COMMEMORATIVE PANELS
These 25 pages are based on the displays devised by the WW1 Group to commemorate the Centenary of the Great War. Beginning with the participation of Bradford people, each page illustrates the truly global nature of the conflict.
Select a thumbnail image to read further, then use the side arrows to navigate to the next page, or return to this page via the menu to select another topic.
The content of these pages exists as pull-up exhibition banners. If you would like to borrow them please send us a request using the form on the contact page.
International Connections
It was said, that on any morning of the week, every European language could be heard on the floor of Bradford’s Wool Exchange…
Europe Mobilises
On Sunday 2 August Pastor Nobbe at the German Church on Little Horton Lane described the sun of peace vanishing and a black cloud of war hanging over his congregation…
Bradford Mobilises
Even before war was formally declared, newspaper readers in Bradford were being made aware of the imminent and catastrophic events unfolding in Europe…
The Empire’s Response
In 1914 London controlled one of the largest colonial empires in the world and would draw on it extensively…
Imperial Engagements
The initial engagement of New Zealand forces was in Apia, German Samoa on 29th August 1914 when a small New Zealand force secured the German colony…
Regulars Reservists Recruitment
When war began the British Army was a small, professional force totalling about 247,000 men which included infantry, cavalry, artillery and support units…
Women in Uniform
The Great War gave women new opportunities to take their place within the workforce. Many sought work out of need but others simply seized an opportunity…
Bradford Territorials on the Western Front
“Over by Christmas” proved to be a false hope and as 1915 dawned the nation realised this would be a long affair…
Serving Together
Merville was a small industrial town in northern France, close to the Belgian border. The town became the headquarters of the Indian Corps from September 1914…
Recruiting the Pals
On 3rd September the Bradford Daily Telegraph reported that “the Citizens’ Army League was inaugurated at an enthusiastic meeting held at the Mechanics’ Institute last evening”…
What Happened to the Pals?
On 6th December 1915 The Pals left their training ground at Fovant and sailed from Liverpool, arriving in Egypt on 21 December…
Bradford and the War at Sea
In 1914 the Royal Navy was by far the most powerful in the world and was kept busy policing colonies and trade routes, defending coastlines and imposing blockades…
Bradford and the Global Conflict – East Africa
The war in East Africa was a conflict between two small populations of British and German colonials, supported by local African troops…
Bradford and the Global Conflict – The Dardanelles Campaign
The Dardanelles operation was of shorter duration and was an ill-fated attempt to support Russia by attacking Turkey, Germany’s ally…
Bradford and the Global Conflict – The Mesopotamia Campaign
Bradfordians knew from their newspapers that military engagements were being fought on many continents and at sea which involved people from all over the world including men from Bradford…
Bradford and the Global Conflict – The Balkans Campaign and Salonika
The Balkans campaign was fought in northern Greece, Serbia and Albania during 1915-1918. Anglo-French forces began landing at the Greek port of Salonika…
Lest We Forget: Empire Losses
The numbers killed in the Great War are beyond comprehension. Of the men serving from what was then the British Empire over 227,660 died in addition to the 887,711 men from the United Kingdom…
Lost Wounded Captured
In the first few weeks of the war confusing news about Bradford men at the front caused families a great deal of anxiety…
Missing of the Somme
As news reached Bradford the newspapers printed appeals from families whose men were posted as ‘missing’…
Casualties of the Somme – Local Regiments
The images and text on these panels are taken from local Bradford newspapers of 1916. They represent a very small proportion of the casualties suffered during the Somme offensive by Bradford men…
Casualties of the Somme – Regiments Beyond Bradford
Newspapers also reported Bradford men serving in regiments based far beyond their home city from the Highlands of Scotland to all parts of England…
Opposition and Civil Liberties
The 1916 Military Service Act required every man of military age to enlist, bringing to an end enlistment on a voluntary basis…
Armistice 1918
The Armistice brought an end to fighting on the Western Front at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month…
Forget Not the Living
As men and women returned to civilian life there was little sense of ‘normality’ and sadly there was no new brave world awaiting them…
Remembrance
It is difficult at this distance to comprehend the range of emotions engendered when the shooting stopped at 11.00am on 11th November 1918…