Blind Veterans

The gates to St Dunstan's Hospital, London, Australian War Memorial P06305.001

In May 1918, the Mayor of Tynemouth [Henry Gregg] attended the Allied Conference and Exhibition in London, which gave him the opportunity to visit several hospitals to see what therapies were being given to help those who had been injured during the war. He visited Roehampton Hospital to see how men were being fitted with artificial limbs and trained in using them, Golder’s Green to see treatment of those with shell shock, and to St Dunstan’s for the training of those who had been blinded.

The mayor reported on his visits in the Shields Daily News over two days. On 28 May 1918, he discussed his visit to St Dunstan’s.

“St Dunstan’s stands in Regent’s Park and occupies, with a magnificent house, sixteen and a half acres… I paid two visits, at the second of which I was introduced and chatted for some time with [the founder] Sir Arthur Pearson.

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Sympathy and charity are ruled rigidly out, self-assertive manliness, bent on earning its own living, dominates every single person. Now as to the training. Basket and mat-making are taught there as in other blind institutions, so I pass over them as being normal. Net making in very many forms is taught, and seems to be in very great favour with the men, probably owing to the variety of utility of the articles. Shoe making and repairing is carried on on a somewhat extensive scale. It is perfectly wonderful to note the high class work these men turn off their hands. Special tools enable them to accomplish their work faultlessly. More wonderful still if possible is the training in joinery. To see them use the rule, compasses, plane and other tools is almost uncanny. They can dovetail and mitre perfectly, make substantial furniture, and fine cabinet work. Picture framing is also skilfully done, and to see them cut the glass to fit the edge of a frame…is astonishing. Typewriting, telephoning, and braille shorthand are also taught. Especially would I mention massage training. A number of men are being trained as professional masseurs…and they undergo such a thorough training that doctors prefer them to all the others owing to their perfect knowledge of the work…They are trained by a blind man who is himself an expert. Poultry farming is also taught with good effect. The men can tell the breed and peculiarities of every bird in their care.

Blind soldiers at work in the boot making and repairing shop at St. Dunstan Hostel, Regent's Park, IWM Non Commercial Licence, © IWM (Q 54583)

The gratifying feature of the training at St Dunstan’s Home is that when they become proficient they receive a complete outfit to commence on their own account. In the case of poultry training, the man is given a number of birds, two mother birds for sitting, an incubator, sufficient wood, wire, and all other implements necessary. In the case of typing, a new Remington typewriter is supplied. Shoemakers, too, receive lasts, tools, leather, nails, etc. 

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A pleasing feature too, is the fact that a large number of voluntary ladies have qualified themselves to instruct the men in many of the department. Day by day they are in attendance in relays, teaching Braille, telephony etc.”

For one of the soldiers who attended St Dunstan’s, it was to be a life changing experience in more ways than one. Private Tom Smith was from Boldon Colliery and was serving with 14th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry (14 DLI), in the Loos and Lens sector in April 1917. The battalion had been in action for a few days when they had to attack on the morning of 22 April and consolidate their gained ground. The initial attack was successful, destroying three German machine guns, and taking three officers, and over 30 other ranks prisoner. Over the course of the day, the German army mounted three counter attacks, all of which were repulsed. They then made a fourth attempt and succeeded in driving 14 DLI back, and the battalion suffered severe casualties. One of these was Tom Smith who was blinded in both eyes. He attended St Dunstan’s for training, and met Kitty who was a support worker there. In the 1920s, they married.

Tom and Kitty Smith on their wedding day, 1920s, D/DLI 7/963/3 ©Durham County Record Office

The legacy of St Dunstan’s continues today as Blind Veterans UK. They have two history projects on their website, photographs and voices, many of which relate to the First World War and its aftermath.
Historical photography project
100 Voices

The beginning of the end

D/DLI 7/531/1 Embroidered souvenir postcard

The German Spring Offensive, masterminded by General Erich Ludendorff, drew to an end in July. The British and French armies had suffered heavy losses but had resisted the German attack, however, the German army was left exhausted and demoralised.

On 8 August 1918, the allied forces, including nine British divisions, four Canadian divisions, and five Australian divisions, and supported by 2,000 guns, 450 tanks and 1,900 aeroplanes, attacked east of Amiens in northern France. The German front line broke as the British advanced over 15 miles, inflicting on the German Army 30,000 casualties, including 13,000 prisoners. After this battle, the German Kaiser and his generals knew that the war was lost. General Ludendorff called it the 'black day of the German Army'.

This began the final 100 days of the war. The Allied armies launched attack after attack. Their casualties were heavy but this relentless pressure forced the German Army to retreat almost to the borders of Germany itself.

RELAWM13307.086 Colour patch of 26th Battalion, Australian Infantry Force, Australian War Memorial Creative Commons Non-Commercial License 3.0 

Several men, originally from County Durham were in action on this opening day of the Battle of Amiens, serving with the Canadian and Australian forces. These included John Bailes, born in South Wingate, and John Edward Green, born in Sunderland, both serving with different battalions of the the Australian Infantry Force.

Another soldier was Henry Ellemor, born in Seaham Harbour in 1890. In 1911 he emigrated to Australia with his brother and worked as a miner until he enlisted as a private with 26th Battalion, Australian Infantry Force, in September 1915. Ellemor arrived in France a month into the Battle of the Somme and found himself fighting at Flers.

On 8 August 1918, Private Ellemor went into action at Amiens, where he was shot in the back and legs. He was evacuated to the 61st Casualty Clearing Station at Vigancourt, but sadly died of his wounds later that day.

D/DLI 7/226/15 Amiens Cathedral, and bomb damage to nearby buildings c.1914-18

On Wednesday 8 August, Prince William and Theresa May attended a service at Amiens Cathedral, to remember those lost, and to mark the anniversary of the beginning of the end of the war.

The Danger Tree

The Danger Tree, opening in Stockton, August 2018

Are you looking for something different and educational to do this summer holiday? Launching today, Stockton-on-Tees plays host to The Danger Tree, an augmented reality First World War exhibition. 

Artists Scarlett Raven and Marc Marot have produced oil paintings showing fields of flowers, that when viewed with the Blippar app on a smartphone or tablet (tablets will be available to borrow), will be enriched with animation, music, and poetry.

The exhibition takes its name from a landmark near Beaumont Hamel, France, used by the Newfoundland Regiment of the Canadian Army in the run up to the Battle of the Somme. Whilst performing trench raids, a clump of trees, reduced to a lone, leafless tree trunk, about halfway into no-man’s land was used as a reference point. One of the only markers in the area, it was used a gathering point for the men to start their trench raids prior to the battle. It was also about where the wire had been cut for the Newfoundland Regiment to get through and make their attack on 1 July 1916. Unfortunately, the Germans had also located this landmark, and many men were killed in its vicinity. After the war, the Canadian government bought the land and a Newfoundland Memorial Park was created. Whilst the original tree is long gone, a replica stands in the park to honour those who lost their lives there. 

The Danger Tree, Newfoundland Memorial Park, Beaumont Hamel, France (photo public domain)

The Danger Tree exhibition is being held at the Wellington Square shopping centre, with one of the units being made to look like a bombed out art gallery.

This free exhibition has been produced in association with The Royal British Legion, and has already visited Liverpool and Manchester among other locations. 

Free

Unit 24
Wellington Square (near Debenhams)
Stockton-on-Tees

Opening times:
Wednesday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm

Please note; during Stockton International Riverside Festival (3-5 August) the exhibition will be open 1pm – 7pm.

From 10-29 September we will be hosting education visits Monday to Thursday, with public visits Friday and Saturday only.