 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake stop.”

As the pigeon flew away she was shot down but managed to take flight again. She arrived at Divisional HQ 25 miles from the behind the lines in just 25 minutes. Cher Ami delivered the message despite being shot in the breast, blinded in one eye, covered in blood, and had a leg hanging by just a tendon. Her actions had helped to save the life of the remaining 194 troops and she became a hero of the 77^th Division with army medics working hard to save her life.

They managed to save Cher Ami but could not save the damaged leg, a small wooden leg was made for her, carved from wood. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre medal with a palm oak leaf cluster for her heroic deeds. Cher Ami died at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey on 13^th June 1919 and was inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1931.

* The Croix de Guerre which translates as (cross of war) is a military decoration of France. It is only awarded for the exceptional heroic deeds of military forces Allied to France. The medal was first introduced in 1915. * (see below)

A German Shepherd dog named Tommy was the WW1 Mascot of a Scottish Regiment and always went “over the top” with his men. He was wounded on 3 occasions and gassed when his custom-made gas mask was not put on in time, he was also briefly captured. He went on to win the French military medal, the Croix de Guerre or (Cross of War) for his bravery.

The song (No Man’s Land) or more commonly known as the “Green Fields of France” was written by Eric Bogle a Scots / Australian, originally from Peebles. The song was made famous by Irish Folk singers the Furey brothers originally formed in 1974. The band consisted of four brothers who grew up in Ballyfermot, Dublin. In collaborations with Davey Arthur they have been known as The Furey’s and Davey Arthur . The song The Green Fields of France lyrics (see below)

And though you died back in 1916, to that loyal heart you’re forever nineteen

“Unbelievably the war has dragged on for yet another year, the winter has been excessively cold at home and also on the different Fronts. The food shortages are hitting the British and German’s hard. The British are going to need to find a solution to the U-boat problem or she won’t last out much longer. It is strange how villages and townsfolk were all out on the streets cheering the soldiers with flags in hand as they made their way across the Channel in 1914. Where are all the flags now? One sad thing that has surfaced in the great number of men coughing and spluttering as a result of gas attacks.”

*** The Germans have unleashed unrestricted submarine warfare as from January 1917 to attempt to cripple Great Britain economically before America could render assistance. Also throughout 1917 Germany began to deploy increasing numbers of fixed wing bombers, its first target was Folkestone in May 1917 and then further raids on London. ***

During WW1 there was a femme fatal dancer and courtesan called Mata Hari which was Malay for the “eye of the day”. She was charged with employing her sexual charms to weaken French Army officers into betraying their country. The exotic sounding Mata Hari was a 41-year-old Dutch woman, Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (nee Zelle) who agreed to spy for the French in enemy occupied Belgium despite already working for the German council in the Hague.

Apart from MacLeod’s (“was he from“North-Kilt-Town”?)own admission that she had on one occasion passed out-of-date information to the Germans, the prosecution could produce no firm evidence of her spying activities against France. The trial ended on July 25^th 1917 with the military court at Vincennes finding her guilty as charged. She was then shot by firing squad.

Throughout 1917 Germany began to deploy increasing numbers of airplane bombers. Their first target was Folkestone in Kent in May 19^th 1917. London raids, of which one night-time raid caused 162 deaths in London’s East End from 14 planes in June 1917. The German airplane bombing would see the end of the Zeppelin bombing. The airplane bombing would continue until May 1918.

To improve detection, communication and control, a system was made operational to better deal with this aerial threat. It was called the Metropolitan Observation service and it would encompass the London Air Defence Area. It would also extend eastwards towards the Kent and Essex coasts in-order to anticipate enemy air attacks.

RED CROSS DOGS : These dogs were very important during WW1, They were equipped with first aid in saddle bags and wore vests bearing a Red Cross. They saved thousands of lives on both sides of the conflict and one dog named PRUSCO was said to have located more than a 100 wounded men in a single battle. Prusco was a French dog that looked like a white wolf. He was known to drag the wounded into ditches as a “safe harbour” while he summoned rescuers. Another French Dog CAPTAIN found 30 soldiers in one day. Sadly too many French dogs were being killed in the line of duty so the program was discontinued.

WOLF AND PRINCE were 2 Airedales who were trained to make 2-mile message runs. They would prove their worth at the battle of Vimy Ridge on 9^th April 1917. All the telephones were “down” and visual signalling was impossible, the dogs were the first to bring through the news. The success of the two dogs led to the establishment of an extended, British War-Dog programme during WW1.

The Zimmermann Telegram was a diplomatic proposal from Arthur Zimmermann the German Foreign Minister, made on behalf of the German Empire. It invited Mexico to join WW1 as Germany’s ally against the USA, in return , Germany would finance Mexico’s war and help recover the territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The telegram also wanted Mexico to act as a “go between” to broker stronger relations between Germany and Japan.

The proposal was intercepted and decoded at the ground-breaking Naval intelligence department at room 40 of the London Admiralty. The telegram was passed onto the US Ambassador in London. Walter Page then duly forwarded it to Washington to an outraged Woodrow Wilson who would declare war via the US Congress against Germany on April 6^th.

For America to fund the war the government and the American people would have to make savings. One way of conserving food in America would be by having MEATLESS MONDAYS AND WHEATLESS WEDNESDAYS. Posters were circulated by the government : DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC DRINK ON A MONDAY. “STAY AT HOME AND HELP YOUR COUNTRY”.

In the State of Ohio, Ohioans planted VICTORY GARDENS to grow their own food and insure US military members had the food they needed to be effective soldiers.

The California State provided over 112,000 soldiers to the US Army and marines during WW1.

Shipbuilding was Florida’s biggest industry outside of agriculture. There were large shipyards at JACKSONVILLE, PANAMA CITY, PENSACOLA, AND TAMPA. Thousands of men were hired to build the ships needed for the war effort. The American Troops were trained / drilled along the firm flat sands of Jacksonville beach.

To speed up the arrival of the American Troops they embarked for France, leaving their heavy equipment behind, and used British and French tanks, artillery, airplanes, and other munitions initially. When the USA entered the war in 1917 they had no organized dog units, with the exception of a few sled dogs in Alaska. They borrowed a limited number of dogs from the British and French forces for Casualty, Messenger, and Guard duty. The Germans had the most advanced Dog Units dating back to the 1880’s approximately.

The American Troops were marshalled under the command of John Joseph Pershing (1860 – 1948). He was one of America’s most accomplished generals and was Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. The American Troops would bolster the spirits of their European Allies and help in the final push to defeat the Central Powers.

For victory the USA issued WAR BONDS AND STAMPS AND ALSO LIBERTY LOANS. WAR BONDS sometimes referred to as VICTORY BONDS they were DEBT SECURITIES. Famous Opera Singer ENRICO CARUSO was to make in 1917 a gramophone recording of the War Song “OVER THERE” It was partly sung in French to show unity with their French Allies. Caruso also performed the song at one or more War Bond Rallies. Although the song was written in 1917 the tune can be heard almost nightly on British TV in the form of an insurance type advert fronted by a good-natured Welshman singing the song in an opera fashion with the words slightly changed. (oh, you know the one I mean!)

HELLO GIRLS – was the colloquial name for American female switchboard operators in WW1. They were formally known as the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit. During WW1 the switchboard operators were sworn into the Army Signals Corps. They had to be bi-lingual in English and French, over 7,000 women applied but only 450 were accepted.

On the 3^rd of May 1917 the first U.S. destroyers arrived in Great Britain to join the British naval forces to fight the German U-boats and surface fleet.

* A couple of well-known faces from the American Expeditionary Forces included US Navy recruit and Hollywood legend HUMPHREY BOGART, also working towards the end of the war was ambulance driver and famous animator WALT DISNEY. *

In 1917 a stray pup wandered into the Yale University campus in America where members of the 102^nd Infantry Regiment were training. The Pit Bull Terrier won over the unit with his antics, participating in drills and even learning to salute with his right paw. Private J Robert Conroy adopted the dog, named him Stubby and smuggled him to the Front Lines in France. Once there Stubby was exposed to Mustard Gas which left him unable to move for several days and his eyes were tight shut and weeping a yellow pus. When he eventually recovered, the Mustard Gas attack had left him highly sensitive to the noxious fumes and was therefore able to warn the 102^nd Regiment of imminent attacks. He also learned to locate wounded soldiers during patrols.

One day Stubby spotted a German Spy and attacked the bewildered man until reinforcements arrived, this achievement earned him the rank of Sergeant. In his 18 months of service, Stubby participated in 17 battles, survived a series of wounds, and provided a much-needed boost to the morale of his fellow soldiers. After the war he returned to America with his owner Conroy and became a national icon, leading parades and receiving awards. However there was one “bone of contention” between Stubby and his owner Conroy and that was, Sergeant Stubby outranked his owner who had only made Corporal!

He was one of the longest held prisoners of war in American History, and one of the longest-living pigeons ever breed in captivity. Kaiser’s story begins in Koblenz, Germany in the first week of February 1917 – 1949. There in Hans Zimmermann’s pigeon loft a young pigeon or (squeaker) hatched.

After 6 weeks the young pigeon was turned over to representatives of the Imperial German Army. Homing pigeons operated swiftly despite bombardments, dust, smoke, and bad weather.

During the Meuse-Argonne offensive the USA troops captured German Prisoners and equipment as well as pigeons.

By 1945 Kaiser had sired over 75 birds for the army with the help of Lady Belle (His significant other) On February 27^th 1948 to celebrate his 31^st Birthday the children at the Fort Monmouth nursery school held a Birthday Party for Kaiser and made him guest of honour.

The battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France during WW1. The battle lasted from 9^th April 1917 – 12^th April 1917. There were 4 divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army against 3 divisions of the German 6^th Army. The Canadian corps were to capture the German held high ground of Vimy Ridge, an escarpment on the northern flank of the Arras front. The final objective, a fortified knoll outside the village of Givenchy-en-Gohelle fell to the Canadians on 12^th April.

Was named after John Rushworth Jellicoe 1st Admiral of the British Fleet stationed at Scapa Flow and Admiral during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. As the German U-boats had stepped up their assault on British shipping it was deemed more sensible to carry the men by train up to Thurso, Caithness and that left just a short distance to Orkney. For all the men returning home the journey was bearable but for all those heading for work it was a long grim journey.

THE TRAIN RAN EACH DAY FROM EUSTON STATION AT 6AM AND WOULD ARRIVE AT THURSO AT 3.30PM THE NEXT DAY. THE DISTANCE WAS 717 MILES, TAKING 22 HOURS.

The Jellicoe Express linked together the 3 great naval ports in the South of England to Euston Railway Station and then on to various Naval Establishments in the North such as Scapa Flow, Invergordon. There were few stops along the way but provision was made for refreshments at Crewe railway Station. On platform 6 a canteen was provided thanks to 300 women volunteers who worked for two days to get all the food ready. In time the Jellicoe Express took the eastern route north so as to accommodate Naval personnel heading for Rosyth.

On the North line a refreshment stop was set up at Helmsdale Station, one of the few between Crewe and Thurso. The refreshments were run by the Women’s Voluntary service, later to be called the WRVS who staffed the tea stalls providing tea, cakes, biscuits, and cigarettes. For many it would be an opportunity to stretch their legs (assuming they could find a crowbar and prise themselves off the seat) As the train moved further North they would arrive at Forsinard which was the last stop before arriving in Thurso. It was here that the engines took on water and by coincidence they had arrived in the heart of the FLOW COUNTRY, which is a blanket peat covering of over 400,000 hectares. The Flow country is the UK’s greatest resource against global climate change. This expanse of peatland has trapped over 400 million tonnes of Carbon twice that stored in all UK forests. which helps to reduce carbon emissions which is beginning to attract more experts. It is also an area of natural ponds and land which is home to Scotland’s rarest wildlife. The Flow Country is very large and spreads out between Caithness and Sutherland where it is the most intact, and extensive blanket bog system in the world.

SPHAGNUM MOSS : Is one of the Flow Countries most prolific plants It is important for the formations of peat. However it has another important function as an antiseptic in wound dressings. Sphagnum moss could also absorb twenty times as much blood, pus and bodily fluids than cotton and more rapidly. Sphagnum dressings skyrocketed in the course of the war from, a modest 250 dressings to 1 million dressings by the Wars end. The Sphagnum would be harvested while it was wet and then placed in dryers and any leaves or twigs would be removed.

The unrestricted warfare of the German U-Boats put many coal ships to the bottom of the sea. Although Britain was rich in coal there was a limit to what they could afford to lose and also a limit to the ships they could afford to lose. A decision was made to re-fuel the ships at Grangemouth but that was still a long way from home for many vessels at Scapa Flow so the decision was made to operate a series of JELLICOE SPECIALS from the coalmines all the way to Thurso, leaving only the relatively short distance from Scrabster to Orkney. By the end of the War, 5 Million tonnes of coal arrived in Thurso on the Jellicoe Specials. During both wars the Jellicoe Express transported 500,000 passengers.

The battle of Passchendaele was fought between July – November 1917. It was one of the Muddiest and Bloodiest battles of WW1 also known as the 3^rd Battle of Ypres. It is remembered for the appalling muddy conditions, minimal gain, and loss of life. Allied casualties reached 300,000 At the end of the day all that was left to capture was a mud swamp and a destroyed village. So bad were the conditions that many British troops drowned in the mud. German shelling opened up large craters in no-man’s-land, as the British charged they were weighed down by their back kit which could weigh 66lb’. Many men would lose their footing with the mud and would fall into the craters which had filled up with rain-water, unable to escape.

It was said of Passchendaele that losing a horse was worse than losing a man, the sad truth was that men were more replaceable than horses. Many different factors conspired to make this battle so difficult. The foul weather at Passchendaele had made the ground difficult to advance across. It also kept aircraft from acting as spotters over the German Lines. As a result , the artillery had trouble targeting the Germans. Even when the British artillery hit the right areas, the shells would sink deep into the mud. This battle took place in the West Flanders region of Northern Belgium.

During the First World War, huge numbers of injured soldiers had to be transported from the Front-Lines to casualty Clearing Stations, Field Hospitals and beyond. The fastest way to do this was by train. Ambulance Trains are essentially hospitals on wheels – trains converted to accommodation wards for injured soldiers, pharmacy, operating-rooms, and medical staff quarters.

First World War British Ambulance Trains could carry around 500 injured servicemen along with 50 crew members including orderlies, nurses, and medical officers. By 1918 British Railway companies had built 51 Ambulance Trains. In the early days of WW1, casualties arriving back in Britain were taken from Hospital Ships at Southampton to the nearby military hospital at Netley. As more casualties began to arrive in greater numbers, (from the Somme etc), Ambulance Trains took passengers to newly opened hospitals across the country even as far as Strathpeffer in the North Scottish Highlands.

During the First World War, The Salvation Army provided motor ambulances, refreshment huts in military camps as well as parcels of food and clothing for combatants. Some Salvation Army officers served as Chaplains. After the War the Salvation Army also assisted with visits to War Graves / cemeteries.

During both World Wars The Salvation Army gave support and practical help to families affected by the bombings or simply in need of help. They would be seen handing out clothing, blankets, food, and “Triumph Tea” from their mobile canteens. There were also other organizations that rose to the challenge such as Women’s Institute and the Y.M.C.A.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was to see many changes prior to and during WW1. In 1854 a cork lifejacket was produced to give the men a greater safety at sea, it was designed to be flexible enough so the men could move freely. The RNLI moved away from the Sail craft with oars to steam lifeboats The first Steam Powered Lifeboat arrived in 1890. It was in service for 40 years and saved 570 lives.

This steam lifeboat had however, caused accidents in particularly in 1900 at Padstow with the loss of 8 crew, so in 1900 no new steam lifeboats were to be commissioned. They decided on a petrol engine lifeboat that could be started quicker and get to a shipwreck much sooner, however it takes time for a large charitable organisation to find funds to transfer all lifeboats to petrol engines and maintain them. Petrol engine lifeboats first arrived in 1905.

The R.N.L.I. usually relied on a wealthy donor for funding however in 1891 the very first street collection took place in Manchester with great success. With the majority of men called up to join WW1 the average age of crew members increased to 50 years of age. During WW1 the R.N.L.I. had 1,808 Call Outs and they saved the lives of 5,332 In the County of Caithness and North Sutherland there were quite a few shipping tragedies of note. (See Below) These are the majority, but by no means all of the casualties.

THE DUNNET HEAD STEAMER & CARGO SHIP : 1913 – 1915 was torpedoed by German U-boat U-19 and sunk when 35 miles E by S from Duncansby Head, Caithness.

CORTES : Was a trawler that was scuttled in the North Sea 68 miles East- North-East of Wick by U-boat U-19. On some occasions the term trawler is actually meant to mean a minesweeper or a costal patrol boat, refitted and having a machine gun attached, however normal fishing boats would fish in designated areas.

HMS HAMPSHIRE : Sunk off west coast of Orkney in 1916 due to a German mine, that took the life of Lord Kitchener, only a few survivors.

HMS NARBOROUGH AND HMS OPAL : On the 12^th January 1918 the 2 destroyers were on night patrol in the Pentland Firth and found themselves in a snow storm. They must have been disorientated as they ran aground on the Pentland Skerries and were wrecked. The Skerries are situated about 5 miles N-East from John O’Groats as the crow flies or a similar distance say, from Thurso – Castletown approximately. The Skerries are a couple of very small islands. Of the crews 188 men were lost with just 1 survivor from the Opal.

THE CARIBBEAN : Was an Admiralty accommodation ship, ex passenger ship, armed merchant cruiser. The ship had taken in a lot of water and got into difficulties off Cape Wrath 18 lives lost (floundered).

BRITISH GRAND FLEET : Because of the growing U-boat threat to the relatively undefended Scapa Flow. The grand Fleet started moving to temporary bases in Western Scotland and Northern Ireland in October 1914 for a short time.

BOADICEA : was a Scout Cruiser attached to the British Grand Fleet. Boadicea’s bridge was carried away by the seas in the Pentland Firth, several men were swept overboard and drowned.

SUNBEAM : Was a 3-mast schooner with 5 crew, heading for Kirkwall with a cargo load of coal. Sighted by U-boat U-25 who approached the schooner on the surface. The crew were given 3 minutes to abandon ship then 3 shells sank her. The crew were picked up by a Naval patrol boat and landed in Wick. Occurred 17 miles East of Wick, Caithness.

HERMIONE, SUTTON & LIONORIA: Three Trawlers on fishing grounds were captured and sunk by U-36 by gunfire off Cape Wrath.

HMS VANGUARD : Just before midnight on 9^th July 1917 at Scapa Flow, the battleship suffered an explosion, probably caused by an unnoticed stokehold fire heating cordite against a near bulkhead containing 2 magazines used for the ships gun turrets. She sank almost instantly with the loss of 843 men with just 2 survivors.

Q-SHIP PRINCE CHARLES : In the Atlantic just off the North of Scotland, U-BOAT-36 was sunk. It was the first success by a submarine decoy ship working alone.

The TRAWLERS : CELTIC, GADWALL, EMBLEM AND CYDONIA : were captured by U-boat U-41. The trawlers were all on fishing grounds, however they were all sunk by gunfire on 25^th July 1915. The trawlers were 60 – 70 miles North-West of Hoy Head.

GERMAN IMPERIAL NAVY : On the morning of 21^st June 1919 of the 74 ships interned at Scapa Flow 52 were scuttled within 5 hours.

Those interned in the Wick cemetery from WW1 are 29 Commonwealth burials from 1914 – 1918. There is a further 134 Commonwealth burials from the 1939 – 1945 World War 2, also includes 21 unidentified sailors of the Royal Navy and 1 unidentified airman of the RAF. Also 3 Polish burials and 1 non-war service burial. The Wick cemetery is on the South Road : A99.

The Town of Wick has always had a strong sea-faring tradition and this can be seen in The Wick Heritage Museum at 20 Bank Row, Wick, where many ship-wrecks are documented for those interested parties.

Those interned in the Thurso cemetery from WW1 are 18 Commonwealth burials from the 1914 – 1918 War. There are also 41 from 1939 – 1945 War. There is 3 unidentified sailors of the Royal Navy and 2 unidentified from the Merchant Navy, and there is 6 Foreign National burials including 1 unidentified Norwegian Merchant Seaman.

Entrance to the Thurso cemetery lies just off the A9 on the approach to the town. For additional information the Horizon’s museum is open again, just as it was, except the name has changed to the (North Coast Visitor Centre) High Street Thurso. If you are looking for information on a departed loved one who may have gone down with any of these wartime ships, information may be found in the Thurso or Wick museums / centres as well as local newspaper archives. There is also the Castlehill Heritage Centre, a museum on Harbour Road , Castletown, and the Strathnaver Visitor Centre. There are also a smaller number of Commonwealth war graves in places such as Castletown, Halkirk and, Melness etc. Lyness is a Royal Naval Cemetery at Scapa Flow, Orkney

This is just an example of the fate of WW1 ships in the Caithness and Sutherland area but **many more ships both military and commercial have sadly “gone down” in much greater numbers across the British Isles.** Sadly Commonwealth graves are a common site up and down the country however it is good for the family members or the younger generations to know that they exist and the sacrifice that they made.

During both World Wars the RNLI covered the area of Cape Wrath – John O’Groats and then down to E.Sutherland using 3 Lifeboats, Thurso Lifeboat, Longhope Lifeboat, and the Wick Lifeboat.

The first ever lifeboat was called the “original” and was built in 1789 in South Shields by boatbuilder Henry Greathead as a competition winner.

The Redcar lifeboat Station has the distinction of being one of the oldest of all the lifeboat stations, established in 1802 which pre-dates the RNLI.

On May 24^th 1917 driven by the spectacular success of the German U-boat submarines and their attacks on Allied and neutral shipping, the British Royal Navy introduced a newly created convoy system, whereby all merchant ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean would travel in groups. All the shipping would be under the protection of the British Navy.

It was announced that the previous month of shipping loses for Allied and Neutral countries were 373 ships. On May 24^th Britain introduced its Convoy System. Under the new arrangement a convoy of 10 – 50 merchant ships along with a Troop-ship carrying arms and soldiers might be escorted by : A Cruiser, 6 Destroyers, 11 armed Trawlers and a pair of Torpedo Boats with Aerial Reconnaissance with equipment that could detect the movement of Underwater Submarines.

Convoy gathering points were established along the Atlantic coast of North and South America. In the North from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Hampton, Virginia and all the way down to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was not only to handle the transport of men and arms but also foodstuffs and horses and the basic supplies of the war effort.

The introduction of the Convoy System in 1917 finally marked the beginning of the end of German U-boat damage and their hopes of starving Britain into submission. The U-boats began to be the hunted not the hunter. In desperation, to put the Allied ships off the scent the U-boats would fire clothing and odd bits and pieces from a torpedo tube which would rise to the surface giving the impression that the U-boat was destroyed. The quality and quantity of food began to rise in Britain and also in the Trenches. One hazard faced by the Atlantic sea traffic that was not the blame of U-boats was the wild Atlantic weather especially when shipping passed close to Iceland and Greenland’s south floating ice. What the Convoys achieved :

1) The Merchant ships were grouped together maintaining a cohesive unit and protected by Allied warships.

4) Torpedo Boats with aerial reconnaissance equipment that could detect underwater U-boats . Although the technology fell short of the WW2 Radar it was still a big improvement from 1914.

Many disfigured men of WW1 were grateful for the efforts of Dr Harold Gillies, originally from Dunedin, New Zealand. He was a pioneering Plastic Surgeon who developed some of the world’s first successful skin grafts during WW1. Dr Gillies developed early Plastic Surgery techniques to treat seriously wounded and disfigured soldiers, allowing them to go on to live a full life as civilians.

In 1917 Dr Gillies carried out the first modern plastic surgery to rebuild the face of sailor Walter Yeo, performing a skin graft around the eyes. Over 3,000 soldiers were treated at the Queens Hospital in Sidcup, Kent during WW1. He would go on to use bone grafts to give the face /nose structure. On the hospital wards Harold was easy-going with the men but he refused any mirrors on the wards in case some men gave up and refused treatment or others undergoing the different stages of reconstruction might “give up”. There was even a hospital Barber, trained in special shaving techniques to tend to men’s faces with deep scars and missing tissue. The road to recovery could often be a long and painful one.

After the War artists and artisans were enlisted to sculpt new faces/masks for soldiers disfigured in WW1. The wounded British soldiers called the room for facial Disfigurement “The Tin noses shop”. Located on the 3^rd floor of the London General Hospital.

Francis Derwent Wood made masks of thin copper that was intricately sculptured to reshape the missing or distorted part of the face and was painted to match photographs of the men from before their injuries.

American sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd, who had moved to Paris with her husband at the beginning of WW1, created masks modelled from photographs taken of the men before their Military duty began.

In Post-War Germany artists used paintings and photographs of the facially mutilated as an anti-war statement.

In all countries who participated in WW1 there was a big demand for men needing prosthetic / artificial limbs fitted.

Born in London in 1870 the oldest of 8 children Maria Dickin became the founder of the PDSA charity in November 1917. During WW1, Maria was visiting impoverished areas of London helping women and children. She was shocked by the level of poverty and wanted to help. It wasn’t until she saw the suffering of animals in the slum conditions with their owners too poor to get them veterinary treatment. She couldn’t let the animals suffer and it was then she founded the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, the beginning of the PDSA. She knew that in helping the animals from suffering you were helping the owners also.

In 1917 Maria opened her doors to the very first PDSA Clinic in a basement in Whitechapel. Operations and other consultations were done by gas light. The sign above her surgery would say ;

In just 4 years there were 7 PDSA Clinics across London treating approximately 40,000 animals. Many more clinics were opened up and she began treating the sick animals in all parts of the country, initially with a converted horse drawn Gypsy caravan and a single Vet. The PDSA would be very busy during the WW2 Blitz and it was Maria who instigated the DICKIN MEDAL (The Animal Victoria Cross) in 1943. The Dickin Medal did a lot to help recognise the importance of the military service done by animals and the sacrifice they also make.

“ Maria Dickin did not possess high government connections nor did she have a large quantity of money but what she did have was a deep and profound desire to stop animal suffering and she remains proof of what one person can achieve. ”

Warrior was a horse that served with the British Army during WW1 and his bravery was an inspiration to thousands of soldiers. He was known as the “horse the Germans couldn’t kill” surviving sniper and machine gun attacks as well as having to be dug out of the mud at Passchendaele. During his time on the Western Front from 1914 – 1918 he also survived being twice trapped under the burning beams of his stable.

An honorary PDSA Dickin Medal was awarded to Warrior on behalf of all animals that served in WW1. This posthumous award took place on the 2^nd September 2014 at the Imperial War Museum, London. The medal was received by author and broadcaster, Brough Scott, the grandson of Warrior’s owner at a presentation compared by Kate Adie. This 66^th Dickin Medal features a bronze “honorary” bar on it’s green, brown, and blue stripped ribbon. This was the first honorary PDSA Dickin Medal presented in the charities history and honours the heroism of animals during WW1 in its centenary year. The Dickin Medal only began during WW2.

Warrior went on to survive the War and Returned home to the Isle of Wight where he lived with the Seely family until his death in 1941 at the age of 33.

Jimmy the Sergeant was a donkey, born in a First World War Trench who saved soldier’s lives on the battlefield and who has recently been awarded a posthumous Dickin Medal for bravery in April 2012. Jimmy the Sergeant was born in France after a shell wounded his pregnant mother as she went into labour during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Troops of the Cameron Scottish Rifles brought the donkey up amid falling shells and gunfire on the Frontline. The men found a discarded bottle, cleaned it out, and Jimmy was weaned on tins of evaporated/condensed milk. The troops all took a turn at keeping the donkey safe, warm, and spent time with him.

Jimmy spent the next 2 years in the army, carrying equipment for the soldiers, he was even taught to raise his hoof in salute with the troop of Cameronians. Jimmy also played an important role in keeping up the morale of the troops, even if it just acted as a distraction from the horror of what was all around them. Jimmy was wounded 3 times by shell fire during his 2 years on the Front Line. He was given the title of honorary sergeant with 3 stripes on his bridle.

At the end of the War he was demobbed and in 1920 he was sold to a woman at a charity auction in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Throughout the next 23 years Jimmy would be ever present at a series of charity events, raising thousands of pounds for the RSPCA. After his death he was buried in Peterborough’s Central Park in 1943 and a monument was erected. A mounted display at the Cameronians museum in Hamilton, Scotland assures Jimmy’s place in history is not forgotten.

*The key role for donkeys and horses during WW1 was to get supplies to the Front Lines. Lorries were good on proper roads but they could not cope with uneven terrain and heavy rain / mud. *

The Soldier, a sonnet by Rupert Brooke was published in 1915 in the collection of 1914. Perhaps his most famous poem. It reflects British sorrow and pride in the young men that died in WW1. He was born in Rugby, England in 1887 and died aged 27 at Skyros, a Greek Aegean Island . He died from blood poisoning when on route to active service in the Dardanelles. He died on a hospital ship and was buried in *************an olive grove on the island.************

“If I should die, think only this of me : That there’s some corner of a foreign field. That is forever England. There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed ; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave once her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England’s breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil sheds away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less. Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given ; Her sights and sounds ; dreams happy as her day ; And laughter, learnt of friends ; and gentleness, ‘n hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

“Well the War has struggled on for another year, with no end in sight. The convoys have at last removed the stranglehold the U-boats have had on Allied shipping. The food supplies were improving for the men at the Front and the civilians back in Britain but Germany was still suffering badly with poverty, lack of food and an expensive war to fund. The additional troops from America have given the Allies a much-needed boost.

Around Great Britain there appears an array of disabilities, facial, bodily, and internal, at first these were seen as shocking or horrible but the more arriving back from France in these states, the more it seemed to be excepted. In many towns and cities family were just glad to see them alive!”

A Royal Flying Corps was established in 1912 as a unit of the British Army. It was set up to investigate the possible use of manned aircraft in the capacity of Communication, Scouting and Reconnaissance activities. A major concern had been the protection of shipping movements between the Royal Naval Dockyard at Rosyth and the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow on Orkney. With the outbreak of WW1 in 1914 the Admiralty was tasked with establishing a string of home defence airfields.

With that in mind the Montrose Air Station in Angus on the eastern seaboard of Scotland would be the first to go operational in 1913. When the Great War ended in 1918 Montrose continued as an Air Training Station until it was closed down in 1920 (remains a museum). The equipment and stores were moved to Fife to set up RAF Leuchars. The Royal Flying Corps existed until 1^st April 1918, the services were then merged to form the Royal Air Force (RAF). At the wars end there were 5,182 pilots in service. Casualties from 1914 – 1918 total 9,378 killed or missing with 7,245 wounded. In total there was 6,942 Tons of bombs dropped. Before the Battle of the Somme the Royal Flying Corps mustered 421 Aircraft with 4 kite Balloon Squadrons and 14 Balloons.

The most feared fighter pilot of WW1, Germany’s Baron von Richthofen was killed by a single bullet on 21^st April 1918. The bullet came from Canadian pilot Roy Brown with help from British and Australian ground artillery. By the time of his death , the “Red Baron” had notched up 80 kills. It is believed that he would order up a silver trophy for each plane shot down. The British gave him a burial with full military honours.

* Germany’s Paris Gun, a WW1 artillery cannon could bombard the French capital from 70 miles or 112 km. The gun could be fired so high that the rotation of the Earth affected its trajectory. The weight and size of these big guns meant they had to be transported by rail. *

In Springtime 1918 a deadly disease began to sweep across the planet. It would infect a 1/3 of the world’s population and would leave 50 million dead. It arrived in the U.K in April 1918. It was called Spanish Flu.

On March 3^rd,1918 the Russians finished fighting and had to sign a treaty with the Central Powers. The Bolsheviks had to buy their way out of WW1.

In 1918: German Field Commander General Erich Ludendorff on 21^st March launched a massive offensive on the Somme. He hoped to strike a decisive blow against the Allies and convince them to negotiate for peace This was done in a bid to break the Allied line before fresh American reinforcements could arrive. Crack German Troops advanced rapidly along a 60-mile Front and the Allies have already been forced back several miles. British troops are bearing the brunt of the attack which was the German’s first major breakthrough since the early days of the war. The battles ran from 21^st March – 18^th July

Delays in reinforcing the British Line were caused by French Generals arguing as to whether they strengthen the line with the British or defend Paris. Casualties on both sides were very high. The German’s were also taking advantage of the German divisions that had been freed up on the Eastern Front since the Russian withdrawal from the War. The German Spring Offensive was also called Kaisers chlacht or (Kaisers battle), and they were a series of attacks along the Western Front.

When the German’s entered the vacated British Trenches they found far greater quantities and quality of food that any German troops had seen. Even more damaging was the lie they were told by their own senior officers that German ships had blockaded all British Ports and that Britain was on the brink of starvation. Word swept through the ranks like wildfire, not long after, the Allies launched a counter-offensive and soon re-took their former positions. It was now the turn of the Allies to gain the upper-hand, this time decisively.

* The patriotic feelings that had prevailed in Germany was now collapsing owing to increased civilian starvation and economic hardship. *

On the night of 22^nd – 23^rd April 1918 the Royal Navy attacked the German occupied towns of Ostend and Zeebrugge, in an effort to block the canals that linked the 2 cities to the German Naval Base at Bruges

The Battle of Estaires was one of the opening phases of the Battle of Lys. It was fought between April 9^th – 11^th1918. 15 British Divisions took part and a 2^nd Portuguese division. Many allied soldiers were blinded by Mustard Gas and had to be led from the battlefield. *When you see old newsreels of troops with their eyes bandaged, being led from the battle-field in a line, shoulder to shoulder, this is the effects of mustard Gas. (heart-breaking) *

The Battle of Lys, also known as the 4^th Battle of Ypres and was fought from 7^thto 29^th April 1918. It was part of a German Spring Offensive in Flanders during WW1. The gains at the Battle of Lys were the last the Germans made in WW1. The German’s struggled to maintain the momentum, partly due to logistical issues. The fast-moving Stormtrooper units could not carry enough food and ammunition to sustain themselves for long. Their army could not move in supplies and reinforcements fast enough to assist them.

The fixed wing bombing would see the end of the Zeppelin bombing and the German fixed wing bombing finished in May 1918. Germany carried out 51 Airship Raids and 52 Fixed Wing Bomber Raids. Mainly on England and they dropped a total of 280 Tons of bombs.1,413 killed and 3,409 wounded.

The Battle of Amiens began in dense fog at 4.20 am on August 8^th, 1918. This phase of the Allied offensive was better known as the 100-day offensive which would be a turning point in the war and would ultimately lead to the end of the War. Allied Forces advanced over 7 miles or 11km on the first day spearheaded by Australian and Canadian Corps. It was one of the greatest advances of the War. According to Erich Ludendorff, he called it “The black day of the German army”. The Allies concentrated their main forces in the essential areas of the Channel Ports and the rail junction at Amiens. Despite some successes for the Germans they suffered heavy casualties and the land won was of little strategic value. Approximately 30,000 German soldiers died during the Battle of Amiens.

Messines was one of dozens of clashes between Germany and Allied forces surrounding the Belgian town of Ypres. On the 28^th -29^th September the area was retaken by British Forces. It was at the Battle of Messines that the British 2^nd Army tunnelled all the way to the German Trenches. Then they detonated simultaneously 19 massive mines that killed thousands of German Troops. The blast/ vibration could be heard in 10 Downing Street. It was the biggest blast in the world, out-with the nuclear explosions of WW2.

By late September the Allied forces were facing the Hindenburg Line, a series of heavily fortified German defences.

On the 29^th of September the Allies broke through the strongest sections of the Hindenburg Line. * It was now clear that Germany could not win the War. *

The 2^nd Battle of Cambrai was a battle between the British 1^st, 3^rd ,and 4^th Armies, against the German Empire forces during the Hundred Day Offensive of WW1. The battle took place in and around the French city of Cambrai between the 8^th – 10^th October 1918. The battle incorporated the use British tanks with over 300 taking part. The British gained some considerable ground in under 36 hours. The British tanks that had only partly delivered at the Somme was now living up to its full promise.

Late into WW1 U-boat 116 was tasked with penetrating Scapa Flow and destroying as many British ships as possible. This they hoped would even the odds for a last attack by the German High Seas Fleet. An earlier attempt to confront the British Grand Fleet had been frustrated by the German port of Kiel’s (sailor’s mutiny) in Germany. U-boat 116 left Heligoland U-boat base on 25^th October 1918 but German intelligence was poor at this stage of the war and they did not know that Scapa Flow had been empty since April and the British Fleet were based in Rosyth on the Firth of Forth. U-boat 116 continued on her way to Scapa Flow but was destroyed by the new technology of a magnetic mine that lay on the seabed and was triggered by U-boat 116.

A war that had virtually begun at Mons in 1914 would be finished at Mons when the Canadians reached the town at 4am on the, 11^th November 1918. Fighting on the Western Front continued up to the last minute before the Armistice came into effect.

“The first and last British soldiers to die in WW1 were Privates John Parr and George Ellison and are both buried in St Symphorien cemetery in France, and they face each other only yards apart.”

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an inter-governmental organisation of six independent member states whose, principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of the Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the Two World Wars.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cares for over 1.1million Commonwealth War Graves at more than 23,000 locations across 150 countries and territories.

“Perhaps tomorrow you’re planning to go down to the beach or tomorrow you might be having a night out with friends or perhaps you’re picking up the grand-kids or watching football. It’s worth remembering the Men, Women and Animals that died in WW1, ---- “WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEM OF US AND SAY, FOR THEIR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY.”

On 11^th November 1918 what has come to be called the Great War has ended. After 4 years and 97 days the guns finally fell silent today. The Armistice was requested on November 7^th by the German High command under Paul von Hindenburg. In a carriage of Marshal Foch’s train in the forest near Le Francport. Foch, General Weygand, and British Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss accepted the German surrender from a civilian, Reichstag Deputy Matthias Erzberger, and 2 junior generals. The German High Command had no intension of getting involved in surrender negotiations and stayed away.

The Kaiser took his train and fled to neutral Holland to live. He was advised to abdicate as his input would make peace negotiations much more difficult. He left in a huff blaming his own people for their lack of respect for him. Germany was to hand over a large number of Machine Guns. Aircraft, U-boats, Heavy Guns, Locomotives, Wagons, and Lorries. With the Surface Fleet being interned at Scapa Flow.

On the 11^th November 1918, this was Victory Day in Great Britain, as a war weary nation celebrated the peace. At 11am to the accompaniment of church bells and fireworks, the all-clear was sounded for the last time with bugles and sirens. Factories closed and there were scenes of unprecedented public revelry and rejoicing as what seemed to be the entire population took to the streets. They were all waving flags and raising servicemen shoulder-high.

Big Ben struck 1 o’clock for the first time in four years and the clock backlights would be switched on for the first time since they posed a (beacon threat) for enemy Zeppelins. Hugh crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace and the police turned a blind eye to the licensing laws. All the pubs stayed open until they had been drunk dry! * In 1918 British Confectioners Bassetts launched their Jelly Babies to celebrate the end of WW1. They called them Peace Babies. *

The number of lives lost in WW1 is believed to be 9 Million. With another 27 Million injured. The War is thought to have cost the Allies £68.5 Billion or $126 Billion. The War would cost the Central Powers £32.5 Billion or $60 Billion. It had been the most destructive war mankind had ever seen.

By this time in the war, Austria and Hungary was fairing little better than Germany. Austria / Hungary had lost 460,000 because of famine, cold and epidemics including the Spanish Flu, especially in Austria where under-nourishment and poverty remained a problem.

The 14 points were conditions applied to the nations in-order to avert another catastrophe like WW1. In summary these were the most important points.

6) After WW1 the size of Austria and Hungary were greatly reduced. Germany was also reduced to a lesser degree. A new country was formed called Czechoslovakia which was intended as a buffer between Germany and Austria. The Balkan countries would unify under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in December 1918. The city of Alsace was returned to France for “the time being”.

After the wars end, British Soldiers were bringing these remarkable German Shepherd dogs back to Britain for the first time. The men would tell of the dog’s heroic deeds displayed in battle. It was feared that with the name “German” the British would have no time for the dogs so in 1919 The Kennel Club changed the dog’s name to Alsatian Wolf Dog. The name Alsatian comes from the Alsace region of France which borders Germany. The dogs were given the name Alsatian or from Latin (Alsatia) because the first dogs to arrive in Britain were with British soldiers making their way back from Alsace which was German Territory during WW1. In fact Alsace – Lorraine including Strasbourg and Metz have been fought over between France and Germany periodically since 1648.

For the German Shepherd dogs that survived the War and famine in Germany, there were more hurdles to overcome. Surviving German Shepherds were often sterile or gave birth to a higher number of (still-born) pups as a result. Canine diseases ran rampant, however German Shepherd Breeders in Germany, Britain, USA, and other countries worked hard to restore the breed.

Medic dogs were trained to pull off the Bringsel. A kind of short leash that was part of the Prussian uniform. They would then take it from a wounded soldier and give it to a medic. The dog then led the medic to the soldier. While the soldier was being treated, the medic dog would comfort the injured.

THE BOND : Fund Raising short production by Charlie Chaplin at his own personal expense for the UNITED STATES 4^th LIBERTY LOAN DRIVE during WW1

RETURN OF THE SOLDIER : By Rebecca West, tells of the plight of the return of the Shell-Shocked soldier.

Siegfried Sassoon was a WW1 poet. Born into a Jewish family in 1886 his early life greatly contrasting his war experiences. His poet friend Robert Graves convinced the review board that Sassoon was suffering from Shell-Shock and he was sent to the military hospital in Craiglockhart where he met and influenced fellow poet Wilfred Owen. Sassoon went public with his protests against the war which could have “landed him in hot water”. See below, a strong poem from Siegfried Sassoon which “pulls no punches”.

“Well, the War is finally over to the great relief of many, some say this was the War to end all Wars while other say the next war was beginning before the ink was dry on this armistice document. It seems there is a lot of unfinished business, tensions, and many feel that Germany has been severely punished by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Anyway if you think that all the suffering and pain had ended with the Armistice, then think again”

HMS Iolaire was a British Admiralty ship that sank on the 1^st January 1919 in a stretch of water known as the Minch situated between Skye and the Western Isles. It was to be the worst maritime disaster in British waters during the 20^th Century. The Iolaire was carrying soldiers and sailors that had fought and endured the Great War and were now coming home to loved ones on Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve). This was promising to be the greatest New year of all. Loved ones on the Western Isles would be Making Broth and Black Bun and various cakes, with Whisky for the men and sherry for the women “to take in” the New Year. There would also be home entertainment for later in the form of Fiddle music, Accordion and, singing.

When the ship loaded up in the mainland port of Kyle of Lochalsh there would have been some extra passengers who were given a place on the boat on account of it being Hogmanay (It was not an excessive amount). The ship left Kyle and made its way towards Stornoway, it was 31^st December but later at 2.30 am, on New Year’s Day the ship hit rocks less than a mile from Stornoway harbour. Almost ¾ of those onboard perished in the sea with only 75 known passengers surviving the disaster.

Sadly many factors conspired to seal their fate. At 2.30 on a Scottish Mid- winter night, the sky would be dark the sea would be cold and likely it was stirred up. The men would of likely been dressed in heavy boots and overcoats / full uniform, with the extra passengers who boarded at Kyle may-of made a small difference.

On a clifftop not far from Stornoway a memorial had been built to those who perished that night.

Shortly after the end of the First World War, the German Kaiserliche Marine was being scuttled by its sailors while interned in the Royal Navy Base at Scapa Flow. The scuttled fleet was a deliberate act of sabotage ordered by a commander who refused to let his ships become the spoils of war.

52 warships were sunk in one day beginning at 10.30 am, it was the greatest loss of warships in history and 9 German sailors died that day becoming the last victims of WW1.

Once at Scapa Flow most of von Reuter’s 20,000 men were sent back to Germany leaving a small number of Skeleton / caretaker crews. On the morning of 21^st June 1919 the British Fleet left Scapa Flow for exercises, and von Reuter saw his chance. The crew started to open all the stop cocks and sea valves as the ships slowly sank in the harbour. The last defiant gesture was to replace the flag of the Imperial German Navy one last time. On that day there was an astonished group of children on a boat trip around Scapa Flow as the ships slowly sank beneath the water.

Of the 74 ships interned at Scapa Flow 52 were scuttled within 5 hours. In Germany, von Reuter was praised as the man who had preserved the honour of the High Sea’s Fleet.

May 7^th 1919 ,The WW1 Peace Treaty was signed by the Germans at Versailles officially ending over 4 years of devastating war. The Treaty was presented at the Trianon Palace Hotel at Versailles. The German’s considered the terms excessively harsh and initially refused to sign, however they changed their minds when threatened with an occupation of Allied troops.

Although fighting in WW1 finished in 1918 the War did not officially end until October 3^rd, 2010 – 92 years later. When Germany finally settled its war debt by paying a last instalment of $90,000,000 dollars. Reparations imposed on it by the Allies. The Treaty also stripped Germany of her overseas colonies, she also lost her Navy, and her Airforce and her Army was restricted to 100,000 men. Public opinion in Britain and the USA found the terms too harsh, only France found the terms too mild as bitterness of 4 years of German occupation in France ran high.

In Britain the official War’s End (PEACE DAY) was 19^th July which was also a Bank Holiday. UK cities also saw spontaneous parties when the Armistice was announced on 11^th November 1918. The real celebrations however would come after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.

On July 19^th 1919 there would be Street Parties organized by residents on- mass in the UK which started up as “PEACE TEAS” as a treat mainly for children in those times of hardship. Many children were Poor and Orphaned due to the effects of the War and the Spanish Flu. There would be long rows of tables and chairs and lots of colourful bunting. There was also bonfires, fireworks, and concert parties to celebrate the end of War.

* If you look at old pictures or film footage of the celebrations of 11^th November 1918 or / and July 19^th 1919, you may find quite a few people with sullen faces. This is because many men lost their friends during the war and many women lost their husbands, for them what celebration was there in that? *

The term Taffy or Taff when referring to Welsh soldiers has its origins in the Taff-Ely Valley in South Wales. Due to the decline in the coal industry during the 20^th Century many men were left unemployed, this led to a big enlistment for World War 1 and World War 2. As a large number of Welshmen came from Taff, SO THE NAME CAME TO REPRESENT ALL WELSHMEN.

During WW1 the ordinary British soldiers would gather small personal items in the Trenches either to keep or take home to loved ones or friends. These items were named KEEP-SAKES or MOMENTOS It was only through sharing Trenches with the French that the word SOUVENIR became common place.

The British army may have learned a few Colonial sayings over time but that was small compared to what the British troops learned from Indian troops when sharing Trenches in WW1.

KHAKI : Which describes the colour of the British Army clothing. This word originates from the Hindi word meaning DUSTY or EARTH.

CHIT : Comes from the Hindi word CHITTHI meaning a SLIP OF PAPER OR A VOUCHER (used instead of money)

PUTTEE : Is adapted from the Hindi word PATTI which means BANDAGE. In WW1 it was the leg wrapping you see on British soldiers from the ankle to the knee.

During the War years in Britain the cost of food doubled due to the amount of food sent abroad for the troops and also the wastage by U-boat attacks.

THANKFUL VILLAGES : Were the name given to a small minority of towns / villages where there were no WW1 fatalities. These villages would look odd, in having no War Memorial although there would be some form of memorial in the village churches. The total of WW1 British “Thankful villages” were only 32.

The tradition of an Annual National Silence to remember the dead of WW1 was the idea of Australian journalist and war veteran Edward George Honey. His idea was a popular one so on 11^th November 1919 the first Remembrance Day began, originally with a 2-minute silence.

A tomb for the UNKNOWN SOLDIER was put in place in London, Paris, and Arlington Cemetery in 1921. On November 11^th 1954 , it was renamed Veteran’s Day in America.

In 1920 the first full session of the League of Nations begins in Geneva with 5,000 representatives from 41 Nations.

The well-known saying, “never take a 3^rd light from the same match” originated in the Trenches of WW1. If men were on look-out duty and lit a match this would alert the enemy. If a second person took a light from the same match the enemy would take aim. If a third person took a light from the same match, Bang!

On 11^th November 1921 the British Legion holds its first POPPY DAY to raise money for the wounded of WW1. Having ordered 9 million poppies they all sold out immediately raising over £106,000 Pounds. The money was used to help WW1 veterans with employment, housing, and various social needs. Throughout Britain poppy factories were set up with the poppies being made by disabled ex-servicemen. The British Legion became the Royal British Legion in May 1971, on is golden anniversary.

One of the reasons why the French mutinied during 1917 was because, unlike the other Allies that were “rotated” out of the trenches for a period of time the French Military Commanders never allowed the French troops any respite from the Front Lines.

Thomas Edward Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1935) was a British Soldier born in N. Wales. Before WW1 he travelled in the Middle-East, studying Crusader castles and excavations. In 1914 he joined Military Intelligence and was sent to Cairo where he became a member of the Arab Bureau. His exploits received so much publicity that he became a legendary figure. He also became the liaison officer to the Arab revolt under Emir Faisal who was the son of a Sherif of Mecca, (A Muslim ruler, magistrate, or religious leader).

Lawrence was present at the taking of Aqaba in 1917 and Damascus in 1918 from the Turks. Further military victories in Palestine and Mesopotamia resulted in a Turkish Armistice on 31^st October 1918, removing the Ottoman Empire from the Middle East.

Lawrence’s conscious was waying heavy as he had promised much to the Emir Faisal but he could not deliver as the British Top Brass had other ideas. In 1918 Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lawrence was to shock King George V by refusing to receive from him the Order of Bath, which is a British order of chivalry founded by George 1 in 1725 and the D.S.O. or Distinguished Service Order. Lawrence (28) was deeply disillusioned with the outcome of the recently ended hostilities in Palestine. He had genuinely promised much to the Arabs however the British Military would not back him up. He retired in 1935 and was killed in a motor cycling accident near his home in Dorset.

* The 7^th Battalion Essex Regiment was a volunteer unit of Britain’s Territorial Army first formed in 1860 in the Eastern suburbs of London. In 1915 during WW1 the Battalion served as infantry at Gallipoli and in Palestine. *

The German Government had taxed too little and printed too much money over the war years and beyond.

Hyperinflation in Germany in 1923 meant that their currency and savings were virtually worthless. In order to buy a loaf of bread you would need a wheel-burrow stacked high with Deutschmarks. If you visited a café for a coffee and fancied another cup, by the time it took to drink the first cup the 2^nd cup would have doubled in price.

The biggest culprit to hyperinflation in Germany was successive German governments printing too much money and taxing too little over a long period. It was shaky times for the new German Republic of Weimar with the nation “rudderless”. The Kaiser had abdicated leaving extremists to fill the vacuum. On the far left you had the Communist Party and on the far right you had the Fascist party led by former WW1 corporal Adolf Hitler. The rest is history.

REVELATION 21 VERSE 4 : “He will wipe every tear from their eyes ; there shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain.”

JOHN 16 VERSE 33 : “These things I have spoken unto you ; that in me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.”

PHILIPPIANS CHAPTER 4 VERSE 6 : The Lord is near; have no anxiety, but in everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving.”