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At a talk I gave on my research into the Wipers Times back in June 2024, I mentioned the journal the Red Feather, the regimental magazine of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry (DCLI). I was pleasantly surprised when it came up in the questions after the talk, as, in my opinion — although there …
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When I was carrying out research on the Wipers Times, I came across the following comment, made by the editor Fred Roberts, about their time in Loos: 'Of course, the life was a subterranean one and the cafés, cinemas, etc., were not doing business, but one could go and look at the pile of brick which once was the house …
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Soldiers' alphabets are synonymous with Trench Journals, and there is no shortage of examples, such as the one from the Sprig below. They have been used in support of the argument that trench culture was an export, or continuation, of civilian culture. Whether I agree with that statement is a topic for another day, …
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To use an appropriate idiom for the era, I am currently 'knee-deep' into my PhD, and one casualty from this undertaking has been updating my website. I want to get back into the habit of writing articles for this site regularly, but — as I am sure many a PhD student before has discovered — writing academically all the …
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‘The Bridge Across the Stream’ was originally published in the 1917 Blighty Christmas Special. The lyrics were written by J.E. MacManus (1862-1921) — Blighty's editor, who, before the war, had written lyrics for several music hall songs, often in collaboration with the actor and singer Leo Stormont (1860-1923). They …
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Originally published in The Meteorological Magazine between 1979 and 1980. © Crown Copyright. Figure 1. WW1 Era Kite Ballon, similar to what Harry Cotton would have made his observations from, Author's Collection Sourced and provided by the National Meteorological Library and Archive — Met Office, UK. Reproduced here …
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Original published in The Meteorological Magazine , Volume 84, No. 996, June 1955, pp.173-178. © Crown Copyright. Link to original . As sourced and provided by the National Meteorological Library and Archive — Met Office, UK. Reproduced here under the Open Government Licence. Figure 1. Source Unknown, Wind and Weather …
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Corporal Harry Cotton, Meteorological Office, 4th Army HQ Service Number: 160163 Later Lieutenant Harry Cotton, MBE, DSc. Born: 17 June 1889, Wandsworth, London (grew up in the Potteries) Died: 27 July 1985 (aged 96), Deben, Suffolk Figure 1. Harry Cotton, Liddle Collection WW1/GS/0371, Reproduced here with permission …
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In terms of surviving, processing and enduring the environment that Tommy Atkins faced during the war, humour played a vital role, one which should never be undervalued for its contribution. Lord Moran (1882-1977), President of the Royal College of Physicians, Winston Churchill's personal doctor, and author of The …
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I mentioned in the Staff, Suspects and Witness post that I was at something of an impasse regarding researching Dorothy Violet Hall. While I had fragments of information, there wasn't really enough to form more than a fragmented sentence here and there. I received an email in October 2023 from Richard Sheppard, a …
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