The events of March 1916
On the military front, things tended to be quieter than usual although, with hindsight, we know this was a
time of intense preparation for the ‘Big Push’ which was to come at the Somme in July. We get some hint of
this in letters from soldiers saying they have moved from Egypt to France. And even though there are few
major battles, there are still stories of heroism and casualties as the war approaches the end of its second
year.
The big story at home is the start of Military Tribunals set up to consider applications for exemption from
conscription. Mostly these were companies applying on behalf of key workers and there are some tetchy
exchanges over whose need is the greater, the army or business.
Several voices speak out to remind government that as important as recruiting is, if too many men are
removed from the country’s companies, business will suffer and with it the tax revenue to fund the war..
The Tribunals also shine the spotlight on those seeking exemption on grounds of conscience. A few people
spring to their defence but the majority view is that they are cowards, shirking their country in its time of
greatest need.
The Shipley Times & Express coverage also reminds us that even in a time of great events, the little things in
life continue to be an irritation and we read, among other things, of complaints of queue jumping, dreadful
roads and even of undermining of the ethos of cricket by clubs signing top professionals.
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.
3 March 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Angry exchanges at Shipley’s first Tribunal
- Roberts threatens to close Salts Mill
- Exemption granted to plant potatoes
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Shipley curate says church is failing
- Windhill drivers battle Otley Road pot holes
- Paper shortage sends schools back to slates
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Official letters dash hopes of return
- Volunteer Force fight disillusion
- Air war captures the imagination
Painting of Shipley Manor House, published a year after it was pulled down
10 March 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Not as indispensable as you think
- Conscience not an easy way to duck duty
- Disinfect houses to halt spread of T.B.
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- VC hero welcomed to Shipley
- Too much recruiting could lose the war
- Height in millinery and width in skirts
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Much wounded soldier and other heroes
- Strangeness of being in a foreign land
- In the trenches with mud, fleas and rats
17 March 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Razors re-sharpened for serving men
- Co-op keen to hang on to key workers
- Queue jumpers must be stopped
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- The rise of non-conformity in the district
- Owd Abe needs a wife to warm his bed
- Fines for drunkeness at the New Inn
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Shipley veteran killed by shell
- Mates cheer as Henry gets his D.C.M
- Poem from trenches to those staying home
24 March 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Conscientious Objectors at Tribunal
- Men of conscience derided by editorial
- Chairman defends Tribunal members
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- One-legged shoe thief in court
- Care needed that tar hasn’t spoiled manure
- Empire united against a common foe
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- One woman with nine men in the war
- D.C.M. for gallantry under fire
- New England to be built after the war
31 March 1916
- Windhill vicar writes from the Front Line
- Letters home from “Eccleshill Road”
- Serving men condemn striking miners
- Contempt for conscientious objectors
- Shave and haircut for 3½d
- Off licence fined for ‘long pull’
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Sir James Roberts appeals for his son
- Court sympathises with Nab Wood German
- Council freeze rates for 15th year
- Killed after just two days in the trenches
- Civilian distress shames ‘shirkers’ at home
- POWs give the view from the other side
- Army makes significant moves to France
- Doubts that war will over by end of the year
- Shipley MP urges thrift