Goodbye to all that? Legacies of the First World War

Three months after Stanley’s first birthday, Ernest was conscripted into the British army, and drafted into the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Whilst training in England, he confided in Sarah that he did not intend to go to France if he could help it. Despite his wish, Ernest’s battalion was ordered to France a few months later, and he assured her that “when the war is over, well we will have a time … Think of the many many happy times we have had … I love you yet as much as ever, and we shall be allright some day”. He signed the letter from “your loving husband” and asked her to “kiss our Stanley”.

On the 13 September 1916, having been in France for just two weeks, Ernest sent his wife a postcard, reassuring her of his safety and wellbeing. He was declared missing just two days later, after his battalion was engaged in fighting in the Somme region.

Upon hearing the news of her husband’s death, Sarah went into premature labour. She gave birth to her second son, whom she named Ernest in honour of the father he would never meet.

The War Office sent this bronze memorial plaque to commemorate the family’s loss.

Memorial plaques like this one were issued to the next-of-kin of deceased soldiers throughout Britain and the Dominions, and were commonly referred to as the ‘Dead Man’s Penny.'

She closed the letter by mentioning the regiment their husbands fought in, explaining that “I hate the name of that regiment now”. These letters give an insight into the torturous anxieties faced by those left at home who were forced to wait helplessly for news from overseas. Whilst missing service-personnel could sometimes be discovered alive, for example as prisoners of war, in many cases families were left to imagine the fate of loved ones who were eventually declared “missing, presumed dead”. In these cases they had no body, grave, or personnel effects to grieve over, no knowledge of the circumstances or the exact location of a soldier’s death, or whether they had suffered.

The wait was often accompanied by practical and financial worries in the absence of the family breadwinner. Although there was a pension scheme, widows could find themselves in dire financial straits following the death of a husband.

These letters, sent between strangers, also demonstrate the informal networks which developed amongst civilians who were frustrated with wartime bureaucracy. Civilians relied on one another for information, advice, and support, forming communities of grief based on their shared experiences of loss.

Bicycle infantrymen such as Douglas were primarily engaged in reconnaissance or message carrying, but could also provide mobile firepower. Recruitment posters targeted men who were already keen cyclists. After the war, Douglas kept in touch with his old comrades. He helped organise annual reunions on Armistice Day, the last of which was held in 1974.

This collection of memorabilia helps us understand how one soldier chose to remember his wartime experience. Douglas’ souvenirs reflect the mundanity and everyday aspects of life in the trenches. Rather than eat this unappetising-looking hard biscuit, he sent it home to his mother to keep as a souvenir.

He also chose to keep his razor, which he notes served him well throughout the entire war, and a silver cigarette case which was a Christmas present from his commanding officer in 1915.

Together these objects remind us of the relationships which were important to soldiers on the Western Front: the bonds they created with their comrades, and their family ties back home.

This mug shows the portraits of the victorious leaders of the British Army and Royal Navy. Designed for children as a “memento of the Great War” this mug notes the dates of both the armistice in November 1918 and the signing of the peace treaty with Germany in June 1919. It is important to remember that the war did not end neatly on 11 November 1918. In some parts of the world conflict continued for some years to come, and the processes of demobilisation, prisoner repatriation, and refugee rehabilitation were often lengthy.

Using similar imagery to its counterparts, the third mug specifically commemorates the Armistice, and was presented to a school in Cardiff.

Not much is known about the history of this tank. It is believed to have been made by a member of the Chinese Labour Corps out of old shell casings and other war debris. From 1916, Britain and France recruited labourers from neutral China to free up their own soldiers for fighting duties. Their tasks were diverse - from repairing tanks to digging trenches, from laying railways to unloading ships.

Around 96,000 Chinese volunteers served in the First World War. They remained until 1920, exhuming bodies from battlefield burials to be moved to specially created war cemeteries, and carrying out the dangerous work of clearing live ordnance.

This small chunk of granite is from the ruins of St. Martin’s Cathedral in Ypres which was heavily damaged during the war. From the end of the war to the present day, Ypres has been a major site of First World War pilgrimage and tourism. This souvenir serves as a reminder that it was also a place of great significance for many of those who served on the Western Front from 1914.

After the war ended, Sidney attended a peace dinner at the Queen’s Hotel next to Leeds railway station. Here you can see the menu, consisting of delicacies including grilled turbot, saddle of lamb and chicken casserole. Such a rich menu would have been beyond the dreams of most soldiers used to bully beef and trench biscuits.

The Kirkby Stephen Blighty Girls were a group of young ladies who started a fund in 1917 for the purpose of welcoming local servicemen when they came home on leave.

They organised entertainments such as whist games, dances and concerts, which continued as the men started to be demobilised. In 1920, the Blighty Girls presented each returning soldier, sailor and airman with a silver cigarette case. They also gave silver photograph frames to the widows and mothers of those who had died in the war as a show of gratitude for their husband or son’s sacrifice.

In the group photograph, you can see returning soldiers posing with their wives, sisters and mothers back home. Interestingly, all the men are wearing civilian clothing, making it difficult to distinguish veterans from their fathers or brothers who remained at home.

Thomas and his sister Rhoda are both marked with an “X”.

The war years were plagued with tragedy for Ann Denison. She had lost her daughter (Monty’s mother, Laura) in 1916, closely followed by her grandson, and just three months after Monty’s death, Ann lost another daughter, Florence.

Florence Denison was a VAD nurse working in London when she contracted a fatal illness in January 1917, aged 45. Her funeral was covered in the Harrogate Herald who quoted the vicar’s comment that “she for whom we mourn is entirely a victim of this terrible war as any soldier who falls in the trenches”.

Another of Ann’s grandsons, Geoffrey, was wounded at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Geoffrey received a gun-shot wound to the hand which left him with a life-long injury. Ann Denison’s family, therefore, paid a very high price during the First World War, losing three relatives in the space of seven months. The mourning garments displayed here would have been worn by Ann to mark the deathes of both her grandson and her daughter, who lost their lives as a result of the conflict.