Christmas 1916

Christmas 1916. Although the nation didn't know it, was slap bang right in the middle of the war. Had they known they were only half way through, I would imagine they would have soon given up. December 1916 was a hard one, both on the front and at home. The soldiers on the front had spent months fighting day and night during the battle of the Somme and had seen the friends injured or killed among them. 

The home front was full of shortages, especially from the likes of bread and meat. German naval operations over the previous months had meant that everything seemed to be in short supply and what there was saw a huge price increase almost overnight. To add to this, Europe seemed to be having the worst weather in over thirty years and so you can imagine how low morale was getting. 

Telegrams were still arriving each day, they certainly couldn't stop for Christmas. However, what was different was how much more of a greater understanding the home front had. This was due to The Somme film being released in cinemas around the country. It was the first time anything like this had been shown and for women was the first real insight into what war was really like. They now knew that when those telegrams arrived, the chances were that suffering had probably been endured before death. 

The home front did try to connect with the front line soldiers, with many people putting together food hampers or knitting scarves and socks to send to the soldiers. Of course, families still sent letters and parcels to their loved ones if they could, but now there was a greater sense of doing there bit.

Christmas was so different then compared to now. Homes didn't have electric and so there were none of the pretty lights we all love to see around. Neither were presents wrapped because that was a waste and could be better used to help the war effort. People didn't expect to get a present either but were grateful if they received one. Remembering this certainly does make you appreciate the things you have got in life and shows the true meaning of Christmas - to be with those you love and cherish memories that are made. 

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas this year. I wanted to end by sharing this poem I read recently by an Australian soldier named Leslie George Rub. In a round about way, he tells you exactly what life was like during Christmas 1916, so I hope you enjoy it!

Christmas Day On The Somme

‘Twas Christmas Day on the Somme

The men stood on parade, 

The snow laid six feet on the ground

Twas twenty in the shade.

Up spoke the Captain ‘gallant man’,

“Just hear what I’ve to say, 

You may not have remembered that

Today is Christmas Day.”

“The General has expressed a wish

This day may be observed, 

Today you will only work eight hours,

A rest that’s well deserved.”

“I hope you’ll keep yourselves quite clean

And smart and spruce and nice,

The stream is frozen hard

But a pick will break the ice.”

“All men will get two biscuits each,

I’m sure you’re tired of bread,

I’m sorry there’s no turkey

But there’s Bully Beef instead.”

“The puddings plum have not arrived

But they are on their way,

I’ll guarantee they’ll be in time

To eat next Christmas Day.”

“You’re parcels would have been in time

But I regret to say

The vessel which conveyed them was

Torpedoed on the way.”

“The Quartermaster’s got your rum

But you may get some yet,

Each man will be presented with

A Woodbine cigarette.”

“The Huns have caught us in the rear

And painted France all red,

Pray do not let that trouble you, 

Tomorrow you’ll be dead.”

“Now ere you go I will you all

This season of good cheer,

A very happy Christmas and

A prosperous New Year.”

The First World War - German Homefront

When you search for the home front during the first world war, it is filled with information about what life was like in Britain, yet it is extremely difficult to find information on what life was like in Germany at the same time. Maybe it is because they lost the war? Or maybe it was something that was kept a secret from the rest of the world so that they didn't show how much the war had affected the country. 

At the outbreak of the first world war, there was one country that was better prepared for war than any other nation and that was Germany. What they weren't prepared for was how long the war would last. Like Britons, they thought it would be over pretty quickly. 

From early on in the war, conscription was informed with a vast number of German men being called up. This led to a shortage of male labour in the country, so women and youths were used to fill the job roles.At this time in history, much like Briton, women were paid far less than men for doing the same job. In fact it was usually half the pay of a man's, which, for families, was a huge amount of income lost and so many families found themselves suddenly in extreme poverty. 

Although there is very little information to be had, I would imagine that children, especially boys, suddenly had the weight of the world on their shoulders as they became the man of the family. Schools and childhoods were no longer seen as important, instead it was doing everything possible to win the war. But this was not going to be easy.

Allied soldiers had created a blockade, making importation extremely difficult, so food and supplies were suddenly in short supply. Attention was then turned to the farmers in the country who were called upon to be the main source of food. For many German's, their diet mainly consisted of potatoes on bread so that the German Army could benefit from good nutritious diet so that they could continue to fight.  In 1915, riots started throughout Germany, as many thought farmers in rural areas were stock piling their food whilst the rest of the country was going without. 

By 1916, soap, fat, cheese, butter and eggs were unavailable with coal, shoes and textiles also being almost non-existent. But things were about to get much worse with the winter of 1916/17. A bitterly cold, frosty winter had killed off pretty much all of the potatoes in Germany which was a huge problem considering they made up most of the diet on the German home front. Turnips, which were usually only used to feed livestock, were suddenly being used to fed a hungry nation. Food was so scarce that even the German army had to cut rations in what became known as the Turnip Winter. 

With such a lack of food came with it malnutrition and death due to weakened bodies. Over the course of the war, over 474,000 civilians died various causes all relating to undernourishment and poor diet. 

I can't help that think although there were a lot of similarities between the British home front and the German home front, the German's had it worse off in that respect. Whilst us British never wanted a war and certainly weren't prepared for one, we were pretty quick in setting up organisations and committees to not just win the war but survive as a nation. In contrast, it seems like the German government were so consumed with fighting and winning the war, that they didn't see the problems they were going to be facing at home should the war drag on. It was something that in the years to come Hitler recognised to a certain extend, where during the second world war, he set up various organisations that would help the war effort on the home front.  

Father's Of The First World War

First of all happy Father's Day to all you dads out there, of course I hope you all have a wonderful day with your families. I want to ask you a question - how would you feel if you were hundreds of miles from home, in the middle of a trench, fighting for freedom? I would like to dedicate today's post to those fathers of the First World War. 

For those in the trenches, thinking about home and wondering what they were doing. Those that never returned home. Those who returned home affected by war mentally or physically, more often than not both. And finally, to those fathers that had to stay behind at home, too old or ill to fight, watching their sons going off to fight the war. 

In the grand scale of things, we don't have it too bad today. Okay so there are horrible events taking place in the world at the moment, but we can still spend time together as a family. Technology advances have meant that even if we can't, we can use skype or mobile phones to talk to our family. 

For the fathers of the First World War, they were alone, whether it be at the front or at home. After the euphoria of the Lord Kitchener's volunteer drive had died down, what were those fathers thinking. They had waved their sons off to war, the war that would be over by Christmas, only to find that as the war dragged on, the risk of their son being injured or killed seemed greater. As families nearby received the dreaded news, it hit home hard. A man at this time, was not expected to cry or show his emotions. For many of these men, the only emotion they knew how to show was anger. 

Letters supposedly kept the family together, yet as the war dragged on, they became less frequent. Sometimes, you could go months without any, your mind fearing the worst, only to received three or four letters at a time. In reality, what could a soldier write home about? They could ask how everyone was, what his family had been doing back home, answer questions asked such as are they being fed enough. But could they really write down what THEY had been doing? Could they write and say that they killed a man that day? Would it be deemed unpatriotic if they wrote home and said they were scared and wanted to go home? 

A divide had begun between life on the frontline and life at home. It was a divide that would only worsen, not only as the war dragged on, but as the soldiers returned home.

For the sons that returned home. Many felt they couldn't talk to their father's about what they had witnessed, of what they had done. The First World War was a new war - a war when you didn't have to have years of experience in the army to be a soldier. A war that was not longer fought with just the cavalry and cannons. This war had snipers, guns, tanks and planes, the men suffering strapnel wounds, gas attacks and shell shock. How would their father's understand what they had gone through? Instead it was just not talked about, life went on as best as it could.

For the fathers that returned home. Life had gone on without him, the children had grown up fast and their wife had gone out to work to help the war effort and to be able to afford to pay the rent, food and clothing. Father's that had left a tiny baby behind, found themselves looking at a child they didn't know or understand. A child that was scared of this stranger they were now suppose to call dad. His older children wanted to know all about the war, wanted to play toy soldiers with him when all he wanted to do was forget the war had ever happened.

These men, who had returned mentally or physically harmed, many of who were suffering from shell shock couldn't settle back down to home life. Gone were the regimental routines, the following orders, the need to survive. Instead, they were left to fend for themselves, expected to go back out to work, feeling an outcast because his violent outburst had scared the children so much they wouldn't go near him. His crawling under the table or bed every time someone slammed a door shut had his wife looking at him with a sense of pity. He could never tell her what he witnessed in the villages at the hands of the enemy.

So no, I don't think we have it too bad. The thing that upsets me most of all is that they were alone. The wasn't the support and help available to help a soldier find their way again in civilian life. Whilst some were able to get help, it was usually only available to those that were officers or who had the money to pay for it, yet all many of them needed was to talk. To talk and to cry and to be with people who understood, who had been there, who wouldn't judge them. So this father's day, my message to is, ask your father or your grandfather about their life experiences, whether they were in the services or not, they have experiences that I am sure they would be happy to share, things that you could learn from. Take your time, listen to them, that is worth more than any card or present. Enjoy the time you have with them because before you know it, it will be all gone. Remember, family is the most important thing, without them, you wouldn't be where you are today. 

Life In A City During The First World War

Pre-war city life was almost split in half between the haves and the have-nots. Many of the wealthy had a home not only in the city but in the country as well whilst the poorer people struggled to keep a roof over their heads with the majority of families sharing just a couple of rooms in slum areas. 

The outbreak of war changed city-life and it would never be the same again. As men volunteered and were later conscripted to fight, you could see more and more women filling the jobs men used to do such as bus/tram conductors. This was more noticeable in city areas as there were more jobs to fill. With an ever-increasing amount of jobs available, some of those living in the city slums found themselves with more opportunities to work, including working in factories to help the war effort, where the paid was high. This meant that families could afford to buy the basic food items which in turn started to improve their health. 

One thing that affected those living in the city, no matter how much wealth a person had was the danger of an attack from the enemy. Cities were being heavily bombed during Zeppelin raids and many coastal places also found themselves being shelled by the German navy. This brought out a new determination in cities across Britain. They wanted to prove that they could stand strong in the fight against evil and to do this was to all muck in together, despite the difference in class. I feel this was also the start of the British stiff upper lip. 

Even though people now had more money to spend, there was very little in the shops to supply demand. Food was becoming more difficult to find and it wasn't until rationing was brought in early in 1918 that this started to improve. Unlike rural areas, people just didn't have the resources to be able to swap food items and many didn't have the space to grow their own. 

The thing that stands out to me the most during my researching the result in the change of people's lives. For the soldier's, after being outside in trenches, some for a few years, the tight proximity of city life was a strain for them and many returning soldiers moved into more rural areas for space. Not only that, but those suffering for shell shock and PTSD (although this condition was really known at this point), found the loud noises of the city to difficult to live with and so they sought quieter areas. 

For the women, they had achieved great things during the war and had proved that they could fill the roles that men normally undertook. This created a vicious circle that went on for quite a few years after the war had ended. The women felt it unfair and were resentful of the fact that they were given the sack so that they returning soldiers could take up where they left off. After having a taste of freedom for so long, they were no longer willing to go back to being just housewives and mothers and "delicate creatures". The war really gave a push towards gaining the vote for women and for women's rights in general.

For the men, they were resentful that they had fought a long and hard battle to win the war and had come back to find women caring out the jobs they had done before. The cost of the war had been high and there was a severe decline in the number of jobs available. Newspapers of the time reported that unemployed men could be seen grouped together in the street, many of them drinking, which of course always spelt trouble. 

Pre-war city life had been a divide of wealth, however, post-war was more of a divide between man and women and this would be the case for years to come. 

Rich Families Of The First World War

When people think of the First World War, a lot of people think it was a 'we're all in this together' time, but was that really the case? I intend to find out by looking to see if there was a divide between the rich and the poor. In the first of two parts, I'm going to look at what life was like for those that were wealthy during wartime.

Whenever you read about the beginning of the First World War, there are stories of young men from all backgrounds volunteering for the army as soon as war broke out. However, for some of those that could afford to, they paid somebody, who usually was poor and needed the money, to pose as them to carry out their medical tests for the army. The men that were chosen to do this had medical problems that would mean they would fail the test and be exempt from active duty on the front line. This could range from bad sight or hearing to being flat-footed or found to have heart or breathing problems. Once a wealthy man had his exemption certificate, he could relax and stay at home. He may still have been expected to carry out war work but it would be far less dangerous that fighting in the trenches.

For those that wanted to fight the war, having money or status meant that a lot of them went straight into the army with the rank of Officer with very little training. This caused unrest for the private ranks because they felt many of the officer's didn't have a clue what they were doing or would just treat the privates like slaves. However, having said this, looking back at the war, those wealthy officers did have just as difficult and dangerous a time as the privates. After all they were the ones who had to lead their men, being the first to go over the top and usually being the main target. After all, without an officer to lead them, the enemy knew chaos would ensue and thus allow them to gain more land. They also had the job of keeping their men in line in accordance with the army even if they themselves also didn't want to. 

Pre-war, the wealthy were used to having vast houses with many boosting around twenty rooms and land as far as the eye could see. The families of houses like these could be found to have a large quantity of servants to carry out all manner of jobs from cook and gardener to lady's maid, footman and butler. However, at the outbreak of war this was to change and it would be change that would eventually see domestic service disappear almost entirely. With many of the servants being men, they ever volunteered or were later called up. This meant that the household was run by men that were either too young or too old or unfit to service the army and women. Yet with more and more factories springing up across Britain to turn out war goods, many women stood left the hard, long hours of working as a servant and instead chose to work in the dangerous conditions of munition factories which offered a much higher wage. 

Houses which were deemed large enough were converted to be used as a hospital or convalescence house for those soldiers returning from the front. Houses would be used like this for the duration of the war and families would be expected to either help or find somewhere else to live until the war was over. 

One thing that many families had in common rich and poor alike was the having to get used to their menfolk being away whilst fighting the war as well as the devastation of one of them being killed. Mother's, wives and children up and down the country were all waiting at home for news of their loved one whether rich or poor. One of the only thing that money couldn't buy was the knowledge of safety of a loved one, instead the people on the home front had to wait weeks, sometimes months for any news. 

By the end of the war, the rich had seemed to get richer and the rich poor divide became greater. Factory owners had grown their wealth through contracted given by the government to product war goods. However, for all of their wealth, servants were harder to come by. Many of the men had either been killed or were injured and unable to work. For the women, they had been able to have a life that was without restriction and many had some money behind them now. They no longer wanted to work long, tiring hours for little money. This meant that the war had changed the lives of the rich forever. 

Join me next time when I look at what life was like for the poor during the First World War. 

Food & Drink Of The First World War

For the British people, food and drink, especially tea has always played an important part in our lives. So when the First World War broke out, how was everyone going to be able to cope, especially if the German's succeeded in cutting off our tiny island.

Before war broke out, the rich dinned at fancy restaurants and went to social events such as dinners whereas the poor tended to make so with what they could after, sometimes being only bread and dripping. Rationing wasn't to come into force until much later in the war so traditional favourites could still be enjoyed. These favourites included porridge, pies, stews, kippers and a takeaway of fish and chips if it could be afforded. 

At the outbreak of war such a vast number of men volunteered to fight, that the government had to work out how they were going to feed them all. It wasn't going to be as easy as popping to the local shops. The food had to travel across the channel, through the dangers that lurked beneath the sea, before then travelling to the trenches that needed it. The government therefore decided that there would be a restriction on how much food a soldier could have daily, thus ensuring that no matter how far down the trenches you were, you all got the same amount. The guidelines were: A pinch of both pepper and mustard, 8 ounces of fresh vegetables or a tenth of lime juice, 4 ounces of jam or 4 ounces of dried fruit, 4 ounces of butter or margerine, 3 ounces of cheese, 20 ounces of bread or 16 ounces of flour or 4 ounces of oatmeal. In terms of meat, soldiers could have 4 ounces of bacon, 1 1/4 pounds of meat or 1 pound of salt meat. Also allowed was up to half a gill of rum or 1 pint of porter per soldier. Due to the amount of time and effort it took to get the food to the soldiers, the government also stated that nothing was to be wasted. By the time bread got to the front line it was usually stale but this was not to be thrown away. Instead cooks were expected to put it in cold water and rebake for an hour to give it new life. Alternatively, slices of bread could also be put in milk and baked which turned them into rusks. Any food that was left over could be sold to local farmers to be used as swill, whilst left over dripping could be used in the manufacturing of explosives. To add flavour to their dishes, cooks was taught to look for nettles, sweet docks, wild mushrooms and marigold flowers, all of which could be used to season food. One of the most used recipes was that of the Maconochies Meat Stew, which was made up of fatty meat, sliced turnips, carrots and thin gravy. Although easy to make on a large scale, soldiers grumbled about it and said that when warm it was barely edible yet when cold it could kill. Hard biscuits, made from salt, flour and water was also widely available, however, soldiers soon realised that you needed to dunk them in a drink or loose your teeth!

Originally, the war was meant to be over by Christmas, yet as it dragged on food became scarce and things were harder to find in shops. The government distributed leaflets to homes across Britain with tips on how to use every piece of food, making sure nothing was left over. These leaflets also included how to use vegetables as a substitute for other ingredients such as potatoes to make pastry and cakes. Propaganda played a huge part on the homefront to ensure women was doing their bit for the war effort. Posters included one that stated: Women of Britain - our soldiers are beating the Germans on land, our sailors are beating them on the sea, You can beat them in the larder and the kitchen. For women, it gave them a role in the war, to ensure they used as little food as possible so that the soldiers and sailors could have the food they needed in order to fight the enemy. A book was released to help women achieve this in the form of the Win The War Cookbook, where women could find recipes with many substitute ingredients that they otherwise wouldn't have known about.  

By 1916 flour was almost non-exsistant in the trenches, so bread started being made from other ingredients such as dried potato, oats, barley and sometimes even pulverised straw. Some small French towns had opened up cafe's, often in the front room of their house, to accommodate the soldiers when they were on leave. Here a soldier would find foods they wouldn't normally eat in the daily trench life such as egg and chips. These business ventures proved popular, with many soldiers looking forward to visiting them on their next leave. With food supplies becoming more difficult to get through, soldiers were no longer getting the set amount that they had previously had in 1914 and by 1917, Bully Beef was restricted to 6 ounces a day. Although army ration packs were not introduced until after the war, each soldier did carry with them an emergency Iron Rations Kit in a tin. This was made up of various long life foods but could only be opened when told to do so by officers. Meat was also in short supply and was often substituted with horsemeat, whilst dishes such as potato pie and milk biscuit pudding became popular. 
Drink, especially water was also becoming more and more difficult to transfer to the front line, with some soldiers resorting to drinking from puddles. This as well as the poor diet, led to deficiencies in important vitamins and stomach upsets became increasingly common. The government came to the conclusion that more had to be done - An army did after all, march on its stomach. 

The answer was rationing which came into force in 1918. Everyone was issued with a ration card, even including the King and Queen and had to take it with them whenever they wanted to purchase anything on ration. Foods that were rationed included sugar, meat, flour, margarine, butter and milk. This, like on the front line, ensured that everybody was entitled to the same amount of food, rich and poor alike. 

The process of ensuring everybody had enough to eat took its time but got there towards the end. It meant that when the Second World War came along later, the government could look at the First World War techniques and make it quicker and more efficient. Rationing also brought with it new food technology that we still use today - having something dried from a packet and just adding water. By 1918 this was commonplace in custard and dried soup powder and again would have its day during the Second World War. 

The Boy Scouts And Girl Guides Of The Great War

At the outbreak of the First World War, with many men volunteering to fight, certain roles were taken up by the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts saw a rise in the number of boys that had joined at the outbreak of war - everybody wanted to do their bit to help the war effort. They were too young to join the army or the navy and so this was the next best thing. 

These Boy Scouts were tasked with carrying out important war work such as watching the skies for Zeppelin raids, sounding their bugle to warn of imminent attacks and again once the threat had cleared. They also carried different, most often important messages around the immediate area. They could be set to getting help for a casualty, or carrying messages amongst home front organisations. Boy Scouts carried out various other jobs depending on what was needed - after all, most able-bodied men were away fighting, with older men left behind, most of whom wouldn't be able to run for several minutes to get a message to someone. The Boy Scouts became highly respected for the work they were doing. 

For the girls there was the Girl Guiding. They were expected to undertake different, more female roles. These included parcelling up clothing to send to the frontline, delivering milk, learning and carrying out basic first aid as well as also deliveries messages, similar to the Boy Scouts. There is also rumours, of which the truth will probably never be made public, that the Girl Guides were also involved in delivering messages on behalf of MI5. It is believed that the Girl Guides were the second choice, with the Boy Scouts being the first choice. However, MI5 are said to have believed the boys to be to wild, sometimes naughty and more often than not highly talkative, something that MI5 didn't want. 

Both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides gave children a purpose in the war, which I think boosted morale to thousands of children across the country and gave them a sense of purpose. With many of them missing fathers and other male family members who were on the front line, being part of the organisations meant that time was taken up carrying out their 'duties', taking their mind off other events. However, I do also think that the duties they were carrying out made them feel older and I think they left their childhood behind them sooner than they would have in peacetime.

Life AT War - Terror in London

Britain 1915. The war to end all wars was continuing. It will be over by Christmas had not happened and war remained. The British people didn't know it but they still had another three years of war to endure. Unbeknown to the British, on the 7th January 1915 Germany had just been given permission to bomb Britain using the Zeppelins. What was to follow was death and destruction never seen before. It was bombing raids that killed both the old and the young and created terror amongst the population.

The Zeppelin was created many years earlier and was named after its German creator, Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin. In 1910 the Zeppelins were used as a passenger-paying airline. By the time the war how started, these German Zeppelins had flown over 1,500 passengers to various destinations.

In 1914, civillans started to report the sighting of Zeppelins, manly along the coast area. Although no other evidence was found, the German's were probably using the Zeppelins for reconnaissance missions that would aid them later in the war. It wasn't until January the next year that these would be used as a weapon.

In 1915 Germany began its bombing mission's on Britain. The drone of the Zeppelins could be heard well before it could be seen which warned people of what was about to happen. On average, Germany was able to launch two attacked per month - a lot less raids than would happen in a war to follow not that far in the future. The bombs these Zeppelins dropped caused damage to homes & businesses as well as killed or injured over 1,300 people. The destruction and devastation caused terror and outrage, that people had been personally attacked. The people had expected death in a far-away country but never in their wildest dreams had they thought it would be them in danger. 

The Zeppelin was made from a light metallic and wood framework which contained specialist gas bags filled with hydrogen. Covering all of this was a canvas-like material that would add some protection to the weather conditions. It also had engines fitted with propellers on the outside so it could fly faster and had a passenger gondola on the underside. The design of the Zeppelin meant that it was controlled more so by the weather than the military and on numerous occasions, couldn't fly due to bad weather. The hydrogen filled bags also meant that these Zeppelins were highly flammable as many people were to find out during the course of the war. 

Below are the stories of two pilots that on different occasions came out victorious against the Zeppelins. At a time when flying had only just begun, these two men showed true courage and bravery in order to protect their country.

During a night time mission on 6th June 1915, Rex Warneford was flying his Morane-Saulnier when he saw in the distance a Zeppelin on its was back from a bombing raid he knew had been reported in London. He tried shooting it down but came under heavy machine fire from the machine gun the crew were using on-board. He was angry that Britain had been attacked again and so decided to change his tactics. As the Zeppelin climbed in the sky to become less visible and make its was home, so did Rex. He stayed out of view of the crew on the Zeppelin but as the Zeppelin began its descent into Brussels, he decided to take his revenge. Climbing about 100 ft above the Zeppelin, Rex then released his six bombs which he was carrying, onto the Zeppelin. A huge explosion followed which completely destroyed the Zeppelin, but it also caused damage to Rex's plane. He was forced to land behind enemy lines, in the hope he wouldn't be found, so that he could carry out some much needed repairs on his plane. As soon as Rex landed he worked quickly and efficiently to repair his Morane-Saulnier and was able to take off and fly back home. Once landed safely back in Britain, Rex's story became known and he was awarded the Victoria Cross from Britain and from France awarded the Knights Cross of the Legion d'Honneur. As with many men fighting in the land, see and air during World War 1, Rex never got to see Britain's victory in the end of the war. He died just ten days after his Zeppelin Victory in another flying accident.

At 2am on 2nd September 1916, the people of Cuffley rose from their beds and ran to a nearby field to see what was happened. People could hear the dreaded drone of a Zeppelin getting closer and closer but something felt different tonight for many of the people. Suddenly a small gleam of orange light appeared on part of the Zeppelin. Within seconds that some gleam had turned into a fireball that was later reported to have been seen for up to 100 miles. The people stood still in amazement, watching the fireball slowly fall out of the sky. The next day, people were seen to be looking at the remains of a Zeppelin, of which had been casting fear amongst the people of Britain for over a year. Due to the highly flammable gas, the Zeppelin had burst into flames and had come down into thousands of tiny pieces, of which people were now taking home as souvenirs. 
Slowly throughout the day, the story of Lieutenant William Leefe-Robinson unfolded. The pilot had saw the Zeppelin over Britain and had used three rounds only of machine fire which hit it and caused the gleam of like many people reportedly saw first. This then caused the gas to ignite and that fireball which then brought the Zeppelin to the ground. This was the first Zeppelin to be brought down on British soil and was seen as a huge victory and turning point of the war for the civilians. William's brave efforts had meant that although Zeppelin raids still occurred, the British people knew that the Zeppelins could be destroyed and a small amount of the terror had gone. For William, he continued to bravely fight the enemy in more missions and survived to see the end of the war. Lieutenant William Leefe-Robinson was unable to enjoy the freedom he had been fighting tirelessly for as just one month after the end of the war, he died in the influenza epidemic. However, for the people of Cuffley, his memory lived on and they was forever grateful.

For Germany, the use of the Zeppelin as a weapon of war proved unsatisfactory. As well as the highly flammable gases, as proved in the stories above, they were also large, loud and relatively slow moving. Of the 115 Zeppelins that Germany owned, 53 were completely destroyed and a further 24 more were too damaged to be used. As a result, after World War 1 ended, the Zeppelin's were never used by Germany as a weapon of war.

Men like Rex & William changed the path of the future of Britain for the best. When the first world war broke out, flying was a new concept of which Britain and its flying corps had just started. These men had very little training and safety procedures were unheard of. All they had was a small knowledge of how to fly, aim and release bombs and their own initiative to keep them safe. These brave men paved the way so that in world war two, we were able to use Spitfires & Hurricanes to help us win the battle of Britain and today be able to use advanced technology in the Euro Typhoons. If these men could see how far Britain has come, I'm sure they would be amazed that we now fly planes that, if needed to, can fly north to south of England in just under ten minutes.

  



    

    

Life AT War - An unexpected explosion

Friday 19th January 6:40pm Families were just settling down for the evening. Many women were doing mending or cooking, children cooking. Suddenly at 6:52pm a explosion creates terror , had the enemy arrived?

At a munitions factory in Silvertown carnage had erupted. A fire had broke out in the melt-pot room, people were rushing around trying to get the fire under control. The factory had been opened two years into the war and at the height of production was producing up to nine tons per day. The workers were trying to get put out the fire and had got most of it under control when the TNT caught fire causing the large explosion.
The explosion could be heard for miles around and red-hot rubble was causing more destruction by causing fires and injuring people. A gasometer gasholder was damaged which caused a fireball from 200,000 cubic meters of gas. As well as this local warehouses, homes and other buildings were also damaged. This meant that more people were injured in the surrounding area as well as the many killed in within the factory.

The emergency services worked tirelessly to put out fires and help the injured and well as help carry out any repairs needed. The Salvation Army and the YMCA also helped doing anything that was needed including giving out food and drink.
In the weeks and months that followed, an investigation was carried out, which although it concluded that there was no single cause for the explosion, it was highly unlikely to have been sabotaged by the Germans or from an air raid. Further investigations proved however that the sight that the War Office had chosen for the TNT factory was unsafe for such a use, especially in such a highly populated area.

In this disaster, 73 people were killed with a further 400 people injured, an estimated 70,000 properties were damaged with even more damaged beyond repair. The Edward medal was awarded to Andreas Angel and George Wenbourne. The Kings Police Medal was awarded to PC Edward George Brown Greenoff of which you can find the plaque dedicated to Edward on the Memorial to Heroic self sacrifice in Postman's Park in London.

It was decided that due to the damage of most of the properties in the immediate area, they would be demolished and rebuilt. In the report, it would found that most of the people in the area were living in poor unsanitary conditions. Unfortunately it took for a disaster to happen and many lives lost for the higher powers to realise that an area was living in poor conditions.