NORTHAMPTON IN THE GREAT WAR

Like other towns across the country, Northampton was changed forever in how people in the town lived, worked and endured the Great War of 1914-18. It changed the way industry operated, broke down barriers and created opportunity, particularly for women. Homes lost their breadwinners. Industries were forced to change long-held views and working practices. Wasteland was ploughed and planted to increase crop yields for food, families dug up their gardens, the Army formed Home Guard units, workers were persuaded to buy War Bonds, and in many places Zeppelins successfully crossed the Channel and bombed towns. This was a people's war in all respects. Northampton at this time had a population of around 95,000 living in mainly terraced, poor-quality housing, with poor sanitation. Of that total, 29,700 were men of working age with the main employer being the shoe industry. The rest of the workforce held down jobs in engineering, the various breweries, flour mills or the building industry. But in that summer of 1914 the Castle Ashby 32nd Annual Flower Show went ahead as planned with a panel of horticultural experts giving their verdicts in the judging of over 1260 entries in a variety of gardening categories, and the Annual August Parade went ahead, headed by the Brixworth Brass Band. Around the same time, enlisted men of the Northamptonshire Regiment, training at Ashridge Park Hertfordshire, were ordered back to Northampton. On the food front, impending war pushed up prices on staple foods like bacon, cheese, butter and sugar, but it was widely believed that the conflict would be short-lived. Business owners and people with German names found themselves under pressure, verbally abused or their premises attacked. The shoe industry however saw a sudden increase in business - the army needed boots. Here too is the story of Northampton's remarkable people and how they helped Belgian refugees who had fled the German invasion, organised fundraising events for the troops in local hospitals, accepted soldiers of the Welsh Fusiliers into their homes, and worked long hours producing boots for the army. Against a background of key military events, the book celebrates the city's contribution to the war effort. With poor quality but nevertheless interesting archive photos, 142pp in large softback.