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Note to Readers: 15 January 2026. I have been asked to write the commentary for the 2026 reprints of The Wipers Times for Talbot House. As a result, new information and additional details relating to George Turner have been uncovered. This article will be updated in due course; however, readers should note that the …
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For the third entry in the series, a very battered, missing its front cover — as well perhaps half of its original contents — autograph book which once belonged to a Doris Edith May Orridge (1896 -1988), who attended St Margaret School, a mixed aged and sex, boarding school in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. She attended with …
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This is the first 'Mystery File' relating to the soldier-cartoonists who had their contributions published in Blighty but, at this moment in time, the trail has gone cold as I have been unable to find any further information about them — though I am not ready to give up. First, getting published in Blighty brought more …
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This post has become the entry point for most people who stumble across my Wipers Exposé, and it was originally intended to be more of an appendix than an article in the series. The whole exposé began when I came across a lead that the writer behind ‘Violet’s Chronical of Fashion’ in the Wipers Times, was not in fact …
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The Book For the second entry in this series, I have chosen to add an autograph book which, in some regards, is a very typical example — containing poems, memes, toasts, and quite a few pictures of Union Jack flags. On closer inspection, however, it becomes a mystery starting with a distinct lack of personification. …
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Corporal Bertie Inward, 2/19th (St Pancras) Battalion, London Regiment Service Number: 613219 Born: 22 April 1887, Medway, Kent Died: 27 October 1922, Romford, Essex (aged 35) Fred Karno (1886-1941) was a music hall impresario, known for nurturing the careers of a young Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel — as well as …
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Following on from the previous article, I got my first lead regarding tracking down the identity of Violet, of 'Violets Chronicle of Fashion', in the form of letters written by Thomas Moore Emmanuel Ward (1895-1947). Ward was a Lieutenant in the 12th Battalion (Pioneers) Sherwood Foresters as well as a contributor to …
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With thanks to Chris Galley for taking the time to answer my questions. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) — the number of infant deaths under the age of one per thousand births — is a useful indicator of both the health of a population and of its supporting health infrastructure and welfare (discussed in brief in parts 2 and …
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Private Richard Collins, 12th (Bermondsey) Battalion East Surrey Regiment Service Number: 12906 (Later 12234, 1st Irish Guards) Born: 9 August 1899, Brentford, Middlesex Died: Unknown Enlisted, at the age of 19, in August 1915 with the 12th (Bermondsey) Battalion East Surrey Regiment, earning the qualification of 1st …
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Corporal Gontran De Tournoüer, 11th Field Artillery Brigade, Australian Imperial Force. Service Number: 109 Born: 27 August 1885, Vendome, France. Died: 13 July 1929 (aged 43), Queensland, Australia. Content: This article contains a cartoon, a product of the time, which includes negative stereotypes of a people and its …
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