During this month, each weekday I'm posting an image showing Cornwall's First World War.
Today's guest post is
kindly provided by @PoltairHistory, the History Department at Poltair School in St
Austell.
How did Cornish people know how the war was progressing? Television and radio were still a long way off and few
people were sufficiently literate to read newspapers. Therefore it was the
responsibility of the educated to spread the news. In St Austell, headmaster
of the County School Arthur Jenkinson led the way. On 11th December 1914 in the Public Rooms on
Truro Road, he gave a lecture entitled “The War”.
From the school magazine of the time we
learn that, with slides and diagrams, he explained the significance of the
Battles of Mons and the Marne before examining the stalemate caused by “modern
methods of warfare, entrenchments, dug outs etc”. He then illustrated the progress that the
Russians were making on the Eastern Front. Next he analysed the naval campaign,
describing the loss of HMS Amphion before talking about the sinking of four
German cruisers in the Atlantic.
Learned and well-read,
Jenkinson had a thorough grasp of the situation and one that would favourably
compare to a modern textbook. Feeling better informed, the audience ended the
evening by singing of “God Save the King” and a making a collection for the Red
Cross and St John’s Ambulance.
A week later Arthur Jenkinson volunteered for
the Royal Fusiliers as a private soldier. Later he held a commission in the
Royal Army Ordnance Corps, from which he was discharged in March 1919 with the
rank of Major.
My book, 'Cornwall In The First World War', is published by Truran. With 112 pages and 100 images, you'll find it in bookshops across the Duchy. It's also available through Amazon: http://amzn.to/19JbtZm
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