AHRC WW1 Engagement Centres AHRC WW1 Engagement Centres - Arts and Humanities Research Council
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AHRC WW1 Engagement Centres AHRC WW1 Engagement Centres
Introduction
As the centenary commemoration of the First In the following pages a range of examples illustrate
World War continues, now is a good time to the breadth of the research that AHRC funding and
reflect on what has been achieved so far in support has been able to unlock. We have funded
projects and through partnerships supported researchers to work with BBC broadcast journalists
by the AHRC and to look forward to work yet in the regionals and nationals. In addition, we have
to come. funded World War One Engagement Centres at
Four years into the centenary, it is clear that the nation five universities which have connected academic
has a great appetite for learning and understanding and public histories of the First World War involving
more about the conflict, its causes, as well as how it networks of academic researchers collaborating on
affected every aspect of British life and, indeed, how its projects across the UK.
influences cascade down the generations to us today. We have recently announced additional funding of
AHRC’s involvement has demonstrated how the arts some £2million over the next three years which will
and humanities can contribute enormously to the enable the work of the Engagement Centres to continue.
study and interpretation of such events by providing a Commenting on this additional funding AHRC’s
variety of perspectives. The projects undertaken with interim Chief Executive Professor Andrew Thompson
AHRC funding and support are not only addressing has said:
the roots and consequences of the war, they have also
“I am delighted that the AHRC will be continuing to
revealed many aspects of the war’s cultural history and
support the First World War Engagement Centres
have enabled the widespread engagement of many
for the remainder of the centenary and extending
communities around the country who, for the first
its partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund. The
time, have been able to relate to this history.
Centres have demonstrated that collaboration
Arts and humanities have repeatedly proven that between communities and academic researchers can
commemoration can be made more inclusive by generate new insights on the history of the First World
recovering voices and perspectives that had been War as well as on its heritage and legacy for diverse
lost, marginalised or overlooked altogether. One such communities around the UK today.
example is how different national and ethnic cultures
“I look forward to these collaborations uncovering
have been able to respond to the commemoration for
many more untold histories and stimulating further
the first time.
innovative approaches to commemoration over the
Working in partnership with the Heritage Lottery next three years.”
Fund (HLF), AHRC has funded five WW1 Engagement
Centres to support communities running First World
War centenary projects. These centres are reaching
out to communities and organisations, linking them up
with researchers with relevant expertise, and providing
advice and training. By encouraging communities
to ask deeper questions and confront challenges,
the Engagement Centres are helping to broaden
perspectives of the war.
2
The Engagement Centres
On the following five pages the directors of each of the five WW1 Engagement Centres reflects on their
achievements to date and look forward to ongoing research projects as the centenary commemorations and
partnership with HLF continues.
The five WW1 Engagement Centres are:
Everyday Lives
in War
University of Hertfordshire,
Voices of War and Peace in collaboration with
University of Birmingham, in collaboration with (amongst others) University of Central
(amongst others) Universities of Wolverhampton, Lancashire; Lincoln, Northampton, Exeter
Worcester, Birmingham City, Cardiff, Manchester and Essex Universities.
Metropolitan, Durham and Newcastle.
Gateways to the
First World War
University of Kent, Centre for Hidden Histories
in collaboration with University of Nottingham, in collaboration
(amongst others) with (amongst others) Oxford Brookes,
Leeds, Brighton Manchester Metropolitan, Nottingham
and Portsmouth Universities. Trent, and Derby Universities.
Living Legacies 1914-18
Queen’s University Belfast, in collaboration with
(amongst others) University of Ulster, Wales;
Newcastle University; and Goldsmiths College
University of London.
3
Voices of War and
Peace Centre
University of Birmingham
Professor Ian Grosvenor
The Voices of War and Peace First World War number of themes including the experiences of men
Engagement Centre began in January 2014. at the Front, the war’s impact on children and families,
Based in the Library of Birmingham, the Centre the contribution of black and Asian soldiers, the role of
has supported a wide range of community women on the Home Front, Birmingham’s industrial
engagement activities, connecting academic and support, and debates around patriotism and pacifism.
public histories of the First World War as part of Many of the events were filmed and can be viewed on
the commemoration of the War’s centenary. the Centre’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.
In addition to exploring themes of Belief and the com/channel/UCDvHowPcSSJUD4WShtypGkg).
Great War, Cities at War, Childhood, Conflict and The Voices Centre was also able to offer funding to
Peace, Commemoration, and Gender and the Home support members of their research network to work
Front, the Centre also covers a broad range of relevant collaboratively with community partners to develop
research knowledge that enables it to respond to projects related to the centenary of the First World War.
diverse community interests. This research knowledge 15 projects were funded in total, details of which can be
ranges from the history of Birmingham, the Black found on the website (www.voicesofwarandpeace.org/
Country and urban and rural Worcestershire to voices-projects).
the impact of air power, from the experiences of
The Centre has now received funding for the second
Belgian refugees to trench warfare, from Quakers
phase from 2017-2019. The Centre will continue to
and humanitarian relief to battlefield archaeology,
focus on the themes of Gender and the Home Front,
and from caring for the casualties of war to the
Faith in the Great War, Commemoration, and Children
involvement of colonial troops and labour.
at War but will also explore Peace and Conflict more
widely by refocusing historical debates on the legacies
of the Great War in more contemporary settings. The
The Centre also organised a number of Centre will be organising in collaboration with the
discussion events for community groups Everyday Lives Centre an exhibition of photographs
by Käthe Buchler from the Museum of Photography in
in receipt of funding from the HLF’s First Braunschweig. Buchler’s photographs, never exhibited
World War: Then & Now programme. in this country before, show the German home front
during 1914-1919 (on display at Birmingham Museum
& Art Gallery and the University of Birmingham,
Aston Webb Rotunda Gallery from October 2017 to
During 2014-2016 the centre ran a number of outreach January 2018). In 2017, the Centre will also coordinate
events, including a study day on injured soldiers and a series of showcase events bringing together
medical advances made during the First World War; community groups funded by the HLF, academics and
women and war and the contribution of soldiers from collaborative projects funded by the Centre and, in
Asia and the Caribbean. It also organised a number 2019, a series of festivals held in the four nations which
of discussion events for community groups in receipt will celebrate and reflect on the work produced during
of funding from the HLF’s First World War: Then and the commemorative period.
Now programme. The Centre was also involved in an
exhibition on display at the Library of Birmingham Professor Ian Grosvenor is Director of the Voices of War
in 2014. ‘Voices of War’ showed how WW1 was and Peace Centre and professor of Urban Education
experienced by people in Birmingham, drawing on the History, School of Education, University of Birmingham,
Library’s rich collections. The exhibition explored a www.voicesofwarandpeace.org
4
Gateways to the First
World War Centre
University of Kent
Professor Mark Connelly
Gateways to the First World War has been very for young and older people. Brad Beaven at the University
active since its inception in 2014. We have put on of Portsmouth and Helen Brookes at the University of
a broad range of activities including study days on Kent have partnered the Kings Theatre in Portsmouth on
particular topics and themes, training sessions, the “Theatre of War: The Kings Theatre Heritage Project”
dramatic and musical recitals and concerts. Of looking at their ‘hidden archive’.
particular satisfaction has been the number of
This project has involved both primary school children
community projects and individuals from across the
and university students who have produced a film,
UK we have been able to help with their research.
exhibition and are planning a gala event. Lucy Noakes
As a group we have spent most of our academic careers at the University of Brighton gave research advice and a
researching the First World War, and so to engage with specialist talk and interview for “Zeppelins over London”
people equally interested with fascinating ideas of their by Third Sector Media, documenting raids on the capital
own has been particularly exciting and rewarding. At the to produce a film by secondary school children.
same time, we put on many different types of events and
Another new project this year involves working with
to hear people saying ‘I only came along to see the film
different Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)
because I like cinema, but am now hooked on finding out
groups in Hull exploring the different ways in which
more about the First World War’ is an equally wonderful
Chinese, Indian and African troops and workers were
experience, and it is great to know that we are opening up
photographed, drawn and painted during the war. Alison
a crucial event in world history many people had never
Fell at the University of Leeds, Jenny Macleod from
really considered before.
the University of Hull, Pedram Saied from the Iranian
Since 2014, Gateways’ five Co-Investigators, in community of Hull, and Hull All Nations Alliance, the
close collaboration with our Community Heritage main community partners, will work with groups from
Researcher Dr Sam Carroll, have supported a broad the Chinese, Asian and African communities of Hull to
range of community-based First World War projects, examine these images. Their responses as well as the
the majority of which were funded by the HLF. Working images will feature in an exhibition as part of the City of
with HLF colleagues, we have organised First World Culture activity for 2017.
War Discovery Days, designed to offer inspiration
A major part of our Phase 2 plans is to run more crowd
and guidance to projects in the very early stages of
sourcing projects deliberately constructed around ideas
development, across our focus localities of Scotland,
we believe will attract wide public attention regardless
Yorkshire and Humber, London and the South East.
of whether a person is already interested in the First
Since then, in partnership with the other First World War
World War. For example, Dr Helen Brooks is expanding
Engagement Centres, we have similar events planned for
her successful project exploring British theatre in
across the UK in 2017.
conflict. She has over 100 volunteers across the UK
Gateways has provided varying degrees of support researching theatres and their audiences. Professor
for projects, including thematic academic expertise Mark Connelly launched his project on battlefield
from across our network and practical support such visiting in the 1920s and 1930s. Over 30 volunteers
as archival training or securing speakers for events. We came forward to help explore this topic via the pages
have keenly engaged in Scotland, hosting development of British newspapers, and the research programme
events in Edinburgh and Inverness, and a resulting project included a week of collaborative work for the team
“Bringing to life the meaning of Conscientious Objection at the British Library. We’re all very enthused by our
across Scotland” by the Workers’ Educational Association plans for Phase 2 and we expect to see a fascinating
(WEA) Scotland, were pleased to accept our support in outpouring of collaborative research as academic
archival training and study events. Emma Hanna at the expertise and experience merges with public enthusiasm.
University of Kent worked with the National Children’s
Football Alliance on the “Football and Peace project” Professor Mark Connelly is Director of the Gateways to the
resulting in a stimulating programme of events designed First World War and professor of Modern British History,
School of History, University of Kent.
5
Everyday Lives in War
University of Hertfordshire
Professor Sarah Lloyd
Over the past three years we’ve worked with survived: not only are these astonishing findings,
community groups, heritage professionals, but they show in vivid detail the complexities of
schools and independent researchers to patriotism, then as now.
explore everyday life during the First World
The Centre has supported a dozen university-based
War. We have challenged dominant narratives
researchers to collaborate intensively with community
regarding local histories of the conflict
organisations, many of which have been funded by the
and questioned our perceptions of what
Heritage Lottery Fund.
is important in the national story. Centre
members have participated in the excitements We’ve seen German and British descendants of
of discovery and had a privileged insight into First World War soldiers meet to reminisce and
stories that fascinate 21st century audiences. share experiences. In Lincolnshire, a collection of
German prisoner-of-war cartoons revealed forgotten
Our focus on food, farming, entertainment and
landscape features. Through partnerships, researchers
childhood, generates many conversations about the
have re-staged theatre and concert performances;
early 20th century, as local researchers piece together
explored the enduring relevance of post-war social
specific details and the Centre team contributes a
reconstruction, and looked ‘beyond the war memorial’
broader context to these themes. Queries have drawn
to the educational experiences of non-combatants.
attention to topics previously overlooked. At Centre
workshops participants from all walks of life share The ethos of the Engagement Centres, which
their stories, consider what the centenary means values the energy, curiosity and expertise found in
today, and acquire new skills and sources. communities across the UK, continues to shape our
activity. With our colleagues in Birmingham, we are
Other Centre themes depart more explicitly from
touring an exhibition of early 20th-century German
familiar narratives, challenging us to explain their
photographs to stimulate new conversations about
significance. By speaking of resistance to war, for
family, public life and the impact of war. Over the
example, discussion of conscientious objectors
next three years we aim to go further in connecting
extends to social attitudes and the communities from
researchers and communities with an interest in the
which the men came. In the case of military tribunals,
theme of everyday life. This commitment includes
assiduous local researchers have demonstrated that,
a partnership with contemporary basket-makers as
contrary to common belief, records have frequently
they explore the First World War history of their craft
and use their basketry skills as a commemorative act.
With our colleagues in Birmingham, Our emphasis is not the mainstream military focus
of official commemoration, but values alternative
we are touring an exhibition of early insights, experiences and narratives.
20th century German photographs Professor Sarah Lloyd is Director of Everyday Lives in
to stimulate new conversations about War, First World War Engagement Centre and chairs
family, public life and the impact of war. the Heritage Hub, School of Humanities, University
of Hertfordshire
6
The Centre for
Hidden Histories
University of Nottingham
Professor John Beckett
The Centre for Hidden Histories has spent a The project seeks to find biographical traces of
successful few years leading outreach and individuals with learning disabilities who may have
engagement activities to encourage more people, left to join the army or who otherwise contributed
particularly those with little or no experience, to the 1914-1918 conflict. The MLMC group have
to take part in research and commemorative already participated in workshops at Ruskin College
activities that examine the First World War. This and have explored archival materials held at the
has included collaborative research, filmmaking, Oxfordshire History Centre. They are planning further
the writing of plays and hosting of exhibitions. research trips to the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum,
Community partners have been involved at every Woodstock and the Imperial War Museum, London.
level of the project and have been encouraged
to present their own work and contribute their
Grassmoor Primary School
voices to the centenary discourse. The Centre supported 25 students in Year 6 from
Grassmoor School in Derbyshire in their HLF-funded
We have been delighted to contribute to the personal
project to investigate the impact of the war on their
and collective development of people who entered the
school and village.
centenary period as novices but will finish it as experts
in their chosen area of investigation. More encouraging The pupils were invited to spend a day at the
still has been their testimony to the effect that Nottingham campus learning how to use primary
working with the Centre, and by extension, universities sources, such as census documents in order to build up
as a whole, has given them renewed confidence in their biographical sketches of soldiers from Grassmoor who
skills and abilities. fought in World War One.
The Centre made a special effort to work with They also participated in a session at the university’s
individuals and communities that had been absent Digital Humanities Centre. Here the students learnt
from earlier commemorations and who are under- how to scan objects, take digital photographs and use
represented on many UK campuses. These relationships specialist equipment such as book scanners. The pupils
have proven valuable in collective research of the war, were invited to bring along their own First World War
and promise the hope of further collaboration on wider era prints and documents from family collections to
historical subjects in the years to come. use as part of the digital technology session.
Two examples typify this approach. 2017 offers the Centre a great opportunity to build
on these experiences and to consolidate the lessons
The Hidden History of the Labour Corps in
learned in the course of this work. Several reflection
the First World War: Contributions to the
activities are planned to capture this information and
War Effort Made by People with Learning
ensure that our experiences are used to drive further
Disabilities.
engagement and knowledge exchange. We will
The Centre was very pleased to support Dr Lee also continue to work with local schools, fostering
Humber (Ruskin College, Oxford) in a collaborative the interest of a new generation and raising their
project with learning disability self-advocacy group, aspirations as we do so. We remain impressed by the
My Life My Choice (MLMC). Humber, a sociologist level of public enthusiasm for learning the facts of
and learning disability historian is working with a the First World War and for setting commemorative
team of researchers with learning disabilities and their activities in a well-supported historical context.
supporters in order to investigate what happened to
former residents of what were known during the First Professor John Beckett is Director of the Centre
World War era as ‘imbecile asylums’ in Oxfordshire for Hidden Histories, Department of History,
and other local regions. University of Nottingham.
7
Living Legacies
Engagement Centre
Queen’s University Belfast
Professor Keith Lilley
With the centenary of the First World War, the continuing legacies. Living Legacies has been
opportunity exists to see how past conflict can instrumental in co-curating exhibitions, such as the
form a basis for creating stronger and more ‘Remembering 1916: Your Stories’ exhibition held
resilient communities for the future. This in 2016 and 2017 at the Ulster Museum in Belfast,
is the challenge that lies at the heart of the drawing together the First World War collections
AHRC-funded ‘Living Legacies 1914-18’ Public of the National Museums of Northern Ireland and
Engagement Centre. The First World War ‘lives presenting them alongside personal and private
on’ in contemporary culture in the UK in the 21st collections drawn from community engagement in
century and these ‘living’ legacies of the war are the city led by Living Legacies.
all around us.
Bringing together sometimes competing and
Through artefacts in our personal collections and conflicting narratives of the war and its legacies,
archives, through the stories we tell about ourselves, this exhibition has had a significant impact on how
our families and the war, and through the landscapes 1916—and the Battle of the Somme and the Easter
and localities where we live, we encounter these Rising—is viewed and understood in communities
enduring traces of the war. Our focus with Living in a divided Northern Ireland. Working with diverse
Legacies is to use these past residues and cultural community groups in Northern Ireland has formed a
encounters to explore the complex and sometimes critical element of Living Legacies engagement during
contested ways that the past lives on in the present, the centenary through projects funded by the Centre.
right across Britain and Ireland, across the four nations. Such projects include the ‘Medals All Round Research
Drawing on a range of arts and humanities expertise, Initiative’ (MARRI), led by creative arts practitioners
including digital humanities, creative and performing at Queen’s University Belfast, as well as through
arts, museums studies, and cultural geography and collaborating with Heritage Lottery Funded cross-
archaeology, Living Legacies has successfully worked community projects, in East and West Belfast, for
with local communities, museums, archives and example, including supporting and developing shared
libraries, as well as heritage organisations at local, digital resources.
regional and national levels to document and interpret
Beyond Northern Ireland, too, Living Legacies
the legacies of the First World War and the contested
researchers have been instrumental in engaging
nature of commemoration itself during the centenary.
community researchers on projects examining the
war’s lasting impacts through migration histories,
Bringing together sometimes competing memorials and memorialisation, and conflict
archaeology, linking with HLF-funded projects in the
and conflicting narratives of the war North-East of England, for example, as well as Wales.
and its legacies, this exhibition has had Through these community engagements across the
four nations, Living Legacies is now a key player in the
a significant impact on how 1916—and co-curation and co-production of centenary research
the Battle of the Somme and the Easter across the UK, and perfectly placed to forge stronger
and more resilient communities through exploring and
Rising—is viewed and understood in understanding the enduring and complex localised
communities in a divided Northern Ireland. legacies of a past conflict of global proportions.
Professor Keith Lilley is Director of ‘Living Legacies
Right at the heart of the work of Living Legacies is 1914-18: From Past Conflict to Shared Future’ WW1
the idea that academic and community researchers Public Engagement Centre and professor of Historical
have much to gain from collaborating on projects Geography, School of Natural and Built Environment,
that seek to understand the past and its complex Queen’s University Belfast.
8
Blog posts from each of the five Engagement Centres
Home comforts:
the YMCA and the great war
VOICES OF WAR AND PEACE CENTRE BLOG POST
Matt Shinn looks at an extraordinary story Then there was what Michael Snape calls the
of philanthropy and humanity that is being ‘amazingly touching’ service that the YMCA provided,
uncovered by Voices of War and Peace, one of of taking family members to hospitals in France, to
the AHRC Engagement Centres, in partnership say farewell to soldiers who were dying and who could
with the YMCA. not be moved. ‘I had a great uncle who was fatally
‘The average Joe probably just thinks of the song wounded at Messines,’ he says. ‘My great grandfather
by the Village People,’ says Michael Snape, Reader received the news, and was asked to travel to be with
in Religion, War and Society at the University of him in his last hours. I puzzled over that for years – how
Birmingham. Few of us now would associate the was it possible for a working-class man to get over to
YMCA with the First World War, or know that the France in 1917? The answer was that the YMCA had
organisation was involved at the time in one of the made it possible.’
greatest philanthropic endeavours ever undertaken Elbow room
in British society.
The YMCA’s work in the Great War was a huge logistical
undertaking. And given its range, cost, and the number
The YMCA was one of several of people involved, says Michael Snape, ‘the fact that it’s
organisations that gave soldiers a small now so little known shows just how much of the legacy
of the First World War has been forgotten.’
reminder of the civilian world, The project that is bringing this forgotten history to
even in a front-line trench light has been supported by the Voices of War and
Peace Engagement Centre, based at the University of
Birmingham but involving other universities and a wide
The support that the YMCA gave to soldiers in the
range of organisations. Like other projects supported
Great War was material, educational and spiritual. It
by the Engagement Centre, it shows how much the
covered everything from providing recreational huts
role of religion in society has changed in a hundred
and tents when young men began their training, to
years, and how important the work of faith-based
supplying pastoral care, writing materials and cups of
agencies was at the time of the First World War.
tea at hundreds of centres, many very close to, and
sometimes on, the front line. The YMCA centre at The YMCA’s work in the conflict was entirely
Ypres, for example, was in a dug-out that frequently independent of government: it was carried out by
came under shell fire. The YMCA was one of several volunteers, and supported by donations totalling £2.5
organisations that gave soldiers a small reminder of million over the course of the war – a huge amount at
the civilian world, even in a front-line trench. the time. ‘The latitude the YMCA was given shows
10during the Great War – a deliberate echo of the kinds
The YMCA’s work was carried out by of awareness-raising that the YMCA went in for during
volunteers, and supported by donations the conflict, including the creation of mock dug-outs,
to demonstrate the conditions that the soldiers were
totalling £2.5 million over the course of fighting in. ‘We’re telling YMCA people themselves
the war – a huge amount at the time about their history,’ says Michael Snape, ‘and enabling
them to engage with the public in a very direct way,
taking stuff out onto the streets.’
how much Britain was a liberal Christian society, and An international effort
the care that it took of its soldiers,’ says Michael Snape.
‘It’s in marked contrast to some of the black legends of The YMCA’s Head of International Affairs is Ken
the Great War, with their clichés of every 16-year-old Montgomery. He points out that many of the YMCA’s
being tied to a stake and shot for cowardice. The elbow volunteers in the First World War were women, who
room given to philanthropic organisations shows the often came to understand much more of the reality
real attitude of the army and of the state, and the of the conflict than those who stayed at home.
extent to which British soldiers were looked after. The ‘Many, indeed, found themselves in harm’s way:
French and the Germans didn’t have anything like it.’ Betty Stephenson, for example, volunteered at the
age of 18, and was given the job of taking relatives to
There is a fundamental contrast, in other words, visit the men who were too seriously wounded to be
between the work of the YMCA in the trenches, and transported back to Britain. She was killed in France in
the image of the army as a callous machine. ‘I’m not an air raid, at the age of 21.’
trying to bang the drum for the generals, but key
figures in the military top brass, including Field
Marshal Haig, were important in promoting the It was about providing
YMCA’s work: Haig’s wife even worked for the
YMCA in London.’ practical support, and not
It was natural that Voices of War and Peace just praying
should be involved in this project: the YMCA’s
main archive is in the Cadbury Research Library And the YMCA’s work was an international effort:
at Birmingham University. As Michael Snape volunteers came from Canada, India, the US and
says, it is an ‘absolutely astonishing treasure trove Australia, as well as Britain. US President Woodrow
of photographs and manuscripts. And this is a very Wilson said that 90% of pastoral services provided to
important story to tell. But one of the problems has the American troops during the First World War were
been that the YMCA is an activist organisation: it tends provided by the YMCA. The government of South
to be busy with what it’s doing in the present, rather Africa also paid tribute, donating 400 acres on the
than thinking about the past.’ shores of Lake Windermere, which the YMCA still uses
The YMCA Goes to War project has involved running as an outdoor activities centre.
day schools, to teach people who are interested in ‘The YMCA provided services to friend and foe alike,’
the conflict about this neglected aspect of it. It also says Ken Montgomery. ‘It was ecumenical, and it
involves encouraging local YMCA branches to work didn’t proselytise. It was very much about providing
with the organisation’s archives, and make use of practical support, and not just praying. With the
them. Bradford YMCA, for example, has created professionalisation of services, and the expansion in
a display to catch the attention of passers-by, and what the State provides, you probably wouldn’t get
show them something of the work that the YMCA did anything like it today.’
11Child Labour In
The Great War
GATEWAYS TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR CENTRE BLOG POST
Dr Rebecca Gill (University of Huddersfield) adult education during the war,
discusses her research with the Workers’ covering everything from the
Education Association and Heritage Quay into Plebs League classes attended by
the campaign against child labour in Yorkshire local Conscientious Objectors
during the First World War. to the wartime offerings of
Our project ‘Adult Education and the Great War in Huddersfield Technical College.
Yorkshire: A Community History Project’ drew to a But one story began to stand
close last Friday with a final workshop ‘Child Labour in out: the campaign of the local
the Great War – A Local History’, held at the University Workers’ Educational Association in Yorkshire against
of Leeds and led by W.E.A. family historian Jackie the continuance – and escalation – of child labour
Depelle and historian of childhood Dr Rebecca Gill. during the war.
The workshop was full and the conversation lively! This had a particularly local flavour, as many children
were employed either legally or illegally during the
war in the mills, helping to meet the huge contracts
Many were employed under the half for army cloth, whether khaki for our own soldiers
time system, spending the morning in or horizon blue for the French Army. Many were
employed under the half time system, spending
the mill and the afternoon at school the morning in the mill and the afternoon at school
(reportedly many were asleep at their desks), but in
Over the course of the project, academics at Leeds Bradford a bye-law was passed to reduce the school
(Prof Alison Fell) and Huddersfield (Dr Rebecca Gill) leaving age from 14 to 13 and of those working half
have worked with Rob Hindle, Sarah Holland and time, many were doing many hours of overtime.
Jackie Depelle of the W.E.A., as well as David Smith Through the Yorkshire District offices of the W.E.A.
of Heritage Quay at Huddersfield University and Rob in Leeds, a campaign was mobilised to revive the
Light, our research assistant, to uncover the story of legacy of Oastler and ban the practice of half time
work. We have discovered some prominent local
names connected to this campaign, in particular
Arthur Greenwood, who from his role as head of
economics at Huddersfield Technical College before
the war had been researching the statistical evidence
for the effects of work on the physical development
of school children. Arthur would continue to lecture
on this topic for the Huddersfield and Leeds W.E.A.
throughout the war on visits from his new role at the
Ministry of Reconstruction.
We were fortunate to be able to bring together
current members of the W.E.A. with local historians
specialising in the history of textile production in the
West Riding to unravel this story … and hope to turn
this pilot project into a more extensive investigation
of the extent of child labour in the First World War,
and the W.E.A.’s role nationally in its abolition under
Fisher’s Educational Act in 1918.
12Revisiting war-time drama:
the case of J.M. Barrie’s A Well-
Remembered Voice (1918)
EVERYDAY LIVES IN WAR CENTRE BLOG POST
In this guest blog post, Dr Andrew Maunder from Barrie (1860-1937). Once regarded as a key figure in
the University of Hertfordshire and AHRC’s British theatre, Barrie’s plays have all but disappeared
WW1 Engagement Centre ‘Everyday Lives in in the eighty years since his death – the exception
War‘, talks about re-visiting War-Time Dramas being the celebrity-filled productions of Peter Pan
and the case of J. M. Barrie. which still appear at pantomime season. As a tour
While plays about the First World War are now a of one of Barrie’s “other” plays, A Well-Remembered
familiar presence – step forward Oh, What a Lovely Voice (unseen since its premiere in 1918), gets
War! and War Horse – the playwrights who actually underway in autumn 2016. It’s worth looking at this
wrote at the time of the conflict have yet to receive neglected writer, not least for his attempts to say
much attention. It’s not surprising. Revues and something about the trauma of war and its impact on
musicals such as Chu Chin Chow (1916) dominated the those left behind.
theatrical landscape attracting soldiers and civilians in When war broke out in August 1914 Barrie, along
equal measure. with Shaw and John Galsworthy, became one of
There was a market for drama but there is a long- Britain’s leading “serious” dramatists. Plays such
held perception that First World War drama was all as The Admirable Crichton (1902) and What Every
about patriotic plots involving German villainy, secret Woman Knows (1908) had lifted him to the top rank.
dispatches and cheerful “Tommies.” After the war it Accordingly, he was one of several writers recruited
very quickly became fashionable to view melodramas by the government’s War Propaganda Bureau. Others
like Seven Days Leave (1917) or The Female Hun (1918) included Arnold Bennett, H.G. Wells and Arthur Conan
as shallow and meaningless, their ‘childish antics’ as Doyle, all of whom who were too old to fight but
George Bernard Shaw labelled them in 1919, the work thought it their duty to write patriotically – whatever
of opportunistic hacks. By the late 1920s, a play like their private misgivings about the conflict or the way it
R. C. Sheriff’s Journey’s End (1928) seemed more ‘real’ was being run.
and less irresponsible than the plays written during
Barrie set to work dutifully. Der Tag (1915), an
the war itself, particularly in the way it conveyed what
allegorical two-hander about a bombastic Emperor
the war had been ‘like’ for those who fought, the ‘lost
being taken to task by “the Spirit of Culture” appeared
generation’ of young men.
in 1915 at The Coliseum, London’s top variety theatre.
One war-time playwright who was not a hack but It was seen by Virginia Woolf who described it as
who nonetheless tends to get overlooked was J.M “sheer balderdash of the thinnest kind.” On the basis
13The problem for war-time dramatists
like Barrie was that it was hard to depict
what was really happening: how did you
represent the horrors of the battlefield
and the experience of combat in any
meaningful way?
that war-time theatre’s role was to be escapist, Barrie for burial having been prohibited), people tried to re-
followed it up with a revue, Rosy Rapture (1915) for the establish contact and say “good-bye” in another way.
French exotic dancer Gaby Deslys, a figure on whom he In A Well-Remembered Voice, the appearance, after
seems to have had a bit of a crush. This was a flop. He a séance, of Jack, a young soldier, seems to be Barrie
then returned to writing what critics tended to label suggesting that such things were possible.
“whimsy.” A Kiss for Cinderella, set in war-time London,
For Barrie’s biographers there is, of course, another
premiered in 1916 and a play about second chances,
way in which A Well-Remembered Voice has been
Dear Brutus in 1917.
seen to be revealing. Although Barrie had no children
The problem for war-time dramatists like Barrie of his own, he was a famously devoted guardian to
was that it was hard to depict what was really the orphaned Llewelyn Davies brothers—George,
happening: how did you represent the horrors of John, Peter, Michael and Nicholas – models for
the battlefield and the experience of combat in any the “lost boys” in Peter Pan. Barrie paid for their
meaningful way? Barrie’s solution was to turn to the education at Eton and took them on expensive
“Home Front”. His most important war-time legacy holidays. In 1914, George Llewelyn Davies (aged 21)
is a quartet of one-act plays The New Word (1915), was the only brother old enough to enlist. Barrie’s
The Old Lady Shows her Medals (1917) and A Well- response was to worry. “I don’t have any iota of desire
Remembered Voice (1918). All the plays are powerful for you to get military glory”, he told him, “but I have
miniature studies of pain, loss bereavement and the one passionate desire that we be together again
loneliness. They focus on the changing relationships once at least.” In March 1915, George was shot by a
between those who are fighting and those who are sniper. Barrie received his final letter after news of his
left behind. death. In the letter George wrote that he was looking
forward to coming home. While A Well-Remembered
A Well-Remembered Voice was first produced in
Voice recounts the experiences of soldiers in the
June 1918 in aid of a hospital for wounded soldiers in
trenches, Barrie also depicts a family’s anguish,
London run by Countess Pamela Lytton (a titled lady
especially that of the father, a man who, because he is
who actually did war-work rather than playing at it).
a British gentleman, bottles up his anguish.
The play isn’t the usual bit of fluff produced for these
occasions and its subsequent neglect is odd. It’s a As we commemorate the Centenary of World War
taut, rather moving portrayal about how to mourn I, J.M. Barrie’s wartime output is worth revisiting.
the dead – a much-debated question at the time. As a piece of war writing A Well-Remembered Voice
is interesting because Barrie seems unsure whether
A Well-Remembered Voice also deals with one of
he wants to be propagandist (i.e. the dead soldiers
the most striking developments of wartime life:
are happy in the afterlife) or anti-war (what a waste
the growth of spiritualism. Putting one’s trust into
of young life it has been…). At the time, the play fell
séances, table rapping, automatic writing, and other
foul of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office because the
communications with spirits was no longer the
returning soldier has the temerity to suggest that the
business of eccentrics – as it had been prior to 1914.
Germans are actually quite like us. Soldiers from both
The change was summed up by a Catholic bishop,
sides were living happily in the afterlife away from
James Wedgwood, who observed in 1919 how “a very
the meddling politicians.
marked change had passed over the face of popular
thought in relation to spiritualism and psychical Since the 1960s it’s the testimony of poets like
research…the appeal of a son cut off in the full flush Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Rupert Brooke
of life’s promise, speaking to his bereaved parents… which has done much to stamp a particular way of
is naturally great.” Denied the chance even to bury thinking about the war on the modern consciousness
their sons (the transport of soldiers’ bodies to Britain but there should be a space for J.M. Barrie too.
14Centre for Hidden Histories
Exhibition, ‘Beyond the
Western Front: Oxfordshire
in the First World War’
CENTRE FOR HIDDEN HISTORIES CENTRE BLOG POST
Dr Tudor Georgescu’s Centre for Hidden Buckinghamshire Light Infantry battalion and the
Histories exhibition, ‘Beyond the Western Front: Queens Own Oxfordshire in military actions in Ireland,
Oxfordshire in the First World War’ was displayed Italy, the Balkans, the Middle East and Russia.
at The Glass Tank, Oxford Brookes from 18th
In keeping with the participatory ethos of Connected
November to 16th December 2016.
Communities, the exhibition was the result of research
The exhibition was an exploration of the First conducted by 14 local people, museum volunteers and
World War involvement of the Oxfordshire and Oxford Brookes students. These project participants
are: Jeff Clements, Jane Cotter, Louisa Fagan, Jim
Grundy, Peter Johnston, Shelia King, Mark McKay,
Jean Mills, Kevin Northover, Paul Otter, John Sheldon,
Kathleen Tunnicliffe, Steve Warner and Janet Witcomb.
Particularly innovative was the exhibition’s use of
Stereoscopic pictures from the front line, many of
which were published in a 1923 Keystone set. These
images can be viewed through 3D glasses, which were
made available to visitors of the exhibition.
‘Beyond the Western Front’ was accompanied by a
lively programme of public events. These included
an exhibition launch on 18 November, a visit by
the Barton Brownie troop on 22nd November and
the book launch of Poppy (2016), Andrew Lack’s
exploration of the symbolic meaning of this flower.
Educational events have continued with research
seminars by Professor Mark Harrison and Dr Marius
Above: Stereoscopic
WWI image (3D
anaglyph)
Below: Dr Tudor
Georgescu (Oxford
Brookes University)
and Stephen Baker
(The Soldiers of
Oxfordshire Museum)
15Left: Dr Tudor Turda as well as a school group visit by 50 pupils
Georgescu and Simon
“The first-hand accounts and the photography made
and six staff visiting from France as part of a Poetry
Wilson installing the it seem much more real to me.”
exhibition (photograph Centre project.
by Tom Killick) “I can feel the experiences of the soldiers, rather than
You can re-live the display by viewing the exhibition
Right: The launch of
just know they happened.”
catalogue (http://hiddenhistorieswwi.ac.uk/wp-content/
Andrew Lack’s book,
Poppy uploads/2017/01/War-Beyond-the-Western-Front- “Nice to see personal stories, and some info’ about
Exhibition-Catalogue.pdf). 3D specs recommended! foreign soldiers.”
Below: Visitor at the
‘Beyond the Western Here are just some of the visitor responses to the “Would have loved to look through the scrapbooks
Front’ exhibition
exhibition: but realise how precious they are.”
“It was amazing, fantastic work! Thank you!”
16Battle-scars and Dragon’s Claws:
the legacy of Mametz Wood
LIVING LEGACIES CENTRE BLOG POST
In this guest blog post, Dr Gethin Matthews
from the Department of History at the
University of Swansea talks about the battle
of Mametz Wood, which commenced on 7th
July 1916. Dr Matthews is principal investigator
on ‘Welsh Memorials to the Great War’, a
project funded by the AHRC Funded Living
Legacies 1914-18 World War One Engagement
Centre. There are five WW1 Engagement
Centres, whose focus is to provide UK-wide
support for community engagement activities,
commemorating WW1. famous speech in London’s Queen’s Hall on 19
Those from outside Wales who are interested in the September 1914. The ideal of the ‘Welsh Army Corps’
history of the First World War and its aftermath may became the reality of the 38th (Welsh Division).
be surprised to discover how one relatively minor battle Having been trained for the most part in Wales, these
on the Western Front has such resonance in certain recruits were posted to the Western Front in late
Welsh circles. The Battle of Mametz Wood, fought 1915 and gained experience of trench warfare in quiet
from 7 to 12 July 1916, was part of the early Somme sectors for some months. Six days after the opening
campaign. The losses, of around four thousand killed of the Somme offensive, this division was given the
and wounded on the British side, though heart-rending, task of clearing Mametz Wood, a dense wood that had
are much smaller than the numbers lost on just the first been heavily fortified by the Germans who had held it
day of the Battle of the Somme. for two years, and was now defended by the elite Lehr
regiment of Prussian Guards.
Having been trained for the most part in The details of the fighting, and how the Welsh
overcame the odds at a tremendous cost can
Wales, these recruits were posted to the be found in this article by Robin Barlow
Western Front in late 1915 and gained (www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-
history-month-mametz-wood-2047333).
experience of trench warfare in quiet
However, after the mission was successfully
sectors for some months. completed, as Colin Hughes wrote in his 1982 book
about the battle, ‘neither glory nor distinction was
Its significance for Wales is that this was the first noticeably bestowed’ upon the Welsh soldiers, but
battle fought by the troops of the 38th (Welsh) they were ‘bundled unceremoniously away to a quiet
Division, also known with some justification as ‘Lloyd sector of the front’. The official response of the upper
George’s Army’. These were the men who volunteered echelons is summarised in General Haig’s comments
in droves to be part of the ‘Welsh Army Corps’ that on the action on 7 July: ‘The 38th Welsh Division …
Lloyd George and his acolytes sought to raise from had not advanced with determination to the attack’.
September 1914 onwards: men who were drawn In contrast to the dismissive attitude of the Army’s
by Lloyd George’s rhetoric about putting the first High Command, the reaction in Wales was to laud the
‘Welsh army in the field’ since the days of Owain courage and tenacity of the Welsh troops. Newspapers
Glyndŵr. See the blog post (http://historyclassics. printed letters carrying first-person accounts of the
wordpress.com/2014/10/06/a-welsh-army-in-the- fighting within eight days of the action, describing in
field-lloyd-george-and-the-queens-hall-speech-of-19- some detail the horrendous difficulties of fighting a
september-1914) for a consideration of Lloyd George’s well-armed and determined enemy in strongly
17Further impetus to commemorate this as a Welsh
battle came from the top. When Lloyd George visited
Welsh recruits in August 1916 training in the enormous
camp in Kinmel Park, near Rhyl, he inspired them with
a speech which focused on the achievements of their
brothers-in-arms.
The local newspaper (http://cymru1914.org/en/view/
newspaper/4243526/2/ART24) reported on how he
declared: ‘The attack on Mametz Wood was one of
defended positions. A ‘Soldier from Bargoed’ wrote to the most difficult enterprises which ever fell to any
the Western Mail of how ‘The Welsh boys fought like division. It was left to the Welsh Division, and they
very demons through a wood which was well-nigh swept the enemy out of it (cheers)’.
impregnable’. In conclusion he declared ‘The whole of
Indeed, there was a debate in some Welsh newspapers
the Welsh boys, however, fought with great bravery
in the spring of 1918 – before the outcome of the
and proved themselves to be splendid fighters’.
War was decided – as to which encounter should be
Even as other battles were being fought, the story of the commemorated as ‘the’ Welsh battle of the War:
Welsh at Mametz was being re-told and the narrative the choice being Mametz Wood or Pilckem Ridge (31
shaped into one of a remarkable success against the July 1917). In the euphoria that greeted the ‘victory’
odds. Numerous examples of poetry (not necessarily, in 1918, there were numerous poems written about
it has to be said, of a very high standard) can be found Welsh valour in the battlefield, many of which took
in both languages in various Welsh newspapers. See, Mametz Wood as their theme.
for example, the verses in English by Driver W. H Davies
A short story about a Welsh miner at Mametz won a
from September 1916 (http://cymru1914.org/en/view/
prize at the National Eisteddfod in 1923; one of the
newspaper/3580283/6/ART63) or by Sgt J. Jarman
best memoirs by a Welsh soldier about the war is Up
from August 1917 (http://cymru1914.org/en/view/
to Mametz, published by Llewelyn Wyn Griffith in
newspaper/4094738/2/ART20) while a Welsh-language
1931. The most famous Welsh painting of the War is
example can be found here courtesy of The National
The Welsh Division at the Battle of Mametz Wood by
Library of Wales (http://cymru1914.org/en/view/
Christopher Williams (https://museum.wales/cardiff/
newspaper/4016702/5/ART44) from September 1918.
whatson/8949/Wars-Hell-The-Battle-of-Mametz-
Partially, this movement to commemorate the valour Wood-in-Art).
of the Welsh troops at Mametz Wood was driven by the
One of the most astonishing artistic works to
soldiers themselves. The pride in their achievements
come out of the First World War is David Jones’
is clear in the doggerel of Sgt. Jarman (‘For the hardest
In Parenthesis – this was largely inspired by his
task we went through that morn / That’s been done
experiences with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Mametz
by British sons’) and Driver Davies (‘My God! What
(see https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/
a charge we made / The observers who were behind
jun/25/in-parenthesis-no-longer-who-was-the-
us / Said ’twas better than being on parade’). There is
author-of-the-greatest-poem-of-the-first-world-war).
an interesting report (http://cymru1914.org/en/view/
newspaper/4015748/6/ART75) of Welsh soldiers serving Thus it is not surprising that as interest in the First
in France chanting that it was the Welsh who cleared the World War grew in the 1980s as the number of
Germans from Mametz Wood. veterans of the conflict grew fewer, the focus on the
18experiences of the Welsh in this one battle became and one at Gaza – both names that appear with tragic
more intense. Following a campaign by the Western regularity on several more Welsh memorials. One,
Front Association, a challenging and beautiful Pte. H R Williams, died at Mametz Wood.
memorial was raised to the 38th Welsh Division at
Other memorials in Welsh chapels have an explicit
Mametz. Designed by sculptor/ blacksmith David
reference to Mametz Wood. Three soldiers are
Petersen, the memorial was unveiled in 1987: three
commemorated in the memorial at Capel y Cwm,
documentaries were broadcast on Welsh television
Pentrechwyth, Swansea: one of them was David
to accompany the event.
Griffith Williams, who was killed in the battle.
At a local level, the name of Mametz resonated long in
The memorial in Hermon chapel, Pembrey, has two
various communities throughout Wales.
names, including Robert Jones, another who was killed
For example, a ward at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary at Mametz Wood.
was designated the ‘Mametz Ward’ while The 15th
One more chapel memorial deserves particular
Welsh Regiment (Carmarthenshire Battalion)
attention – although the only photograph I have
designated their reunion the ‘Mametz Wood dinner’.
obtained of it is rather poor. The chapel, Berea,
A wounded soldier in Llanrug also renamed his home
Cricieth (Caernarfonshire) closed a few years ago
‘Mametz Cottage’.
after its membership fell to single figures. The
A project I am currently managing, Welsh Memorials significance of this place of worship is that it was
to the Great War (http://war-memorials.swan.ac.uk) Lloyd George’s family’s chapel: for many years his
funded by Living Legacies 1914-18 – http://www. highly respected uncle, Richard Lloyd had been
livinglegacies1914-18.ac.uk – has uncovered further its leading light. Two brothers, Hugh and Hywel
examples of how the name of Mametz remained Williams, who were family friends of Lloyd George’s
engrained within some Welsh communities. The family, died within six weeks of one another in 1916.
project has collected information on well over Both had been active in the recruiting campaign,
two hundred WW1 memorials in Wales (with trying to persuade young Welshmen to answer the
hundreds more to be gathered) and one interesting call put out by their politician friend. Captain Hywel
aspect that comes over in many of them is the Williams was killed at Mametz Wood.
geographical range that is incorporated in the local
commemorations. The men who are remembered Dr Gethin Matthews, Dept. of History,
served all over the globe: a large number of Welsh Swansea University
soldiers who served with Canadian or Australian
units are commemorated in their home villages.
Many of the memorials to those who died state
where the men met their fate, although most of
the time the details are non-specific, stating simply
‘France’, ‘Gallipoli’ or ‘Mesopotamia’. However, a few
are more precise. There are 12 names in the memorial
at Tregarth church, Caernarfonshire. The last line
carved on this memorial – ‘Tros ryddid collasant eu
gwaed’ [‘For Freedom they lost their blood’] comes
from the Welsh National Anthem. Four died at Ypres
19Remembering Elisabethville: The
Belgian Refugee “Colony” of Durham
EVERYDAY LIVES IN WAR CENTRE BLOG POST
In this guest blog post, Caroline Nielsen relates
the surprising history of Birtley and the Belgians.
The World War One at Home project offers
communities a chance to reflect on their histories and
discover new, and sometimes surprising elements of
their shared past. Few have a history as surprising as
Birtley, County Durham*. During the First World War,
this small industrial village was at the heart of Allied
diplomatic relations when it became a central hub for
thousands of Belgian soldiers and their families.
Birtley seems an unlikely place to uncover such a
fascinating hidden history of wartime international
politics. In 1914, Birtley was fairly typical of most
North-East industrial communities of the time.
Life revolved around the local mines and heavy They were initially cared for by a series of central and
industries. There were two small cinemas, the Co- local Refugee Committees, set up by well-meaning
Operatives, and a number of small churches and individuals and churches. All refugees had to register
parks. The outbreak of the war in August 1914 changed with their local Police and Committee, and inform
Birtley for decades to come. Approximately 3,500 them of their personal circumstances and movements.
men from the local area enlisted into the armed They also had to carry identity papers, or face arrest
services. Others left the area to work in other parts of as German “enemy aliens”. Some were abused in
industrial Tyneside. More significantly, the residents of public after being mistaken for Germans. Most Belgian
Birtley gained over 4,000 new neighbours. Birtley was refugees settled around London, although other large
chosen as the site of two munitions factories, staffed communities formed in Birmingham, Winchester,
entirely by Belgian soldiers, their families and other and of course, in Birtley. At its height, Elisabethville
refugees. The resulting community was nicknamed accommodated between 2-3.75% of the entire Belgian
“Elisabethville”, after the Belgian queen Elisabeth refugee population living in the UK!
of Bavaria. Elisabethville was the product of a unique diplomatic
The outbreak of war in 1914 left many Belgians collaboration between the British and Belgian
homeless and penniless. The historian Tony Kushner governments. The British built the munitions factories
estimates that over one million fled the country, and the workers’ accommodation, and then turned
approximately one-sixth of the Belgian population. Of the entire site over to the Belgian government, who
these, he estimates about 200,000 arrived in the UK. then provided the workforce. Most of the workers
were injured soldiers and their families, although other
refugees also worked there. Many had travelled from
All refugees had to register with their London, where some had worked in other Belgian-run
munitions factories in Twickenham and Erith (Greater
local Police and Committee, and inform London). What made Elisabethville different from
them of their personal circumstances these other factories was the intention behind it. In
return for the munitions from the factories, the British
and movements. government allowed a sovereign Belgian “colony” to
be temporarily established in Durham.
* Birtley was historically part of County Durham. It is now part of the metropolitan borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Records relating to
Elisabethville, its factories and its residents can be found in the National Archives, Tyne and Wear Archives, Beamish Living History Museum,
and Durham County Records Office.
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