At the beginning of 1916 neither side had managed to break the stalemate on the Western Front, but both Germany with Austria-Hungary and Britain with France were determined to mount a massive attack on their enemy to break the deadlock. The Germans attacked first in February at Verdun and the Allies at the Somme in July 1916.
A number of local men went ‘over the top’ on the 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Walter Gale wrote home from Edinburgh War Hospital to say that he had been injured on the first day and Mrs. Cropley received a letter explaining the circumstances in which her son had been killed on the same day.
It was in September as the battle continued that the British first used tanks on the battlefield, Sergeant Jakins wrote home to Great Gransden to say he had seen them up close.
By November 1916, when the Battle ended, the British had lost 400,000 men, with 20,000 killed and 40,000 wounded on the first day. Germany and France suffered similar losses and almost 1 million men died during the campaign.
Front page of the St Neots Advertiser, 18th August 1916
Contemporary map of the Western Front, 1914 – 1916
British Infantry at Morval, 25th September 1916, Imperial War Museum Archive
British Mark 1 male tank near Thiepval, 25th September 1916, Imperial War Museum Archive
Letter from Private Walter Gale, St Neots Advertiser, 21st July 1916
Letter to Mrs Cropley of Kings Road, St Neots, St Neots Advertiser, 18th August 1916
Letter from Sergeant R. Jakins, St Neots Advertiser, 6th October 1916
https://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/st-neots-museum-logo.svg00Kelly Garnerhttps://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/st-neots-museum-logo.svgKelly Garner2018-11-08 23:20:072018-11-09 18:07:47In the thick of the fighting
As the Great War progressed women’s roles were changing. Women had more independence than ever before, many women were now the head of their household, managing their homes, bringing up their children and taking on new jobs as well as voluntary work.
The changing status of women was reflected in new relaxed fashions for women. Shorter skirts made walking easier and looser styles (with no constricting corset underneath) allowed easier movement for women constantly busy with new roles and responsibilities.
At the beginning of the Great War women’s fashions were conservative and restrictive, St Neots Advertiser 18th September 1914
Radical changes in women’s clothing were underway by 1916, St Neots Advertiser, 7th July 1916
https://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/st-neots-museum-logo.svg00Kelly Garnerhttps://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/st-neots-museum-logo.svgKelly Garner2018-11-06 23:29:372018-11-08 16:00:24Changing clothes fashions for women
In the thick of the fighting
/in Images from the warLocal men at the Battle of the Somme
At the beginning of 1916 neither side had managed to break the stalemate on the Western Front, but both Germany with Austria-Hungary and Britain with France were determined to mount a massive attack on their enemy to break the deadlock. The Germans attacked first in February at Verdun and the Allies at the Somme in July 1916.
A number of local men went ‘over the top’ on the 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Walter Gale wrote home from Edinburgh War Hospital to say that he had been injured on the first day and Mrs. Cropley received a letter explaining the circumstances in which her son had been killed on the same day.
It was in September as the battle continued that the British first used tanks on the battlefield, Sergeant Jakins wrote home to Great Gransden to say he had seen them up close.
By November 1916, when the Battle ended, the British had lost 400,000 men, with 20,000 killed and 40,000 wounded on the first day. Germany and France suffered similar losses and almost 1 million men died during the campaign.
Front page of the St Neots Advertiser, 18th August 1916
Contemporary map of the Western Front, 1914 – 1916
British Infantry at Morval, 25th September 1916, Imperial War Museum Archive
British Mark 1 male tank near Thiepval, 25th September 1916, Imperial War Museum Archive
Letter from Private Walter Gale, St Neots Advertiser, 21st July 1916
Letter to Mrs Cropley of Kings Road, St Neots, St Neots Advertiser, 18th August 1916
Letter from Sergeant R. Jakins, St Neots Advertiser, 6th October 1916
Changing clothes fashions for women
/in Images from the warAs the Great War progressed women’s roles were changing. Women had more independence than ever before, many women were now the head of their household, managing their homes, bringing up their children and taking on new jobs as well as voluntary work.
The changing status of women was reflected in new relaxed fashions for women. Shorter skirts made walking easier and looser styles (with no constricting corset underneath) allowed easier movement for women constantly busy with new roles and responsibilities.
At the beginning of the Great War women’s fashions were conservative and restrictive, St Neots Advertiser 18th September 1914
Radical changes in women’s clothing were underway by 1916, St Neots Advertiser, 7th July 1916