Local Newspaper articles

[Stephen Nulty]

I’m interested in knowing how and when local papers received information about awards, woundings and deaths of men of their locality, and I’d be grateful if Pals could let me know their experiences.

How did a local paper in a village/town/city get their information and from whom?

If a local man received an award, whether it be MID, MM through to VC, when did the paper find the information and publish in relation to the date of the award?

Many of the articles I’ve seen in local papers of the time were accompanied by photographs of the men in the article. Where did these pictures come from?

I’m interested in all experiences that Pals may have in this area, specifically how long after an action/award an article may have appeared.

[cliff brown]

Other pals may correct me if I'm wrong, but the sources of WW1 newspaper articles were varied. The official reports came from the likes of the Press Association/news agencies. The official casualty lists from the War Office Weekly lists. What you do find is that mentions of men being killed or wounded often appear twice - first when the family notifiy the paper, secondly when it appears on an official list, usually several weeks apart. What also happens is the report might appear one week and sometimes with a picture, supplied by the family, or the picture might appear a week later due to the time involved in reproducing a photo block for printing.

Notification of medal awards was similar - either direct from the family or extracted from the London Gazette or even from meetings of the local Territorial Force Association etc. Again if notified by the family it often appeared earlier than in the LG, so it helps narrow down the time of the worthy deed that gained the award. Many newspapers print letters from troops, usually supplied to the local paper by the family. Some newspapers had their own "unofficial correspondent" with the local regiment, who was a soldier who wrote letters direct to the paper.

The list of sources is endless, so other pals might add more.

It's worth remembering that most local newspapers had town and village correspondents, who were paid lineage for supplying copy. They often picked up the snippets about local soldiers and wrote them up into little summaries, such as " News of our local troops".

[Stebie9173]

Herbert Beeby's death of wounds at Arras on 14th April 1917: 28th April 1917 & 12th May 1917 (2 weeks). Information relating to family members (father and brother) in France. Presumably from family.

Walter Beeby's MM won approx 5th April 1918: 12th June 1918 (2 months, Gazetted 16-7-1918). Mentioned " a letter to mother" in the article.

Percy Brooksbank's wounding on 21st March 1918 : 6th July 1918 (3-and-a-half months).

Roll of Honour for dead and wounded was pretty quick. Usually about 2 weeks.

I think most information and photos came from family, with casualty information from the official casualty lists.

Steve.

[FredJCarss]

From the one that I chased down the family were visited after publication on the L.G. The family knew nothing about the award and the man in question had just left home to return (he was recovering from wounds) the week before. When the man from the paper turned up the wife hid from him thinking it was Bad News. On explaination and regaining her composure she was overjoyed but her husband had never spoken of what he had been through but he could not sleep without a light on.

Sadly the soldier in question died within a month of this and the press were back!

Fred

[Desmond7]

Also bear in mind the size of the town etc.

In a relatively small town like my own, the scribes would have been very much part of the community and gathered news/gossip about soldiers in the time honoured tradition ... they got a snippet down the pub/at the shop/heard it from their aunt's mother's cousin's brother etc. And then followed up.

Also I'm continually amazed at how 'open' people were with their stories. People would allow sympathy letters from officers/comrades etc to be published. I have to say this did fade away a bit in the latter stages of the war.

On a separate note, if you have the time and the streets of your town have not changed TOO MUCH, it is enlightening to take a WW1 walk around them armed with your research ... that will really bring home how much of an impact the war made.

Not just on 'bad' days ... but in terms of enlistment etc. You wonder what those streets would have been like with sizeable numbers of the younger generation in particular away at the front!

Des

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Many Soldier's "Letters From the Front" were published directly having been sent to the Papers,others were passed on by relatives,In Wisbech Cambridgeshire,one Pte Lawrence Fabb, was among a number of Men serving with the 1/1st Cambridgeshire Regiment who wrote frequent & lengthy letters describing Conditions,events & details of actions men from the front.There was also a 'Correspondent' with suitable anonymous Pen Name who was writing articles for the Wisbech Standard/Cambridgeshire Times,who i understand was thought to be an Officer in the Regiment.

[Stebie9173]

The Peterborough papers ran a regular letter column from "Gunner Hall" and "Steelback", and to 1916 regular letters by one Edgar Mobbs.

Steve.

[Stephen Nulty]

Thanks to one and all for the interesting replies, which contains some useful information.

Your help is appreciated.

[Canadawwi]

I posted an article on here last year that was written during the war by a newspaper - but I can't seem to locate it right now. This included an explanation of their war coverage.

Coverage by papers differed. Some chose to cover everything, others featured in-depth coverage for a couple of individuals a day. It also depended upon the volume of coverage. Most papers tried not to appear to favour officers over enlisted men, although generally the officers' photos and articles with lists of accomplishments are twice as large.

The paper I looked at employed freelancers who assembled in the morning and were given the official casualty lists, already marked and highlighted with the local men. The freelancers then split up the responsibilities geographically, and went to the home for an interview. They utilized the next of kin address provided in the casualty lists. In many cases, they arrived before the official telegram, becoming the first to deliver unwelcome news.

At the newspaper office, the original photos the reporters had taken from the family members during the interview, were made into blocks. Copies were made and glued onto an index card, with the name, and a copy of the initial newspaper article. That way, for example, if the article was about an award, then they would have the photo ready for the next article which might be about wounding or death.

The award lists were also from official lists cabled from the government. These were not as frequent as the casualty lists.

Examples of WWI newspaper articles

All the work involved included errors. Spelling of surname, dates mentioned, and other details are frequently wrong. This may or may not be the paper's fault, as surviving relatives were not always clear on dates of enlistment, and other movements. Less frequently (I have seen this twice) - they included the wrong photograph. Units were not mentioned due to censorship.

[Anthony Bagshaw]

Searching through my local paper, the chronicle advertiser, it appeals for relatives to send in photos of their 'boys' fighting for king and country.

There are quite a number of pages in each edition devoted to men who have purely enlisted.

[sandyford]

Here is a paragraph from the local 'Illustrated Chronicle' asking for these photographs. Glad it was free.

I think that in my family's case, they first found out about a wounding from the local paper.

Kate

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Folk often ask where can I find details of awards such as the MM etc where no official citation is promulgated in the London Gazettes,below is an example of what might "turn up" unexpectedly regarding a WW1 serviceman,in this case no awards apart from his Campaign Medals were awarded but such thing help to bring the era alive & give insight into the Men's daily lives & tribulations!

the soldier concerned is 1991 A.E.V.{Vic} Cassell,"C" Company 1/1st Cambridgeshire Regt,who in the 1950s went on to be Chairman of the Cambridgeshire Regt OCA.The letter was sent originally to his Father by a Family friend & Vic's Sergeant Sgt H.Wood,& coments on young Victors Bravery & Health during & following a horrific Shelling Attack on 4/5th May 1915,just two & a half months after landing in France,which "decimated" "C" Company{yes MG 1/10th}.

[dycer]

Stephen,

My Father lost his two Brothers in the War.

His Father "reported" his first Brother's death in the local Paper.He died of wounds January 1915 and the announcement was inserted in the Paper a couple of weeks later.

The second Brother was killed in March 1918 and an "Officer of the Battalion" reported that he had been KIA.I don't have the Newspaper date so I'm not sure how long it took from death to the Newspaper article.

George