Great War

[janwhin]

Watched the first part of Jeremy Paxman's Great War series last night. The bombardment of Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough from the sea made me think that it must have terrified people in areas like Amble and surrounds, wondering whether it would happen to them. It was something outside their imagination, an attack on civilians on their home soil.

[Coquet]

I'll have to catch up on the iplayer with that one.
The Germans were certainly not giving much consideration to the negative propaganda they were generating with such things.

[janwhin]

I think everybody knows about the football match played between the British and Germans on Christmas Day 1914. The Newcastle Journal of 6 January 1915 reproduced a letter from an officer in the Honourable Artillery Corps to a Mr Noble of Broomhill Collieries: he mentions the improvement in weather from wet and muddy to cold and dry, a vast improvement, and expresses the wish that he was,at that time, 2ft tall instead of 6ft 2 ins. He also says; "Perhaps you may have heard how we spent our Christmas Day. It was the most extraordinary thing possible - mixing up and holding long talks with the enemy out in the open, and not a shot fired on either side. I got a jolly good German helmet, which I am going to try and send home when we get back to billets".

[Alan J.]

A Noble was the manager of Broomhill and Newburgh collieries in 1914 and remained as manager of Newburgh until it's closure in 1926.

[janwhin]

I imagine this was as a result of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 but the Newcastle Journal of 22 July had a long list of casualties including quite a large number of wounded from Amble:
Private George Aitchison; Private W Richardson; Private George Harrison; Private George Wilson; Private George Fairbairn; Private Watson Cavers; Private John Ferguson; Private Lance Taylor; Private W Jordan; Private R Chapman; CSM James McAndrews.

And Radcliffe: Private George Young; Private A Hetherington.

[janwhin]

Service records of Watson Cavers have survived. His was a sad case as he died of an ear infection and meningitis at a hospital in Newcastle. His parents must have thought he was safe, being back in England.