Portsmouth's World War One Heroes
Portsmouth's World War One Heroes

Author: James Daly

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2013-11-01

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 0750951990

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Over 6,000 men from Portsmouth are believed to have been killed during the First World War – the greatest loss of life that the city has ever known. Not only were thousands of Portsmouth soldiers killed on the Western Front, but Portsmouth-based ships were sunk throughout the war, causing massive loss of life. Thanks to a wealth of sources available and painstaking use of database software, it is possible to tell their stories in more detail than ever before. James Daly builds an extremely detailed picture of Portsmouth's First World War dead, down to where they were born and where they lived. Not only will their powerfully poignant stories tell us about how the war was fought and won, and their sacrifices, but they will also provide a vividly clear picture of how Portsmouth and its people suffered during the war to end all wars.

Portsmouth in the Great War
Portsmouth in the Great War

Author: Sarah Quail

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-11-30

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 147384780X

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Portsmouth in the Great War is a story with a cast of thousands. They included a future archbishop and at least six brave and determined young clergymen with a talent for writing letters who volunteered as Army chaplains. There was the first naval VC of the war who was also the first submariner VC ever; a glamorous commander-in-chief, a number of dashing naval and marine officers and men - and a host of unofficial diarists and letter-writers. The wife of a Royal Academician also featured who went backwards and forwards across the Channel with hospital supplies on the Red Cross yacht Medusa until German U-boats put paid to her plans. Also in the story was the Portsmouth school girl, daughter of a local GP and Territorial Army officer, who was in Germany when war broke out and made her own, perilous way home. There were dockyard workers, and women who took their places when they went away to fight, and women who replaced men on the trams, in banks and post offices, and of course there were the men who joined the three local battalions of the Hampshire Regiment, and the ships which belonged to the Port of Portsmouth. They all took part in the greatest war the world had ever seen, and thousands of them laid down their lives in defence of this country and it's Empire - in Flanders, at Coronel, at Gallipoli and at Jutland, and in the many other theatres of war. The book is fully illustrated and many of the images have not been published before.

The Public Schools Battalion in the Great War
The Public Schools Battalion in the Great War

Author: Steve Hurst

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2007-07-01

Total Pages: 598

ISBN-13: 1783460547

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“The experience of combat was never more horrific than on the Western Front, come to life in this notable addition to the literature of war.” —Washington Examiner Founded in August 1914 with the principle that recruiting would be restricted to public school old boys, the volunteers gathered at Hurst Park racecourse in a spirit of youthful enthusiasm. A more somber mood soon set in. Despite many of the original volunteers leaving to take commissions in other regiments, the battalion, now officially the 7th Middlesex, remained an elite until its disbandment in 1917. The climax of the Battalions war came on 1 July 1916. Close to the Hawthorn Redoubt Crater are two cemeteries sited on either side of the Auchonvilliers Beaumont Hamel road. They contain row upon row of stones marking the graves of members of the Public Schools Battalion. The author, shocked by this discovery, has spent ten years researching the history of the Battalion and the events of that fateful day as they affected it. The result is a fascinating and moving record of a very uniquely British battalion. “It is eminently readable, and the personal reminiscences of those who were there add a great deal to its appeal. My main interest and fascination with the Great War is to do with the experiences of those who fought, and this book gives a great insight into that. Steve Hurst wanted to tell the story of the men who were there; he has done it very well.” —World War One Battlefields

Dover in the Great War
Dover in the Great War

Author: Stephen Wynn

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1473865050

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Situated on the south coast of England, geographically and strategically, Dover more than played its part in the First World War. It was from its harbor that the many vessels of the Dover Patrol set about preventing German ships from using the English Channel. It was undoubtedly one of the most important Royal Naval units that Britain had during the First World War.Because of its important defensive roll, Dover was identified as a legitimate and relevant target by the German authorities. As a result, German Zeppelin's and Gotha aircraft subjected Dover to 113 aerial attacks, dropping 185 bombs in the process. The first of these raids took place on Christmas Eve, 1914; this was also the first time a German bomb had been dropped on British soil. The last raid was on 24 August 1918, in which twenty adults and three children were killed.The local residents who, for whatever reason, were unable to enlist in the military during the war, but who still felt the desire and obligation to serve their King and country, were able to do so in organizations such as the Dover Volunteer Training Corps. Most towns had similar units, and their members carried out some sterling work on the Home Front.By the end of the war, Dover and its people had sustained through testing and difficult times. Like every community throughout the nation, they had paid a heavy price. They had been as close to the war as it was possible to be, without actually being on the Front Line. Ships had sailed from its harbour to engage the enemy, and wounded soldiers had returned to the same harbour. Its men had gone of to fight in the war and, sadly, 721 of them never came back.