Urgent Copy: The Wolverton Express Reports the First World War

Description

When war broke out in 1914 the Wolverton Express was the established local newspaper of choice in the Wolverton area, although the older Bucks Standard from Newport Pagnell still had a following. The printed word was paramount in getting out the local news every Friday. News from the battlefront, as it affected local people, could only come from this source. The soldiers themselves had time to write home and many families took these letters along to the Wolverton Express office to be copied and later typeset. This is now an important archive. We have drawn from this archive to present, after 100 years, authentic voices from that conflict. Those of us who are of a certain age had grandfathers and great uncles serving in that war and have memories of the survivors who came back to live and work and build their families in the district. Many men from both the LNW Railway Works and McCorquodales signed up for service and saw action in Flanders fields, Salonika, the Middle East and at sea This is history of a very important kind because these are the voices and words of men who were there, who endured the horror, experienced the hardship, enjoyed the fellowship of their comrades and in some cases lost limbs and lives. The men here write about bombardment by “Jack Johnsons”, narrowly being missed by a bullet or a bayonet, the unfortunate death or injury of comrades, and in some cases report their own injuries. They talk about the ordinary things in life – the food, games of football, gratitude for supplies of tobacco, and are usually anxious to assure those at home that they are “alright”. Readers may be surprised to discover that many of the writers are highly literate and have mastered the art of letter writing. Compelling reading.