"A time for flowers and bullets"

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A time for flowers and bullets

4 Aug 2004

By Richard McComb

As storm clouds gathered over Europe, Birmingham was stuck in a period of unsettled weather but residents were not dissuaded from enjoying their traditional summer pursuits.

The Birmingham Daily Post for August 4, 1914, was packed with reports on agricultural shows and the city's flower and vegetable competitions.

Moseley, Kings Heath and Balsall Common Horticulture Society's annual show attracted 541 exhibitors after an innovative idea to extend the popular event over two days.

Prizes were awarded for 12 cut blooms of border carnations, a vase of six French marigolds, a brace of cucumbers and a dish of 30 loganberries.

The Stratford Summer Festival got underway "despite the feeling of anxiety occasioned by the European situation".

The performances included The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry, with its famous rallying cry for war.

However, readers of The Daily Post, the forerunner of today's Birmingham Post, would have been drawn to a story placed on the fifth column of page five. It was headlined: "RECALL OF THE TERRITORIALS. MOVEMENTS OF LOCAL REGIMENTS."

It was reported that the 5th and 6th battalions of the Warwickshire Regiment had left their training camp at Rhyl, Wales, and arrived back in Birmingham after being recalled.

The Daily Post also featured a letter from Walter R Ludlow, Colonel, Reserve of Officers, Territorial Force.

An exasperated Col Ludlow wrote: "In view of the greatest crisis in our country's history since Waterloo, may I make an earnest appeal to all ex-territorial officers, non-commissioned officers and men to join the Territorial Reserve (Sec 7, Territorial Force Act,

1907) which hitherto has been a complete failure?"

He went on: "The reserve was fixed at 33 per cent of the establishment of the Territorial Force, so that there should be, if the reserve was complete, no less than 1,400 of all ranks as a reserve to the Warwickshire Infantry Brigade, which numbers about 4,000 of all ranks, and comprises the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

"By the latest returns, there are six officers from the four regiments, and the 5th Battalion two men, and none in the 6th, 7th or 8th, so that the deficiency is 1,392."

The colonel hoped the deficit in the Reserve would be made up in a week for the "honour and credit" of the Territorial Force.

But if the Reserve was in need of a boost, the actual Territorial Force for Warwickshire, which included Birmingham, was in robust health. It had been envisaged the force would have defensive duties, guarding British shores.

Instead thousands of men such as these would end up losing their lives in France and Flanders. In August 1914, 40 per cent of the Territorials, the socalled Terriers, were aged 17 to 19.

For now, the focus was on the British fleet being readied to guard the coast of France and the need to protect the neutrality of Belgium. Political machinations and military operations on mainland Europe were moving at breakneck speed.

By the time readers picked up their morning paper, German troops were advancing into Belgium, drawing Britain into the conflict that became known as the First World War.

For details of those momentous events of August 4, one has to turn to the pages of The Daily Post for the following day.

A fair day with occasional showers, the Sutton Coldfield Horse Show had gone ahead as planned, an inquest was told how a girl died after her pinafore caught fire, a servant faced a month in jail for stealing her mistress' blanket, and Chinkey, a Pekinese dog, had gone missing from its home in Moseley.

The tragedy and trivia of everyday life continued, but one event, and one headline, dominated the main news page on August 5: "WAR DECLARED BY BRITAIN."

The Daily Post reported word for word a dramatic announcement that had been made by the Foreign Office at 12.10am that morning:

"Owing to the summary rejection by the German Government of the request made by His Majesty's Government for the assurance that the neutrality of Belgium will be respected, His Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin has received his passport. His Majesty's Government have declared to the German Government that a state of war exists between Great Britain and Germany as from 11pm on August 4."

Sir John Jellicoe had taken command of the British Fleet, the Government issued an order in Council to take control of the railways and the German Chancellor had presented a bill to raise credit of £250,000,000 for the costs of "non-recurring extraordinary expenditure".

There also was an ominous late news item in a special column created for late-breaking war reports. It announced the German invasion of Holland, adding: "The rattle of cannon can be discerned."

Despite the appeals for calm, Birmingham was swept up in the national mood of panic buying. One city emporium said shoppers were being limited to a maximum of 24lb of sugar, 14lb of flour and 6lb of rice.

"How futile this buying is," said the store manager. "It will only tend to produce a shortage earlier than it need come."

The price of Danish bacon almost doubled over night, chilled meat was up two-pence a pound and fish supplies from Aberdeen and Grimsby were already drying up.

Although flour supplies were being affected, the price of bread was stable - for now - with 4lb loaves selling for between 5d-6d in the city. The market for fruit and vegetables was "slow" and "potatoes have a tendency to rise on account of the war".

Being the peak of the holiday season, resort hoteliers feared their trade would be hit by the war, prompting the Blackpool Corporation to place a special statement in The Daily Post, assuring visitors "All the conditions in Blackpool are just as usual".

Crucially for each city, town and village in the land, mobilisation orders had been issued.

The relevant War Office notice had arrived in Birmingham at 7pm on August 4 and the Territorials were told to muster from 6am the next morning, using locations at Thorp Street and Suffolk Street. By 8.30pm that night, the 5th, 6th and 8th battalions had formed up and marched to Snow Hill station to depart for Weymouth.

Large crowds gathered in New Street and Cannon Street at midnight on August 4 and cheered loudly when the war proclamation was announced.

The hostilities prompted a gang of youths to seek retribution on the city's German residents, throwing stones at the windows of a house in Farquhar Road, Edgbaston.

The rabble intended to up the wind up the German Consul but targeted the wrong house.

The recall of the Reserves depleted the Birmingham police force, fire brigade and municipal authorities including the trams department, which had 534 military and naval Reservists.

Each member of the Territorial Battalions was to receive a gratuity of £5.5s with additional payments promised for the wives and families of married men.

The directors of brewers Mitchells & Butler set a trend when they announced the payment of grants to all the Reservists it employed, bringing their army pay in line with their weekly wage. Birmingham quickly gained a reputation for mutual support and fortitude.

The deputy mayor, Alderman William Bowater, appealed for contributions to the National Relief Fund, launched to help soldiers' families. A staggering £14,000 was pledged by companies and individuals in the first two days alone. Six children marched to the Council House and donated their savings of 14s.

New recruits had to attend to the practicalities of service life and each man was provided with a greatcoat, two dress caps, two pairs of cord breeches, a clasp-knife, and more ominously, field dressing and an identity disc. Soldiers were expected to provide other items themselves, including a pair of ankle boots, two flannel shirts, two pairs of worsted socks, two pairs of drawers, a razor and shaving brush, a table knife, fork and spoon, and two towels.

The popular belief that the war would be over by Christmas was reflected in the instructions issued over kit requirements - equipment and clothing "should be sufficiently serviceable to last three months".

So many men answered the call to arms that the police had to supervise the crowd outside the recruiting headquarters in James Watt Street.

On August 7, four divisions making up a British Expeditionary Force crossed to France to attempt to halt the German advance. The following day, a famous announcement appeared on page 3 of The Daily Post.

The appeal, headed "YOUR KING AND COUNTRY NEEDS YOU. A CALL TO ARMS", was issued by War Secretary Lord Kitchener in the hope of bolstering the ranks of the Regular Army by 100,000. Recruits were urged to report to the National Reserve headquarters in Suffolk Street. The Town Hall was also opened as a recruiting centre, followed by Curzon Hall in October.

The Daily Post played a hugely significant role in boosting recruitment in the city and published an editorial on Friday, August 28, supporting the creation of a city battalion formed of non-manual workers.

Nearly 8,000 men had already enlisted but Birmingham called on its young professionals, shops assistants, articled clerks and teachers to answer the call and the proud tradition of the Birmingham Pals was born.

Alderman Bowater sent a telegram to Kitchener the following day, pledging to raise a city battalion and a reply was received on Sunday.

It read: "The battalion you offer would be most acceptable, and a valuable addition to His Majesty's forces. I presume you mean a regular battalion on the usual terms of service. If so, it might form a battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment to be designated the Birmingham Battalion, with a number. KITCHENER."

On Monday, 350 men enlisted and the number rose to an average of 750 per day until Saturday, by which time 4,500 men had signed up.

A special recruiting office had to be opened in the Art Gallery Extension in Great Charles Street to cope with the demand.

The Daily Post published a preliminary list of volunteers while the War Office set about establishing the formal business of recruitment. The newspaper's action was fundamental in promoting the spirit of patriotic zeal, and men were encouraged to join up after seeing the names of their friends published in the lists.

A joint appeal by The Daily Post and the deputy mayor raised £17,000 to help equip the three Pals battalions, which became known as the 14th, 15th and 16th Royal Warwicks.

The 14th and 15th battalions (also known as the 1st and 2nd City battalions) were billeted at Sutton Park and the 16th (the 3rd City Battalion) was based at Springfield College, Moseley. Owing to the shortage of khaki, the men initially took drill instruction dressed in civilian clothes and later wore a navy blue uniform.

An analysis of recruitment figures up to October 10 showed Birmingham and Warwickshire held the national record, the figure put at 28,521.

The following year, the Birmingham Pals were sent to camps in Yorkshire before being sent to Salisbury Plain in readiness for the battlefields of France, where they were to serve in one of the bloodiest battles in military history - the Somme.

William Bernard Whitmore, who enlisted with the 14th Battalion, kept a diary of his time in the Somme.

His entry for Saturday, December 4, 1915, reads:

"Marching to trenches 4.10, dusk, shells bursting, someone says, boys it is Saturday night. Men coming out of trenches up to their thighs in mud. Reached trenches 5.30 bullets & shrapnel bursting over our heads, slept in dug out, lying with legs over one another & hundreds of rats as big as rabbits crawling all over us, biting holes in haversacks for our rations.

"Sunday morning 8.30am . . . shell bursts within two yards of us boys, hitting man in the stomach. We are served out with gum boots, which reach to our thighs & fasten to belt round our waist. March through communication trenches, up to our thighs in mud & water, often times above our thighs, water running into gum boots, takes 2 hours to reach firing line, only 500 yards distance, enemy firing over us all the time.

"Firing line worse than anything imaginable standing in waist in mud & all dug-out fallen in, two men killed in one dugout Heavy shrapnel firing and enemies' snipers continuously pop-ping at us, but without success.

"Monday December 6th trenches worse than ever, had no food up for N.C.O for 48 hrs, very hungry, company came in on Sunday night 11pm. Marched over the top, machine gun on them part of the way. Six days in Carnoy Trenches, fearful experience, line regiments who we relieved say, the worst they have ever known for new regiment to experience for the first time."

The mayor's office started to compile a Roll of Honour recording the names of Birmingham men who died during the Great War. The book now resides in the Hall of Memory in the city centre and commemorates the 12,320 citizens who lost their lives.

Although they are not named, the Hall, opened in 1925 and paid for with a £60,000 public subscription, also bears witness to the 35,000 men who returned from the front injured.

Of course, the 1914-18 conflict did not turn out to be the "war to end all wars" and new memorials were erected in the city in memory of the soldiers, sailors and airmen who were killed in the Second World War, Korea and the Falklands.

It is arguable, however, that no other war continues to resonate with the power of the First World War, a truly cataclysmic event that affected every family in Britain and swept up Birmingham and its brightest young men 90 years ago today.

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Cut and paste from http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/expats...-name_page.html