Songs & Stories of the Great War 1914-1918

My thanks to Rob Barnes for notifying me of an event - Songs & Stories of the Great War 1914-1918 - that he is organising at Sage Gateshead on the 11th November this year. This from the Sage Gateshead website:

In this tribute, the journey starts when war is declared in 1914, with the enthusiasm and high humour of the soldiers, through the realities and unimaginable horrors of trench warfare, to the prospect of a better world to come, with the signing of the Armistice in 1918.

“ ‘…uplifting yet a very emotional experience‘…‘a brilliantly judged programme and excellent performances‘…‘This was a wonderful concert‘…very well-judged and performed and very thought-provoking‘…‘blown away by all the talent in the room’” (comments received following performance in Newcastle upon Tyne, March 2018)

In an evening of both laughter and tears, we will be honouring all those involved in this ‘War to end all Wars’, with well-known songs from the trenches, war stories from The Wipers Times and Punch magazine, and poems by such as Wilfred Owen, Cicely Fox Smith and Woodbine Willie. 

Tickets cost £13.59 and can be booked now.

Princess Louise Scottish Hospital

Somewhat belatedly, considering it was digitised in 2016, I came across a fascinating archive of admission register entries for the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Maimed and Limbless sailors and soldiers.

Hospital admission registers for the First World War do not, as a rule, survive but here we have admissions recorded between 1916 and 1936. There is a lot of useful information on the Erskine Archive Project page but of course the real gems are the entries themselves which have been competently digitised (thanks to a grant from the Wellcome Trust), and comprehensively indexed (thanks to volunteers from the Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society).

It is not clear exactly how many names appear in these registers but certainly in excess of 9000. Early entries tend to be for men who had received amputations whilst later entries in the 1930s (like the one above) are just as likely to note conditions such as nephritis, bronchitis, asthma and rheumatism. 

The registers give good detail, recording a man's name, age, trade, home address, regiment, regimental number, rank, religion, details of amputation, date of admission and date of discharge. Deaths and other notes may also be recorded in the remarks' column. 

Searching is free of charge and images can be downloaded. It is a terrific resource.