Durham at War

D/X 1899 Poppy saved by Lance Corporal John Harkess

You will see that our blog has had a minor makeover to tie in with the design of the Durham at War website which goes live on Wednesday 10 September. The poppy logo takes its shape from one of the poppies (above) that used to feature in the blog header, and the centre of the logo represents the area that will be covered by the interactive mapping on the new website, a combination of the present day and historic County Durham.

The project website is really taking shape and over the next week we will be carrying out user testing in the Manchester office of our website developers, Reading Room Ltd.  The Durham at War website will launch in two phases. The main website including the historic mapping goes live on 10 September. Additional features will be added at the end of October 2014, including an advanced search across the entire website, and the facility to log in to the website from home. When you log in you will be able to submit new stories or additional pieces of information and comment on the existing website content.

There will be an event in the Durham Room at County Hall to mark the website launch on Wednesday 10 September. This is open to the public from 4pm to 8pm. Visitors will be able to come and try the website out, talk to project staff about how they can get involved and see other First World War community projects from the region.  The Record Office will be closed to the public this day, opening on Thursday 11 September instead.

On Friday 12 September the Record Office is taking part in the Heritage Open Days with a focus on the Durham at War project.

We will also have a stand in the marquee at Palace Green for the Durham Light Infantry World War One Centenary Weekend 13 and 14 September.  This weekend also sees the unveiling of the Durham Light Infantry statue in Durham Market Place.

To Germany

This week we have another guest post by Jo Vietzke who recently had the opportunity to visit one of Durham's twin towns.

Tübingen

The opportunities for international travel as part of the job are few and far between for the local authority archivist.  Therefore, it is of no surprise that I jumped at the chance to attend a First World War commemoration event at Durham’s twin town of Tübingen, Germany.

Statue of Neptune, Tuebingen market place, taken by Jo Vietzke

British commemorations have focussed on 4^th August as the beginning of the war but this date is the start of official British involvement.  However, Britain was a late-comer.  Austro-Hungary declared war with Serbia on 1^st August, immediately pulling in Germany and Russia.  France and Germany declared war on 3^rd and Britain joined the diplomatic fray a day later.

Therefore, the memorial day organised by Tübingen town took place on 1^st August in front of the tax office.  This was not quite as strange a location as it might sound as the tax offices are housed in what were, 100 years ago, the town’s barracks.  A stage was erected in what was once the parade ground, a place that a century before would have been full of bustle and bravado, and which was now the scene of remembrance and contemplation.

Twelve hours of lectures, music, readings, tours, and films filled the day.  The events ranged from history academics of Tübingen’s university reading papers, to local school kids reporting on their trip to Durham to study the First World War with English and French students.   People came and went according to their interests and the events were well attended.

Jo Vietzke presenting her talk, taken by Stephan Klingebiel, Culture Deptartment of Tübingen

My own slot was scheduled for 7:45pm.  I prepared a series of readings from sources to be found at the Record Office in an attempt to provide a flavour of Durham’s experiences of the military and the home front during the First World War.  While I included a couple of powerful battle descriptions from DLI soldiers’ diaries I also wanted to present a series of sources that might be less obvious and possibly thought provoking in a different way.  I used the oral history of a woman from Horden about working the coke ovens and playing football, until her husband came home.  I also read from the minute book of the Durham Women Quaker’s meeting and an article “From Mesopotamia” from the Bede magazine, amongst others.

Throughout the entire weekend, the other representatives of Tübingen’s twin towns (Perugia, Italy and Aix-en-Provence, France) and I enjoyed the warm and attentive hospitality of the town’s Cultural Office.  It was a pleasure to be part of such a vibrant and friendly cultural exchange.

4 August 1914

D/DLI 2/6/10(208) Mobilisation telegram received by Lieutenant Colonel HC Watson, commanding 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, 4 August 1914 

2nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, official war diary (The National Archives, WO 95/1617/1)

1914
Lichfield 6:30pm, Aug 4th

Order to mobilize received.  1st Day mobilization 5 August 1914.

When mobilzation was ordered the Precautionary Period Detachments under Major Mander were in their alloted places i.e.

1. Headquarter Detachment at Sputh Shields under Major Mander, Captain Hare and Lieutenant Yate.   Strength 400 men (of whom 137 were provided by the 1st Battalion Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment).

Less the sub-detachments as follows:

2. Captain Best, Hebburn Dock, 21 men
3. Lieutenant Taylor, Oil Depot, South Shields, 25 men
4. Lieutenant Norton, Frenchmans Battery, South Shields, 25 men
5. Lieutenant Grey-Wilson, Palmers Dock, Jarrow, 20 men

On the night of Aug 4th, immediately after the declaration of war, Major Mander, assisted by Captain Hare and Lieutenant Yate, with 30 men seized a German merchant ship on the Tyne.