Sponsored by
Scraps of history are sought to keep First War online for ever
WHEN the Glasgow Highlanders were whisked off their training ground and sent to the Western Front, the train carrying them to northern France passed through the home town of Company Sergeant Major George Cavan.
Realising it wasn't going to stop, the enterprising soldier scribbled a quick note to his wife, folded it into a matchbox and threw it out of the window onto the station platform at Carluke, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
The CSM was killed a few days later in France, not knowing whether his last letter ever arrived.
The fact that it did – the matchbox was picked up by someone who knew his wife – has only just come to light; one of several remarkable discoveries made by researchers at Oxford University.
And now, in conjunction with Hull Council, the university is appealing for anyone in East Yorkshire with memories of the First World War to submit them to a national archive.
The Great War archivists will be in the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, on Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
They will record and return anything of interest relating to the war, from letters, diaries, photographs and souvenirs to personal stories handed down through the generations.
All items taken to the event will be logged to form part of an online database, which will be launched on November 18 this year – the 90th anniversary of the armistice.
Everett Sharp, military historian and archivist at the university, said: "So far we have had over 4,000 entries and we have uncovered some amazing stories. Because of the ageing population there's a danger all this will be lost.
"My grandfather served in the First World War and I'm approaching 60; if we don't record these things now these little scraps of paper will just disappear. They won't be accorded the same amount of importance by the new generation coming up today."
The project is being co-ordinated in Hull by portfolio holder for community engagement Coun John Robinson whose grandfather Cpl James Robinson served with the Royal Welch Fusiliers in the Palestine campaign in 1917-18.
He said: "Six years ago I took part in the BBC series The Trench, portraying life in the First World War, and ever since then I've been interested.
"I know from my own experience that my grandfather was OK physically, but mentally it affected him for the rest of his life.
"Whatever your views on the war, the sacrifices that were made should be remembered.
"It's a very important part of the history of Hull and East Yorkshire and the country."
Another example of how the archive can bring history – if not people – to life is the story of a Welsh soldier who was serving as a musician and stretcher-bearer in Italy.
In spring 1918, in response to another crisis on the Western Front, he was transferred to different regiment and sent to the front line, where he died soon afterwards.
But because of inconsistencies in the paperwork there was no record of him or what had happened until his family submitted details to the archive.
In the meantime, the council is considering an official visit to Oppy Wood, near Arras, in northern France, scene of desperate fighting in 1917 involving East Yorkshire soldiers and the Hull Pals battalions.
That action saw the posthumous award of a Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for valour, to Hull rugby legend Jack Harrison, who was listed as missing, presumed dead after single-handedly attacking a German machine-gun post.
Entries can also be made to the archive online at www.thegreatwararchive.org
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -9 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
