The events of March 1917
The slog of war was taking its toll at the front and at home. The enormous loss of life meant the army needed a large number of new
recruits which meant that at home they needed people to volunteer for civil National Service, to take on the jobs that would free up
others to join the army.
In addition prices were rising sharply and there was a shortage of food, so the government waged a campaign to persuade people to
grow more of their own food and local plots of land were sought which could be turned over to growing vegetables.
A third problem at home was a shortage of housing and this was highlighted in Shipley when Salts Mills tried to evict people from
their houses who no longer worked for the firm in order to house those who did.
We get a couple of glimpses of conditions for children in a court case that ends in young brothers being separated and a measles
epidemic that cost a number of children their lives.
The toll of war caualties, killed and wounded, was a constant but we also glimpse the other side of the war for some of the soldiers
who had travel experiences they could never have imagined without being in the army.
For all the hardships and the steady toll of war, it is clear that there was little appetite for the views of ‘peace cranks’ although a few
people had started to think about how the experience of war would change society when peace finally came.
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 March 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- ‘Peace cranks’ not welcome in Shipley
- Volunteers needed for industrial army
- Village’s oldest man dies
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Keighley the most patriotic town in kingdom
- Vivid account of life at the front
- Tea and concert for old folk
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Spending Christmas in Africa
- Sporting parson off to France
- Proud of three fighting sons
9 March 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Call for a ban on the sale of alcohol
- Peace campaigners are ‘enemy within’
- Jail for failing to pay gas bill
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Salts Mill seeks to evict tenants
- Land freed for growing potatoes
- Windhill old folks’ day a big success
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Close when Bertie died but I didn’t know
- My first Christmas away from home
- I remember saying goodbye to the lads
16 March 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- View of Baildon before the Iron Horse
- Woman dies after miscarriage
- Sisters take on military grooms
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Government should act on sugar crisis
- Two year old dies after catching measles
- In praise of amateurism in cricket
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- New experiences for lad from Shipley
- More men who made the ultimate sacrifice
- POWs keep up their spiritis
23 March 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Vicar welcomes Russian Revolution
- Sugar order won’t solve shopping problem
- Cemetery charges to go up
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Gift to train Sunday School teachers
- Dale Street children in court
- Drastic action needed on measles epidemic
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Wounded men killed after returning to front
- Death of a pioneering doctor
- Group of Idle men in the casualty lists
30 March 1917
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Talented artist keeping up the spirits
- Killed while helping out the cook
- Lessons learned just behind the lines
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Patriotism demands National Service
- Narrow escape for Idle refugee
- Back from the dead and learning to cope
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Shipley MP to stand down
- Brothers separated to improve behaviour
- Third temperance award in a row
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Simple guide to making most of potatoes
- Breed pigeons for the table not racing
- New allotment on Shipley Glen