1914

June 17^th

Women from Kent’s Territorial Force hold a camp at Herne Common. They are preparing for possible service in Voluntary Aid Detachments.

August 1^st

The East Kent Regiment is mobilised in Canterbury and moved to Dover. Troops take up coastal defence duty in Dover.

August 4^th

War is declared by the British Government. Special telegrams are displayed on the windows of the Kentish Gazette, Canterbury.

September 12^th

The Local press gives strong support to men who have joined the forces. The names of local men who have joined up are listed in the Kentish Gazette and Canterbury Press. Attention is drawn to those who have joined the East Kent Regiment.

October 21^st

The Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital at Down’s Park Collage, Herne Bay receives wounded Belgians for treatment & care. The hospital remains open until Dec 1917.

1915

July 10^th

Every serviceman passing through Canterbury East Station is now offered cocoa, tea, coffee or Oxo on arrival at the station.

August 17^th

A Zeppelin airship flies low over Herne Bay pier and is fired on. The airship then flies over Whitstable, Canterbury and Ashford, before dropping bombs in open countryside.

1916

June 13^th

A memorial service for Field Marshal Lord Kitchener (who has a manor house in Barham,) is held at Canterbury Cathedral. Lord Kitchener was drowned when the ship he was travelling in, HMS Hampshire, struck a mine in the North Sea.

1917

December 6^th

The Reverend Philipp Somerville, who is also working as a Special Policeman, arrests the crew of a German Gotha plane after the plane has crash-landed in a field near Broad Oak Road, Canterbury.

1918

February 5^th

A communal kitchen for children is started in Herne Bay. Children from Herne Bay Broad School are taken down to the kitchen by their teachers.

November 11^th

News breaks of the signing of the Armistice with Germany. “All clear” signals are heard everywhere – ships’ sirens and railway sirens hoot; business and trading is suspended; schools are closed for the day.

1919

May

Large crowds line the streets of Canterbury to welcome the East Kent Regiment back to Canterbury.

July 30^th

Children at Herne Bay Broad School are given a half-day holiday to celebrate the signing of the Peace.

1921

August 4^th 1921

The Kent County War Memorial is unveiled in the Memorial Gardens at the Precincts, Canterbury Cathedral.

1922

November 11^th

The Herne Bay Memorial is unveiled.

With thanks to the Maidstone Library.

 On Tuesday the 11^th March three of us from the Football and Peace project taught a lesson to the rest of our class using the research we had carried out on Walter Tull. It was exciting and fun for all of us and the class really enjoyed it. We started off the lesson like one of Miss Fairbard’s with the date title and learning objective. Then we did a bingo style quiz. You write 16 words on a board and then answer the clues to try and get 4 in a row to win a lolly. All the words were related to things we had already learnt about so should have been easy. Once we had finished and everyone had settled back down we watched a 6 minute long video on Walter Tull and his life asking them to make notes on key things e.g. his football career, him as a soldier and his early life.  After they had finished the video we asked them to answer 8 questions. Some struggled with this but we know how we can improve this for future reference.  Next we had planned a fun activity. Everyone had a card with a date or an event that corresponded with Walters’s life. The students had to match the correct date to the event. This was an enjoyable activity and got everyone moving around. Once I had checked that it was correct everyone sat back down. We had given them a copy of the full timeline so they had it all down in their books. Once they had glued the sheet into their book there was only 5 minutes left of the lesson so the final task was set for homework. This was to create a poster on Walters’s life and why we should remember him. Nobody really liked the fact that we set homework but it had to be done. Victoria Williams one of the students that we taught said “it was really good. I liked the fact that you got everyone involved. I don’t mind the fact you set homework as it keeps what we have learnt fresh in our minds.” Zara Wallace, one of the members from the club said “it was very good and I learnt a lot about Walter Tull. I also like the fact you set homework because you could get us to do some of our own research as well as everything that you taught us.”   We found it an educational experience and great fun. I have always wanted to be a teacher so it was great experience to teach other students about what I had learnt from being part of this project. At the end of the lesson we found out we might be teaching the other groups further on in the year when they move on to the World War One topic. I can’t wait.

By Katie Ashenden

By Charlotte Evans and Zara Wallace

Aged 13 and 14

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Thursday 27^th February Liz Crudgington Head of News from the Herne Bay Times came into school to meet the Year 9 pupils involved in the Football and Peace project. Please see the full article in the Thursday 6^th March edition of the paper p.22.

During the visit she spoke to the pupils about their experiences with the project and looked at the work they had produced.

Copy of the article to follow.

A Christmas Card from the time

In short… No. But there were some reasons why it didn’t happen again. The main reason why it happened in 1914 was because both sides thought the war was going to be over by Christmas. BUT it didn’t.

I think that another reason it didn’t happen was because after the Christmas Truce happened, they moved all the soldiers who were involved in it to different trenches (maybe where the conditions were worse).

By Charlotte Evans

Aged 13

Water Tull playing football and in the war

Walter Tull was a pioneering black British footballer and the first black officer in the British army, who died heroically fighting in the First World War and yet is virtually unheard of today.

Walter Tull and his companions in the war

When the First World War broke out, Walter abandoned his football career to join the 17th (1st Football) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. Walter was the first ever Black officer in the British Army, and the first black officer to lead white men into battle.

Walter was sent to the Italian Front where he twice led his Company across the River Piave on a raid and both times brought all of his troops back safely. He was mentioned in Despatches for his ‘gallantry and coolness’ under fire by his commanding officer.

He was recommended for the Military Cross but never received it.

After their time in Italy, Walter’s Battalion was transferred to Somme Valley in France. On 25 March, 1918, Walter Tull was killed by machine gun fire while trying to help his men retreat.

By Niamh Alexander aged 13

Many people know that the Christmas Truce happened in 1914 (The football match between the German soldiers and the British soldiers on Christmas Day 1914), but many other things happened around this festive time in the trenches.

Some WW1 Soldiers

The Germans began by placing candles on their trenches and on Christmas trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols. The English responded by singing carols of their own. The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were excursions across the ‘No Man’s Land’, where small gifts were exchanged, such as food, tobacco and alcohol, and souvenirs such as buttons and hats.

BUT…

Some WW1 Soldiers

General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, commander of the British II Corps, was irate when he heard what was happening, and issued strict orders forbidding friendly communication with the opposing German troops.

By Charlotte Evans

Aged 13