The local response to war in Cannock Chase
Following the outbreak of war, local people in Cannock Chase received news about events from local newspapers as well as cinematic newsreels...
Receiving news
Following the outbreak of War, local people in
Cannock Chase received news about events from local newspapers as well as cinematic newsreels. The Government sought to recruit men to fight from across the country and territorial forces, including the North and South Staffordshire Regiments. Company F – a branch of the Staffordshire Volunteer Force - was established in 1892 with a Drill Hall constructed for their use in Hednesford in 1894. The Company was being trained by Lieutenant Colonel William Burnett in 1914. These men and many local volunteers joined up to fight following the outbreak of War.
Call to miners
Many miners in the District volunteered to fight and were involved in the construction of huts for the military training camps on Cannock Chase. The skills of miners and engineers, such as tunnelling, were greatly in demand during the War. Hednesford Mines Rescue Station trained a battalion of Headers and Tunnellers from the local area who were dispatched to the Western Front in 1915.
During the same period the Cannock Advertiser published a call to miners to enlist in a range of occupations for the duration of the war to utilise their tunnelling and engineering skills. Local men were asked to apply to Mr. Payton at the Hednesford Miners Rescue Station. Coal production was crucial during the War years but many miners from the local collieries enlisted to fight.
Colliery owners continued to pay rent and provide a coal allowance to the families of those who had enlisted by way of a levy from the wages of working miners.
Local historian Anthony Hunt suggests that around 20% of the workforce at the Cannock & Rugeley Colliery Company and the East Cannock Colliery Company enlisted.
Families
Local people supported families in need whose husbands, fathers and brothers had joined up to fight by donating money to a fund administered by the Urban District Councils. Local sewing circles also produced clothing for soldiers at the front and schools across Cannock Chase were closely involved in the war effort.
Schools
The Prince of Wales Boys’ School in Rugeley supported the work of the Ravenhill Auxillary Red Cross Hospital through donations to the wounded soldiers convalescing at the Hospital. Soldiers also visited schools to educate local children. In 1915 a soldier from Rugeley visited the Talbot Street Girls’ School to tell pupils about life in the trenches.
During 1917 and 1918 local schools supported the National Food Campaign through initiatives coordinated by the Ministry of Food with the local Education Committee. Students at The Prince of Wales Boys’ School in Rugeley collected fruit to supply the armed forces with jam.
Victory celebrations
At the end of the War parades were held in the District featuring wagons which promoted the importance of coal to the war effort. The band of the 4th Battalion, the Machine Gun Corps, played in Cannock and a jazz band played at peace celebrations held in Bridgtown in July 1919. Cannock War Memorial was unveiled in May 1923 alongside memorials across the District which were funded by public subscription.
Receiving news
Following the outbreak of War, local people in Cannock Chase received news about events from local newspapers as well as cinematic newsreels. The Government sought to recruit men to fight from across the country and territorial forces, including the North and South Staffordshire Regiments.
Company F - a branch of the Staffordshire Volunteer Force - was established in 1892 with a Drill Hall constructed for their use in Hednesford in 1894. The Company was being trained by Lieutenant Colonel William Burnett in 1914. These men and many local volunteers joined up to fight following the outbreak of War.
Receiving news
