Leicester in the Great WarLeicester had a strong radical tradition, and was represented in Parliament during the Great War by the outspoken Labour MP Ramsay MacDonald. MacDonald's anti-war views divided opinion in Leicester sharply, but whilst it was slow to provide troops for Kitchener's Army, this was not through lack of patriotism. Instead, Leicester's three main industries footwear, hosiery and engineering all had bulging order books as a result of government war contracts.??Bravery on the battlefield, strikes at home, conscientious objectors and the great flu pandemic were all part of Leicester's story in the Great War, and all are covered here. The author allows Leicester citizens, who lived through these momentous events, to tell their stories in their own words, and powerful eyewitness accounts from men, women and children run through this book. Many of these accounts are previously unpublished, and lend a sense of freshness and immediacy to the narrative, making this an ideal purchase for First World War enthusiasts and social historians alike. |
Contents
Acknowledgements | 6 |
Introduction | 8 |
What will be the end of it all? | 11 |
War most cruel | 37 |
Do all you can | 75 |
Great unrest | 101 |
Vindicated before the world | 121 |
Epilogue | 145 |
Appendix 1 | 159 |
Appendix 2 | 161 |
Notes | 162 |
| 167 | |
| 169 | |
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Common terms and phrases
5th Northern army Artillery August author’s collection Barclay Battalion Leicestershire Regiment battle battlefield Belgian Belgrave Boot and Shoe borough boys Britain casualties Church Club conscientious objector Courtesy East Midlands Oral engineering enlisted Evington exemption factory fighting firm football George George Banton German Gimson going guns HMS Defence Hohenzollern Redoubt hosiery ibid Independent Labour Party industry join killed Labour Party Leicester branch Leicester Daily Mercury Leicester Fosse Leicester Mail Leicester Mercury Leicester Secular Society Leicester soldier Leicester’s lived MacDonald machine March Margot Melbourne Hall Midlands Oral History military service munitions North Evington Northern General Hospital nurses o’clock Oral History Archive outbreak prison raised Ramsay MacDonald Record Office recruiting remembered Road Royal Royal Horse Artillery Scroby September 1914 Sergeant shells society Street told town town’s trade Twilley Union Volunteers week Western Front whilst women workers World wounded soldiers wrote young