There's a war memorial near where I live, in a place called Greengates. Whenever I drive past it, I see the bit relating to the First World War which says:
In grateful memory of the men of Greengates and district who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919
I find this very odd. I've never seen a war memorial that claims the First World War ended in 1919, apart from this one. This memorial was put up in 1921.
This has been puzzling me for a while. I doubt that it's a typo and that I'm the first person to notice it in 89 years. I thought maybe it was talking about soldiers who died of their injuries after the end of the war, which seems rather modern and a bit of a dig at all the other war memorials if it were true.
So, it struck me (while I was writing this, in fact - I started off thinking this post was going to be funny) that in 1921, the idea of "the First World War" we have today – with clear beginnings and ends – probably didn't exist then.
Turns out from my extensive historical research – that is googling "greengates war memorial" and reading the end of the Wikipedia entry on the First World War - that a lot of memorials put up right after the war said 1919, because that's when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. I suppose that even in 1921, one couldn't have been sure it wasn't all going to kick off again, what with fighting going on in Turkey until 1923.
Seeing the Battle of Britain 70th anniversary commemorations this weekend, and seeing how few people who fought in that are left, it's shocking and strange to think how living history turns into book history.
In 1921, they weren't sure when the First World War ended. Now there is pretty much no one left alive who experienced it and people like me can't work out why they got the dates wrong.
That 1919 in Greengates might be a typo, but if it's not then it's quite a vivid little historical detail.
[The picture above is (c) David Spencer, from here. That pub in the background is up for sale, by the way, if anyone's interested]
British soldiers remained on active service into 1919 mostly in Russia. The 1919 date is just as correct as 1918. The armistice was just that, a suspension of hostilities, and as you say above, the war legally ended in 1919. I reckon most of the people who attended the unveiling (I have a photo of it), knew just what was happening.
ReplyDeleteKeith Roberts