The events of February 1916
With conscription having arrived in all but name, a new group of men started to dominate much of the news
coverage - members of the Military Tribunals. Mainly made up of local councillors and other officials,
together with a military representative to push the forces’ case, these Tribunals had to adjudicate on the
appeals of men who wanted to be exempted from serving. The case was often put by companies on behalf of
men they felt were vital to their business, but could also include individuals who claimed they were
economically important to their family or who wished to be exempted on the grounds of conscience.
The Tribunals were not easy to convince and while some men managed to delay their enlistment by a few
months while alternative arrangements were made at their work, many were told they should report for duty
The large conscription of men to the forces concerned some commentators who felt there was a danger of
undermining companies and making them uncompetitive. The worry was that less profitable businesses
would pay less tax and that would affect the war effort as much as too few serving men.
At home, there were signs that something like war fatigue was setting in, something that could be seen in
declining numbers of men willing to turn up and train with the Volunteer Force.
The Shipley Times & Express coverage gives us several glimpses of how different life was 100 years ago when
mill workers still died from anthrax and where the poor had to get by without welfare and a national health
service.
And as ever there were many stories of heroism and tragedy concerning local men fighting at the front.
The links below 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.
4 February 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Shortage of tramps increases wood prices
- German threat justifies conscription
- Under-fives don’t need school
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Tension eases between Shipley & Bradford
- ‘Owd Abe’ is wary of lawyers
- Baildon schools not closing for Feast
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Cycling Tom and his soldier sons
- Narrow escapes for Albert
- King congratulates Cpl Boldy
11 February 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Treat for elderly Baildon residents
- Second anthrax death at mill
- Guild steps in to help the needy
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Lament at the decline of Valentine’s cards
- Maintaining a family bell-ringing tradition
- Suffrage Society tackles refugee crisis
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Mrs Bower’s family goes to war
- Saving colleague stuck in trench mud
- Undergoing an operation to qualify to fight
18 February 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- MP warns against weakening business
- Organist celebrates 30 years in Saltaire
- Call for working class magistrate
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Yeoman effort by amateur thespians
- Idle women show up the men
- Time to take chrysanthemum cuttings
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Soldier dies in accident on his way home
- Volunteers rewarded on route march
- Veteran uses experience for Frontiersmen
25 February 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Old folks treat born in a Windhill ‘snug’
- Public reminded of lighting restrictions
- Dentists among first to appeal to Tribunal
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Soldiers charged with assault on police
- Shipley Volunteers face double challenge
- Saltaire CC stalwart still ‘not out’
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Veteran on front line from start of the war
- D.C.M. for Salt School OB
- Tales of grenades, rats, girls and gas