June 1915 in June 1915, the War Effort Continued to Bring out Both the Best

June 1915

In June 1915, the war effort continued to bring out both the best and worst in people. One young trainee minister from Burnbank, for example, who didn’t feel it would be morally right for him to enlist, decided to take leave of his training to work in a munitions factory to help the war effort. In the King’s Birthday Honours list, Mr David Mitchell from Blantyre, Superintending Engineer at the Post Office, was appointed Companion of Imperial Service Order. In the Hamilton Advertiser, a call was sounded to local citizens to donate any goggles that might be available, and to collect money for respirators to protect men of the local regiment against the poisonous gas attacks. Harry Lauder, a popular local singer and ex-miner, was very active in touring to promote recruitment. Harry’s son, Lieutenant J. C. Lauder (a member of the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), was recently injured in combat. It was estimated that around 250,000 miners had already enlisted.

On the other hand, two men employed in the munitions industry decided to assault a co-worker who was consistently out-performing them, as it made them look bad. And in Glasgow, two partners in an ironworks were arrested and charged with dealing with the enemy. Elsewhere in Lanarkshire, a lady was fined £1 for stealing meat from a butcher. The headline read, "Missing Mutton in Motherwell". Another local was charged with driving his bicycle in a "reckless and furious manner" on Union Street. Also in the area this month - for one day only - was Bronco Bill's Great Wild West Show and Circus, with cowboys, cowgirls and Indians, able to entertain a capacity of 10,000.

Those with a more morbid fascination could travel to London, to the Royal College of Surgeons. It claimed to have on display one of Robert the Bruce's ribs which was removed from Bruce's grave when it was relocated in 1818 (with poet, Sir Walter Scott, being present) and was said to have been sawn from his torso when his heart was removed, as was customary, at the time of his death. Also exhibited was a cast of Bruce's skull, alongside that of a replica of Robert Burns' skull.

A lot was going on in Britain as a whole. Zeppelin bombing raids near London were intensifying but still damage and casualties were low: Ramsgate and Brentwood were targeted with 90 bombs but only five civilians were killed and no public buildings damaged. The King gave a Victoria Cross to Flight Sub-lieutenant Reginald Warneford, who was born at Darjeeling in India, for 'single-handedly destroying a Zeppelin'. A speaker in the House of Commons said that they could employ four times as many planes as they currently had, and they did not want for pilots or bombs. The German bombings, using Zeppelins, showed a modernisation of combat, with attacking a civilian population and the nation's production capability becoming a viable military tactic for the first time. These types of attacks highlighted the fact that the efforts at home played an important part of this conflict: the so-called 'total-war' would impact every member of society and see a change to the very rules of engagement.

This was mirrored in a change of approach within the Government. This month, Prime Minister Asquith announced that politicians should put party politics behind them for the duration of the conflict.

The Hamilton Advertiser reported:

The formation of a new cabinet was only because of his conviction that a non- party government would prove the most effective instrument for the persecution of the war.

Asquith also imposed a rule that MPs would remain in their seats for the duration of the war and would not need to seek re-election. The initial idea of the conflict being "over by Christmas" was no longer believable (if it ever had been), and it was evident that this new type of war would not see the traditional quick and decisive battles of the past.

The other great change in the national consciousness was the role of women in the workplace. 600 women were being employed at Barrow munitions works, with another 1,000 sought, the paper said. This in itself illustrated the massive change in the levels of employment for women. However, some men were still unable to deal with such a change: in Edinburgh, male tram workers opposed women's employment in the carriages. Elsewhere in terms of employment, the Independent Labour Party was strongly opposed to conscription being introduced while Lord Rosebery continued his recruitment campaign across the nation saying that, "The man not serving or helping the war effort is falling criminally short of his duty".

Communication and the media also played an important role in driving support and morale. The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was used to prosecute The Times newspaper this month for spreading reports that could benefit the enemy. Another London newspaper was forced to make a charitable donation in the name of Mrs Asquith, the Prime Minister's wife, who it claimed had been playing games of tennis with high ranking Germans! As already mentioned, previous conflicts had largely been quick and decisive, far away in the Empire, and on much smaller scales. In this new type of war, it was more important for the public to be united and motivated in order to prevail. The cost of the war had now hit £3 million a day.

Germany, a once respected trading partner and friendly rival, was now the greatest enemy the nation had ever faced. Lord Dewar said, "Germany has destroyed the soul of her people with her war machine - a high price to pay for efficiency". A German spy, Carl Muller, who had letters intercepted which had contained invisible ink, was executed at the Tower of London this month. He was the second spy to be executed during the conflict. Another story involved Frederick Wilhelm Carl Schmidt who was killed during a failed escape attempt at a POW camp. It was claimed he disregarded four warnings when trying to escape through the dormitory roof, a verdict of 'justifiable homicide' was recorded. Highlighting a general fear of espionage, an over-eager photographer was arrested and fined for taking pictures on the Forth Road Bridge (although the judge recognised it was more of a 'piece of folly than anything else'). Lastly, a man was able to successfully divorce his wife when he claimed that she held 'German sympathies'.

The court case of the signalmen responsible for the train disaster near Gretna took place this month. During the hearing, James Tinsley was said to be "in a state bordering on collapse and was later taken away in a motor ambulance". Both men were charged with manslaughter. In a much smaller case of avoidable death, a soldier killed one postman and injured two others by trying to send home a live shell in the mail, which exploded en route.

In the wider world, the British Prime Minster visited troops at the front, as did the Belgian King. The French had begun bombing raids on Germany, targeting the headquarters in Verdun where the Kaiser's heir was located, dropping 129 bombs. Italy was now very much in favour of the war effort on the allied side, with rallies and marches taking place.

The last situation developing was that of the United States' attitude to and position in the war - America had largely been in a position of non-intervention or isolationism to the conflict outside of general trade. Talk of their inevitable involvement had intensified since the sinking of the Lusitania which had many US citizens on board. The Germans were still adamant that the ship had military capability, was carrying munitions and had wrongly entered conflict waters.

Germany would exacerbate matters even further when reports were circulated that the Kaiser had given medals to the commanding officers of the submarine which sank her - the Pour le Mérite, one of the highest German military honors, was reportedly awarded to the U-boat captain!

Advert for glasses, available in six different styles!

Some businesses were using the war effort in their advertising to promote their business.

This one, for margarine, says that the "Government urges everyone now to save every shilling"

Another product boasting that prices had not been increased during the war!