Leamington's sombre 1916 Christmas

This was my article for Tuesday's programme which was postponed because of floodlight failure.

Christmas in 1916 in Leamington was necessarily a rather sombre occasion. Not only had many lives been sacrificed on the Somme with only minimal gains in territory, there was no indication of how the costly military stalemate might be broken and the war brought to an end. Technological breakthroughs such as the tank; the arrival of the Americans; and the eventual success of the blockade of Germany, these were yet all to come.

In the first December issue of the Courier, locals were asked to consider shopping early for Christmas. Such an appeal in early December would seem odd today. Nevertheless, E. Francis and Sons of Bath Street stated in an advert: ‘We are making early displays both of useful, inexpensive Christmas Gifts, and also of some very beautiful novelties, specially designed for handsome gifts; and we have every hope that our customers will help us by beginning their Christmas shopping earlier than usual, and in this way relieve the pressure on our staff. Of some of the prettiest gifts we have only a limited supply, and they cannot be repeated. Special value in seasonable gifts for our soldiers and sailors.’

Alongside this advert was a long speech on the war by Mr E.M. Pollock, somewhat oddly described as ‘The Borough Member.’ He called on people to invest in war savings certificates instead of spending extra on Christmas gifts. He also made it clear that he had no time for those calling for the replacement of the dithering Mr Asquith as prime minister by the ‘Welsh Wizard’, David Lloyd George. Before the Courier was published, the change had occurred and the country had a war leader who made a real difference.

Not surprisingly, Christmas was a subdued affair in Leamington. The Post Office reported that the volume of Christmas cards was well down. The Courier reported, ‘It was not the same. How could it be the same? No one, as far as the social side was concerned, will look back on the Christmas of 1916 as a festival, and it is after all, the family and festive side that makes an English Christmas the happiest season of the year. It is only in the religious sense that the word Festival applied this third Christmas of the war. All places of worship were well attended, and hymns, sermons and simple decorations once more brought us face to face with the greatest fact and the greatest factor in the history of the world.’ In rather convoluted language, necessary given the sensitivity of the subject, the Courier went on to reflect on the way in which the war had shaken the religious faith of many and the failure of what was meant to be ‘a restraining influence on the greeds and passions of men.’

‘As regards an influx of people into the town, this did not occur, for the request not to travel unless necessary had its effect on passenger traffic in and out of Leamington as elsewhere. Compared with Easter, it was trifling. Khaki was greatly in evidence and munitions workers helped swell the list. Trains from Nuneaton, Northampton and Leicester contributed a fair quota of passengers, and it goes without saying that trains from Coventry were full.’