Between the Lines No 50

Autumn 2013

Not long now!! Less than a year to go now to the 2014 centenary. Towns and villages all over the country, and of course in America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia too, are sprucing up their war memorials, restoring fountains, clearing weeds and planning displays in local museums and libraries. People everywhere are being encouraged to rummage in their attics and look out old family photographs, diaries and letters to record our local history before it is too late. Local History Societies and libraries are busy digitalising their WW1 records and organising tours of WW1 graves, and local councils are planning commemorative marches and ceremonies. WFA members will be playing a large part in the commemorations and as a result it is hoped that more people will join us over the next five years. More ambitious projects underway in England include restoration of the Stow Maries Aerodrome buildings in Essex, and a Memorial to the Liverpool Pals, which will consist of four frieze panels by sculptor Tom Murphy, to be unveiled on August 31st 2014, 100 years to the day since the first Pals enlisted at St George’s Hall in Liverpool.

STOP PRESS Do look at the IWM’s www.1914.org/ website which also contains interesting podcasts www.1914.org/podcasts/ The Government have also launched their own WW1 centenary website where all official announcements will be posted www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/first-world-war-centenary

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VILLERS-BRETONNEUX 11 JUNE 2013 Our Branch’s latest day trip to the Western Front battlefields was to learn something of the actions of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in the Villers-Bretonneux area. An early departure and travel through the Channel Tunnel instead of our usual ferry enabled us to be in France by mid-morning. Our drive south brought us to a viewpoint at Crucifix Corner, east of Amiens, where our guide Dr Andrew Thomson described actions involving the defence of Amiens in 1918. The Australian Corps Memorial of Le Hamel, commemorating over 100,000 Australians who served in the Australian Corps in France, was our next stop. Here we walked around the park, reading the orientation tables and information boards which describe the July 1918 actions of Australian forces. Surveying the landscape whilst eating our picnic lunch we could see in the distance the brickworks chimney, the site of Manfred von Richthofen’s crash in 1918. Approached through the beautiful Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery the impressive Australian National Memorial was next on the itinerary. Inaugurated in 1938 the walls bear the names of 11,000 soldiers who fell in France and have no known grave. There are splendid views of the battlefield from the top of the tower. The first floor of the Victoria School in Villers-Bretonneux houses the ANZAC Museum and here we saw the fine collection of artefacts and memorabilia illustrating the role of the Australian and New Zealand forces on the Western Front. On the ground floor of the building is the Victoria Hall with carved wooden panelling and photographs from the Australian State of Victoria. En route to the museum we passed the Adelaide Cemetery from where in 1993 the body of the Australian Unknown Soldier was exhumed and taken for burial in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Also on the outskirts of Villers-Bretonneux is a plaque commemorating the first engagement between British and German tanks in April 1918. Our time in France ended with an early evening meal at a restaurant outside Boulogne on the way to the Channel Tunnel and the final stage of our journey home. What an excellent day!

LINDA SWIFT Please note : Paul Barnett’s beautiful colour photograph of the Somme valley in June 2013 with von Richtofen brickworks is featured inside back cover.

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Scotland’s WW1 centenary programme Edinburgh Castle is to host a re-enactment of a frontline military service in August 2014, commencing a 5-year commemoration of the WWI centenary. A Drumhead service from the Great war will be recreated, in which soldiers in the trenches piled drums draped with flags in place of a religious altar. The Scottish programme lasting until 2019 will bring together significant events from the outbreak of war to Armistice Day and beyond. Major battles such as Jutland and Gallipoli will be marked and the tragic sinking of HMS Iolaire off Stornoway. The battles of Loos and Arras will also be remembered as Scottish battalions who participated suffered heavy losses.

WWI commemorations planned in Belgium The Belgian federal government announced in May that special ceremonies to commemorate World War I will be held next year, which will take place on 4 August in Liège, 28 October in Ieper and the coastal resort of Nieuwpoort, and 11 November in Brussels. The federal government is also participating in four other international events. These will be held on 4 August 2014 in Mons, from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016 in the Brussels Region, from 22 April 2015 to 28 May 2015 in Ieper and from 31 July 2017 to 6 November 2017 in Paschendaele. The Defence Minister also announced that special Certificates will be created to honour towns or cities that were badly affected by the Great War. Flanders is gearing up for the centenary of the First World War next year by launching day tours to Flanders Fields from Brussels and Bruges. The tours last between 11 and 13 hours and include a visit to the renewed In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, the restored Belgian trenches in Diksmuide and Tyne Cot Cemetery in Passchendaele - the largest Commonwealth military cemetery in the world. There will also be a chance to visit the Menin Gate in Ypres for the poignant Last Post ceremony, which takes place every night at 6pm. Visit http://brugge-city-tours.be/en or http://brussels-city-tours.be/en/tours/flandersfields to book. The renovated Yser Tower Museum in Diksmuide will re-open in February 2014 and will tell the story of the Belgium-German confrontation during the war, while the Vegetable Museum near Mechelen will feature a Gardening during Wartime exhibition in the spring. Special exhibitions focusing on war artists will take place from May to September at various museums across Flanders and Brussels will host a 1000 Voices for Peace music concert in August. The event will feature a speciallycommissioned large-scale oratorio by American composer Philip Glass. In October 2014 in the coastal resort of Nieuwpoort, a new visitor centre dedicated to the Battle of Yser will open. The river was deliberately flooded from Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide to block the advancing German army. Also in October Antwerp - which acted as a safe haven for many civilians on the run from the Germans - will host a series of events and exhibitions focusing on their experiences. To find out more about First World War commemoration events between 2014 and 2018, visit http://www.flandersfields1418.com/

Surprise house guest in North Wales ! When showing his parents around his new home Henry Southall found a 16lb WW1 bomb in one of the kitchen cupboards, which had been hidden by a filing cabinet. He called the police who alerted the bomb squad. If the device in the house in Borth y Gest, North Wales, had exploded it would have destroyed everything within a 200 yard radius, including Henry’s cafe, and would have blown out the windows of nearby properties. The device was safely detonated on Black Rock Sands beach.

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Lives of the First World War Now that the First World War is outside living memory we are the custodians of that generation’s stories. The Imperial War Museum was established while the First World War was still being fought to ensure that future generations would understand the causes and consequences of the war, and to remember the men and women who played their role. The Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War project plans to record everything from a soldier’s employment records to health and safety manuals from the time. The project is part of centenary commemorations and will be the first permanent digital memorial of its kind, and will celebrate the 8 million unsung heroes from across Britain and the Commonwealth, who served in uniform and on the home front. The IWM is working with online publisher brightsolid to create the interactive archive, which should go live later this year. For further information visit http://www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org Mobile communications in WWI It’s clear that communications technology has transformed 21st century warfare. Unmanned drone aircraft are flown by pilots thousands of miles away and civilians transmit live video coverage of military activity from their mobile phones, to give just two examples. Radio had proved its worth at sea before the First World War when the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912. The stricken liner sent a Morse Code radio distress call that was received by RMS Carpathia. During WW1, all the major navies used radio equipment - and were also aware of the risks involved with wireless technology. Communications could be overheard and could even be located by the enemy. As a result, ships tended to avoid sending messages unless it was essential so radio was used mainly for receiving one-way messages. Submarines had a greater problem: they could only communicate when they were on or very near the surface, risking discovery. Most equipment at the beginning of the 1914-1918 conflict wasn’t capable of sending voice by radio, which meant Morse or military codes needed to be ‘tapped out’ by hand and translated by radio operators. Direction-finding receivers were also used on battlefields, causing land-based forces to be cautious as well. While messages to and from the frontline were sometimes delivered by motorcycle dispatch riders, it wasn’t unusual to see carrier pigeons and messenger dogs being employed. Similarly, semaphore flags and lights were used when field telephone lines weren’t practical. Radio equipment was bulky, which is one of the reasons it wasn’t used much in aircraft at the start of the Great War. Antennas were long and batteries were heavy. By 1918, however, several hundred RAF aircraft had been fitted with two-way radios that could transmit voices, enabling an informal version of Air Traffic Control. Pilots of German Zeppelin airships listened to radio signals in order to track their own location as they flew towards England. Wireless technology was in its infancy during the First World War but the benefits and risks were already clear to military commanders and many of those risks and benefits remain largely unchanged today. It is still a challenge to ensure your message is heard by the right people... and not overheard by the wrong ones.

Military tribute to heroic war horse A new military vehicle being delivered to B Squadron (Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry) of the Royal Yeomanry has been named “Songster” after a WWI horse. Songster served the Leicestershire yeomanry in France and was ridden by Trooper Bert Main of Loughborough. When Sgt Main returned home, Songster was kept working in France and was eventually sent home to England for "disposal" in 1919. Sgt Main found Songster, bought him from the Army, and placed him in the care of a friend who owned a farm in Woodhouse Eaves. One day, in 1920, the Leicester Yeomanry was marching to camp and passed Songster's field. He heard the bugle and leaped over a 5ft fence and approached them. They took him to camp with them, and every year after that until 1936. In 1940, Sgt Major Poole organised a field sports party for many of Songster's human friends from the war. Sadly, Songster collapsed while walking back to the farm. He was buried in the field that he had grazed since the war, with the medal ribbons he had earned including the Mons Star, General Service Medal, the Victory medal and two Long Service medals.

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Michael Palin to star in WWI drama The Wipers Times A new BBC2 drama set on the battlefields of WWI is based on the true story of a satirical newspaper The Wipers Times produced by soldiers in the trenches. The drama to be shown later this year has been written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. Alongside Michael Palin, the cast includes Ben Chaplin, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Steve Oram and Emilia Fox. In this "story of the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity". Captain Fred Roberts discovers a printing press in the bombed-out ruins of Belgian town Ypres in 1916 and uses it to publish The Wipers Times. The paper's subversive humour proves popular with soldiers on the front line but goes down less well with their superior officers. As the war continued, the paper changed its name as the 12th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, who produced it, moved around northern France. Its other titles included The Somme Times and, after the Armistice, The Better Times. The poem Six Young Men by Ted Hughes is based on a photo taken at Lumb Falls near Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire in 1914 This poem is about the futility of war; particularly WWI. Ted's father had been psychologically scarred by the trauma of witnessing the slaughter of his fellow soldiers at Gallipoli in 1915, one of just two per cent of his regiment to survive. This poem is also about the knowledge of our own death and non-existence. We are reminded that one day all that will be left of us will be a smiling face in a photograph.

The celluloid of a photograph holds them well Six young men, familiar to their friends. Four decades that have faded and ochre-tinged This photograph have not wrinkled the faces or the hands. Though their cocked hats are not now fashionable, Their shoes shine. One imparts an intimate smile, One chews a grass, one lowers his eyes, bashful, One is ridiculous with cocky pride Six months after this picture they were all dead. All are trimmed for a Sunday jaunt. I know That bilberried bank, that thick tree, that black wall, Which are there yet and not changed. From where these sit You hear the water of seven streams fall To the roarer in the bottom, and through all The leafy valley a rumouring of air go. Pictured here, their expressions listen yet, And still that valley has not changed its sound Though their faces are four decades under the ground. This one was shot in an attack and lay Calling in the wire, then this one, his best friend, Went out to bring him in and was shot too;

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And this one, the very moment he was warned From potting at tin-cans in no-man's land, Fell back dead with his rifle-sights shot away. The rest, nobody knows what they came to, But come to the worst they must have done, and held it Closer than their hope; all were killed. Here see a man's photograph, The locket of a smile, turned overnight Into the hospital of his mangled last Agony and hours; see bundled in it His mightier-than-a-man dead bulk and weight: And on this one place which keeps him alive (In his Sunday best) see fall war's worst Thinkable flash and rending, onto his smile Forty years rotting into soil. That man's not more alive whom you confront And shake by the hand, see hale, hear speak loud, Than any of these six celluloid smiles are, Nor prehistoric or, fabulous beast more dead; No thought so vivid as their smoking-blood: To regard this photograph might well dement, Such contradictory permanent horrors here Smile from the single exposure and shoulder out One's own body from its instant and heat.

1.2 million Indian soldiers who died for Britain commemorated by minister In April Britain's Faith and Communities minister Baroness Warsi visited the grave of Indian soldier Khudadad Khan - the first Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross in Belgium. She stopped at the village of Hollebeke where she laid a wreath at a memorial to Sikh soldiers. This was where Indian soldiers saw some of their first action in the early months of the war. Baroness Warsi said "Our boys weren't just Tommies, they were Tariqs and Tajinders too. A picture of a soldier in a turban is not what we immediately associate with the Great War. And yet so many men from so far away came to Europe to fight for the freedoms we enjoy today. Their legacy is our liberty, and every single one of us owes them a debt of gratitude." 1.2 million soldiers from undivided India served with the Allies, 74,000 of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. "It was particularly poignant to see the endless names - of Khans and Singhs, Alis and Atwals - listed on the memorials. It was also fascinating to hear how arrangements for religious and cultural observances, such as Ramadan and wearing turbans, were part of their lives, even on the frontline. “ Baroness Warsi's first stop was the Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial in France, which honours the 4,742 Indian soldiers on the Western Front who have no known grave. At Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, in Belgium, she saw the grave of a Hindu fallen soldier alongside comrades from the Chinese Labour Corps. Baroness Warsi also visited Grootebeek British Cemetery, which includes graves of soldiers who came from her parents' village in Pakistan. She met the owner of the nearby farm, who recounted his father's experiences when the barn was turned into a hospital for wounded Indian soldiers. In August 1914 the Indian Army comprised 39 horsed cavalry regiments and 138 infantry battalions, 20 of which were Gurkhas. There were 200,000 enlisted men, although 45,000 of these were non-combatants such as cooks, grooms and tailors. Indians were highly-trained soldiers but their equipment was badly outdated. They had no mechanical transport, no grenades, no searchlights and only two machine guns to a battalion. Their medical provision was poor and their uniforms were thin cotton khaki drill, totally inadequate for harsh winters in Northern Europe. When war broke out, India was in a state of growing political unrest, with the Indian National Congress party pushing for self-government. Offers of financial and military help were made from all over the country. Wealthy

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Indian princes offered great sums of money, Nepal sent 100,000 Gurkhas and The Dalai Lama in Tibet offered 1000 of his troops.

India played a significant part in WWI which is often overlooked. Before the war started Germany tried to stir up an anti-British movement in India. When war was declared on August 4th those with influence within India believed that the cause of Indian independence would best be served by helping out Britain. Britain took many troops and most of the military equipment out of India and Indian troops were on the Western Front by the winter of 1914. They fought at the first Battle of Ypres and by the end of 1915 had sustained many casualties so the Indian Corps were withdrawn from front line duty. 800,000 Indian troops fought in the war of whom 47,746 were classed as killed or missing with 65,000 wounded. The Indian Corps won 13,000 medals for gallantry including 12 Victoria Crosses. India expected to be rewarded with a major move towards independence or at the least self-government after the war. When it became obvious that this was not going to happen, the mood in India became more militant. The British government’s post-war attitude quickly alienated Gandhi and was a great stimulus for his independence movement. In 1919, the Government of India Act was introduced. This introduced a national parliament with two houses for India. 5 million of the wealthiest Indians were given the right to vote. Within the provincial governments, ministers of education, health and public works could now be Indian nationals. The British still controlled all central government and within provincial governments kept control of tax and law and order. Although feeling badly let down by the British government India nevertheless played a significant part in WWII.

An army marches on its stomach –

Saying attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte

Bully beef and biscuits for breakfast, lunch and dinner left Anzac soldiers with little stomach for battle, Kiwi researchers from Otago University have found. Sub-standard diets were not good for the troops’ health or their morale. Military rations were well below modern requirements for vitamins A, C and E as well as potassium, selenium and dietary fibre. There had been well-documented problems with scurvy during the American Civil war so it was foolhardy to send troops into battle with a diet not containing any fruit or vegetables. This could have been avoided by packing canned fruit and vegetables which were being produced in New Zealand at the time. Researchers found evidence of scurvy and vitamin A levels so low that the soldiers’ diet may have caused night blindness. Soldiers’ letters home revealed a distaste for their ration packs. They wrote about maggots in the meat, and biscuits so hard they could only nibble round the edges. Infection was prevalent, as malnutrition weakened the soldiers’ immune systems, leaving them susceptible to diseases such as typhoid and dysentery which claimed more than 200 NZ lives. Military planners were not expecting a long war, and made bad decisions in some of their planning. Lessons were, however, learned from the Gallipoli campaign leading to better rationing later on the Western Front.

Field rations In 1914 most UK soldiers were allowed 10z of meat and 8oz of vegetables a day, a luxury compared with what was to come. They were supplied with hot meals from field kitchens but the food was usually lukewarm by the time it reached the men. Each winter there was less food available so soldiers had to rely on their rations unless they were lucky enough to receive Red Cross food parcels. All parcels sent from home were much appreciated, not only for the contact with loved ones, but because they contained home-made cake, chocolate, tins of sardines and other titbits. Field rations consisted of hard, dry biscuits. Any bread there was had usually gone stale by the time it reached the front line, but stale bread kept better! The soldiers had tins of corned or bully beef, and rations of jam and tea. The food came from tins or packets or was salted for preservation, as there was no way to keep food fresh.

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If soldiers could heat water they drunk mugs of tea made with condensed milk. Sometimes a cheese called bung which caused constipation, bacon or jars of porridge or burgoo were brought to the front line. Only when soldiers went back down the line were they able to get regular hot meals from army field kitchens. Tinned butter sometimes had to be shared between as many as seventeen men and a loaf of fresh bread, which was a real treat, was shared by up to ten men. By the winter of 1916 the meat ration was down to 6oz a day but later meat was only provided once every nine days. Flour was in short supply so bread was being made with dried ground turnips which was unappetizing and caused diarrhea. The main course was now pea soup with lumps of horsemeat. Camp cooks became more dependent on local vegetables and used nettles and weeds to flavour soups and stews. A battalion had just two large vats to prepare all the food in. Soldiers often complained that their tea tasted of vegetables. Soldiers broke up stale biscuits then added potatoes, onions, or whatever was available, and boiled the mixture up inside an empty sandbag. The catering staff put food in cooking pots called dixies, petrol cans or old earthenware jam jars and carried it up the communication trenches in straw-lined boxes, but by the time the food reached the front-line it was nearly always cold. Even when the field kitchens were moved closer to the front-line it was still difficult to provide regular hot food for the men. Soldiers used small primus stoves called “Tommy’s cookers” sent by families back home. If they had enough fuel they could heat their food and brew some tea. Tommies only earned a shilling a day, the King’s shilling, or twenty four cents in French currency. If they had French money they could supplement their diet with fresh eggs, milk, bread, and pastry bought at village shops or estaminets. For a real treat they might find a tin of pears or apricots to purchase. Tins of Maconochie stew contained sliced turnips and carrots or beans in a thin soup with a piece of pork fat on top. A tin was supposed to feed four men, but soldiers got so hungry they could easily have eaten a whole tin each, however unpleasant it tasted when cold. The British Army tried to hide food shortages from the enemy but when they announced that British soldiers were being supplied with two hot meals a day, they received more than 200,000 letters from angry soldiers pointing out the truth. The officers may have been fed well but the men in the trenches often went hungry. The men renamed the Military Medal, awarded for “bravery in the field”, the Maconochie Medal as they maintained that Maconochie stew was so terrible that only a brave man would eat it. Capt Dundas writing in March 1915 offered advice to his wife in Ramsgate on how to pack parcels:Let fragile articles be wrapped in waterproof paper – such articles as biscuits are no use at all. Thomas Atkins has his own brand of biscuit warranted to break any teeth or to fracture even a German skull when forcibly applied. He does not want to see biscuits for the rest of his life. Again it’s no use sending marmalade in pots- that means the ruin of other people’s property and an aggravation of one’s existing dirty, messy and sticky condition. Besides, one must remember the mental harm arising from intense disappointment. When your jams consist for one week of “apple and plum” and next week of plum and apple”, marmalade, real, honest, true blue marmalade, made as Punch says from the best Seville oranges and sugar, which really resembles the marmalade one gets at home is very welcome. Let jams then be sent in tins. It is extraordinary how food and feeding occupy such a large place in one’s thoughts. When you are moving, of course, you can’t be sure when and where you may get your next meal, so you load your haversack with beef, biscuits and chocolate, and you pray you may halt near an estaminet where wine, white or red, may be procured.

According to the Thanet Advertiser parcels being sent to the troops in September 1915 contained 1 cake, 1 tin of cocoa, two tins of milk, 2 tins of coffee and milk, 1 tin of lemonade powder, half a pound of butter, 1 pot of marmalade, 1 pot of strawberry jam, 3 bars of chocolate, 1 tin of sardines, 3 packets of soup, 2lb sugar, 2 jars of potted meat, 3 packets of cigarettes, known popularly as coffin nails. Private Bennett, writing to friends in Ramsgate in January 1916, sent a parody on Tickler’s Jam that had been sung with tremendous gusto at a trench concert given “Somewhere in France” This is the chorus:Tickler’s Jam! Tickler’s Jam! How I love old Tickler’s Jam Plum and apple in one pound pots Sent from England in ten ton lots Every night when I must sleep I’m dreaming that I am Forcing my way up the Dardanelles With a pot of Tickler’s Jam.

Andrew Roberstshaw, curator of the Royal Logistic Corps Museum in Deepcut in Surrey has published a new guide to “Feeding Tommy”. There was no “rat-au-vin” but they did have beef tea, mutton broth, brawn, potato pie and duff pudding. Andrew admits that soldiers will always grumble about army food but says that feeding the army was a stunning logistical achievement. Food offered by the army was often far superior to what many Tommies were used to at home. The army diet was particularly high in protein which left many men suffering from boils and constipation.

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Curry was popular as many of the soldiers had served in India. Leftovers were sold as swill to local farmers and dripping was saved for use in the manufacture of explosives. www.rlcmuseum.co.uk

When visiting the Mons battlefield area go to the Tourist Office in the Grand Place or contact www. monsregion.be for an excellent free guide.

The Iron Harvest – continued Further to my article in the June newsletter here are some interesting facts about the never-ending deadly harvest being dug up on a daily basis in Flanders. The 1914-18 war may be for most people the stuff of history books and annual Remembrance Day ceremonies but in the former battlefields of Belgium and northern France the war remains a daily reality. New shell storage sites are being discovered all the time. It is estimated that no fewer than 1.5 billion projectiles were shipped to the front lines during the war. But millions were not fired, and millions more failed to blow up because of shoddy production techniques. 90 per cent of incoming shells are easily identified as non-toxic and sent to special outdoor storage areas where they are placed in crates to await controlled destruction. Shells suspected of containing toxic chemicals are taken to a separate building to be x-rayed before a decision about disposal is made. The Belgian army’s Dienst voor Opruiming en Vernietiging van Ontploffingsstuigen (DOVO) or Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company consists of about 60 officers responsible for the collection and destruction of munitions since the Belgian practice of dumping them at sea was banned in the 1980s. Their base at Poelkapelle houses an extraordinary collection of munitions (used for identification purposes) of all shapes and sizes from many different countries of which the biggest are the British 15in and the German 38cm shells. The base is always on standby and responds to about 2,000 calls each year. The DOVO insignia depicts a falling shell and the motto ‘Pericula non timeo’ or I do not fear dangers. The work is becoming more hazardous as the shell casings corrode with age. A memorial at Poelkapelle lists the names of 23 DOVO officers killed since 1944 including four who died in 1986 when a pile of shells at the base exploded. In the Ypres area alone 358 people have been killed and 535 injured by WW1 munitions since November 1918. Among those were seven labourers, policemen and firemen injured during cable-laying work in March this year. Most injuries occur to farmers, utility workers and occasionally also sadly to careless collectors of militaria despite all the warnings. The Belgian government has paid out nearly 140,000 Euros in compensation over the past three years for damage to tractors, ploughs and combine harvesters. LP

Restoring the First World War galleries at the Australian War Memorial An A$32 million dollar project is underway in Canberra to transform the WW1 galleries in time for the ANZAC centenary in 2015. The ambitious project includes the restoration of the much-loved dioramas depicting key battles in the war and the Ascot bullet-ridden boat that landed troops at Gallipoli. Page 10 of 20

Commander Campbell and the Q ships At the June meeting Ian Cull gave us an interesting talk about the Q ships and Commander Campbell VC. Britain was unprepared for anti-submarine warfare in 1914. The Hague convention of 1906 forbade the sinking of merchant ships unless their crews had been put into a place of safety beforehand. These were known as the “Cruiser rules” and assumed the attacking vessel was large enough to accommodate the victim’s crew. This was impossible on a submarine. Jackie Fisher, the first Sea Lord, wrote to the Lord of the Admiralty (the cabinet minister responsible) asking what would happen if an enemy adopted indiscriminate submarine warfare. Churchill responded that this would be unthinkable by a civilised nation. The admiralty received a nasty jolt in September 1914 when three cruisers were torpedoed in turn by U-9. Aboukir, the first to be hit, was initially thought to have struck a mine, but when her consorts Cressy and Hogue went to her assistance, they were also torpedoed, with great loss of life. Attacks on warships were within the rules, but the incident demonstrated the effectiveness of both torpedoes and German submarines. The situation escalated in April 1915 when the Cunard passenger liner Lusitania was torpedoed without warning off the coast of Ireland, killing over 1100 people, including American passengers, leading to worldwide condemnation of Germany. Germany published a map of British home waters, and warned that any ships caught in a shaded area would be sunk. It was the practice for submarines to surface, fire a shot over the bows of the victim, order the crew into the boats, board the ship to take the papers, and then sink it. In 1916, the French owned cross channel ferry Sussex was torpedoed off Dieppe. Germany claimed she was carrying troops, and had hit an allied mine. She was actually carrying US and Spanish citizens, some of whom had been casualties. Unfortunately for the Germans, the hulk was beached at Boulogne, and the American and Spanish embassies were invited to inspect the remains of a torpedo with German markings. Both countries threatened to break off diplomatic relations, forcing Germany to issue a document called the Sussex Pledge, in which they promised to end the attacks on passenger ships. By this stage of the war, the sinking of merchant ships had become a serious issue, affecting Britain’s food supplies, and the raw materials to manufacture arms. In utmost secrecy, the admiralty decided to fit innocent looking merchant ships with concealed artillery and attempt to destroy U-boats when they surfaced alongside. Lieutenant Commander Gordon Campbell, who had been commanding a destroyer, was ordered to requisition a collier, called the Pargust, and have it fitted with weapons in Devonport. Campbell and his crew, who mostly remained with him until August 1917, operated three Q ships (so called because they were based in Queenstown, now Cobh) in Ireland. They succeeded in sinking three submarines, at the expense of their own ships being sunk. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded for the various actions, to Campbell, Lieutenant Stewart, Lieutenant Bonner, Petty Officer Pitcher and Seaman Williams. Campbell finished the war as a Vice-Admiral, commanding anti submarine warfare in home waters. PB

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RAILWAY GUNS At our July meeting Bill Fulton introduced us to the early use of rail-mounted large calibre guns by describing the 13 inch mortars used at the siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War. The British used 4.7 inch naval guns carried on armoured rail wagons to cover the Royal Navy's landing at Alexandria in 1882 and by 1900 armoured trains were being used in South Africa. At the Paris exhibition of 1900, Schneiders demonstrated a purpose built rail-mounted gun platform with full traverse on a turntable and outriggers for stability. France and Germany were interested in the siege-busting capacity of these powerful weapons, however, it would be the outbreak of WW1 which galvanised Britain into joining this arena of the arms race. In 1914 the largest British artillery field piece was the 9.2 inch howitzer but there were larger naval guns available. British observers noted the German mounting of 17 inch mortars on rail trucks and the French ideas for railway mountings to take 12 inch guns. While military planners wrestled with the idea the Admiralty had a secret project under way. Probably prompted by Winston Churchill, the First Sea Lord, the Royal Navy 'donated' two spare 12 inch guns reserved for replacement when required for HMS Cornwallis. These were given to Vickers with the instruction to design a suitable Railway Truck Mounting (RTM) for the Army's use in France. In September 1915 the Navy announced its 'largesse' to the Army and the Director of Royal Artillery informed the Ordnance Board of the Admiralty’s fait accompli, and the rail-mounted guns were sent to France with 53 Siege Battery Royal Artillery. Good results were reported, just a few refinements were needed to the RTMs and in August 1916 two more 12 inch guns, this time on Armstrong manufactured RTMs, arrived in France. We were then shown German developments in big guns – the most famous being the Paris Gun, seven of which were made. Although larger calibres were manufactured, the Paris Gun had the longest range of 71 miles – firing a 236.5 pound shell out of a barrel more than 109 feet in length, with a suitably contrived rail mounting capable of transporting such a weapon. The British opted for larger shells, utilising two spare 14 inch guns produced by Elswick Ordnance Company for the Japanese ‘Kongo’ Class battleships. Compared with the earlier British 12 inch guns with shells weighing 750 pounds each, the 14 inch ammunition weighed 1,586 pounds per round and more than doubled the range from 8.2 miles to 19.3 miles. Building the RTM’s for these two guns was a massive engineering feat. Apart from the sheer size, the guns were a matched pair so one was left-handed breech and its mate was right-handed. These were the last RTM’s ever built in the UK and they were named by the men who built them, in a competition to choose a suitable title, as His Majesty’s Guns Boche Buster (right-handed) and Scene Shifter (left-handed). Each RTM weighed 248 tons(including 83 ton gun). There were no replacement parts available and no existing range tables for such leviathans – everything had to be worked out anew. Each gun’s train consisted of an engine and tender (maximum speed 20-25 mph), the gun on its RTM and a magazine wagon, an ordinary iron van used as a cartridge wagon and a cattle truck adapted as the battery command post followed by the brake van. The two guns went to France with 471 Siege Battery RA (Lydd) to serve with the First Army in May 1918. Their weight caused problems when they were landed, the lurch as the ferry rose as each gun came off could have been disastrous. On 6 June an enormous French train took Boche Buster to Arras and Scene Shifter to Bethune, although the train ran out of steam on high ground in full view of the Germans at Bethune and three locomotives were needed to move it. Boche Buster fired its first shot on 24 June on Libercourt Station but was to achieve fame for the shot fired by King George V on 8 August 1918. While on a tour of inspection the King was invited to fire the gun and hit Douai station at a range of 18 miles with his first shot. These guns had only a 4 degree arc of fire achieved by hand-operated winches. Greater traverses had to be attained by laying curved track to swing the RTM and the gun around to point of aim. German guns, with plenty of time afforded to undertake construction work, could rely upon specially designed concrete emplacements where trains could shunt the gun onto a platform where it could be rotated onto a choice of targets. These massive structures can still be found in French forests today. By the end of the war an experimental 18 inch howitzer was being trialled on the adapted RTM previously used for th Boche Buster. With the armistice the interest in such guns waned. A German 28cm railway gun captured by 4 Army and brought back to Richborough was featured in a Thanet Advertiser campaign in February 1919 to be claimed by Thanet as a trophy. Sadly, the ‘Amiens Gun’ was destined for scrap rather than to become the ‘Thanet Gun’. Moving on to WW2 the railway guns became of local interest to the branch. Early in 1939 the officer commanding Boche Buster in WW1, Major S M (Monty) Cleeve, contacted the War Office to resuscitate the ‘super heavies’ but his offer was declined and he was posted to Hong Kong. However, at the outbreak of war he was ordered back to Catterick as the only man available to train such gunners. Only one 18 inch barrel, and no RTM, was known to exist at that time. Cleeve managed to track down the RTMs for both Boche Buster and Scene Shifter together with 19 miscellaneous 9.2 inch and 12 inch howitzers.

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The fall of France resulted in serious action. An 18 inch howitzer was mounted on the Boche Buster RTM and sent to Bishopsbourne. Four 14 inch barrels were taken from battleship King George V stock and three 13.5 inch barrels for other RTMs to be operated by Royal Marines. Two 14 inch static guns, Winnie and Pooh were sited overlooking St Margaret’s at Cliffe and we were shown photographs of smaller 9.2 inch guns running on the Kent and East Sussex Light Railway in 1941. From August 1940 to January 1942 invasion fears and the shelling of British convoys in the Channel and even Dover and further inland kept the British big guns on alert. Although the guns proved ineffective against the fast moving Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen in the Channel Dash on 11 February 1942, by the end of May 1942 the South Foreland (9.2 inch) and Wanstone (15 inch) guns had sunk 25 ships. After D Day the big guns at Dover were ‘in care and maintenance’ and their crews dispersed. Cleeve offered to take Boche Buster over the Channel and use it against fortifications, but was refused. We finished with the mystery of ‘Dora’ the nickname given to Germany’s Schwerer Gustav, a massive 31.5 inch calibre (80cm) firing 4.7 ton High Explosive shells 29 miles, or a heavier fortress destroyer shell weighing 7 tons for 23.6 miles. Originally designed following Hitler’s directive in 1937 to destroy the Maginot Line fortifications, delays in production meant Dora did not see action until 1942 in Russia. Used against Sevastopol’s fortifications, it engaged seven targets over five days – all were destroyed among craters 27 metres across and 9 metres deep. Dora was relocated to Leningrad but withdrawn to Germany as the Red Army advanced. Perhaps used to bombard Warsaw during the Uprising, no trace of the gun has ever been found only some of its ammunition was discovered to mark its trail – a trail requiring a crew of 1420 personnel including admin and anti-aircraft personnel plus another 3870 construction, tracklayer and support troops to service the 1328 ton gun needing 4 rail tracks for its journey. Bill Fulton finished with Britain’s last railway gun, an 18 inch howitzer on a 95 ton proofing sleigh, last fired at Shoeburyness in 1959. It moved to Woolwich in 1991 and finally to Larkhill in 2008. PM

Lend Lease will build Folkestone Arch The contractor is building the £500,000 memorial arch free-of-charge at Folkestone to be erected over the route taken by 10 million British, Canadian, American, Australian and Asian troops between 1914 and 1918 on their way to and from the trenches of the Western Front. Designers Foster Gearing plan to install wireless technology underneath the base so that at night black and white holograms of the men can be projected marching through the completed arch to bring events to life for today’s younger generation by mirroring the emotional atmosphere of the war years. The “Step Short” project will be opened on August 4th 2014.

Paving Stones to commemorate WW1 VC recipients A national competition will be held to design the centenary paving stones which will be placed in areas of the UK where Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War were born. There will be 28 stones unveiled next year to commemorate medals awarded in 1914, and other stones will be unveiled each year up until 2018. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, announcing the competition, said: "Laying paving stones to mark these Victoria Cross heroes will ensure that there is a permanent memorial to all the fallen who fought for our country." He added the stones would "help residents understand how their area played its part in the Great War, and ensure memories of that sacrifice for British freedom and liberty are kept alive for generations to come." Four of the men to be commemorated are Jewish soldiers Frank de Pass, Jack White, Robert Gee and Leonard Keysor. Three survived the war but Lieutenant de Pass, from Kensington, the first Jew to be awarded the VC, which he received for destroying an enemy trench and rescuing a comrade under heavy fire, was killed in action the following day. Private White, who was born in Leeds, was awarded his medal forsaving an officer under fire. Captain Gee, from Leicester, displayed “personal bravery and prompt action”, while Londoner Lieutenant Keysor retrieved two live bombs and threw them back at the enemy. Lieutenant Keysor went to school in Ramsgate. He emigrated to Australia shortly before the First World War. He enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force in August 1914 and served in Egypt before landing at Gallipoli, Turkey at the beginning of the campaign. On 7 August 1915 at Lone Pine, while serving as an acting lance-corporal, 29 year-old Keysor performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Later he served in the trenches along the Western Front and achieved the rank of lieutenant before being discharged from the army on medical grounds at the end of the war.

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The ARK Actress Suranne Jones, seen on TV most recently in “Scott and Bailey” has teamed up with EastEnders writer Sarah Phelps for a new drama set in a field hospital in the First World War.Suranne will appear alongside stars including Oona Chaplin, Hermione Norris and Kerry Fox. She is excited at filming her first period drama about this important transitional period for women, liberated in some respects but still shackled by the conventions and hierarchies of the past. She will play Joan, a nurse with a very independent and modern outlook who is much more interested in her patients than protocol. Filming on the BBC One drama started in August.

New books to watch out for A Detailed History of RAF Manston 1916-1930: The Men Who Made Manston by Joe Bamford and John Williams This first book in a three-book series will finish approximately at the end of WW1 and continue with the growth of the station during the inter-war years. Manston had its origins in the Royal Naval Seaplane Station at Westgate that was later expanded for landplane operations. The landing ground at Westgate was both dangerous and unsuitable which led to the development at Manston. In August 1913, The Daily Mail organised the Round Britain Aeroplane Race that both began and ended at Ramsgate giving a great boost to the town. The first unit to be based at Manston was 3 Wing RNAS that moved from Detling in April 1916. During the war, aeroplanes based at Manston played an important role in defending the Thames and Medway estuaries. Together with RNAS Eastchurch, Manston's War Flight of Triplanes, Camels and Pups patrolled the coast and on 22 August 1917, a German Gotha bomber was shot down near Vincent's Farm. The authors give a detailed history of the units that were based at Manston during this period, their operations and the commanding officers. Manston was the only airfield to build an underground hangar for the protection of its aeroplanes. After WW1 Manston expanded and it took on the role of a training station.

JOE BAMFORD served for six years in the RAF (1968-74) as an assistant air traffic controller and served at Manston and Akrotiri in Cyprus. He has also written Tales from the Control Tower. JOHN WILLIAMS was a former archivist/historian at the Spitfire Museum and is a local historian for Margate Museum and Margate Cemetery Walks.

Stretcher Bearer The memoirs of Charles ‘Bert’ Horton who served from 1915 to 1918 in the Royal Army Medical Corps, have been transformed into the book, Stretcher Bearer, (also available as an e-book) complete with photos supplied by his daughter and granddaughter who collaborated on the book with Stratford writer Dale le Vack. Charles Horton was 19 years old when war broke out in 1914 and he was an undergraduate at Birmingham University. The Hortons were devout Methodists and Bert’s father Joseph disapproved of his son becoming a fighting soldier so he volunteered to join the 1st South Midland Field Ambulance based in barracks in Birmingham. By early 1916 they were in France and the field ambulance served in the Somme offensive and later at Passchendaele, Ypres, before being posted to the Italian and Austrian front in the Alps.

Wings of Contrition Leon Hughes’ novel Wings of Contrition tells the story of British air aces coming of age in the maelstrom and horror of the world’s first air war. He plans a trilogy called Doomed Youth after the Wilfred Own poem and was inspired by old photographs he found in his boarding house at Rugby School. One from 1915 featured a chap wearing a Royal Flying Corps uniform. He found out his name and later learned more about him in the public records office in London. Leon’s second novel The Road to Atonement is planned for publication in 2014.

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Winston On The Run A one-man play about Winston Churchill’s little known early life is coming to Margate this autumn. Winston On The Run charts Churchill’s life from the age of 24 in 1899 when after an unsuccessful election campaign he takes a job as a war correspondent and is posted to South Africa where the Boer War is in full flow. Less than a month into his trip he is an escaped prisoner of war on the run across the vast savannah. The show is co-created by writer and actor Freddie Machin and Fol Espoir’s artistic director, John Walton. The show will be at the Theatre Royal Margate, on Wednesday, October 2, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12, friends £10, To book call 01843 292795 or visit www.theatreroyalmargate.com

Lost and Found WW1 memorial restored to its rightful place Local historian Greg Wigg paid £230 for the solid-bronze memorial at a car boot sale at Cheltenham Racecourse in March and set about trying to find its original home. He contacted the CWGC and the War Memorials Trust and tracked it down to Redditch based firm GKN. The company immediately offered to buy it back and in July it was handed over to go on display at the company's headquarters. The memorial contains the names of seven GKN workers who lost their life during The Great War and it is believed it went missing when the King's Norton Works site closed in the early 1980s. Chris Fox, GKN communications director said they were delighted to have the memorial back in time for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of The First World War in 2014. The names listed are Allen, TE; Crow, H; Daft, B; Fenn, GH; Musgrove, SC; Robinson, J; and Weaver, JJ. Call to Arms found A call to arms to a Leicester battalion on the day the First World War broke out was discovered in July at a car boot sale in Melton. Derek Purves, a collector of military memorabilia, discovered the torn, brown document in a glass frame and snapped it up for £15. .The Post Office telegraph, signed by General Lichfeld, sent on August 4, 1914, orders the mobilisation of the 100 territorials of the “4th Leicester Regiment”, part of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment, known as The Tigers. The 4th and 5th territorial battalions proved themselves worthy members of the regiment at the Battle of Loos. Their work in the attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt in October 1915, which had held up the advance, was hailed as one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. The Battle of Loos, which lasted from September 25th to October 19th 1915, claimed the lives of more than 500 Leicestershire soldiers. Mr Purves struck lucky at another car boot sale a couple of years ago when he bought framed side-by-side photographs of King George V and Queen Mary - which they had signed on the back to an unknown recipient - for £7. The note reads: “With our best wishes for Christmas 1914. In God protect you home safe. Mary R and George R.”

SOS Peter West, Research Volunteer at The Blue Town Heritage Centre in Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey (http://www.bluetownheritagecentre.com/) is asking for advice as HMPS (Her Majesty's Prison Service) on Sheppey have scheduled for demolition some buildings which date back to the Short Bros' occupation of the site (c 1913) which was the former RAF Eastchurch Station. The prison is sitting on a treasury of Aviation Heritage but do not seem to understand its significance. Peter would welcome any help, guidance or advice to try and halt the demolition of these buildings. If you can help please phone him on 01795 510468 or 0776 476 0918. Page 15 of 20

Naval memorial resited in Belgium Representatives from five families – those of Commander A E Godsal, Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, Lieutenant Victor Crutchley VC, Lieutenant Sir John Alleyne Bt VC, and Lieutenant Geoffrey Drummond VC attended a rain-sodden ceremony in June attended by the King and Queen of Belgium to inaugurate the resiting of a memorial to one of the most daring naval exploits. Commander Alfred Edmund Godsal, of Iscoyd Park, near Whitchurch, was killed while commanding HMS Vindictive in a raid on the port of Ostend in May 1918. Formed from the salvaged bow section of the ship, the memorial has been restored and is now in a more prominent position at the Belgian port. Afterwards there was a reception hosted by the Royal Navy on board HMS Tyne, rounded off by the Sundown Ceremony with the lowering of the white ensign. Commander Godsal had taken part in the first Ostend raid on HMS Brilliant on April 23, 1918. Aimed at sinking blockships in the port to prevent U-boats getting out, it was a failure. HMS Vindictive had taken part in a simultaneous raid at nearby Zeebrugge, and the damaged old cruiser was patched up and pressed into action a second time for a renewed raid at Ostend, this time with Commander Godsal in command. The plan was to deliberately sink it in the shipping channel and bottle up the U-boats. Commander Godsal was killed by a shell at the height of the battle and Lieutenant Victor Crutchley assumed command. He later won a VC. U-Boots discovery Along the coast of East Anglia divers have found one of the largest WW1 graveyards with 41 German and 3 English submarines. Most submarines sank with their crews still on board, causing many sailors to drown or suffocate in the cramped and airtight submarines. Dunkley and his team of divers found UB 17 , which had been under the command of naval Lieutenant Albert Branscheid, with a crew of 21 men, off the Suffolk coast. UC 21 sank nearby. All the sunken U-boats found are close to the coast, at depths of about 50 feet. At the beginning of the war, there were only 28 U-boats under the supreme command of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who assigned a secondary role to the U-boats at first. After a German U-boat sank three English armoured cruisers, a large number of volunteers signed up for submarine duty, even though serving in the cramped cabins was practically a suicide mission at the time. Since aiming torpedoes was still such an imprecise science, the submarines had to come dangerously close to enemy warships and became easy prey if spotted. Almost half of the 380 U-boats used by the German navy in WWI were lost. Under the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, the WW I wrecks are currently not considered archeological artifacts deserving special protection as they are not quite 100 years old. Where mines or torpedoes have torn large holes in the vessels, the archeologists can peer inside or robotic vehicles will cut open the hatches of the steel coffins and go inside. In February 1917, the Imperial Navy had altered its strategy and was torpedoing and firing guns at British commercial ships on a large scale. The Royal Navy reacted by providing the freighters with warship escorts, as well as using airships and aircraft to spot enemy submarines from above. German military strategists devised a plan to break up these massive convoys by attacking the naval convoys with several U-boats at the same time. Historians are divided over whether the convoy system ultimately saved the United Kingdom from defeat or whether it was the United States' entry into the war in April 1917. Before then, the British had relied on creativity to fend off U-boats and other enemy ships. The hulls of their ships were painted with confusing patterns but there is no historical evidence to prove that this measure saved even a single ship from the German torpedoes.

Can the Viola be rescued from South Georgia? Lying in the waters of a former South Georgia whaling station, the rusting hulk of the trawler Viola is among the most historically significant vessels in the world. She not only served in the First World War but saw action at close quarters, engaged in a deadly struggle with German U-boats. In September 1914 the Viola was requisitioned by the Admiralty. Fitted with at least one gun, she was converted into what were known as Armed Trawlers. The Royal Navy needed cheap, reliable vessels and their civilian crews for waging war with the submarines threatening to squeeze the lifeline of supplies being shipped around Britain. These vulnerable craft, with their modest armaments and speed, were sent out to patrol for mines and submarines – to blow up the former safely and to sink the latter. The Viola was first sent to Shetland for patrol duties. While stationed there, it had its first encounter with a U-boat. By September 1916, Viola had been transferred to the Tyne. Viola was one of the first to use hydrophones to help locate submarines, and depth charges, to send them to the bottom. In 1917 Viola opened fire on a U-boat attacking a merchant ship off the Farne Islands and successfully drove it off. That year the vessel was also involved in the rescue of the crew of a coal barge at Scarborough. In August 1918, Viola was patrolling just off Whitby and helped to sink UB 30. A month later Viola dropped depth charges on UB-115, which was sent to the Page 16 of 20

bottom. After the war those who served on the trawlers – at least, those who survived – simply reverted to their former careers as fishermen. Experts believe the ship could be made shipshape once again and join HMS Caroline to play a central role in the centenary commemorations, because her eventful existence history has protected her from being lost to the sea or the scrapyard. She was used to catch whales off the African coast then moved to the South Atlantic where she was used to hunt elephant seals, as well as being a support vessel for expeditions. She was also used to relieve a meteorological station at Laurie Island, after other vessels were unable to get through the ice. In 1982 the vessel played an inadvertent role in the Falklands conflict when Argentinian scrap metal merchants landed on South Georgia planning to break up the ships. Since then, the craft has been left to the elements. In 2004, she, along with Albatros, was refloated and beached a short distance from the grave of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer. Even if Viola is not recovered the ship should play a role in the centenary commemorations. In 2006, her bell was discovered in Norway and returned to the ship. If weather permits, officials on South Georgia will ring the bell on 4 th August next year in memory of those killed, and to ensure this little boat is not forgotten. University of Kent seeks WW1 Regional Co-ordination role Historians have formed a consortium to bid for £500,000 to establish a Coordinating Centre at the University of Kent. If successful this will be one of between 5-7 regional hubs which will manage, in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, community projects connected with the First World War centenary. They aim to build a dialogue between academic and public historical research, and to assist communities in exploring their heritage using a range of activities including:

       

A website to coordinate the Centre’s network Open lectures, seminars and conferences Family history workshops Tours of archives and relevant collections Information events and open days Self-tour guides to the battlefields and significant war-related locations Visits to schools, colleges and community centres Providing advice on further bids to the HLF

The proposed local centre will be led by Professor Mark Connelly at the University of Kent supported by four CoInvestigators who are all established experts in the field of First World War history. The decision will be announced in October 2013 and if the bid is successful, phase one will run from January 2014 – December 2016. If you wish to support Professor Connelly or to express an opinion about this bid please contact him directly on [email protected].

The Real Poppy Campaign The Real Poppy Campaign 2014 is officially partnered with the Imperial War Museum. The aim is to plant bright red Flanders poppies across Kent during spring 2014 ready for flowering in late July/early August to rememember all the brave Kentish Men and Men of Kent who gave their lives in the First World War. Kent based community groups, schools and youth organisations, will be provided with seeds and will be encouraged to cultivate or simply scatter seeds wherever they can. Poppies offer no threat to wildlife or the environment and will grow readily. Full instructions are provided with every pack of seeds. All interested groups should register their wish to get involved by e-mailing the Royal British Legion at Greenhithe on [email protected]. You can purchase seeds and donate to the Poppy Appeal, by going to the dedicated website at http://www.realpoppy.co.uk/

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Ashford’s WW1 tank last of its kind on show Ashford's tank is a Mark IV World War One Tank. It was built in 1916, but it is believed it never saw active service. The tank was presented to the Town on 1 August 1919 by Captain Ferrar of the Army Council in recognition of the splendid response to the National War Savings Appeals. After the war, 265 tanks were designated as 'Presentation Tanks' and distributed throughout the country, not only to Ashford but also to Canterbury, Folkestone and Maidstone. Now Ashford’s is the only one left in a public place. The tanks presented were female tanks, which had six Lewis machine guns, whilst the male tanks had two six pounder guns. Weighing 26 tons, the Mark IV had a max road speed of around 7mph. It also carried a crew of eight people in very cramped conditions. The 70 gallon fuel tank was placed above the crew compartment and a direct hit from an enemy shell would result in the crew being soaked in burning fuel with quick escape almost impossible. In 1929, the back of the tank was removed, as well as all the mechanical workings inside, and an electricity sub station was installed inside the tank. This probably saved the tank, as many were either scrapped or were melted down for the war effort in World War Two. In 1978 The Royal and Mechanical Engineers carried out some minor works to the tank, including replacing the guns, and painted the tank in its original colours. When the first tanks were use, the colours were all obliterated, which resulted in the tanks being painted drab green. In 2005, the Council commissioned local engineer Mr Keith Williamson to carry out major refurbishment of the tank. The Tank Museum at Bovington supplied a number of drawings showing all the dimensions of the tank. The refurbishment included bracing the sides of the tank (as it has no floor), and re-fabricating a complete back end. The tank is a Registered War Memorial (Reference No 43725) and was re-dedicated prior to Remembrance Day 2006, in the presence of Damien Green MP, the Royal British Legion, representatives of the Council and the engineers who completed the work.

Seven foot colossus A seven foot-tall bronze figure of a war hero who came from Walton-on-the-Naze, is being created by sculptor John Doubleday for the seafront. Private Herbert George Columbine was awarded the Victoria Cross after dying in battle in 1918, and will be the only statue of a named private soldier to be erected in Britain, when it is unveiled in August 2014, Mr Doubleday, who is known for his statues of Charlie Chaplin in Leicester Square and the Beatles in Liverpool feels it is important not to forget what a catastrophic event the First World War was in human terms. For him Private Columbine will stand for all the Tommies who showed extreme selflessness and courage, and were mown down due to the questionable decisions made by their senior commanders.

© WFA East Kent Branch September 2013

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Western Front Association’s East Kent Branch Meetings are held on first Tuesday of the month at the Drill Hall, TA Centre, Sturry Road, Canterbury Gates open 7pm for a 7.30pm start Future Speakers 1 October 5 November

3 December

‘Foch: Architect of Victory?’ Professor John Derry ‘The Fight for Passchendaele October-November 1917’ John Lee ‘Some Spies of the First World War’ Phil Tomaselli Committee

Hazel Basford Linda Swift Peter Gausden Richard Young Edward Holman Michael Dadson Paul Barnett

Tel 07768 872371 [email protected] Tel 01227 276583 [email protected] Tel 01843 825374 [email protected] Tel 01227 769584 [email protected] Tel 01227 789311 Tel 01227 450544 Tel 01227 770321

Editor:- Laura Probert Tel 01843 599229

[email protected]

Articles , reports and other information on museums etc. for the branch newsletter always welcome. This issue can be seen shortly on the WFA website under “Branches”.

Deadline for next Issue is:- 20th November 2013

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