This is the draft of the item I wrote for the museum. The boss has edited the entire piece but I cannot find it on the laptop. I suppose there are not that many changes bar of course the grammar! It was intended as a brief introduction to the Great War which as you must know by now began on the 4th of August 1914 as far as this nation was concerned.
Gavrilo Princip’s
action in assassinating the Archduke
Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, meant little to most Essex
people that June day. With summer at
hand the people’s thoughts probably centered on day trips to the coast, Southend by rail a mere three shillings and
sixpence ‘Third Class,’ or possibly a day
at a local fair or fete. However by the August Bank Holiday as they
returned cheerful to town news of the long awaited European war being at hand
dampened their enjoyment somewhat.
The towns and district around
the small towns of Braintree and Bocking shared the same patriotic fervour as the
rest of the nation that day war was declared on the 4th of August
1914. The Band marched through the streets playing
patriotic tunes and enthusiastic volunteers made their way to the Drill Hall in
Victoria Street eager to ‘do one’s duty,’ either for the sake of the Empire or
to protect ‘gallant little Belgium.’
Many ex-servicemen, some with experience of the Boer War, also re-joined
the colours; their experience a boon to the fledgling troops who took a
militaristic pride in their uniform once that is they received one. It is unlikely any among them had any
comprehension of what full scale industrial war between mighty powers would
entail.
The Territorials were already
on exercise when war was declared and took up positions throughout the county
in defence of the much dreaded invasion.
Business was hit badly, Crittalls alone watched well over a hundred
reservists and Territorials leave for the fight. The long hard struggles over wage rates
became struggles to create munitions with the common belief, even at very high
levels, that the war would be, as the Kaiser himself claimed, ‘over by
Christmas,’ a belief that was soon proven false.
Over the next four years the
district shared the traumas and despair of war.
The majority supported the war effort and those who did not suffered
badly from all around. Pacifists and conscientious
objectors were widely despised, the more so as the death count mounted. While many continued to offer themselves as
the war progressed and a short war faded into distant memory the need for men
increased. Some favoured conscription,
others, usually unable to serve themselves, demanded all young men should
enlist. Insistent women stood at factory
gates seeking young men for the colours, others offered white feathers to men
in the street and young women refused to ‘walk out’ with a man who would not
enlist. Harassment from such as they and
noticing the treatment of soldiers by their officers or army doctors also
inclined many to rush into the munitions factories for ‘war work’ in the
factories rather than ‘in the field.’
Employers not involved in ‘war work’ ‘did their bit’ by sacking men of
army age, whether single or married, who did not enlist, and the pressure of
middle class women attempting to enrol farm hands had the opposite effect in
Essex as the men were annoyed and tore down recruitment notices. The most vociferous patriot is usually the
one staying at home.
The absence of reliable news
coverage plus a strict censorship enabled rumour to become something of an art
form. The best example being the small
company of the Russian Military Representatives who landed near Aberdeen and were transported south by train, soon this had
become 80,000 Russian troops heading for the front. There were claims that through the blinds,
always lowered on troop trains travelling at night, lit cigarettes illuminated
Russian beards! The much feared invasion
offered constant rumours of enemy landings, something that worried Essex
people who were in the forefront of any invasion. For this reason a million men were stationed
in East
Anglia
partly to defend against invasion but also preparing for transport ‘to the
front.’ Troops from many parts were
billeted on the district; even small houses with families had up to six men
with them. This could be an advantage to
the householder if she gave lodging to cooks who enabled the family to eat
better than usual! The great
disadvantage being that many became family friends and their loss felt almost
as grievously as they families itself.
Over the next few years the
people of the district spent many anxious moments awaiting news of their
men. Official reports clashed with tales
from returning wounded from the same regiment, months could go by with no news
whatsoever. Knowledge of a soldiers
regiment participating in a ‘Great Push,’ with no acknowledgement of his
whereabouts caused great suffering for months on end in many homes while the
distant rumble of guns in Flanders a constant worrying reminder of what their
men endured. Many women as well as men
however benefited from the high wages found in munitions work. Crittalls, paid their women employees the
same as the men and provided medical care which lessened absence and gave a
degree of security to the workers. Lake
& Elliott were among those leading the munitions drive along with other
East Anglian companies creating a factory making fuses entirely staffed by
female labour. Women from all social
strata and backgrounds took up routine factory work, mixing somewhat uneasily,
while others became voluntary nurses at local war hospitals. The social classes in service at home and
abroad mixed together in ways unknown for some time.
The people of the Braintree and Bocking, Finchingfield and Coggeshall, Wethersfield and Bardfield in town and village faced the fear
caused by a new kind of war, one fought in the air. The experiments of Jack Humphreys at Wivenhoe
alongside the other air pioneers had by 1914 produced the early machines that
were to change war forever. This change
was noticed in Essex by the dark slender shapes of Zeppelins whirring by
high above dropping bombs from the dark heights. Zeppelins flying higher than aircraft crossed
the North Sea to attack the Britain with a degree of impunity as defences were inadequate
to deal with the threat. The citizen was
now in the front line and the citizen did not like it! In spite of the ‘Blackout’ incendiary devices
were dropped on Braintree with a bomb damaging windows in London Road while others fell harmlessly nearby. On the night of March 31st 1916 Braintree
suffered heavily. That night Kapitanleutnant
Alois Bocker brought his airship, ‘Zeppelin L 14’ to Braintree arriving around eleven in the evening. He dropped a bomb which landed on Number 19
Coronation Avenue. Inside Ann Herbert
was killed while asleep in the back bedroom while her daughter and two children
survived even though they crashed down from the first floor to the ground. Next door the chimney collapsed into the
house killing the sleeping Dennington’s and their three year old niece Ella,
while the entire street suffered concussion damage from the explosion. Kapitanleutnant Bockers ‘L. 14’ continued to
drop bombs causing little damage but now the townsfolk knew what modern war
offered.
High wages were available and
women spent much on cigarettes and lipstick earned through long working. Many men were saddened however as beer
increased in price and decreased in strength!
Panic buying was reduced as some degree of price control was
installed. However shortages arose and
most folks took to an early ‘grow your own’ policy. Bread being in short supply by 1918 and lack
of coal supplies hurt many during the later winters. Shortages became more important as German
submarines began to take a toll of British shipping during 1917. The greatest dread however was the knock on
the door. The inoffensive telegram boy
saw many sad sights as wife or mother received news of her husband, brother or
son, wounded, missing or killed. The
telegram Boy must have been a dreaded sight during those long hard years. It is no surprise some telegraph boys were
overcome with the distress that faced them at the doors and quite unable to
deliver the telegrams. Nine men from South Street, three from Bradford Street, five from Coggeshall Road, three from Notley Road and three from Rayne Road fell. No part
of town was untouched
The four long years of war
left around ten million dead. Nations
were damaged physically and politically.
Men returned changed and often found the promised jobs gone, wives and
families unable to cope with their hardened attitudes and disturbed physical or
mental disabilities. Shell shock, guilt,
both of actions taken and the guilt of surviving, the loss of a steady wage and
for some a regular meal also hurt many.
For years after the war many returning soldiers, lived among the ‘down
and outs’ of society, many of them officers!
Single women, often widows with children could find few men to replace
the ones lost. The high rates of pay in
a munitions factory ended in 1918 and the women returned home with few jobs to
replace the war work. Cultural
attitudes, changing before 1914, exploded after the war. Hair was bobbed; skirt hems raised and for
those with money a time of jollity prevailed as an effort to live life took
over from death. The majority suffered
bankrupt Britain’s ‘austerity’ however, the poorest suffering
most. The men hailed as heroes found no
homes built for them, jobs rare, and the rewards of victory, and they believed
they had indeed won a victory, taken from them.
Was the war worth 750,000
British men dying? Society changes would
have come anyway, slower perhaps but inevitably. Could the United Kingdom have avoided war by allowing an aggressive Germany to dominate Europe in 1914? Could Britain have morally stood back when Belgium’s neutrality was ignored? Surely this war would have had to be fought
one day? These men did indeed give
themselves in a great cause, they did save the nation and the people back home
could indeed be proud of their efforts.
Can we be proud of how they were treated afterwards?
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