Press ‘ESC’ at any time to stop the presentation.
By Peter Sweeting
Education Outreach Officer
Torfaen Museum Trust
When was this memorial
unveiled in Panteg?
What does this tell you
(along with the inscription)
about how people viewed
the Great War of
1914-1918?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
The Memorial in 2005
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
Who does this document
belong to?
What job did this person do
and where did they live?
Why do you think that British
citizens were ‘Registered’
during and after 1915?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
When soldiers joined up to go to war they were presented
with a Small Book. Any entry in the Small Book was
supervised by a superior officer. The contents gave
general guidance and information to the soldier, but it
also contained personal information and documentation.
Such facts as your regiment and regimental number,
postal address, height, eye colour and even bodily marks
(just in case you had to be identified) were added.
It also contained details of your next of kin ‘still living’ .
This was in case a soldier were badly wounded or killed. If
he were killed in action (K.I.A) the next of kin would be
sent the Small Book and its contents.
This is part of a Small Book
Who did this Small Book belong to
and where was he from?
What else can you find out about
this soldier?
Which Regiment did he belong to?
Where was he born?
How old and how tall was he?
What was his job before the war?
Does he have any ‘Marks’?
What religion did he follow?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
This is part of a Small Book
Who is Ernest’s only next of kin still
living and where does she live?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
A typical enrolment advert
from WWI
Why did men volunteer to go
to war?
Knowing what you do about war,
would you have joined up?
Click here to enlarge
One of the men who answered the
call and joined up in South Wales.
Describe the uniform that
this man is wearing.
What is the object slung across
his chest used for?
What is he wearing on the
lower part of his legs? Why?
What is on his cap badge?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Which armed service do you think this
gentleman belonged to?
What helped you to make up
your mind?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Many men who were swept up
by the wave of enthusiasm for
war were extremely young.
How old do you think that this
soldier is?
Which regiment do you think
he joined?
(Look at his cap badge, his feet and
what he is holding)
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
As more and more young men joined up to go to war, some
women fought to keep them at home. Not everyone was
convinced of the Country’s need! Below is an extremely
persuasive letter sent to a troubled mother by the
Parliamentary Recruiting Committee.
Click here
to enlarge
the documents
Transcript
December 1914
Dear Sir and Madam
We desire to draw your attention to the enclosed form, in which you
are asked to state the names of your household who are willing to
enlist for the War. By filling in and posting the Householder’s
Return without delay, you will be entered in a Register, and the
nearest Recruiting Office will arrange to attest those registered as
their services are required.
There has been a generous response to the appeal for men for the new
armies, but the numbers of recruits, though large, does not nearly
meet the Nations need. In order to maintain and reinforce our troops
abroad and to complete the new armies which we hope within a few
months to throw into the field, we and all the best the Nation can give
us of its youth and strength.
If we are to repair as far as may be humanly possible the
immeasurable wrongs inflicted on our Allies, if we are to avoid for
ourselves the ills which they have suffered, if we are to maintain for
our children all that we hold dear – honour, freedom, our way of life as
a Nation – we must fight with the courage and endurance which was
for us the struggle of the past.
Every man, therefore, who is eligible will ask his own conscience
whether, in this emergency, it is not his duty to hold himself ready to
enlist in the forces of the brave.
The difficulties and dangers which confront us have never been so
great; we await the issue with confidence, relying on the spirit and
self-sacrifice of our fellow countrymen to prevail.
We are your obedient servants
W.W.Asquith, A.Bonnar Law, Arthur Hendusoy ? (Presidents)
Mrs Bowen and her friend
‘doing their bit’ for King and
Country as lady porters at
Cwmbran railway station.
Can you think of any other jobs
that women may have been
expected to do during the war?
Why was this?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Women munition workers employed by the
Blaenavon Works at Forge Side.
Such was the quality of their work that a high commendation came
from no less a person than David Lloyd-George, the Prime Minister
of the wartime coalition government.
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Can you see what one of the ladies in the front row is holding?
Makepiece’s Angels - so named because the foreman of the nut
and bolt fitting shop at the Nut and Bolt Works Cwmbran, was
Mr. Makepiece, a man of fine character who also used to be
the Captain of Pontnewydd Fire Brigade.
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Are you surprised by some of the ages of these workers?
Not every man could be called up. Necessary trades and skills
meant that their time was needed for the war effort.
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
What can you see within this photo that indicates that it was
taken during wartime?
Soldiers waiting for their train at
Crane Street Station, Pontypool.
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Fox Camp
What gives you the impression that some training camps
were speedily put together?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Why do you think that it was important for soldiers to involve
themselves in everyday activities like playing sport?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion
Monmouthshire Regiment in a
trench near Le Bizet, France,
April 1915.
What features of a trench can
you pick out?
Reproduced by kind permission of the
South Wales Borderers Museum
Behind the line, after
the Battle of the
Somme 1916.
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
South Wales
Borderers officers
and men. Many ‘Ponty’
boys are in this
photo.
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
When not actually fighting, the men often turned their hand
to art, using the raw materials around them.
This photograph shows Belgian soldiers making trench art
vases out of shell cases on the Yser front line, north of Ypres
in Belgium.
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Trench Art Today – the old with the new!
Located in the middle of the Somme battlefield, the Golden
Madonna and Child was hit by shellfire in 1915 and leaned at a
precarious angle until 1918.
It is commemorated here in a 1990’s mural.
The basilica at Albert in 1999
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
People of all ages were urged
to contribute to helping the
‘Boys’ at The Front.
Who has this certificate been
awarded to and what for?
Reproduced by kind permission of Torfaen Museum Trust
Sponsorship is nothing
new!
This picture shows the ship,
‘HMS Pontypool’’ that the
people of Pontypool ‘adopted’
during the First World War.
The people of Pontypool
adopted another ship
– H.M.S. Kittiwake - during
the Second World War too!
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
What do you think was involved in adopting a warship?
(What would the people of Pontypool have had to have done?)
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
A gift from the Eastern Valleys. A Motor Ambulance donated by the
inhabitants of Monmouthshire as a gift to His Majesty’s Army.
This photograph shows a captured German Gun outside Pontypool
Town Hall.
Why do you think that captured German weapons were displayed in
public areas where they could be seen by everyone?
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Many civilians had fled from Northern France and Belgium and
came to live in Great Britain to escape the horrors of war.
This photograph shows Belgian refugees at Blaenavon.
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
What is happening in this photograph?
Do you remember looking at
pages from Ernest Payne’s
Small Book?
Here is another of Ernest’s
official documents.
What is a certificate of
discharge?
What rank had Ernest
reached by the time he was
discharged?
When was Ernest finally
discharged from the army?
Now that Ernest had
served his country in the
army, did that mean that
he would not be called up
to go to war in future?
The Regimental
Colours return
to Pontypool
June 7th 1919.
Monmouthshire
Regiment’s Colours
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Why do you think that this would have been such a happy and proud,
yet also an extremely sad moment for the people of Pontypool and
South Wales?
The unveiling of Blaenavon Memorial
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
Look at the size of the crowd in Blaenavon who turned up to witness
the unveiling of the memorial to honour the local soldiers who fell
during the Great War of 1914-1918.
The Memorial in 2005
The unveiling of Blaenavon Memorial
Reproduced by kind permission of W.G. Lloyd
What does the unveiling of memorials such as this, the size of the
crowds and the range of different people who turned up, tell you about
the impact that the First World War had on local communities?
The Memorial in 2005
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
There are other memorials and
reminders of the war across
the World and particularly in
Europe where most of the
fighting took place.
Sanctuary Wood, near Ypres
in Belgium, has been kept as a
museum since 1919. In 1914 the
wood was where men who had
been separated from their
regiments came to rest before
rejoining the fight. The wood
was captured by the Germans
in 1918.
More pictures of Sanctuary Wood
Reproduced by kind permission of P. Sweeting
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
Why do you think that the trenches zig-zagged across the landscape?
These photographs give you some idea of conditions in the trenches
Can you think of some key words to describe these conditions?
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
A shattered tree stump
within Sanctuary Wood.
What does this tell you about
the terrible damage that was
inflicted upon men, animals and
the landscape during the First
World War?
What could have caused such
damage to the trees within
these woods?
A tragic memorial to shattered lives!
Reproduced by kind permission of P. Sweeting
Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium is the largest Commonwealth war
cemetery in the world with 11,953 burials. The back walls record the
names of 34,927 soldiers with no known grave.
Reproduced by kind permission of P. Sweeting
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres contains the
names of 54,896 officers and men from the Commonwealth forces
who fell on the Ypres Salient before the 16th August 1917. Every
evening at sundown buglers from the town play The Last Post and
Reveille in memory of the fallen.
Reproduced by kind permission of P. Sweeting
This entrance to Pontypool Park is found opposite the Town Hall.
It is known as the Memorial Gate.
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
The Memorial Gate.
On the pillars on either side and on plaques on the railings are listed
the men from the local area who fell during The Great War and the
Second World War.
Reproduced by kind permission of M. Williams
They shall not grow old as
we grow old,
Age shall not wither them
nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the
sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Memorial to fallen Welsh soldiers at Mametz Wood
Reproduced by kind permission of P. Sweeting
END