Frisby Flower Club, Hoby flower arrangers and Brooksby students staged “Reflections: flowers of commemoration to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War” which reflected upon a most difficult time in the history of our country.
The preparation:
The arrangements:
Home Gardening – Vida Gregory
The 1907 Small Holding and Allotment Act forced Local Authorities to provide allotments to meet the demand. There was resistance by the Local Authorities, by 1914 there were only 450,000 and 600,000 allotments in the UK.
Germany’s efforts to sink the ships bringing food into Britain made home gardening very important. It was essential to produce as much food as possible and adverts appeared in newspapers encouraging intensive agriculture; “Dig for victory” was a classic heading. Resistance to allotments soon faded. By 1917 there were 1,500,000 allotments in the UK helping families to produce their own food. Even boys and girls did the weeding and watering in the gardens.
Today there are roughly 330,000 allotments in the UK.
Homing Pigeon – Maureen Coleman and Judith Elliot
Around 100,000 homing pigeons were used to carry messages from the front line back to headquarters. They had the ability to find their way back to their distinctively patterned lofts with a 55% success rate.
Remembrance – Angela Duxbury
The 11th of November is known as Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Poppy Day.
During the First World War on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns of the Western front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. In many parts of the world people observe a two minutes silence at 11.00am on the 11th November.
Church services and events are held all over the country in memory of the end of the war.
Suffragettes – Gillian Lant and Penny Rowe
Emmeline Pankhurst led the struggle for equal votes for women and was repeatedly imprisoned for using violent tactics in her struggle for equality. Disillusioned with women’s political groups of the time, in 1903 she founded the Women’s Political and Social Union which became a formidable force in British politics. The group gained a reputation for increasingly militant, often violent, acts; these included cutting telephone lines, sending letter bombs and chaining themselves to railings. Emmeline halted their activism during the First World War.
Battle of Jutland – June Allsop and Jenny Hurst
Admiral Sir David Beatty reacted with Nelsonian sang-foid when the battle cruisers Queen Mary and Indefatigable sank within minutes at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 with the loss of hundreds of lives, saying, “there seems to be something wrong with our bloody battleships today!” Although the Battle of Jutland was the only major naval battle of Wold War One it became the largest sea battle in naval warfare history in terms of the number of battleships and battle cruisers engaged, bringing together the two most powerful naval forces in existence at the time.
Chancel and Altar ‘ PEACE’ – Julia Hart’s Brooksby Students: Lynn Bysouth Kemp, Lynette Crane, Karen Ingall, Sarah Bennett, Caren Fowler and Violet Taylor
Nursing – Sheila Warner
Germany caused world wide outrage when British nurse Edith Cavell was shot by firing squad in Brussels in October 1915 for sheltering Allied servicemen and smuggling them to safety. Cavell, whose last words were “I must have no bitterness towards anyone”, was given her last rites by the Rector of Brooksby and Thrussington churches, the Reverend H. Gahan. She also had a Canadian mountain named after her.
Trench Warfare – June Allsop and Jenny Hurst
The western front stretched for 400 miles from Northern France to the Swiss border. Troops were held in three broadly parallel lines of trenches. The front line was constantly on alert, the support trench contained back up troops whilst the reserve trench was where soldiers took a break. The three lines were connected by smaller communications trenches.
War Horse – Caroline Billson
Over a million British horses and mules served in World War One, initially in doomed mounted charges, later to transport supplies and equipment. Those not killed in action often fell victim to disease, exhaustion or drowning in mud. Special equine hospitals treated those suffering from battle wounds or shell shock.
Air Force – Margaret Cooper
Originally aircraft were used for reconnaissance but became armed to defend themselves and carry out bombing raids. The RAF was formed in 1918 when the Royal Flying Corps joined the Royal Naval Air service.
Sopwith Camel F1
Crew: 1
Wingspan: 28ft
Length: 19ft 9inches
Max speed: 112 MPH
Range: 250 miles
Bomb load: four 25lb Cooper bombs
Enemy planes shot down 1294. More than were destroyed by any other allied aircraft.
Loved Ones at Home – Joan Ecob
Loved ones left at home lived a very ‘on the edge life’. The Land girls were to become the back bone of British farming, and in industry the women making the shells for the front line had their skin turned yellow because of picric acid staining and they were called ‘canaries’. Those with young children had a miserable four years while the war was active and then were often alone as husbands, sons, fathers, brothers and uncles did not return. The men that did return often had horrible injuries; commonly loss of limbs, blindness and many had shell shock. Letters from and to the front were exchanged in abundance and this was their lifeline.
Choir Stall Swags – Jane Winterton, Alison Wiles, Gillian Beavis, Sue Ayres, Carol Robinson and Eileen Crofts
Chest and Table North Aisle – Viv James
North Aisle Window – Claire McFadden and Lesley Price
Frisby Flower and Garden Club meets every 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm (except in August) in Frisby on the Wreake Village Hall. You would be most welcome to join us. You can contact our Chair, Mrs Gillian Lant on 01664 500516.
