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Descubre un mundo infinito de historias

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Richard Larn

The Isles of Scilly, five inhabited islands 24 miles west of Land’s End, were of low priority to the War Department when the First World War was declared. With no manufacturing capability, no industry other than flower growing and agriculture, no electricity or gas, no mains water supply, no wireless station, and a population of only 2,000, the islands did have one feature in their favor – their location. Sitting at the cross roads of six major shipping routes, Scilly had been a recognized ‘ship-park’ since 1300AD, where sailing ships anchored to safety awaiting a suitable wind, to re-victual, pick up water or effect repairs. The Admiralty sought to make it a harbor for the Channel Fleet in the mid-1800s, and in 1903 spent £25,000 defending the islands with 6-inch gun batteries, only to take them away seven years later. When, in 1915, German U-boats moved from the North Sea into the Western Approaches, sinking large numbers of merchant vessels, Scilly was chosen to become a Royal Navy Auxiliary Patrol Station, and over time was sent 20 armed trawlers and drifters as escorts, mine-sweepers, mine-layers or anti-submarine vessels, along with 500 Royal Navy personnel. In 1917 Tresco Island became a Royal Naval Air Station, with 14 flying boats and over 1,000 personnel. The islands were suddenly at the forefront of the submarine war. This book details Scilly's contribution to the war effort, with attention to its civilian population, the heartbreak of losing forty-five of its sons, and the trauma of countless seamen rescued from torpedoed ships.

Pen & Sword Military

Your Towns & Cities in the Great War

The Isles of Scilly in the Great War

Ruth Mansergh

This book is about how Barrow's output of war materials was vital to the Great War effort, and it is about the Barrovians and men from the surrounding south Lakeland area - from all walks of life - who fought abroad, and the area's women war heroes. It includes background information on the history of the town, such as the Furness Railway, iron ore in the area and shipbuilding, and lists vessels built at Barrow pre- and during the war with information on what happened to them. 

These vessels include Mikasa and HMS Vanguard. At the outbreak of World War One, Vanguard fought in the battle of Jutland. The Mayfly (or the Won't Fly as Churchill called it), built by Vickers at Barrow along similar lines to the very early Zeppelins, was launched in 1911. She was the first British rigid airship to be built. Today, Astute submarines for the Royal Navy keep Barrow busy and local people turn up when new submarines are launched. 

This book also acts as a reference guide to local war dead and war heroes, lost heroes, the area's recipients of the Victoria Cross, memorials with details of those commemorated (including those whose names were unwelcome on memorials). Barrow's War Memorial in Barrow Park was unveiled in November, 1921 by Field Marshall Sir William "Wullie" Robertson and records close to 600 names of those who fought and died in the First World War.

Barrow-in-Furness in the Great War

Stephen Wynn

Discover a coastal English town’s vital role in WWI with this local history covering Royal Navy actions and the pursuit of escaped German prisoners.

Home to one of the Royal Navy’s three major dockyards, Chatham played a very important part in Britain’s Great War effort. Only six weeks into the war, residents took a major blow as three vessels from the Chatham Division—HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue—were sunk by a German submarine. Two months later, the battleship HMS Bulwark exploded and sunk whilst at anchor off of Sheerness on the Kent coast.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however. Winston Churchill, as the First Lord of the Admiralty, visited Chatham early in the conflict. Two German prisoners of war, Lieutenant Otto Thelen and Lieutenant Hans Keilback, escaped from Donnington Hall in Leicestershire—only to be re-captured in Chatham four days later.

By the end of the war, Chatham and the men who were stationed there had truly played their part in ensuring a historic Allied victory. This volume vividly captures the town’s service, sacrifice, and legacy.

Chatham in the Great War

Timothy Lynch

The Great War saw thousands of Wakefield men enlist in the armed forces, serving in every arm of the services. Wakefield in the Great War tells the story of the men who fought and the families they left behind. This was total war. Volunteers worked tirelessly as nurses in local auxiliary hospitals, cared for Belgian refugees, sent food parcels to prisoners of war, fed soldiers during their long waits at railway stations and stitched sandbags to send to the Front. At nearby country estates, the 'Gorgeous Wrecks' practiced maneuvers at weekend camps. Wakefields engineering firms set the model for war production from shells to backpacks. Children gathered chestnuts and moss to help the war effort and stood patiently for hours in long queues to feed their families. The prison became home to conscientious objectors and the target for running battles in the street outside so that men had to find ways of sneaking over the walls to get back into jail. Wakefield in the Great War is the untold story of a time that would change the city forever.

Wakefield in the Great War

Christopher W. A. Owen

Famed as the birthplace of modern industry and the first cast iron metal single span bridge, Ironbridge is venerated the world over yet its social history is at times unfamiliar.One hundred years ago this sleepy town, set by the river Severn, willingly volunteered its lifeblood to a war that everyone confidently believed would be a short-lived, adventurous romp. Misled by government propaganda, they soon discovered through fighting relative's letters and various official news reports, many of which are unearthed for the first time throughout this book, that it had rapidly degenerated into an endless morass of bloody violence with the probability of their men meeting a painful death on a daily basis thrown in for good measure.The town's wartime heritage is one of enterprise and hard work as the majority of the Great War gun-fodder comprised working-class men drawn from prestigious local companies. Maw & Co, the world-famous ceramic tile maker, raised its own company of enlisted fighting men, in common with other businesses nationwide, that were known as Pals Battalions. As in most instances across the land, it subsequently paid a heavy price for this mass act of patriotism. Ironbridge also became a cradle of the fledgling women's wartime workforce, who helped produce vital heavy munitions components at another famous local company's works.Ironbridge in the Great War is the story of the town's great sacrifice, as evidenced by the numerous and diverse war monuments that populate the town and its surrounding hamlets. This is detailed work that includes fascinating facts about the town, which, despite being constantly under the world spotlight, remained, until now, a part of its hidden wartime social history.

Ironbridge in the Great War

Craig Armstrong

A history of the English seaside town during World War I, from its significance to its sacrifices.

Tynemouth Borough, which included the towns of Tynemouth and North Shields, was an area of strategic value to the national war effort as it contained the mouth of the river Tyne and was the entry point to the most important munitions center in Britain. Industry upriver included the manufacture of munitions, armaments, and military and civilian ships, while the port of Tyne was one of the busiest in the country with its internationally important coal export industry.

Away from its industrial importance, the area was also a hotbed of military recruitment. In common with the rest of the northeast, Tynemouth had large numbers of young men who were serving in the forces before the outbreak of the war. Its record for wartime recruitment was second to none and it lay in a key recruitment area for the local regiment, the Northumberland Fusiliers, who raised over fifty battalions during the war—a record. Given its location on the coast, Tynemouth also had a proud tradition of service in the Merchant Navy and many Tynemouth men had the sea in their blood, whilst North Shields was the home base of a large and active fishing fleet. Many of the men who manned the trawlers saw active service, whilst others were exposed to even greater dangers due to the war.

This engaging book is the first to look at the fascinating social history of Tynemouth during the shattering years of the Great War and charts the huge sacrifices made by the townspeople.

Tynemouth in the Great War

This social history of WWI explores the wartime sacrifices and contributions made by the people of this charming, historic English town.

The town of Bridgnorth, located along the Severn River in Shropshire, is a popular tourist destination known for its historic castle and unique funicular rail system. Though it is steeped in military history, much of its role during the Great War has remained obscure until now.

Misled by government propaganda, many of Bridgnorth’s men enlisted in the military for what they thought would be a short-term adventure. Their commitment and fortitude in the face of bloody trench warfare gives testament to the incredible bravery of the people of Bridgnorth, and their losses are evidenced in the various commemorative monuments erected throughout the town and surrounding hamlets.

Utilizing contemporary documents and wartime servicemen's poignant letters, some of which are disclosed here for the first time, Bridgnorth in the Great War reveals how this once prosperous and industrious West Midlands' town endured great sacrifice in the name of Britain’s war effort.

Bridgnorth in the Great War

A historic profile of the English city of Canterbury during World War I and the conflict’s effect on the region and its people.

Canterbury had been a garrison town for many years before the war. When hostilities began between Britain and Germany, it was home to the Buffs (East Kent Regiment), who were immediately mobilized for war. They were replaced by the men of the West Kent Yeomanry, a Territorial unit, along with their fellow territorials, the Kent Cyclists, who despite their mode of transport, were an infantry battalion of the British Army, who were formed in 1908. They were tasked with guarding key points along with patrolling the Kent coastline.

During the First World War, Canterbury was one of the county’s main recruiting areas, particularly for those men from east Kent. By the end of the war, thousands of men had enthusiastically made their way to the town’s Drill Hall in St Peter's Lane to sign on the dotted line so that they could do their bit for King and country in the nation’s hour of need. Statistics showed that one in four men had enlisted in the British Army.

Meanwhile, the town’s civilian population did their part for the war. Some worked in the munitions factories and the Kent VAD hospital, while others worked as air raid wardens. These were extraordinary times that relied on ordinary people to pull together and do whatever they could for the common good.

Through researching local newspapers of the day, along with letters, diaries, photographs, parish magazines, trade journals, contemporary printed pamphlets, and more, author Stephen Wynn details the stories of this dramatic era.

Canterbury in the Great War

A historic profile of the London borough of Enfield during World War I and the conflict’s effect on the region and its people.

The Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield was famous for producing the Lee Enfield .303 Rifle, the standard issued rifle provided to all infantry soldiers in the British Army during the First World War. The factory was so prestigious that King George V visited it in April, 1915. By the end of the war, its workforce of more than 9,000 had produced more than 2 million rifles. Their gun helped play a big part in winning the war.

On July 7, 1917, the town was hit by a German air raid. Local anti-aircraft batteries did their best to thwart the enemy. Sadly, falling shrapnel from British anti-aircraft gunfire killed one woman, making her Enfield’s only resident to be killed in the town throughout the course of the war. A nearby young boy was also struck by some falling shrapnel but survived. After the incident, members of the Government Workers’ Union held a meeting to complain about the lack of a warning about the attack. Meanwhile, that month also saw a baker appear at Enfield Magistrates Court, charged under the Bread Order for selling loaves of bread that were over the permitted weight. For his heinous war time offence, he was fined the princely sum of ten shillings.

Through researching local newspapers of the day, along with letters, diaries, photographs, parish magazines, trade journals, contemporary printed pamphlets, and more, author Stephen Wynn details the stories of Enfield during this dramatic era.

Enfield in the Great War

Stories of the residents of Jersey, Guernsey, and other Channel Islands and their service and sacrifice during the First World War.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, the Channel Islands were scenic, sunny holiday destinations, where it was possible to briefly escape the hustle and bustle of life. But as soon as the fighting began, worries arose about the threat of a German invasion to the islands, which are much closer to the coast of France than the southern coast of Great Britain.

Both men and women alike played their part. Men joined one of the islands’ militia or enlisted in one of the numerous regiments of the British Army, including the ‘Jersey Pals’ and the Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles, and Royal Irish Regiment. This book looks at the commitment and achievements of the Channel Islands’ very own Royal Guernsey Light Infantry, formed in December 1916. The Islands’ women volunteered in droves to serve with the British Red Cross’ Voluntary Aid Detachments, not just throughout the Channel Islands, but in mainland Great Britain and further afield in Belgium, France, and beyond. Ultimately, German soldiers didn’t set foot on the islands—except for about two thousand held captive there as prisoners of war. This book tells the story of the people of the Channel Islands and what they did during the First World War—including those who paid the ultimate price.

Includes photos

The Channel Islands in the Great War

Abigail Hamilton-Thompson

When news of the war first broke out in 1914, the citizens of Peterborough could not have been prepared for the changes that would occur over the next four years. This book takes a detailed looks at Peterborough's involvement in the Great war from when it commenced in July 1914, to the Armistice in November 1918, covering in great detail its affect on the city and the every day lives of its people. 

For example, the factory Werner Pfeiderer & Perkins at Westwood Works was forced to change its name to Perkins Engineers due to the anti-German feeling at the outbreak of the war. One in six of Peterborough's working age men did not return from the front line, and in one single day forty-six men from the city lost their lives. Many of these men came from Peterborough's factories. As a result, these factories looked to women to produce armaments and tanks, as well as repairing guns used in the trenches. 

Edith Cavell, the famous British nurse, grew up in Peterborough and was shot dead in 1915 for assisting the escape of Allied soldiers from Belgium. Peterborough in the Great War is a poignant testimony not only to her bravery, but that of the city's people and their momentous efforts.

Peterborough in the Great War

With the outbreak of the First World War, it was not surprising that a number of individuals who were of German decent, and who lived in Hartlepool and its surrounding areas, were rounded up and detained by the British military authorities, in the interests of both national security and for their own personal safety. They were held at the towns Stranton Ice Rink. Their numbers included the ex-German Consul for the Hartlepool's district as well as others who had been local residents of many years standing. 

The first soldier with connections to Hartlepool to be killed on foreign soil during the war, was Corporal 57561 John Robert Richardson, who was serving with the 54th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, when he was killed in action on 4 October 1914. He is buried at the Bergen Communal Cemetery at Mons. The war came to Hartlepool on the morning of Wednesday, 16 December 1914 in the shape of three vessels of the Imperial German Navy. 

By the time their attack was over, more than 1,100 artillery shells had landed on the town, killing 9 soldiers, 86 civilians and wounding a further 438. Amongst the dead was 29 year old Private 18/295 Theophilus Jones of the 18th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, making him the first British serviceman to be killed on British soil as a result of enemy action during the course of the First World War. 

Before the war was over, his brother Alfred, would also be killed, during fighting at the Battle of Arras, on 3 May 1917. By the time the war had ended, some 1700 men and women from Hartlepool and its surrounding areas had paid the ultimate price of having served their King and country.

Hartlepool in the Great War

Peter J. Tipton

There were fewer than 500 houses in Yateley in WWI but with Aldershot, Farnborough, Camberley and Sandhurst close by, this Hampshire village's response to the call to arms was more prepared than most, and punched above its weight. Using contemporary evidence from many sources researched by our local history team, the Yateley Society recreates the impact of the War on our predecessors. The story of the men who left Yateley to fight -- territorials, regulars, volunteers and conscripts -- is told alongside that of the battalions of Kitcheners New Armies training in trench warfare on Yateley Common. At the same time, in the three private houses forming the Yateley Military Hospital, Yateley women of all ages were tending wounded soldiers. With its intimate glimpses into village life, this book, will fascinate anyone with Yateley connections. The names of many families in the village of 100 years ago are here, while for recent newcomers with perhaps a Victorian or Edwardian house there may be clues to the history of your homes. With its many illustrations and maps, this exploration of the social network, and social consequences of the Great War on a small community in North East Hampshire has interest for historians and general readers alike.

Yateley in the Great War

In the early months of the war, for most people, Scarborough was just another town somewhere in northern England, where exactly, they weren't entirely sure. But all of that changed at 8 am on the morning of 16 December 1914, when three vessels of the Imperial German Navy positioned themselves about 10 miles off of the north-eastern coastline and opened fire. The ensuing attack lasted for some 30 minutes and by the time it was over, 78 people, including women and children, had been killed and a further 228 were wounded. The disbelief at how the attack had been allowed to take place was keenly felt by the British public, and the Government were quick to turn the attack to their advantage by making it part of a propaganda campaign 'Remember Scarborough', which they used on Army recruitment posters. If it hadn't been before, the war had suddenly become a harsh reality for the entire nation, and the town of Scarborough was now well and truly on the map. After the war, the names of the hundreds of young men from the town who had been killed on a foreign battlefield, or the in the icy waters of the high seas, were commemorated on the Scarborough War Memorial at Oliver's Mount. All of these names, as well as those who had been killed in the raid of 16 December 1914, are a true testament to the price Scarborough paid for playing her part in the First World War.

Scarborough in the Great War

Mark Green

Boston's rich history climaxed in 1914 with arguably the first British casualties of the First World War when the town's trawler boats were sunk in the North Sea. Men, sons and fathers, lost in someone elses conflict, found themselves victims of a figurative storm that no weathered sailor could have foreseen. This small town was affected in many other ways during those long, hard years of the Great War. Bostons other traditional industry, farming was decimated of its workforce when men joined up in their hundreds to answer Kitchener's call or to fight alongside their brothers when the eager territorial force was called into action. Biographical accounts bring to life what existence was really like in those dark days of some of the most ferocious fighting encountered in the fields of France and Belgium. Both men and women recite their varied and colorful stories, all brought alive by their humor, resilience, extreme kindness and love of this unique town. Boston was also one of the few towns that fought on every front, the real and dangerous threat of the notorious German High Sea Navy when the Navys code of conduct evaporated under pressure from the German Admiralty, to the threat of the aerial menace forged in the mind of Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin and then onto the grim battlefields of Europe. Whilst at home the women, tendered the wounded, farmed the land and enthusiastically challenged the status quo of male-orientated labor. Surviving these horrors was a testament to a town built on values that outweigh anything that would try to diminish the free will of a determined community. Amongst other memorials in the town and surrounding areas, a square base on a chamfered plinth bears the names of the fallen with the timeless epitaph in the gardens: 'Walk in this garden of peace and remember. When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.'

Boston in the Great War

Ken Porter

Clacton-on-Sea and the surrounding coastline is part of the Sunshine Coast, an area of sandy beaches and low-level cliffs facing the North Sea. This book gives a brief history of the major nearby villages Brightlingsea, St Oysths, Clacton on Sea, Holland on Sea, Frinton and Walton on the Naze as they developed from agricultural areas, to seaside resorts in the mid to late 1800s, and then into heavily defended hives of activity. They were considered by the authorities to be convenient spots for foreign invasion and, as a result, mock invasion exercises at Clacton had taken place since the early 1900s. Being close to the sea, many of the inhabitants were heavily involved with yachting and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, so it's not surprising that a great number joined the Royal or Merchant Navy.Brightlingsea became a major naval port and the Australian and New Zealander's Engineers trained there for four years. Clacton itself saw over a 1,000 men sign up, and it also had a number of Military and Convalescent Homes that treated injured men. Middlesex Hospital, for one, treated over 9,000 men. The local villages produced a considerable number of men who were awarded the Military Medal/Cross, and Walton on the Naze produced one VC in Herbert Columbine.The tremendous efforts of others are also covered, in particular those of the local women folk. A number of appropriate poems, many written at the time, are included throughout the book, as well as rarely seen photographs and insightful reports from the local papers of that period.

Clacton-on-Sea and the Surrounding Coastline in the Great War

Because of the geographical location of the Isle of Thanet, it was always going to play a part in the First World War. For some wounded British and Commonwealth troops returning from the fighting in France and Belgium, it was their first sight of England in months. The Isle of Thanet just happened to be on one of the routes German Zeppelins and Gotha Bombers took on their way to try and bomb London, which meant that parts of the district were always going to be vulnerable from a sudden and unexpected attack from the air. The Isle of Thanet not only provided thousands of men for service in the armed forces, but hundreds of men and women to serve in the Voluntary Aid Detachments that were greatly needed, not just throughout the Isle of Thanet, but all over Kent, to help deal with the steady influx of returning wounded soldiers from across the English Channel. Members of local Territorial units, the 4th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and the 3rd (Kent) Battalion, Royal Field Artillery, were quickly mobilized for war time service, during the early days of the war, suddenly making everything so very real for those concerned. Many of the district's Police Constables, were ex-servicemen, some of whom were still on the Army Reserve, they too were called up to once again go and serve with the colors. There was a great clamor across the country with everybody wanting to do their bit in whatever way they could, the people of the Isle of Thanet were no different. By the end of the war, they had certainly played their part in ensuring that the outcome was a victorious one, making the sadness of the ones who had paid the ultimate price, slightly easier to accept.

Isle of Thanet in the Great War: Broadstairs–Margate–Ramsgate

The Isle of Sheppey, although not a heavily populated area, played an extremely important part in Great Britain's war effort on the home front throughout the four and a half years of the First World War. In doing so, Sheppey provided protection for the Thames Estuary, the River Medway and the naval shipyards at both Sheerness and Chatham. Its defensive emplacements largely responsible for acquiring the nickname locally of the 'Barbed Wire Island.' One of its main claims to fame in relation to the years of the First World War would have undoubtedly been in relation to aviation. The island had been a hive of activity in relation to flying since the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Royal Aero Club came to Leysdown, making it the first airfield in England. What became Eastchurch Aerodrome was where the first pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service were trained, making it the first military flying school in the country. The Short brothers also had an aircraft factory at Eastchurch where they designed and built their own aircraft, some of which would be used during the First World War. The Isle of Sheppey also boasted another aircraft factory, which was situated at Shellbeach on the east coast of the island, an emergency landing strip at Harty on the southeast side of the island, and a balloon station at Sheerness. The First World War certainly saw the Isle of Sheppey rise to the occasion and add to its long and illustrious military history. The part it played went a long way in enhancing the island's reputation of having a dogged determination to do what needed to be done for the greater good in the nation's time of need.

Isle of Sheppey in the Great War

Glynis Cooper

The war touched almost every aspect of life on the Home Front, and those who were left behind suffered terribly. This book meticulously explores the problems, hardships and grief faced by Manchesters people and takes a detailed look the unfortunate areas that were hit the hardest. Throughout Britain, industry declined and wages suffered; prices of food and fuel rose sharply; essential foodstuffs and coal were hoarded for the black market; soldiers families doubled up with others, which caused severe overcrowding; housing and sanitation improvements ceased; there were epidemics of measles, chickenpox, influenza and TB; German U-boats tried to prevent supplies reaching Britain; and Zeppelin airships attempted to destroy British trade and industry. Manchester City suffered greatly because of its cotton trade, its industrial output, and its proximity to Liverpool, but its citizens were determined not to let the Kaiser win. This book documents how they fought back by living in a twilight world of blackouts so that enemy airships would miss their targets; how they accepted emergency rationing of food and coal, and restrictions; and how they worked tirelessly in the nearby cotton mills and munitions factories, and dug for victory on their allotments. Overall, the people of Manchester were united in their grief over the sad loss of life on the fronts. This grief broke across class barriers and saw debutantes and mill girls, alike, take comfort in each other. City of Manchester in the Great War tells the remarkable story of the spirit of a city whose citizens refused to give in, who strived to fight the odds that were stacked against them.

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