Haigh' last Push

Haig’s last ‘Big Push’ floundered in Belgian mud

The Great War gave recognition to many terms or place names that would become synonymous with the futility of men’s attempts to defy nature. Perhaps the greatest of these is the name of the

previously insignificant community of Pasendael (Passchendaele) sitting on the low ridge to the North East of the town of Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium. Over four months from July to October 1917 it would become the final objective of a failed ‘grand plan’, intended to break through the German frontlines and secure the trade routes through the Channel by seizing the Belgian seaports. From these ports the enemy’s submarines threatened the very continuance of the war, according to a gloomy appraisal of the security of the shipping lanes presented by Admiral Jellicoe, in the Spring of 1917.

The reluctant decision to sanction Field Marshal Haig’s plan for a summer offensive followed a long and drawn out struggle across the tables of Whitehall as Prime Minister Lloyd George and his colleagues were wary of a repeat of the blood-letting of the previous year on the Somme.

Lloyd George wanted to transfer military assets and men to prop up Italy and was sceptical of Haig’s confidence that the British imperial forces could carry through the latest scheme to break-out of the deadlock on the Western Front and seize the narrow strip of Belgian coastal ports before turning back onto the enemy’s rear. France was seriously weakened, following another failed offensive which had provoked substantial mutiny in its armies; and appeared content to sit out the next 12 months and await the arrival of significant American forces in 1918, following the US entry into the war in April. The arrival of substantial German troops released from fighting on the Russian fronts, as that country slipped into the chaos of Revolution, only served to increase the improbability of success for the proposed campaign, that would become known as the Third Battle of Ypres. For reasons of public morale Lloyd George was unable to remove Haig and reluctantly the government agreed to the planned offensive.

What no one could defeat was the weather. Despite knowledge of the poor conditions that existed in the battle areas at almost all times, repeated attacks were pressed forward into a sea of mud, as the rain poured down relentlessly, with few respites, in one of the wettest summers for fifty years. The horrors of that campaign stand out as possibly the worst conditions in which men have ever been sent to fight.

More than fifty men of the borough of Tynemouth were sacrificed in a campaign which slithered to a halt in mid-October, as the tiny gains of shell cratered and gas saturated swamp were measured against the losses of hundreds of thousands of killed and wounded, for an advance to the village which would give its name to this futile tragedy.

For a full understanding of the enormity of this disaster you can find a comprehensive and very readable explanation of the objectives and reality of the campaign in Leon Woolf’s ‘In Flanders Fields’ (Longmans 1959).

The Public meeting to gauge support for the formation of a group to begin the task of assembling the record of service and casualties of Wallsend, Howdon and Willington Quay districts in the Great War will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 29^th October, 2013 at the Memorial Hall, Frank Street, Wallsend If you are interested to help in the work of the proposed project (no previous experience in research is necessary- as training will be provided) please come to the meeting to find out how a properly constituted body will be formed and how you might be able to assist. A number of opportunities will be available for people with special skills to volunteer and it is hoped that the project will get underway early in the 2014, when funding and workspace have been secured.

Play about local man executed in Great War

Play about local man executed in Great War wins Arts Council funding

The Tynemouth commemoration project has based its work on a published Roll of Honour recording names of men who died from causes related to the Great War of 1914-19. That Roll includes the name of one local man – William Hunter, of Coronation Street - caught up in one of the most controversial issues of the war - the policy of judicial execution of hundreds of men for military offences. The project commissioned North East playwright and author Peter Mortimer in 2011 to write a play based on Hunter’s court martial papers; and now the significance of his case has been recognised by the Arts Council of England, who have awarded the project £11,000 to assist in the writing and production of the play – Death at Dawn – to be first performed in week commencing 1^st September, 2014 at the Linskill Community Centre.

There are a number of unusual aspects to Hunter’s case and Peter has taken the few known facts of his early life to develop a fictional account of how his short military career might have progressed; interwoven with the information available from the handwritten court martial records. William’s life was ended by a firing squad at 6.58am on the 21^st February, 1916. He had claimed, when arrested and tried, to have been under age when he enlisted. That claim appears to have been ignored although at least one very senior officer recommended a reprieve of the death sentence, relying on Hunter’s assertion about his age but was overruled by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig who sanctioned all executions in France and Belgium.

The grant of the Arts Council money makes the staging of the play more certain, as other bodies are now likely to come forward with funds, in the knowledge that the play has support from the major funding body for the performing arts in England.

The play will be directed by Jackie Fielding and produced by North Tyneside’s only professional theatre company – Cloud Nine. Play author and Artistic Director of Cloud Nine, Peter Mortimer commented – “this is brilliant news. Arts Council funding in our straitened times is increasingly difficult to come by, so this is a real vote of confidence for the play and the project”

A Public meeting will take place on 29^th October, 2013 at 7pm at the Memorial Hall in Wallsend to gauge support for the formation of a group to begin the task of assembling the record of service and casualties of Wallsend. 

Unlike in Tynemouth Borough no document was ever produced (that is known about) giving a comprehensive record of Wallsend’s casualties. The first task of any group that is formed will be to collate the details to be found on numerous separate memorials, plaques and other artefacts connected to the town and the war. Memorials from places of employment, works, factories and shipyards as well as Church memorials will be a key source of information. The group, if formed will seek funding similar to that obtained by the Tynemouth project from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

If you are interested to help in the work of the proposed project (no previous experience in research is necessary- as training will be provided) please come to the meeting on 29^th October to find out how a properly constituted body will be formed and how you might be able to assist.

A number of opportunities will be available for people with special skills to volunteer and it is hoped that the project will get underway early in the 2014, when funding and workspace have been secured.

New project planned

New project planned to expand commemoration of North Tyneside’s Great War casualties

The Tynemouth commemoration project has based its work on a published Roll of Honour recording men who died from causes related to the Great War of 1914-19 although it has mention of men who died as late as 1921. That document only related to the former Borough of Tynemouth. The current borough of North Tyneside was formed in 1974 by the coming together of Tynemouth with two other boroughs – Wallsend and Whitley Bay and parts of a number of district council areas (Backworth, Shiremoor, Earsdon, Forest Hall, Killingworth, Longbenton, Dudley Burradon and Seaton Burn). Now we are helping an initiative in Wallsend to begin the task of forming a group to carry out a similar role for the many hundreds of victims of the war who lived in or were connected to the former Municipal Borough of Wallsend.

A public meeting will be convened shortly – details will be given in this column and advertised widely – to assess support for the formation of a group to begin the task of assembling the record of service and casualties of Wallsend. Unlike Tynemouth Borough no document was ever produced (that is known about) giving a comprehensive record of Wallsend’s casualties. The first task of any group that is formed will be to collate the details to be found on numerous separate memorials, plaques and other artefacts connected to the town and the war. Church memorials will be a key source of information; and the great work of the North East War Memorials Project which began many years ago to seek out and list the memorials of every town and village in the North East will be a valuable first source of information.

The group, if formed will seek funding similar to that obtained by the Tynemouth project and will be provided free access to the database systems of our project. A number of opportunities will be available for people with special, skills to volunteer and it is hoped that the project will get underway early in the 2014, when funding and workspace have been secured.

The next in our series of talks at the Low Lights Tavern, North Shields, will be given by John Sadler, author of a book of WW1 poetry under the title – ‘World War One poetry they didn’t let you read’ A few tickets are still available from the Low Lights Tavern, Keel Row Bookshop, Preston Road and the project workroom at Linskill Community Centre.

New venue for Public lectures at Northumbria University.

Due to unprecedented demand the project has been obliged to transfer ALL lectures from the Sutherland Building, Northumberland Road to the City Campus East site - Room 002, New Bridge Street, Newcastle, opposite the Manors Metro Station. (Charged parking is available). The next lecture is on 13^th November, 2013 when Dr Martin Pugh will speak on the role of women in the Great War. If you may like to attend this lecture please help us by registering your interest in advance via our website. All lectures are Free but space is limited so places cannot be guaranteed.

Norham High

Norham High leads the way to give pupils understanding of the Great War

As the education sector slowly wakes up to the impending centenary of the outbreak of the Great War in 2014, the Tynemouth project has already formed a multi-faceted partnership with Norham High School which will ensure that pupils from one of the parts of the borough which suffered the heaviest losses in the war will gain a full understanding of the impact of the war on the community in which they live today.

From initial contacts in the summer term of 2012/13 we have been looking to help the school teaching staff to prepare a fully- rounded programme of work which will be built into a week of the current school term and immerse over 400 pupils in the story of the war through all elements of the school curriculum examining the history, art, literature and music of the war as well as the physical aspects of the conflict. With an external specialist art practitioner who has already done some exciting work with pupils at Riverside School and members of a ‘military re-enactment’ group – Time Bandits – coming into the school, pupils will be able to learn about many aspects of the conflict both at home and at the Front. Everything from food in the trenches to handling military equipment and acting out daily routines will be combined to present a realistic and thoughtful series of class-based sessions but in an informal structure. Some pupils will have the opportunity to work on the design of an interpretation board to tell the story of a number of the 65 men of Preston (Ritson’s) colliery killed in the war and who have a memorial in Preston cemetery; shortly to be restored by North Tyneside Council as part of its commitment to ensuring that all the borough’s public war memorials are in as a good a condition as possible for the forthcoming centenary period. We hope that the board to be researched and designed by the pupils will (subject to funding) be manufactured and installed in time for the 90th anniversary of the unveiling of the memorial in June 1924.

New venue for Public lectures at Northumbria University

Due to unprecedented demand the project has been obliged to transfer ALL lectures from the Sutherland Building, Northumberland Road to the City Campus East site - Room 002, New Bridge Street, Newcastle, opposite the Manors Metro Station. (Charged parking is available).

The inaugural lecture to be given by Professor Sir Hew Strachan on Wednesday 9^th October is now fully subscribed. Places are still available for the further seven lectures, beginning on 13^th November at 6pm with Dr Martin Pugh who will speak on the role of women in the Great War.

If you have already registered for the lecture to be given by Professor Strachan you will receive a confirmation e-mail regarding the change of venue. You are advised to attend in good time to assist us in ensuring a prompt to start to what is already an acclaimed series of lectures.