In 1914 Torquay was the crown jewel of the English Riviera, long the haunt of the rich and famous but this status was not to last. The Great War of 1914-1918 brought a shuddering end to this golden period in amongst the blood and mud of the Western Front as hundreds of Torquinians gave their lives in the fight against the Kaiser. This book documents the town's experience, both militarily and socially through the extensive use of previously unpublished letters from those who served, by following the career of General Sir Herbert Plumer, commander of the British Second Army and native Torquinian and by featuring a detailed analysis of the home front throughout the war. In doing so it challenges many of the war's myths including the idea of war enthusiasm in 1914, widespread opposition to the war and the old myth of lions led by donkeys. In doing so it reveals the extent to which even a small town such as Torquay contributed to the war effort and how much the war permanently changed Torquay.

During the First World War three quarters of a million British people died – a figure so huge that it feels impossible to give it a human context. Consequently we struggle to truly grasp the impact this devastating conflict must have had on people's day-to-day lives. We resort to looking at the war from a distance, viewing its events in terms of their political or military significance. The Great War: The People's Story is different. Like the all-star ITV series it accompanies, it immerses the reader in the everyday experiences of real people who lived through the war. Using letters, diaries, and memoirs – many of which have never previously been published – Isobel Charman has painstakingly reconstructed the lives of people such as separated newly-weds Alan and Dorothy Lloyd, plucky enlisted factory-worker Reg Evans and proudly independent suffragist Kate Parry Frye. A century on, they here tell their stories in their own words, offering a uniquely personal account of the conflict. The Great War: The People's Story is both a meticulously researched piece of narrative history and a deeply moving remembrance of the extraordinary acts of extremely ordinary people.

Readers of the 1917 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack were advised by the editor, Sydney Pardon: “Its chief feature is a record of the cricketers who have fallen in the War – the Roll of Honour, so far as the national game is concerned.” By the time the conflict was over, Wisden had carried almost 1,800 obituaries. Test players like Colin Blythe were far outnumbered by men with a lesser claim to fame, as schoolboy cricketers were sent out to the battlefields fresh from their playing fields. Amid the carnage and confusion, errors inevitably crept in: names were wrong and there were cases of mistaken identity. Some mistakes have lain buried in Wisden's pages for a century: as this book discloses, three men outlived their obituary by many years. All the obituaries have been updated in Wisden on the Great War with new information about the subjects' lives and deaths, their families and memorials, and ordered by the year of death. There is a listing of the 289 men who had played first-class cricket, while the 89 who did not get an obituary in Wisden are now recognised. The book also lists for the first time the 407 first-class cricketers who were decorated for gallantry, of whom 381 survived. Among the men included is an officer who as a boy was an inspiration for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and one whose agonising death on the battlefield is movingly described in Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That. These men now receive proper tribute, along with literary names that are already well-known, such as Rupert Brooke, who headed his school's bowling averages in 1906 and received an obituary in Wisden that mentioned that, at the time of his death, he 'had gained considerable reputation as a poet'. The wartime Wisdens have long been cherished by families whose relatives are commemorated in them, but the originals are scarce and command a high price. Now the lives of the men are properly celebrated, enhanced by many remarkable stories of courage and coincidence. The result is a poignant insight into the cohorts of cricketers who played the ultimate game for their country.

Exeter played a vital role during the First World War supplying men for the Army and raising funds to help troops overseas. The Mayoress and her team played a key part collecting money to aid homeless Belgian refugees in the city while also supporting other worthy causes both home and overseas. Soldiers travelling through Exeter all received food, refreshments and cigarettes due to the money raised. The city had its own battalion, 'Exeter's Own' and thousands of servicemen passed through the city on their way to northern Europe. Players at Exeter City football club were amongst the first to join the Colours and later the Footballers' Battalion (the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment).??The effect of the war on Exeter was great. By the end of the conflict, there wasn't a family in Exeter who hadn't lost a son, father, nephew, uncle or brother. There were tremendous celebrations in the streets as the end of the war was announced but the effects of the conflict lasted for years to come.

The initial Allied landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula began on 25 April 1915. Many of those who went ashore at V Beach near Cape Helles did so from the SS River Clyde. In the first full-length study devoted entirely to River Clyde and the men who sailed in her, the author reveals a remarkable tale of human endeavor told in the words of the men who were there: from the naval captain whose brainchild it was, to the teenage midshipmen who risked their lives to rescue the operation from disaster; from the infantrymen who braved a storm of fire to the staff officers who led the assault that finally secured the beachhead; from the armored car machine-gunners whose covering fire saved hundreds of men marooned on the shore, to the navys own infantrymen who ventured out into the bullet-swept waters to succor the wounded.The Wooden Horse of Gallipoli tells the story of how this collier became an icon of the First World War, its stranded bulk synonymous with one of the most extraordinary exploits of a campaign doomed to failure.

This book is a collection of essays arising out of the OCyZealandiaOCOs Great WarOCO conference organised by the New Zealand Military History Committee in November 2003. In 32 essays by distinguished military historians from New Zealand and around the world, various aspects of New ZealandOCOs involvement in World War One are discussed. Subjects include the Pioneer Maori Battalion, women who opposed the war, the early years of the RSA, Gallipoli, the infantry on the Somme, New ZealandOCOs involvement in the naval war, prostitution and the New Zealand soldier, the Home Defence, religion in the First World War, and the Armistice. New ZealandOCOs Great War is a fascinating miscellany of informed comment on and insight into the event that did most to shape New Zealand as a nation. Contributors include New ZealandOCOs own Chris Pugsley, Glyn Harper, Terry Kinloch, Monty Soutar, Megan Hutching, Vincent Orange and Bronwyn Dalley, as well as Peter Dennis, Jeffrey Grey, Jennifer Keene, Jenny McLeod, Pierre Purseigle, Peter Stanley and Gary Sheffield from overseas."

The main theme of this book is an examination of part-time voluntary military service culture as it contrasts the counties of Cornwall and Devon with the rest of the UK from 1846 to 1916. There is an explanation of pre-war volunteers in the Militia and Yeomanry, the growth of civilian controlled ‘Rifle’ units plus reaction to the Boer War and the popularity of the then new Territorial Force. It finally enquires about any possible enthusiasm for full time service from 1914 up to the introduction of conscription in 1916.

A comprehensive record of British and Irish Football during two World Wars, giving the date and result of every match played in each of the English, Scottish and Irish Leagues. All the county and regional cup competitions are also covered. Friendly matches, which for some clubs were a main part of their fixture list, are also given. The many Representative, international and military fixtures are also listed.