Category: First World War
Thomas William Hetherington x2: Lest we forget
‘Lest we forget’. Sadly, in 2023, it’s impossible for us to ‘forget’ the horrors and tragedies of war. The phrase is associated with famous author Rudyard Kipling. Kipling was initially gung... Read More
Thursby war memorial
Somewhere in a foreign field: Joseph Percy Lawson and John William Salkeld Thursby war memorial The village of Thursby must have counted itself ‘lucky’ that there are just two names on Thursby war... Read More
High Hesket war memorial
High Hesket war memorial is just one of countless (or uncounted) such memorials across the length and breadth of the UK. Every name on every memorial has a story behind it, of a life lived and a lif... Read More
Food control, and war service for women
Food control was a matter of national concern in the UK in both the First World War and the Second World War. If the trade-off for the national prosperity of the Industrial Revolution was people leavi... Read More
Newbiggin to Serbia and the First World War
Newbiggin Hall, in Cumbria, is more than 2,500km from Belgrade. But it has an important connection to the events that tipped Europe into the madness of the First World War. This third post on the Crac... Read More
After the war is over
Today is Remembrance Sunday and tomorrow the 101st anniversary of the Armistice. Here is my final reflection on the men whose names are recorded on just one memorial in one Cumbrian town. ‘After the... Read More
Jutland, Gibraltar, and Newbiggin Hall
Which Newbiggin Hall is this? There is more than one! Newbiggin Hall – the one at Newbiggin, near Temple Sowerby – became the home of the Crackenthorpe/Crackanthorpe family in the 1300s. Here ... Read More
Penrith casualties: Stanley Dennison & Mark Dayson
If ‘Two more Penrith casualties’ sounds somehow dismissive, it isn’t. Quite the opposite. More than 700,000 British soldiers were killed in the First World War (the number actually ... Read More