The events of February 1917
The main impression one gets from reading the newspapers of February 1917 is that times were very tough at home, Food prices
were going up making it hard for some families to make ends meet. And the answer was to persuade more and more people to turn
every available patch of ground into a garden where they could grow vegetables.
The huge movement of men into the army over the previous few years had left massive gaps and the government were keen to enlist
every available fit person’s help in National Service to keep the country going at home.
And it is clear that the enormous toll on the exchequor was making governing harder so those who had any spare cash at all were
urged to lend it to the country.
Of course, some looked to allocate blame for the state of the country and one of the favourite targets was alcohol. The temperance
movement was continually hammering home the message that drink was at the root of the country’s problems.
In everyday life there are stories which can startle - the language used to describe children with learning difficulties, the birching of
small boys for stealing soap. And politically we find the young Labour Party hitting an early crisis.
At the front it was a relatively quiet time, though there were still regular reports of casualties and even then confirmation of men
killed at the Somme. But we also read of the cameraderie when local lads met up in the trenches and the excitement for some when
they get the chance to visit places they never imagined they would see.
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.
2 February 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Land and schools to boost production
- Shipley set ambitious War Loan target
- Drink is greater enemy than Germans
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Fish flourish in the River Aire
- Rum row was a misunderstanding
- Sub must do as much as overworked son
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Early start for ‘scrapping’ vicar
- Exploring caves in German East Africa
- Only one serving Idle postman remains
9 February 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Shipley children with learning difficulties
- Time for the public to lend, lend, lend
- The difference between clubs and pubs
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Boys face birch for stealing soap
- Concentrate on growing vital vegetables
- Coalman fined for cruelty to horse
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Snow & frost preferable to mud at the front
- Talented soldier KIA
- Volunteers’ rude awakening by drill sgt
16 February 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Crisis for Shipley Independent Labour Party
- Farmers angry at men’s early call-up
- People rally round for old folks’ treat
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Growing potatoes is patriotic duty
- No future for county cricket after the war
- Tax plan to encourage men to marry
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- When pals meet up in the trenches
- We must learn from men at the front
- Supporting War Loans is a point of honour
23 February 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Planning to recruit for national service
- Rare sighting of Siskind at Milner Field
- In praise of dialect
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Nursing Association serves community well
- Fall robs Idle of one of its great characters
- MP votes against ‘peace cranks’
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Not all sacrifices are equal
- Absentee - I’ve had a good run
- Need to entice back stay-away Volunteers
