1 January 2015
The stage has now been
reached, when the outbreak of World War 1 has passed 100 years. So in a very
brief review of 1914, a thought is how will events of 1915 unfold? Will the war, initially known as the
European war, finally come to a conclusion? Of course in 2015, we know it will not - but if we can try
and take ourselves back to that time and put ourselves into the place of men
women and children, what might have we then thought and felt?
I personally developed an
interest in the period of time in the discovery of the war poets. Exactly when
is hard to pinpoint, but it was roughly in the late 1970's in discovery of a
volume of poems, hidden on my parents book shelves. Like many readers then and since,
I was struck by the poems of Wilfred Owen. Whose writing was vivid in conveying
emotion and imagery. This started my fascination for that period of reading
both fictional and factual accounts. Of course, such sources have grown since
then with adaptations into film and TV - one such early programme that caught
my attention being the TV mini-series of Testament of Youth in 1979, which
deserves a new showing. Clips from the series is well worth viewing on You
Tube:
With the centenary has come
an explosion of media covering all aspects of the Great War. Like many, I have wanted
to contribute somehow to those years that undisputedly shaped the twentieth
century and beyond.
World War One blogger now
marks my tribute to that time, to parallel the experiences of people and events
exactly a hundred years ago. Wanting to try and bring a different aspect, I
thought of looking at sources on line of articles from the time. From these the idea was to create new
articles, building out the details, ideally providing a unfolding day by day as
it happened viewpoint. By great fortune a major source became the Telegraph
Archive:
With further consideration,
of creating an aspect beyond just a journalistic approach, the blog might
follow, in some parallel way, the use poetry effects. This then has led to the
creation of:
In consideration of the
reports over the first five months of World War 1, has given me something of an
insight as to how people would perceive what was going on. Of course we have to
be reminded of the propaganda effect that began, almost immediately. A special Press Bureau was quickly set
up to control what was being issued and how much information was given - positivity in time of war is of course
vital to keep all men and women 'up to the mark.' No doubt many people then
would be aware of this control element.
The media was then limited as to what people could read and exchange in
conversation, the fact of film was relatively new and also came to play a part
in what information was presented to the public.
Among items that came from
reading articles, includes the coining of the phrase early on of calling the
conflict The Great War. This was obviously not a latter expression, as perhaps
suggested. Also in the various reports suggested that the war would go on for
some time, hardly a mention that it would be over by Christmas. Perhaps those
who were initially eager to get out there coined this idea. Almost from the
start came advertising of books and Journals that were being created. As in the
Daily Telegraph War Books for 1/- each - there were 10 issues published by 12
September 1914, along with frequent war maps tracking out positions. Already
then, came the tourist armchair trail, which would lead to the Michelin Guides
to the Battlefields. Such adverts seemed to have all but gone by Mid December.
To see adverts for the War Books:
Items that have stood out have been the obsession of
hunting down of spies. For 1914 are 16 poems that have had some link to such stories
from a young Belgium boy acting as double agent to keep his mother alive in
poem, Boy Spy Tells Lies - Friday,
11 December 1914 - the well known story of Karl Hans Lody,
who posed as an American Tourist, and executed at the Tower of London, in the
poem Trial of Lody: German Spy -
Wednesday, 11 November 1914 and the discovery of a spy ring in poem,
Centre of Spy Ring -
Wednesday, 11 November 1914.
Another small surprise was involvement of women in
the war's outbreak, which perhaps has not always been so evident, other that
nurse and ammunition workers. The following being of note:
In South Africa a Woman wears a British flag in
preserving the emblem from rebel men.
A German Nurse, a Baroness, is killed by shrapnel -
having treated men on the frontline - to posthumously receive an Iron Cross
medal.
Arrested as a spy by Germans, is released to go onto
Antwerp, protecting patients under shellfire.
To return children to their homes in Britain, a nun
escorts them across from Belgium to Britain.
The story of a lady aviator who cropped her hair and
acquiring a plane to fight
alongside men.
Women workers of an armaments factory take up guns
against Uhlans, to defend their town.
Caught in opening conflict while on holiday, two
friends leave from Ardennes, on foot to encounter dangers to return to Britian.
This blog I hope has added
something, to the many other contributions of this fascinating subject, big or
small, that people are personally undertaking; from letters and documents of
relatives that fought in the war to researchers and historians and other
self-confessed addicts - all of
whom are bringing new aspects and 'life' to the Great War period and people who
were there.
The intention is to make
the 1914 World War One Blogger poems, into a paperback/ebook, which will also
be available. Do keep a look out for updates on this project.
At this stage just remains to
say that a good year will progress through 2015 while World War One Blogger
provides a parallel view of 1915.
Thank you for reading
Jamie
Mann
A
Draft cover for the World War One Blogger poems -
to
be available later in 2015
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