THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918

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With the outbreak of war, London motor buses are adapted for army use. Their tops have been removed and converted for use as transport vehicles.

WW1, c1914.

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Bermondsey 1917, subsidized Food. Children queuing up for penny meals from a soup kitchen.

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All lived in the Silwood Street Area.

MAY, Private, M, 681618, 22nd Bn., London Regiment. Died of wounds 26 April 1917. Age 32. Brother of Mrs. R. Tredway, of 5, Rudford Rd., Rotherhithe.
Rudford Road is no longer there, ran between Silwood Street & Reculver Road.

Sergeant William Robert Gibbins. Royal Naval Division Chatham Battalion. Lived at 48 Bracton Road, Rotherhithe.
Was killed on 05/10/1914 age 29, buried Schoonselhof Cemetery, Belgium.

PRIVATE ALFRED PERRIN.
London Gazette 14th September 1916. His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to award the Military Medal for bravery in the field to the under mentioned:
869 Pte. A. Perrin, Royal West Kent Regiment, son of Philip and Agnes Perrin, of 15 Edale Road, Rotherhithe.
Sadly, Private Alfred PERRIN, G/869, 1st Battalion, Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, was killed in action, Flanders France, 3rd October 1917, age 24.

PRIVATE JAMES KELLY, 27 Edale Road, Rotherhithe, aged 19.
In December 1917,HM Troopship Osmanieh was taking troops to Egypt to participate in the Palestine compaing,on the 31st December 1917, as it was approaching the port of Alexandria in Egypt, unbeknown to anyone she was in the area where a German submarine had laid mines a few days earlier and when she hit one of these mines,she sank within seven minutes in the same place that HMT Arogan had been torpedoed the previous day. One hundred and ninety-nine people aboard HM Osmanieh lost their lives. Including JAMES KELLY of the Royal Engineers.

I wonder if they knew each other.

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On the side of 2nd bus, it looks like the Old Kent Road Garage.

Off to War by London Bus, WW1 c1914.

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Bottom picture, Soldiers in Jamaica Road, Bermondsey 1914.

St Thomas's Hospital London WW1.

These ‘Xmas Boxes’ must’ve been an absolute godsend for any soldier or sailor receiving them during WWI.

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Looking at the posters would you want your love one’s to go to War.

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George Pollard, Private, Age 22, East Surrey Regiment, died July 1916 at Thiepval France, WW1. Son of William and Emma Pollard, of 79, Old Kent Rd., London.

Died 18th April.1918.

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This postcard from Ethel in Bow to her aunt, Mrs. Russell in Union Road (now Jamaica Road) in 1915, checks on the family ‘after the recent Air Raids.

WW1, such terrible times but still a sense of humour.

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Their parents lived at 94 Fort Road, Bermondsey,1911.

Harry DCM MM, and Arthur Favell.

Arthur Favell - Serjeant 1081 - 21st Bn London Regiment (First Surrey Rifles) died on Thursday 18th May 1916. He is buried in the Cabaret - Rouge British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France.
Also, his brother
Harry Favell DCM MM - Company Quartermaster Serjeant 680156 22nd Battalion London Regiment died on Monday 2nd September 1918. His grave is in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France. He was awarded both the DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal) and the MM (Military Medal. The brothers were from Bermondsey in London.

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During the 1st World War, the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) was asked to provide recreation centres, known as huts, of which 370 were provided in France and Belgium and many more all over the UK and the Commonwealth.
In these “huts” Servicemen could buy cigarettes, coffee, cocoa and cakes, and the larger versions usually had a reading room for books and the latest newspapers and magazines, and all kinds of games.
In 1917, funds were raised locally to erect a group of buildings, or huts, on Camberwell Green, not without some opposition from locals who feared damage to the Green, and the huts were opened on Empire Day, 24 May 1917.
The first photograph shows the hut on Camberwell Green looking along the north end of the Green, and the sepia photo shows the interior of one of the buildings.
In 1920, the buildings were taken over by the Ministry of Labour and used as a Labour Exchange. In 1921 a mysterious fire destroyed the buildings.

Camberwell Green, huts for servicemen 1917, 1st World War.