Executive summary
It was such a privilege to be part of telling the story away from the western front. The project will help interpret the events AFTWF for the descendants of those involved for many years to come.
For many of the choir it was the highlight of the work we have done over the last four years. We were proud to sing in remembrance of various less remembered groups, ending our performance with this stirring song.
I learned too many facts to list but what has struck me is the ways in which the past can be made relevant, accessible and important today.
Very impressed by the dedication and amazing research on the variety of topics covered today.
In all, 'Away from the Western Front' delivered 11 regional projects – 10 of them in the UK and one in Italy.
This was one of two projects with a focus on horses (also mules, donkeys and camels) which played an important part in the campaigns away from the Western Front. The Minehead Quilting Group made a beautiful banner which used the story of Norman Woodcock and his horse Timbuc to represent the contribution of horses, both in warfare and as soldiers’ friends and confidants.
This has been a very moving and emotional experience, I feel that I have got into someone else’s life and seen the war from a completely different perspective. (Quilting group member)
This project came from an enquiry by a teacher in Turin, who wanted to know why 16 British soldiers were buried in her local cemetery when no fighting had taken place there. This led to a detailed research project, uncovering the soldiers’ stories – and two more in nearby cemeteries – and even making contact with their descendants in Australia, Wales, Scotland and England. In school, each of the students ‘adopted’ a soldier and wrote eulogies for them, which they read out by the graves at a moving ceremony on 11 November 2018, attended by a representative of the British Consulate and the regional and national Italian press and TV. The following two quotes were among many extremely lucid observations by the 17-year-old Italian students, writing in English as a homework assignment:
The activity and the visit to the cemetery really changed me. During the remembrance ceremony I felt the same way King George V described in his speech in 1922: “in the course of my pilgrimage, I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace than the massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war”.
The connection between two far off times, has much more things in common than anyone could ever think of, so personally, I think that the importance of history will play a substantial role in my life. I’ve learned that the truth beneath the surface should be discovered not only to preserve it and to keep it in mind as a lesson for life, but also to create a sort of connection between the thoughts of people who lived before us and the ones that someday will influence the world.
Lieut. Alexander Vicary of the Gloucestershire Regiment had travelled all over the world with his Australian-bred mare, ‘Rajah’, via India, China, Egypt, France, Salonika, Serbia and Georgia before returning with her to his home in Devon where she was put out to grass. The Vicary family home is now the Sixth Form block of Newton Abbot College, and the school worked with ‘Away from the Western Front’ to find out more about Alexander and his horse. The result was a superb drama production which explored the whole Vicary family – three of Alexander’s brothers also served in campaigns away from the Western Front.
We made the audience cry. It was the best performance I have even been in. (Drama student)
The composer Gustav Holst was born in Cheltenham. Although not accepted to serve in the army, he wanted to do his bit and travelled with the YMCA to bring music to the soldiers in Salonika as the war was ending. The Holst Birthplace Museum has his letters home, which often referred to food, like many soldiers’ letters. Salonika had one of the most multi-cultural armies of all, so this idea lent itself to a project about food. This led to a ‘Salonika Cookbook’ and a lovely event where people could sample the different food linked to the campaign – Indian, Greek, British and others. Meanwhile musicians played Holst’s music.
It is surprising to hear that some soldiers ate well during WWI. (Event attendee)
In partnership with the Great War in Africa Association (GWAA) this project focussed on the issue of military medicine – a major feature of many of the campaigns in Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. The GWAA completed the transcript of the 1918 ‘Pike Report’ into medical failings in the East Africa campaign, and AFTWF filmed an interview with Dr. Tony Jewell, whose grandfather had served in the East African campaign as a surgeon.
I have learnt a great deal about the range of the campaigns away from the Western Front – and the awful loss of life as a result of illness rather than conflict.
The National Trust staff at Castle Drogo worked with Okehampton College, where a production was developed by 14-18 year old music and drama students around the story of Castle Drogo stonemason William George Arscott, who was killed in Salonika on 29 January 1918. In addition to the production, the project included commemorations in Drewsteignton, where Arscott had been a bellringer, and by his grave in Greece.
Visitors have been seen wiping tears away and have commented on the impact of young people sharing their interpretation of the story. (National Trust exhibition visitor)
Four secondary schools in Preston, Lancaster, Carnforth and Poulton-le-Fylde worked with Lancashire County Council’s Heritage Learning Department and the Lancashire Infantry Museum in Preston, exploring the Mesopotamian Campaign, in which local regiments played a large part along with Indian Army troops. Building on this research the schools produced some superb creative pieces – an illustrated short story, two graphic novels and a beautiful wall hanging.
[I learnt] that a soldier that lived around 10 mins away actually fought there, and how not all of WW1 was fought in France. (History student)
Based at Sandham Memorial Chapel near Newbury, there were two parts to this project – an art exhibition and a professionally-produced film about the Salonika Campaign. The art exhibition broke new ground: working with a freelance artist, we linked up with Alabaré, a charity supporting homeless military veterans. They used a range of art techniques to explore the comparisons between their own experience and that of the soldiers who fought at Salonika a century ago. The parallels are extraordinary, putting the First World War into a totally new perspective.
When they came back, you can relate that to us lot leaving the army, that’s the point when you feel completely lost, alone, abandoned and they felt that on a much greater scale than we did. (Military veteran)
A group of volunteers from the Iranian Association in London researched the little-known story of how the First World War affected Persia (now Iran). They visited the Imperial War Museum, and produced a timeline and a bibliographical study related to the war in Persia.
I was shocked to learn that a neutral country like Iran that played no part in starting the war had probably suffered more than most countries which were fighting each other. (Iranian volunteer)
This project run by North Devon Museum used local history research to develop a youth drama production following the stories of rural Devon men who fought in Palestine. The particular focus of the project was how the men felt about going to the ‘Holy Land’, which they knew so well from Sunday School and Chapel.
I was deeply moved by the children in the film trying to portray what the soldiers would have felt like. (Villager attending film screening)
Young people in Islington worked with Islington Museum to produce three animations based on the experiences of the Finsbury Rifles in Egypt and Palestine, with a particular focus on the story of Jock Christie, VC. Spin-offs from the project included family animation days, under 5s workshops and an exhibition at the museum.
My experience learning about WWI in school it was much more serious and focused on the trauma and bad stuff… but what we learnt this week the soldiers that served they did it for their country and there were also good times in the army… like when Gibson climbed the pyramids. (Young person attending workshop)
As the main way of disseminating the project to a wider audience, the website grew over the course of the two year project to 101 pages. Most of the website presents the regional and national projects but there are also sections offering historical background and research into individuals’ stories.
There are short articles about the major campaigns away from the Western Front, especially those in which British troops were heavily involved, written by experts in the field. The articles were written for the general rather than the specialist reader, so between them they offer a very readable overview of the FWW away from the Western Front.
The project aimed to offer a platform for the stories of individual men and women who served away from the Western Front, and the charity will continue this work. The stories were provided by family researchers, and give a very personal angle on the events.
Day-to-day news about 'Away from the Western Front' was posted on Twitter, using @aftwf1418. This will continue to raise awareness about these campaigns after the end of the project through the activities of the AFTWF charity.
Robin Clutterbuck Lyn Edmonds
National Coordinator Project Director