The events of August 1916
The Rev Richard Whincup, vicar of Windhill, was serving as chaplain at the front and in his regular newsletter to his congregation he
expressed his admiration for the local men fighting at the Somme who “have done splendidly and most worthily upheld the highest
traditions of the British army in the face of all manner of abominations which have been used against them.
“This is not fulsome flattery. It is merely the truth. At times as I think about what they are going through, the spirit in which they are facing it,
the magnificent manner in which so many have died, my heart is filled with a wild tumult of pride and sadness.”
The pages of the Shipley Times & Express continued to be dominated by the battle raging on the Somme. Week after week they
printed a gallery of pictures of the dead, missing and wounded alongside the stories of the men. And now, adding to the impact, the
words of the men themselves appeared as families started to pass on the letters they had received.
While it is hard to imagine that much else was being talked about at home, life continued and was reported. The news from the front
meant those advocating peace or claiming to be conscientious objectors received an even more hostile reception. Women’s roles
continued to change at work, at leisure and even in the church. The Shipley Feast with its sideshows and colour bought some light
relief. And of course, being Yorkshire, plenty of attention was paid to the climax of the cricket season.
The links here will take you to pages containing stories published exactly 100 years before. The headlines shown are only a taste of the
stories that appear on that page.
11 August 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
More and more deaths reported in the
weekly gallery and roll of honour to men
who have served on the Somme
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Vivid Somme report from Shipley soldier
- Vicar’s ‘tumult of pride and sorrow’
- Parents can’t reach dying son’s bedside
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Spotlight on the changing role of women
- Cash needed for Saltaire Hospital
- Elderly lady calls the right bowling change
4 August 1916
- Hobbs shows his class in big match
- All the fun of Shipley Feast
- Shipley votes for ban on alcohol
A gallery of casualties - the faces of men
killed, wounded or missing after the Battle of
the Somme and some of their stories
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
Perhaps even more striking than the
casualty lists are the first hand accounts
written by the men from the trenches
- Heroes deserve uncomplaining support
- MP calls for a plan for peace
- Ted lifts bowling cup
A glimpse of life as it used to be as seen in
the lives and in the words of some of ‘Idle’s
Old Timers’
The impact that the toll on the Somme had at home is
almost unimaginable. Even 100 years later it is hard to
take in the sheer scale of casualties and what it would
mean for local communities.
18 August 1916
- Fined for holiday in Blackpool
- Advice centre for working men opened
- Stirring words from Eccleshill vicar
A gallery of casualties - the faces of men
killed, wounded or missing after the Battle of
the Somme and some of their stories
- Salts OB makes the ultimate sacrifice
- Willie describes his trip to Africa
- A family at war
- Plea for funds for war memorial
- Gauntlet thrown down to local vicars
- Saltaire apologise to cricket president
25 August 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Family lose second son in six weeks
- Unveiling life in the German trenches
- Second medal for L Cpl Simpson
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Trade Council rejects ‘peace bunkum’
- Church in good shape at anniversary
- Hope for pensioners battling inflation
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Secret Yorkshire factory destroyed
- Tong Park proud in Priestley final defeat
- Moor leaves its mark on Volunteers
