LEICESTER PLACES OF INTEREST RESOURCE PACK 1 Leicester at War

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1 LEICESTER PLACES OF INTEREST RESOURCE PACK 1 Leicester at War Contents: Introduction Map 1 City Centre Trail Midland Railway Station New Walk and New Walk Museum Newarke Street and Bonner s Lane Magazine Gateway and Magazine Square Newarke Houses Museum Castle Gardens Cathedral Market Place Town Hall Square Secular Hall, Humberstone Gate Southampton Street YMCA

2 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Introduction This resource pack aims to highlight some sites of particular interest and relevance to the First World War in Leicester. This pack will cover The City Centre: Leicester at War but there are two additional areas with location maps to follow also: North of the City: The Business of War The Southfield Area: War and Peace at Southfields The sites can be linked and walked as one complete trail or places can be visited individually depending on time available and areas of interest. We aim to provide a flexible resource that can be used by many people in different ways. Many resources used in the packs as well as additional material are available to view at the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Long Street, Wigston Magna, Leicestershire, LE18 2AH. Please see our website for more details on our opening hours and how to plan a visit: Every effort has been made to ensure that sites are accessible and safe for visitors; however, we can accept no liability for closures or other factors which may make a visit unsuitable. Please check with the sites in question about opening times and access arrangements before visiting, especially if you are travelling from some distance.

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4 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Midland Railway Station (Leicester Railway Station) 1 In 1914 the Midland & London & North Western Railway Company s London Road Station was new, having been built in Although the platforms and inside offices and shops have now been completely redesigned, the front of the station, with its Arrival and Departure signs and Midland Railway Arms are largely unaltered. The London Road station, serving both the Midland and LNWR was one of four railway passenger stations in Leicester. The others were run by the Great Central Railway (in Great Central Street) and the Great Northern Railway; on Belgrave Road and Uppingham Road, Humberstone. Railways were vital for Britain s survival in the war. They carried troops and supplies to the front as well as millions of tons of armaments. The railways also carried troops to and from home leave. Leicestershire s VADs maintained a refreshment room for soldiers travelling through Leicester, offering drinks, snacks and cigarettes, as well as an information service for relatives of soldiers reported missing in action.

5 The railway companies also operated hospital trains, which regularly brought new patients for the Base Hospital in Leicester. In the course of the war, 425 hospital trains (carrying over 60,000 wounded and sick soldiers) were received in Leicester. M. J. Keay was a VAD nurse at Leicester station in 1915: Then the train arrives. It glides out of the darkness into the dim light of the platform, a long, ghost like shape; slowly and yet more slowly it moves, you are fascinated for the moment, and then you realise that it has stopped; there is no jar and no sound, it just comes. Then the unloading begins, the doors are opened and the soldiers are carried to the ambulances which slowly disappear into the night on the way to the Base hospital. Nobody speaks, everything is quiet and orderly, and when all is finished there is a cup of coffee for the nurses and the ambulance men, and we are dismissed.

6 A hospital train being unloaded at the London Road Station. The train has backed into the old milk sidings and is being unloaded using a specially made, portable platform. An ambulance is waiting to carry the wounded to the Base Hospital. Reference: DE3736/1195/2

7 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War New Walk and New Walk Museum 2 New Walk Museum (Mayor s Rooms) Refugees: On 3rd February 1915 the Mayor and Mayoress entertained refugees who were resident in Leicester at the Museum Buildings. There were around 800 guests with flowers, music and refreshments. The Mayoress was presented with a bouquet of thanks and the Mayor responded saying their hospitality is the least they could do for the sacrifice Belgium has made. In remembering the evening, Mr F Vanderveken, President of the Association of Periodical Journalists in Belgium and Foreign countries, he said an unforgettable evening, one which will remain engraven on our memory as illustrative of your personal and inestimable goodness towards us Belgians, as well as of the profound sympathy of the inhabitants of Leicester for the Belgian refugees, and the warm-heartedness and lavish hospitality of the English people. Fundraising: By July 1915 it was announced that 1,200 had been given in an appeal for a motor ambulance. Every morning the Mayoress went to the Mayor s rooms at the Museum buildings to preside over the working party which had met there since the beginning of the war: each week 150 ladies gathered in these rooms to sew, to knit, to mend to do anything that would help.

8 New Walk Museum Entrance Reference: LS5593

9 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Newarke Street and Bonner s Lane 3 Newarke Street now connects the main shopping streets in Leicester to the area occupied by DeMontfort University. It has been extensively redeveloped. Walk down Newarke Street towards Newarke Houses Museum and DeMontfort University. Turn left into Oxford Street and you can see the end of Bonners Lane on the opposite side of the road. This area is now occupied by university buildings but was the street where Alfred Burrows lived as a teenager whilst working as a shoe hand in His life is explored in the education pack A Soldier s Story. Troops on parade down Newarke Street in 1914

10 Reference: Wrights Directory of Leics 1914 Newarke St

11 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Magazine Gateway and Magazine Square 4 The Magazine Gateway was built as part of the defences to the Newarke area of Leicester shortly after It is now isolated beside a dual carriageway but until 1966, when the Victorian additions were demolished, the Gateway was part of a group of military buildings around a drill square. These included a drill hall, offices and stores built for the Leicestershire Militia where De Montfort University s new building now stands. In 1914 the Magazine (and adjoining Magazine Square) served as the Headquarters of most of Leicestershire s Territorial and Reserve Force. This included the 4th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, the Leicestershire Yeomanry, Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery, Transport and Supply units, and the 5th Northern General Hospital and North Midland Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps. The Magazine also provided the meeting place of the local Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association, which administered and paid for all the territorial units. The value of their work throughout the war can be judged from the expansion of Leicestershire s territorial forces. By 1918 there were six battalions of infantry, three regiments of yeomanry, two batteries of artillery, three transport and supply columns, a divisional supply train, a railway detachment, and numerous medical units, including the third largest military hospital in the country, a casualty clearing station and scores of Voluntary Aid Detachments (or V.A.D.s) providing first aid, nursing and transport for wounded soldiers. All were run through the Magazine and its adjoining offices.

12 The Magazine Gateway and drill hall, c De Montfort University s new building now occupies most of this site. Reference: LS1172

13 Rifle inspection for men of the 4th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, in Magazine Square, c Reference: GP579

14 A reservist leaves the Magazine in August 1914, having collected his uniform, equipment, and a rifle and bayonet. Reference: GP547

15 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Newarke Houses Museum for Regimental Museum 5 Museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment Since 2007 the regimental museum of the Tigers has been at the Newarke houses museum, which is part of the Leicester City Museum Service. The story of the regiment, from the seventeenth century, is told in six galleries on the upper floor of the former chantry house. Two Russian cannon, from the Crimea, may be seen in the garden outside. Inside, the displays use uniforms, medals, weapons, equipment and documents, to record the lives of the soldiers and campaigns of the regiment and associated units, such as the Leicestershire Militia, Fencibles and Volunteers. The Great War has a gallery to itself, with a recreated section of Western Front trench. Visitors may follow the stories of a number of Tigers from and see such relics as one of the German machine-guns captured by the 2nd battalion in 1915.

16 Newarke Houses Museum exterior

17 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Castle Gardens 6 Leicester Castle The terms of the Armistice, which brought an end to the fighting in 1918, included the surrender by Germany of 2,500 light artillery pieces (as well as the same number of heavy guns, 25,000 machine guns and 3,000 minenwerfers - or mine-throwers). As part of the celebration of peace and commemoration of the nation s sacrifice in winning the war, a large number of those captured artillery pieces were distributed as trophies to towns and cities throughout Britain and the empire. German artillery was displayed in several places in Leicester but this Rheinmetall 7.7cm FK16 light field-gun found a temporary home in front of the half-timbered Castle Gateway. Although many trophy guns survive in Australia, New Zealand and even the United States, few can still be seen in the UK. Many were removed during the 1930s or were sacrificed in scrap metal drives during the Second World War.

18 Reference: DE3736/ Box6

19 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Cathedral 7 Leicester Cathedral: St George s Chapel Since 1897 the chapel in Leicester Cathedral s south-west corner has been dedicated to the memory of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment. In 1921 the chapel (dedicated to St George) was restored by the Regiment to be a memorial to those who fell in the Great War. The windows of the chapel are also memorials; their glass recalling service in South Africa, , and in the Second World War, as well as the life of Lieutenant Colonel Reader, who died in South Africa in There are a number of monuments, to individuals and to those who fell during a number of campaigns. The earliest is a large stone which recalls the Crimean campaign of and the latest, a brass plaque, is to seventeen men of the Regiment who gave their lives in Cyprus from The First World War is represented by the memorial to Major General C G Blackader, who commanded the 2nd Battalion in and by the furnishings of the Chapel which include panelling carved with battle Honours of that war, the Rolls of Honour (of which three entire volumes are given over to the dead of the Tigers ) and a silver crucifix rescued by a private of the Regiment from the ruins of Ypres Cathedral. Above hang many of the Regiment s Colours, dating from 1909 to Also stored in the chapel, beneath the Altar, are many of the Colours presented to the service and other battalions of the Regiment raised especially for the Great War. The cathedral also has a war memorial window (on the east wall of the Sanctuary) set up by the parish of St Martin s, Leicester to honour those connected with the Church and Parish who fell in the Great war

20 The Colours of one of the battalions of the Leicestershire Register enters the Cathedral, c1920s. Reference: GP1046

21 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Market Place: fundraising 8 On Thursday, 15 July 1915 a large meeting was held in the Market Place. This was the meeting point of a large procession attended by members of the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Nonconformist churches who had all come together with their local church leaders to support the war effort. The Bishop of Leicester urged all people of the Christian faith to come together at this time of grave national peril. The Leicester Daily Post reported that such a meeting of the different denominations would have been unthinkable before the war. It applauded the way in which the churches had come together to encourage men to join up and everyone to In 1916 The Mayor developed a fund to raise money for returning soldiers, many of whom would be disabled and unable to work. He hoped to raise 100,000 which would be about 4.5 million today. In aid of this he held an Olde Englishe Faire in the Market Place in late September. Markets Committee allowed free use of all the stalls for the faire and the Market Place was decorated the night before by 100 girls using 2,000 yards of calico and 15,000 false flowers. Stall holders were in old English costume and buying started an hour before it was officially opened. The fair was a great success and raised about 9000 (about 388,000 today).

22 View of The Market Place Reference: DE3736 Box 21

23 Date: 1916 Reference: Leicester Daily Post

24 Date: 1916 Reference: Leicester Daily Post

25 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Town Hall Square 9 Date: 1914 Reference: DE3736/1159 The Town Hall Square saw some significant events during WWI. In May 1915 two rooms at the Town Hall were given up to recruiting. Where in normal times there would have been baskets of geraniums there was now written: RECRUITING OFFICE 5,000 LEICESTERS Now at the FRONT ASK 2,000 MORE LEICESTER MEN TO JOIN THEM. Leicester had been roused: recruits were coming in at the rate of five and six hundred a week.

26 Serbian Flag Day On Saturday, 11 September 1915, Serbian Flag day was held in the Town Hall Square to raise money after the efforts Serbia had made during the war. Leicester women raised 2,128 by selling flags to passers by and even held up a tram. Date: 1915 Reference: Leicester Daily Post

27 Conscription In 1916 conscription came into force under the Military Service Act and applied to single men aged between 18 and 41. Councils were responsible for setting up tribunal to consider pleas of exemption from those called up. In Leicester, the tribunal sat for the first time on February 22 nd at the Town Hall. The two main exemptions from military service were being in a reserved occupation necessary to the war effort or having a religious or conscientious objection. The Leicester Daily Post reported that the first case was that of a shopkeeper who had three enlisted brothers and he wanted to keep a home for them when they came to Leicester on leave. The Tribunal did not think this was a case for exemption and so the man stated that he had a conscientious objection but this was not allowed as he had not raised this earlier. Other cases heard on the first day were that of a dairyman exempted because of his reserved occupation, a man who was given a two month exemption to enable him to get married and another who claimed exemption on the grounds that he was making ladies stockings. In that case the Tribunal felt this to be an insufficient reason to grant an exemption.

28 Date: 1915 Reference: DE3736/1158

29 Tank Week In January 1918, a national appeal was launched to invest in tanks by showing these vehicles to people who had never seen one. A tank was shown in Town Hall Square; many people came to see it despite a heavy snowfall. Children were allowed to clamber on the tank, while parents chatted with the crew. Date: 1918 Reference: Leicester Daily Post

30 Temporary War Memorial A temporary war memorial was erected in Town Hall Square by the Mayor who said it aimed to bring home people and especially young people, the seriousness of the war and to let those mourning loved ones know that the community shared in their grief. Reference: DE3716 Box 29

31 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Secular Hall, Humberstone Gate 10 Opposition to the war On 20 January 1916 there was a meeting of the Union of Democratic Control (U.D.C.) in the Secular Hall. Chairing the meeting was Ramsay MacDonald, MP for Leicester who had been a long-standing opponent of the war. The Leicester Daily Post reported that the meeting was mostly peaceful but a small crowd had gathered outside and there were a few shouts of traitor! Reference: DE3736 Box 4

32 The Military Service Bill bringing in conscription for men aged between 18 and 41 was discussed and said to be a new way of enslaving the people of this country according to a report in the Leicester Daily Post. Mr C P Trevelyan said foreign affairs were in the control of the upper classes and he felt the Government had resorted to compulsory service on the pitiful excuse that to win the War another 100,000 men were needed, who were called slackers. As if slackers were going to win the war! Reference: DE3736 Box 19

33 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War Southampton Street 11 Walking past The Curve, you will pass Southampton Street. In 1911 the Merrin family lived at 41 Southampton Street. The mother, Mary Ann Merrin was a widow and all three children have some form of employment. Bert Merrin aged 16 worked in a coffee and cocoa shop and his brother John aged 14 was a printing boy. Even George Merrin who was only 11 worked part-time as an outfitter s boy. Without a male breadwinner and with few social benefits to rely on it would have been hard for Mary Ann to manage. This is probably why all the children need to bring in some money. Alfred and Ernest Dickinson, Wheelwrights were also based in Southampton Street and the photograph shows a young boy working for them. To find out more about daily life before World War One see our education pack on the Lives of Children. Reference: DE3736 Box 19

34 Date: 1911 Reference: Merrin Family Census

35 Reference: DE3736/1588

36 Ref: Wrights Directory of Leics Southmpton Street

37 PLACES OF INTEREST 1 Leicester at War YMCA Troop accommodation 12 The Young Men s Christian Association was one of the first civilian organisations to realize the potential impact of the war in 1914 and to mobilize in response to its needs. In Leicester, as in most large towns and cities, the YMCA established its Hut, where soldiers in transit, going to the front, on leave, or from one camp to another, could find a bed for the night and a meal or drink. The photograph below shows the building on East Street filled with soldiers accommodated on camp beds and benches. Many of them are Australians, perhaps on leave from the Western Front. Unable to return home to Australia, many soldiers on leave or recovering from wounds would seek out relatives in Britain and the YMCA provided a cheap bed and food for the night.

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39 FIND OUT MORE Additional Resources: We hope you have found this Resource Pack both informative and enjoyable. Electronic versions of all of the packs in this series are available to download here: If you would like to find out more, please try some of the following links: LINKS