Follow the Drum: a reflection [Part 2] – The Home Front Response
‘Let us remember Spring will come again…’ (May 1915, Charlotte Mew) The Armistice Agreement had been reached, signed and implemented at am on the 11 November 1918. Permanent security was not…
Follow the Drum: a reflection [Part 1] – Post-hostilities
Guerre Finie! Boche Napoo! A grainy image of a German car emerging from the mirk of a battlefield caught my imagination as I was researching this last piece for the…
Follow the Drum: Christmas 1917
Springbok Blue December 1917 To celebrate Christmas one hundred years ago in 1917, it was necessary for people to dig deep within their own personal reserves of strength as the…
Follow the Drum: South African Military Hospital
Leading the way The special collection of materials available in the Local Studies Library & Archive provides a unique insight into the ground-breaking treatments and therapies that were available to…
Follow the Drum: Life’s Essentials
Patricia Moloney, Local Studies Assistant, considers the problems caused by food shortages in everyday life for the local community during the crisis caused by the First World War. Local Authorities…
Follow the Drum: Christmas 1916
Christmas 1916. The third Christmas of the War. In this article we consider daily life in the Borough at the time of the third Christmas of the War. It was…
Follow the Drum: The South African Presence
Patricia Moloney, Heritage Assistant, takes a look at the impact of the increasingly international military presence in Richmond during the Great War. The town was assuming a cosmopolitan character as…
Follow the Drum: Go on the Die Hards!
The gripping story of the Middlesex Regiment at Neuve Chapelle continues as the local men face going over the top. The detail of this part of the battle is based…
Follow the Drum: Go on the Midds!
Using eye-witness accounts from some of the archive material that we hold, this month’s blog looks at the important role played by the Middlesex Regiment in a key battle of…
Follow the Drum: Changing roles on the Home Front
The Mabys Association. At the outbreak of war the role of women was very restricted in all levels of society, particularly for working women such as servants. The Metropolitan Association…