Pals, street shrines and Zeppelin raids: Hull in the First World War
RECRUITMENT FEVER: Crowds in front of Hull City Hall in 1914
The Way it Was
By Martin Taylor, city archivist at Hull History Centre
August this year marked the 110th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. The conflict was to change the face of Europe, and Hull didn’t escape its impact.
At the outset of war, Hull, along with much of the rest of Britain, felt a wave of enthusiasm and patriotism which led to a great surge in voluntary enlistment into the armed forces.
There were so many willing volunteers that a second recruiting office had to be opened in the City Hall.
To encourage men to volunteer, the army created so-called ‘Pals’ battalions formed of men who enlisted together and knew each other as neighbours, friends, and colleagues.
There were four Hull Pals battalions – the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th (Service) Battalions of the East Yorkshire Regiment.
The shared backgrounds of the recruits prompted the nicknames ‘Commercials’, ‘Tradesmen’ and ‘Sportsmen’ for three of the battalions, and ‘T’others’ for the fourth.
PATRIOTISM: The Central Recruiting Office
Casualties among the Pals were considerable. At Oppy Wood on May 3, 1917, 11th Bn lost 63 men including 2nd Lieutenant Jack Harrison, who had played for Hull FC and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. About a third of the men who joined the Hull Pals never returned.
Hull men served with many other units, in the Royal Navy and the Royal Flying Corps.
On the home front, civilians in Hull experienced many significant changes to daily life.
The fishing fleet, so central to life in Hull, was almost entirely commandeered by the navy. Hundreds of trawlers were requisitioned to act as minesweepers and to search for submarines, with many being lost whilst on active service. Only 93 of about 300 trawlers were left to continue fishing.
Several hospitals and social centres were established in Hull during the war, including Brooklands Officers’ Hospital on Cottingham Road and the rest station and canteen located at Paragon Station.
The Voluntary Aid Service headquarters was located on Spring Bank and helped to organise fundraisers, co-ordinate the sending of care parcels to prisoners of war, and train nurses.
ENTHUSIASTIC: New recruits to the Hull Commercials
In an age long before women served in combat, Hull women embraced the working opportunities provided by the war.
The number of female foundry workers at Rose, Downs & Thompson increased dramatically to over a third of the workforce, whilst other women took up roles as tram conductors and in agriculture. Some women also volunteered for non-combatant roles in the armed forces, for instance as nurses and cooks.
During and after World War I there was a great need and desire to remember those who had served or died for their country. Consequently, it was common for names to be listed on memorial boards, posters and plaques at various locations around villages, towns and cities. They were paid for by the companies where they had worked, churches, schools or by voluntary donations.
‘Street shrines’, also often referred to as ‘Rolls of Honour’, did differ. They were not simply a focal point for remembering the dead, but for praying for the living who were away on active service.
Shrines listed all those in service including women whereas official military monuments only named those lost or killed in action. A shrine was typically made of wooden boards with the names of those serving from the street or local area, a crucifix in the centre and a shelf below for flowers. However, they could take many different forms and streets competed against one another with ornate designs.
The opening ceremonies were often treated as elaborate affairs, regularly involving the clergy, choir boys, bands and boy scouts.
ORNATE: A Roll of Honour at Fountain Road terraces
The shrines themselves would be decked with flags, bunting and flowers. Street shrines provided a means of expression, mobilising collective emotions and values, and could be used to recruit support for the Church and the war effort.
There was also opposition to the idea of the shrines, some feeling the money should have been sent to the troops, others complaining that names had been left out or ignored.
Owing to heavy losses and the continued call up of men as the war progressed the lists were often out of date the moment they were erected. The movement did carry on, but it was generally recognised that rolls were not practical and very few shrines appeared after 1916.
Over time many shrines have disappeared as a result of neglect, disrepair, redevelopment, and damage during the Second World War.
During the First World War there were over 50 Zeppelin raids on the United Kingdom. Between June 6, 1916 and August 6, 1918, eight raids took place over Hull. The casualty list shows at least 57 people were killed and over 100 injured.
The first raid of June 6, 1915 was carried out by Zeppelin L-9 commanded by Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Mathy. Having flown from its base in northern Germany, the airship arrived over Hull around 11.30pm.
DEVASTATION: Market Place Zeppelin damage in 1916
The first bombs were dropped on the eastern docks but the mixture of high explosive and incendiary bombs did little damage, other than destroying a short length of railway track.
Continuing in a westerly direction, the airship dropped more bombs, destroying a number of buildings, killing about 20 people and injuring more than 40. The raid lasted about 45 minutes, during which time at least ten high explosive bombs and up to 50 incendiary bombs were dropped.
The second raid on Hull took place on March 5-6, 1916, with similar results to the earlier attack.
Although an air raid warning system of ‘buzzers’ had been put in place, there were no anti-aircraft defences until after the second raid.
The introduction of anti-aircraft guns and the use of incendiary bullets began to blunt the Zeppelin menace. At the end of 1916 Major General von Donop took over command of the city’s defence. The integrated defence system he introduced further reduced the Zeppelins’ effectiveness. The casualty figures for the last four raids show one person killed and a further six injured.
The raids undoubtedly had an effect on the civilian population. Large numbers ‘trekked’ into the surrounding countryside at the sound of the buzzers. They also led to an increase in anti-German sentiment and attacks on the local German community. From the German perspective, the raids also succeeded by keeping much needed troops, guns and aeroplanes tied up on home defence duties rather than being deployed on the battlefields.
TARGETED: The Hohenrein butcher’s in Waterworks Street
The Hohenreins were a local family of German descent. George Friedrich Hohenrein moved to Hull from Germany in 1848 aged just 16 and opened a butcher’s shop at 7 Waterworks Street only two years later.
The business prospered and a second shop was opened at 22 Princes Avenue. George became a naturalised British citizen and with his wife, had two sons, Charles and George.
On his death his eldest son, George William, took over the business. However, George’s wife became very ill and he agreed to return with her to her native Germany. Thus, in 1907, the business passed to his younger brother Charles.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Charles Hohenrein was keen to do his bit for Britain. However, having been declared unfit for military service, he served as a sergeant in the East Riding Motor Volunteer Corps and lent his vehicles to the government to support the war effort.
As the war progressed; however, public opinion began to turn against people who were perceived as having links with Germany. Hull was no exception and anti-German feeling increased following the sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by a German U-boat, and the Zeppelin raids on the city.
The Hohenreins suffered numerous threats of injury to themselves and their property. Remembering the kindness shown to him as a child by the Hohenreins, one individual sent a letter warning Charles of a planned attack on the shops.
HONOUR: A page from Joseph Hirst’s scrapbook
Owing to the continued threats, Charles Hohenrein decided to change his surname to the more British sounding ‘Ross’ and to close his shops until the end of the war.
After the war, the shops re-opened and continued to prosper. Charles Ross became an important businessman in the area and became a director of the ‘Royalty’ cinemas in Hull in the 1930s.
In 1946 Charles Ross retired and the shop was closed and sold. It was subsequently knocked-down as part of the post-war rebuilding of Waterworks Street and was incorporated into Paragon Street.
By the time the armistice came into force on November 11, 1918, approximately 7,000 men and women from Hull had died in the war.
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