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. 

Love Letters During The First World War

With valentine's day just gone I thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on what love was like during the first world war. Although I have been lucky enough so far to not have gone through a wartime, I have heard people over the years say that in war your feelings are stronger. People learn to live for the moment, for who knows what is around the corner. 

During the first world war, letters played an huge and important part in communication. Phone lines were expected to be used to help the war effort only and not for personal conversations. With many of Britain's men fighting in the trenches of a foreign land, it was the letters written that kept people together. 

Women would often write to there sweethearts, telling them all the news from home, in return, soldiers would thank them for the gifts they had received and would ask for news of certain family members or friends. For the women, it felt like their responsibility to inform their loved ones that they were thought of at home and not forgotten. 

When many of us think of love letters today, we think of the of the top type usually shown in movies. However, the love letters of the first world war were more than that. They contained dreams and hopes for the future, of something to look forward to when the war was over. They created a bridge between peace and war, they made the horrors of war soldiers were witnessing more just. 

Yet these letters were not only read between two sweethearts. They would also be read by somebody else who would censor each and every letter to ensure no news or plans would reach the enemy.  often meant that letters were even more shortened than they originally were and some sentences were often broken and hard to understand. 

Over the last couple of years, many of the love letters written during the first world war have been made public, either in books, tv programmes and online. By reading these letters you can get a real sense of what life was like to be in love during wartime. From the happy times to the sad times, these letters can make you feel like you are living alongside them. 

If there is one thing you do this month, I would recommend researching some wartime love letters (they aren't hard to find) and read them. They really put things into perspective and show us that all the money spent and tackiness of valentine's day is not needed. All that matters in that the one you love is safe and well.

Life In Rural Britain During World War 1

The outbreak of World War 1 changed the lives of British people throughout the country. In rural Britain, small tight communities could often be found. The indirectly led to the surge in young men volunteering to fight - after all, they didn't want to be seen as a Shirker.With men volunteering in their flocks, farms and local businesses were left without a huge amount of their workforce. This was to become more serious as it was left to farmers to feed the nation as U-boats sunk more and more ships carrying much needed supplies to Britain. 

Not only did farms loose they menfolk, they also lost their horse power with most horses become requisitioned by the War Office. Without this huge strength, it would take on average a minimum of 15 people to harvest a field full of crop. By 1915, the Women's Land Army was set up with women joining from all around the country to do something new and different to help the war effort. Although thousands volunteered for the Land Army, farmers were reluctant to allow women to farm their land as 'it wasn't there place' and they 'wouldn't be strong enough' to cope with the physical work. 

Farms now had the workers to cope with demand which is great as by 1917, the Cultivation Of Lands Order meant that the government could demand that farmers plough new land to increase food production. At vast amount of this land had never been ploughed before and so the work was strenuous and the hours long. As much as farmers hated to admit it, without the help of the Women's Land Army, they would have been hugely behind with their quoter. 

It wasn't just farms that the war effected, but family homes as well. People that had gardens were encouraged to start a vegetable garden which helped vastly when rationing was introduced. By growing their own vegetables they were able to add to their allotted amount. Women were encouraged not to waste food and could face a hefty fine if they were found to be wasting food. By living in the country, anything that would have normally been wasted could be given to local farms to use as pigs swill. 

Many neighbours in rural areas pulled together to help each other. Whether it was swapping food and other items to being there for someone when they receive the devastating news war can bring. Reports can be found post-war where firm friends and local groups had been formed through their experiences of the war. 

Join me next time when I explore what life was like for those that live in the City.     

The Great British High Street During The First World War

Over the last few years, we have seen the British high street change a lot in a short space of time. It led me to thinking about how the high street used to be, so I thought I would find out.

The early 1900s had been a time where there was a huge divide on the high street between those who had money and those who didn't. For those where money was never limited, they could spend there time and money browsing around department stores such as Selfridges or visiting their local tailor or dressmaker to have something bespoke made for them. People who had limited money had to resort to buying second hand from local market stalls where they could pick up a bargain. 

Another popular business on the high street was tearooms. For those that could afford it, they would be able to join friends or family whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea and a delicious fresh cake. It wasn't just the wealthy that used tearooms, as it has been noted that some poorer people would save up for a long time so that they could have a treat at the local tearoom, usually for a special occasion such as a birthday. 

It is the norm today to just pop out to the local supermarket and pick up everything you need in one place however back in pre-war Britain you would buy your meat from the butchers, food basics such as butter and fresh fruit and veg, sweets could be bought from the sweetshop and you would visit the ironmonger for various tools. Unlike supermarkets today, when visiting these types of shops, the produce would come in whole and the shopkeeper would weight out and cut the amount each individual needed. It saved a lot on packaging and wastage. For things like cotton, you could pick them up in the penny bazaar's where all manner of cheap but useful things were sold, all for just a penny. 

The high street itself was often a friend yet busy atmosphere. Everyone, mainly women were out of the house early to ensure they got the best products. The later in the day they went, the more likely they were to get fruit and veg on the turn or the meat that nobody else wanted. During the 1910s, lamps were still lit by hand each evening as electricity was yet to arrive on the high street. Newspapers could be bought on street corners rather than in shops and passers-by would be able to hear the seller shouting about the latest headlines. At a time when not everyone could read, this was how most people heard that Britain was at war with Germany. 

The outbreak of war saw recruitment offices pop up all over the country with most of them being located on the high street to attract more people. Reports described how queues of people could be seen on the high street all wanting to volunteer. 

As the war dragged on, the high street was hugely affected. Many roles were taken over by women for a start and at lot of these women now had money to spare. But with it getting harder to get supplies to Britain, the shops were having less and less for sale. Queues would form at the local shops in order to get some food. People were told to not buy things unnecessarily but the government knew they needed to do something more to restrict the amount people could buy. The answer - rationing which was brought into force in January 1918 with the restriction of sugar. This meant in theory that no matter how much money you had, you all were entitled to the same amount of restricted foods. 

By April, other items such as meat, cheese, butter and margarine were also rationed. The government was able to enforce rationing in a short space of time by issuing everybody with a ration card. In order to receive your weekly ration, you had to register with you local butcher and grocer and this was the only place you would be able to buy rationed products from. With the ration books came a lot of hard work and filling in forms for the shopkeepers which all took time. This meant that in some overpopulated places, you could expect to queue up for hours just to get your weeks ration. 

The war changed the high street like never before. It was never going to go back for the war had started to shape it into what we know today. The rationing of items didn't just finish with the end of the war. Britain struggled through more austerity as the years went by. After all, Britain had spent millions to win the war as a consequence was in debt. The number of men that had been killed or injured during the war had affected family life and so for a lot of poorer families, money was extremely tight. They couldn't afford a lot of the basics let alone any treats or luxuries. Of those who were lucky enough to return home after the war in okay form, many then had to fight the battle to survive the Spanish Flu epidemic that swept across Britain. A lot of Men were unable to work in the industries they had pre-war so the shops continued to look bare. With people having less and less money as the post-war years dragged on, people needed products as cheap as possible and this saw the end to many businesses on the high street. 

Poor Families Of The First World War

In part two I'm going to explore the effects of the First World War on the poorer families of Britain and see what their lives were like. 

Pre-war life was hard for the working class and many families across Britain were living in slums that were dirty, overcrowded and would be deemed not fit to live in by today's standard. Whole families could be found to be renting one or two rooms instead of a hold house and were expected to share the outside toilet with a dozen other large families. 

When war broke out, most of the men from the poorer areas went straight to the recruiting office to volunteer. many of these me were unemployed or were casual labour so the thought of having a job to do whilst seeing some of the war seemed like a big adventure to them. With the main breadwinner's away, the responsibility of surviving was left on the women's shoulders solely. Due to this we saw an increase in the amount of homes containing more than two generations as grandparents moved in with their families both to save money and to help out with running the home so that the mother could go to work. They would carry out the housework as well as looking after the children.

With more and more factories turning over to war work, jobs were easier to come by and came with relatively good wages, although they would still get less than a man for doing the same job. These new opportunities caused a lot of mothers to go out to work so that they could support their families. With many families having six or more children money would still be tight but they could at least afford to keep a roof over their head. 

With the war dragging on, food was becoming harder to come by and thus was becoming more and more expensive. Unlike the wealthy who had no limit to the cost of the food they ate, poorer families just couldn't afford much and so many were living on potatoes or bread and dripping to get them through each day.  

By the end of the war, the role of the individual family members had changed with many families getting used to coping with their menfolk being away, so much so that when the soldiers returned from war they often found it difficult to fit in and cope with how much had changed whilst they were away. For all their bravery and help fighting to win the war, they were often left unemployed and with little or no money. 

Unlike the rich, who as a consequence of the war had more wealth, the poor were left with nothing and would face a bitter struggle to survive each day. The workhouse would see more people arriving on its doorstep and the suicide rate increased. The war had changed everyone's lives and began to shape the life we know today.

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. 

Christmas 1915

By December 1915, the realisation that the war was going to drag on for a long time yet started to hit home. As with today, people's thoughts turned towards Christmas and what they needed to buy. However, in wartime Britain this was easier said than done. Today we are used to an array of beautiful presents with something for every price range, yet in 1915, less and less could be found in the shops. Women were encouraged to only buy presents which was useful and those that could were encouraged to do without, in order to said the soldier's on the front line what they could. Useful gifts for the soldiers included items such as warm gloves, safety razors & cigarettes.

It was not only those on the home front whose thoughts turned to their loved ones at Christmas, for soldier's were also thinking of what to buy. The most popular item that was purchased was handmade cards from local villages near to the front line. These are more commonly known as world war one silks. They are so beautifully crafted and many came with their own personal message inside. For those of you who haven't been lucky enough to see one in the flesh, all I can say is the detail captured in these cards are truly amazing.

On the home front and the front line, people were remembering the Christmas Truce of the previous year. So were those of higher power who strongly discouraged any repeat of such an event. Soldier's were threatened that if they were caught to be in friendly company of the enemy, they would be court marshalled and the punishment would be severe. This meant that for the soldier's on the front line, it was a relatively quiet affair. With many of the soldier's fighting in Gallipoli throughout December, soldier's were battling with the bitter temperatures and fallen snow. Due to this, many soldier's in the area were suffering from frostbite and so not really in the Christmas mood. 

It wasn't just the army that were strict around Christmas, for the navy was too. Christmas Day for sailor's was highly regimented. For example, whether religious or not a sailor was first expected to attend a religious service. After the service, they would then go to the mess, where food adorned the tables as far as they eye could see. The ships Captain and officers would then sit at each of the tables and sample the food on offer. Only then would they have any free time, but they were always on high alert. 

Britain had seen some of its bloodiest battles in the war so far, and with this came a vast amount of injured soldier's, many of whom were to spend Christmas in hospital. To cheer their patients up, many of whom were suffering from horrific and life-changing injuries, nurses set about decorating the wards and organising entertainment such as concerts. 

For all of these people and many others, Christmas was celebrated in different ways. Yet they all had something in common and that was the hope that the war would be over soon, so that no more suffering came of the people of Britain. Unfortunately, this hope would not happen for another three years and there would be many who would never see the end of the war. So this Christmas take a moment to think of those people as well as those serving around the world today, of the sacrifices they paid and are still paying to keep us all safe. 

Lastly, I would just like to take this moment to thank you for your support and for reading my blog throughout the year. I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy new year.