Many thanks to Ray Laurence, Karla Pollmann and Dunstan Lowe from the School of European Culture and Languages, Department of Classical & Archaeological Studies at the University of Kent for their help and advice in providing a translation for 'The Forgotten Frontline' - 'Limes oblitus'.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Custard Cream Castle - Could we do something like this in Kent...??
Could we do something like this in Kent..??
Carlisle Castle has been recreated in cake form by a team of volunteers armed with thousands of custard creams.
Staff from three local baking firms used 5,000 of the biscuits to help create the structure as part of the city's summer pageant celebrations.
It took the group three days to complete the castle, which measures about 1.2m (4ft) square. Visitors were able to sample a piece of the creation during the pageant.
Volunteers came forward after a Facebook appeal from English Heritage, which runs the castle.
Carlisle Castle has been recreated in cake form by a team of volunteers armed with thousands of custard creams.
Staff from three local baking firms used 5,000 of the biscuits to help create the structure as part of the city's summer pageant celebrations.
It took the group three days to complete the castle, which measures about 1.2m (4ft) square. Visitors were able to sample a piece of the creation during the pageant.
Volunteers came forward after a Facebook appeal from English Heritage, which runs the castle.
Let us know if you have any suggestions.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Boy Scouts - The the greatest moral force that the World had ever known?
In 1912, former British Prime Minister Lord Rosebery provided some memorable observations, made in the course of an address he gave to the Boy Scouts of Midlothian:
It would be the greatest moral force that the World had ever known."
"If I were to form the highest ideal for my country, it would be a nation of which the manhood was exclusively composed of men who had been, or were, Boy Scouts, and were trained in the Boy Scout theory...
Such a nation would be the honour of Mankind...
Scout's War Book - Lloyd's Weekly News 1914
Published by Lloyd's Weekly News in 1914 - the "Scouts War Book" provided advice and guidance on a range of tasks and activities for Boy Scouts involved,or hoping to become involved, in the war effort, including:
What to do in air raids
First Aid
Facts about Army Navy flying
Wolf Cubs
How to become a Scout
From the Guardian's Archive "The Scout's part in the War"- December 1914
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian in December 1914, this short article highlights the role of the Boy Scouts during the First World War entitled- "The Scout's part in the War"
Most of us know, for the press was generous, what he
did at the outbreak of the war – how he helped the police and
Territorials in guarding bridges and culverts, telegraph and railway
lines, often keeping night watch, and running what might have proved
serious risks; how on foot and cycle he delivered countless messages,
and reported several not imaginary spies; and how he enjoyed it all,
feeling that at last he was playing the real game, as a recognised
servant of the King.
For the Scouts, too, in all countries, were mobilised, and I imagine that in varying ways they have equally proved their value everywhere.
In Belgium they have seen much active service.
In France many have made their way to the front, and serve as despatch riders – one such, after being wounded in Alsace, near Rheims, and at Ypres, is in Manchester, and many more have been organised for ambulance work and for replacing minor cogs in the administrative wheel.
A.H.H
The time perhaps has come when we may usefully consider to what
extent the Boy Scout movement has justified its existence as a helpful
agency in time of war. Only a few years back we were most of us smiling
at the mimic warfare of the bare-kneed youngster with the broomstick.
Now that the country is up against the real thing, and even a boy
counts, what do we find that this same small warrior has learnt to do?
What real service does he render that has won his picturesque and
healthy uniform official recognition? In what way has he, adding his
little contribution to the common store, deserved well of his
Fatherland?
For the Scouts, too, in all countries, were mobilised, and I imagine that in varying ways they have equally proved their value everywhere.
In Belgium they have seen much active service.
In France many have made their way to the front, and serve as despatch riders – one such, after being wounded in Alsace, near Rheims, and at Ypres, is in Manchester, and many more have been organised for ambulance work and for replacing minor cogs in the administrative wheel.
Personally, I shall not easily forget the sight of French Scouts
piloting our own soldiers round at Havre in August acting as guides,
interpreters, and very faithful squires. "Please tell Baden-Powell that I
don't know how we should get on without these little chaps," was the
repeated request of officer and private alike.
In England some
fourteen hundred Scouts have, since the war began, been patrolling the
coasts keeping watch, signalling ships, and generally replacing
coastguards now on active service.
A motor ambulance manned by expert
Scouts is being sent to France.
Over ten thousand ex-Scouts are known to
be with the colours, and officers have abundantly recognised the value
of their training and their spirit.
The Boy Scouts have offered to raise
for service at the front a full battalion of cyclists, provided with
machines and a guaranteed proficiency in scouting and despatch-riding.
A.H.H
FFL Blogger - Social Network Update
We have now added Google + and Linkedin to The FFL Blogspot profile.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
WW1 - What does it mean to you?
With the
start of the First World War Centenary one year away, what does it mean
to you?
Join the conversation on Twitter @IWM_Centenary and on Facebook/
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
1915 - Aeroplane Raid on Faversham, Sittingbourne & Sheppey
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| Wanganui Chronicle , Issue 20333, 19 April 1915, Page 6
Edrich Taube "Dove" Monoplane
Is this the type of aeroplane that bombed the people of Faversham, Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey in 1915?
 |
Monday, August 05, 2013
'The Forgotten Frontline' - In Action!!
Since 2009 'The Forgotten Frontline' team have been telling the story of invasion and conflict in the frontline County of Kent.
In 2012, artist Dave Chisholm and archaeologist Mark Harrison created 'The Tankerton Tapestry' a cartoon depicting the defence works and fortifications at Tankerton and Whitstable in 1940.
And now, in 2013, 'The Forgotten Frontline' comes to life with the arrival of animator Stuart Clark.
This
short animation provides a snapshot of the high-quality research,
artwork and production standards of this embryonic partnership.
We are
actively seeking new partners and funding opportunities that will allow
the team to produce even more
detailed and spectacular characters, cartoon animated projects for 'The
Forgotten Frontline'.
Sunday, August 04, 2013
'Your Country Needs You' - The myth about the Kitchener WW1 poster
“Your country needs YOU”
It is perhaps the best known and most enduring image of the First World War:
the commanding, moustached face of Lord Kitchener, his accusing, pointing
finger and the urgent slogan - “Your country needs YOU”
The picture is credited with encouraging millions of men to sign up to fight
in the trenches, many of them never to return. But new research has found that no such poster was actually produced during
the war and that the image was never used for official recruitment purposes.
In fact, it only became popular and widely-used after the conflict ended.
James Taylor, who has researched the history of recruitment posters, said the
popular understanding of the design and the impact it had was almost
entirely mistaken.
As part of his research, he studied the official records of the Parliamentary
Recruiting Committee, the body responsible for recruitment posters, in the National Archives at Kew.
These documents provided details of the production of almost 200 official
recruitment posters produced during the war and indicated which ones were
deemed popular. The so-called ‘Your Country Needs You’ poster is absent. He
also analysed thousands of photographs of street scenes and recruitment
offices from the period in search of the image, again, without finding it.
In his new book, Your Country Needs You, Mr Taylor traced the picture back to
its origins, on 5th September 1914, barely a month after the start of the
war.
On that day, the image was used on the front cover of the popular magazine London Opinion, beneath the masthead, and alongside two promotional offers:
“This paper insures you for £1,000” and “50 photographs of YOU for a
shilling”.
It had been designed by Alfred Leete, a graphic artist, who had adapted a
portrait of Kitchener to give him the distinctive pointing finger. The
slogan was adapted from the official call to arms, which said: “Your King
and Country Need You”.
In a subsequent edition, a week later, the magazine, which had a circulation
of almost 300,000, said readers would be able to buy postcards of the image
for 1s. 4d for 100.
Despite this, Mr Taylor has not been able to track down any surviving examples
in public or private collections, found that the original artwork for the
magazine was acquired by the Imperial War Museum in 1917 and was mistakenly
catalogued as part of the poster collection, contributing to later
misunderstanding about its use.
“There has been a mass, collective misrecollection. The image’s influence now
is absolutely out of all kilter with the reality of its initial impact. It
has taken on a new kind of life. It is such a good image and saying that it
was later seized upon. Some many historians and books have used it and kept
repeating how influential it was, that people have come to accept it.”
This 'myth' surrounding the poster echoes that around the “Keep Calm and Carry
On” sign, which has been widely reproduced in recent years. That poster,
designed in 1939, had limited distribution and no public display.
Mr Taylor’s book shows how the Kitchener image did inspire similar posters, which were used, including one, which was produced by LO, with the word BRITONS, above the same picture of the Field Marshal pointing, with the words “wants YOU – Join Your Country’s Army!”, beneath, and the words ‘God Save The King’ printed along the bottom. However, Mr Taylor said there was no evidence the poster was particularly popular or a dominant design of the war, as some historians have claimed.
The only occasion in which the image and the wording did appear in poster form
was an elaborate design, when the words and picture appear, in a smaller
scale, below five flags and surrounded by details or rates of pay and other
information, including the additional slogan – “Your Country is Still
Calling. Fighting Men! Fall In!!”.
He found that the most popular poster of the era, in terms of numbers
produced, did feature Kitchener, but without the pointing finger and
featuring a 30-word extract from a speech he had made.
Horatio Kitchener had been appointed Secretary of State for War at the
outbreak of the conflict - the 99th anniversary of which is this weekend -
and correctly predicted that victory would take several years and require
huge new armies.
He instigated a huge recruitment campaign to form “Kitchener’s Army”, or the
“New Army” – whose men were later to die in campaigns such as the Somme.
He was already the country’s most famous soldier, a recognisable and
influential figure having served in a number of Imperial campaigns,
including in the Sudan, and South Africa, during the Second Boer War.
He died two years before the end of the First World War when he was travelling
to Russia on a diplomatic mission, aboard the warship HMS Hampshire. The
vessel struck a mine and sank west of the Orkney Islands. Kitchener, his
staff, and 643 of the crew of 655 were drowned or died of exposure.
Survivors who saw him in his final moments testified to his outward calm and
resolution.
How to build your own Royal Oberserver Corps Monitoring Post
1. Dig a large hole
2. Add concrete & steel reinforcement
3. Add access shaft and hatch
4. Add monitoring equipment...
5. And there you go one ROC Monitoring Post
 |
| Members of Bravo 2 Post Stratford, London |
Thank you to the ROC National Archive for use of the images.
ROC Monitoring Post by Dave Chisholm
 |
| See more of Dave's work here |
Paving Stones to Honour WW1 Heroes
Special paving stones will be laid in the home towns of every UK soldier awarded the Victoria Cross as part of 2014's World War I centenary events.
The specially-commissioned stones will be given to councils in the areas where the VC recipients were born.
A total of 28 will be unveiled next year to commemorate medals awarded in 1914 and others will be laid in every year up to 2018.
Plans to restore war memorials around the country have also been announced.
Help will be given to local communities and a website will be launched so people around the UK can obtain funding and support to ensure all memorials are in good condition by November 2018.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles revealed there will be a national competition to design the paving stones, which will have a QR barcode , which people can scan with a smartphone to learn more details about the recipient.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said:
"The First World War had a fundamental effect on the course of our history but as time passes, the living links that connect that terrible time and the present day have dwindled."
"So it is really important that we mark the centenary which saw some of the darkest days in our history and remind everyone of the sacrifice that was made - and how it has affected all our lives today."
The Heritage Lottery Fund has also announced the first grants under its new £6m First World War - Then and Now small grants programme.
A campaign is also being launched to get 100 employers signed up to the new Centenary Apprenticeship scheme in 100 days.
The aim is to get companies who existed 100 years ago, which focus on crafts with a modern application, to join up.
There will also be a programme of cultural events presented by the First World War Centenary Partnership, led by the Imperial War Museums who are launching an online centenary cultural events calendar on the centenary website at 1914.org.
Plans for two pupils and a teacher from every state-funded secondary school in England to visit the Western Front battlefields and for a service at Glasgow Cathedral on August 4 next year were announced last month.
Thursday, August 01, 2013
WW1 Whitstable - Fletcher's Battery Isle of Sheppey
WW1 Whitstable - research by conflict historian Victor Smith reveals that the guns of Fletcher Battery on the Isle of Sheppey had an arc of fire that would have been capable of striking Whitstable.
The coastal batteries could be turned to fire on sea and land targets in an anti-invasion role.
WW1 Whitstable - Harbour Blockade
WW1
Whitstable - research by conflict historian Victor Smith reveals that
in 1914 the Commander in Chief Nore Command WW1 directed two loaded
barges to be placed at readiness in order to block the inner & outer
harbour.
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