This book is out of the ordinary. As well as describing the many changes
in Sheffield between 1914 and 1918, it tells about the troubling events
in following years as poverty and riots took hold.
It is also special in identifying hundreds of small as well as large
Sheffield companies that worked to provide the necessities of war. With
many previously hidden facts, the book describes the city's 'national
factories', the new Ministry of Munitions, the government's control of
companies, arguments about the employment of women, an increased
emphasis on workers' welfare, the impact of the Sheffield Committee on
Munitions of War, and the special contributions of the Cutlers' Company.
Compulsory call-up, conscientious objectors and the work of the
Sheffield Military Tribunal are also brought to life, as are problems
caused by a shortage of food and the eventual imposition of rationing.
The city's German prisoners of war are introduced, as are the ravages of
influenza and the terrible poverty and conflict that soon afflicted the
city. These local changes are presented against a background of
important national events and with more than 100 original photographs.
Upwards of 50,000 men went from Sheffield to the various 'Fronts' during
the Great War. There were 8 local regiments including the Sheffield Pals
who fought at Serre on the Somme. Sheffield was also an important
producer of arms for the war effort. Sheffield in the Great War looks at
how the experience of war impacted on the City, from the initial
enthusiasm for sorting out the German Kaiser in time for Christmas 1914,
to the gradual realization of the enormity of human sacrifice the
families of Sheffield were committed to as the war stretched out over
the next four years.
The Great War affected everyone. At home there were wounded soldiers in
military hospitals, refugees from Belgium and later on German prisoners
of war. There were food and fuel shortages and disruption to schooling.
The role of women changed dramatically and they undertook a variety of
work undreamed of in peacetime. Extracts from contemporary letters
reveal their heroism and give insights into what it was like under
battle conditions.
