Tommy's War: A First World War Diary 1913-1918

by Thomas Cairns Livingstone

  Sunday, 8 October

  Agnes and Tommy at Mrs Carmichael’s church in the afternoon with the aforesaid Mrs Carmichael.

  Monday, 9 October

  Tommy started school again today. German submarines appear off New York. Several British and neutral boats sunk.

  Tuesday, 10 October

  America very uneasy about U-boats’ new move.

  Friday, 13 October

  British ‘tanks’ in action in Macedonia.60 British prisoners in Germany: 30,101. German prisoners in Britain: 39,020.

  Saturday, 14 October

  Weather today is the absolute, absolute limit. Perfect hurricane all day and rain by the bucketful.

  Sunday, 15 October

  Agnes went to church today, but did not get in. To cheer her up I took her to Sighthill Cemetery after dinner.61 J’y suis, je n’y pas reste.62

  Monday, 16 October

  Father in when I got home. He says Donald is very ill. Saw father home, and went up for a little and had a cup of tea. Got home without meeting any of the Redskins.63

  Tuesday, 17 October

  Had a musical evening at home. Among those present were Daisy and May Crozier and Hetty Cook. They all sang several songs tastefully accompanied on the piano by Mr Livingstone. I saw Daisy and May off from the Cross about 10.15 p.m. and then took Hetty Cook to Jamaica Street and shoved her on to her car.

  Thursday, 19 October

  Father here at dinner time. I guessed the worst when I saw him. Donald died this morning. We went over to Greenlodge Terrace at night.

  Friday, 20 October

  Fine day. Tommy not at school today. I went over to Greenlodge at night to see about funeral. Agnes saw about the wreath today. Another Cunard liner sunk.

  Saturday, 21 October

  Donald buried today in Riddrie Cemetery.64 I met Duncan, Jack, John Martin and Jack Cavins at Union Street. Took car to Rouken Glen, met Josephine, Lily and Isa and somebody else there, and then Sam turned up. We got car to Barrhead. Funeral left there about 1.15. We got to Riddrie about 3 p.m. and there laid Donald to rest. We went back to Greenlodge for our tea and got home at 8.30 p.m. ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’65

  Tuesday, 24 October

  Thursday, 26 October

  British airmen bombard German blast furnaces at Metz.

  Saturday, 28 October

  Two years ago Lily died, and I often think of her; too often.

  Previous page Count Karl von Stürgkh, the Austrian Prime Minister, was assassinated by Dr Friedrich Adler in Vienna on 21 October 1916 as a protest against the war and the suspension of the Austrian parliament.

  Saturday, 4 November

  Nice night. So I went over to Greenlodge for the bed and bedding which Josephine is giving us for Tommy. Duncan helped me over. This is Red Cross flag day. Irish shipping disaster: 90 lives lost.66

  Monday, 6 November

  My boss intimates to me today that my salary is increased.

  Wednesday, 8 November

  Total German losses now are 3,755,693 men.

  Friday, 10 November

  This is the birthday of my wife. Long may she reign.

  Saturday, 11 November

  We had a sort of party tonight. First came father, then Lily and her boy (Jonny), then Josephine, Isa and Jack, lastly Duncan. They filled our little cabin. We played divers games and had music etc.

  Sunday, 12 November

  Tommy got a bad cough, so he stayed in bed all day. Agnes not up to the mark. As I said before, my hair is turning grey. I went out before dinner. Took car to Springburn and wandered round by Maryhill.67

  * * *

  Food and drink

  The First World War hugely influenced the availability of food and drink in Glasgow, both in terms of quality and quantity. Quality varied as scarce ingredients were replaced by more readily available alternatives: white bread loaves became brown when processed wheat flour was replaced by wholegrain, diluted with potato flour. Quantity was controlled first by the market and then by the government, as imports were reduced by enemy action on the ships that brought meat, grain and other staples to the UK from the countries of the British Empire and other trading partners. The U-boat blockade of the British and Irish isles threatened to starve their citizens into submission. Times were tough, of that there is no doubt, but adding whole grains to white bread probably did people some good. And if pipe tobacco, cigars and cigarettes were in short supply, there were likely health benefits to that too, not that people of the time would necessarily have appreciated this.

  A government propaganda poster issued in April 1917 made it plain how Britons would survive the privations. In black type on a plain background, it proclaimed: ‘The enemy is going to be beaten in the homes of Glasgow: The women are going to do it’. This was an exhortation to those in charge of buying food and cooking it not to stockpile supplies and to avoid any waste. At the time the poster was issued, one in four merchant ships heading for British ports was being sunk by U-boats, and there was great concern in government circles that it was only a matter of time before the country would run out of food. In spring 1917, the food stocks of the nation were reduced to a mere three weeks’ worth.

  At the start of the war, the government took a hands-off attitude to food production and consumption. Prices rose steeply in 1916, and grocers were accused of making excess profits from the troubled times. In 1917 a propaganda war was launched to encourage thrift, but it was not really until 1918 that the British government introduced food rationing, partly as a reaction to the malnutrition being suffered by the poorest in society. First it was sugar, and then butter, jam, tea, bacon and fresh meat. Sugar was rationed from 31 December 1917 to 29 November 1920; butter from 14 July 1918 to 30 May 1920; margarine from 14 July 1918 to 16 February 1919; lard from 14 July to 16 December 1918; raw meat from 7 April 1918 to 15 December 1919; bacon and ham from 7 April to 28 July 1918; jam from 2 November 1918 to 15 April 1919; and tea from 14 July to 2 December 1918. Each house had three ration cards: a meat card, a card for butter or margarine, and a sugar card. Each adult was allowed 15 ounces of beef, lamb, mutton or pork, five ounces of bacon, four ounces of butter, margarine or lard, and eight ounces of sugar a week. These amounts remained static until rationing was ended.

  Relative food rationing in Britain, Germany and Austria.

  The government was quicker to act on drinking, concerned that the efficiency of workers, especially those in munitions and other war-related occupations, could be reduced by alcohol consumption. Brewing and distilling also used valuable supplies of fuel, grain and sugar, which were needed for food. The Defence of the Realm Act restricted pub opening hours, and so-called Munition Ale, brewed at a lower strength to reduce the amount of grain needed, was introduced. In October 1915, the government passed the No Treating Order, which banned people from buying alcoholic drinks for others. Duty was raised, too, and the price of a bottle of whisky rose from 4/- in 1914 to £1 in 1918.

  A child is bathed in a Glasgow tenement sink.

  For tenement dwellers, the kitchen was the hub of family life. The room was dominated by the fireplace, which usually sat opposite the gas- or coal-fuelled cooker. The cooking range was used to supply hot water for cooking, cleaning and bathing; as a cooking hob and oven; to heat heavy, solid metal irons for ironing clothes; and to provide background heat for the room. The kitchen would also include a sink, various cupboards and shelves where dishes, pans and cooking utensils were kept, and a scullery where small amounts of perishable foods would have been stored.

  The scullery included a window open to the elements, which helped keep the temperature lower there than in the rest of house – though in summer, butter, cheese and milk had to be eaten on the day of purchase. The coal bunker would also be competing for space, while above head height washing would be drying on a pulley, perhaps dripping on to the linoleum floor below
. A curtain usually concealed the bed recess, into which a bed frame with a horsehair mattress and heavy bedding was jammed. The space below the bed, and shelves above, were used for storage.

  A typical Scottish meal of the period might be Scotch broth (a soup of vegetables and mutton), mince and potatoes (minced beef cooked in gravy with peas and carrots, and served with either whole or mashed potatoes) and potato scones (flat bread made with potato flour) and jam. Agnes was a frequent maker of baked goods and jam, both for her family and for the many visitors who came to the house.

  * * *

  Wednesday, 15 November

  Agnes went to some school at night, where they are teaching war cookery. Times are hard. Eggs 4d each, loaf 5d each, potatoes about 1/10 a stone.

  Thursday, 16 November

  Andrew’s wife up in the forenoon for a ‘heart to heart’ talk. The paper says I’ve to be re-examined, so here’s luck. I’ll be a ‘sojer’ yet. Blast the Kaiser. Government is going to take control of the food.68 High blinking time.

  Friday, 24 November

  I’m working late again. Fed up.

  Sunday, 26 November

  In the afternoon I took Tommy with me and went up to Sam’s to see how he had got on with the military. He has got exemption.

  Tuesday, 28 November

  Another Zeppelin raid last night in north of England: two Zepps destroyed. A German aeroplane drops a few bombs on London today. Another naval raid on east coast.

  Thursday, 30 November

  Government takes over Welsh coal pits.69 St Andrews Day.

  Sunday, 3 December

  Rumours of a change in the government. High time or we lose the war.

  Monday, 4 December

  Our one and only porter at my work on the spree, so I go down to jail and bail him out for two guineas.

  Tuesday, 5 December

  Attended the court in the morning. Our one and only Barnes fined one guinea. In the name of the firm I paid it. I went to Ruglen to get my allowance of godliness. Agnes washed her hair. Asquith and Lloyd George resign.70

  Wednesday, 6 December

  Agnes went to the ‘war cookery’ class at night. I stayed in and broke some firewood, mended a little box, sawed a ham bone in two, brushed a few dozen pairs of boots and in the middle put Tommy to bed. Bonar Law refuses the Premiership. The King summons the Cabinet.

  Thursday, 7 December

  Nellie’s grandmother dead aged 95. A good old age. Lloyd George – Prime Minister.71 Explosion in a munition factory in north of England: 26 women killed.

  Friday, 8 December

  Saw the Redskins today for the front.72 Some in khaki and four ‘braves’ with their war paint on. A new War Cabinet made – go on with the flaming war!!! Policemen in the back greens tonight making the loyal subjects pull down their blinds.

  Saturday, 9 December

  Speculated in a War Loaf today.73 Anchor liner Caledonia sunk by U-boat.

  Tuesday, 12 December

  Sold our one and only pram today. It has done its duty. We were good friends. Our hearts are broken. Farewell.

  Wednesday, 13 December

  Had a very sore ear-ache yesterday – am sort of deaf of an ear today. Germany desires peace and makes peace proposals, which I don’t think will be accepted.

  Thursday, 14 December

  Germany’s peace proposals get the frozen shoulder.

  Sunday, 17 December

  Rose before the break of day. Made two cups of tea, one for my one and only, and other for myself. Then took a walk to Ruglen by the country and home by Oatlands. Very foggy and frosty.

  Wednesday, 20 December

  I cleaned a few boots. Lloyd George makes a great speech.74 No peace. British nation to be mobilised. Go on with the war.

  Friday, 22 December

  Sent off a few hundred Christmas cards.

  Saturday, 23 December

  Took a walk out to Ruglen in afternoon and made my tailor accept a little present of money.

  Friday, 29 December

  Rose at cock crow and cleaned room windows. Did a little joiner work tonight. Sorted up the wooden bed fittings to suit the room. Brilliant success.

  Saturday, 30 December

  Cleaned the kitchen window and then went to Langside Library for mental refreshment. The house is about ready now for the New Year.

  Sunday, 31 December

  We are now sitting up to see the New Year come in, trusting and hoping that the incoming year will bring peace, happiness and prosperity. Amen.

  Previous page Rogano, now best known as Glasgow’s oldest and most refined restaurant, was previously an up-market bar with the ambience of a gentleman’s club. The four young gentlemen were clearly living beyond their means for an hour or two on Christmas Day.

  * * *

  1 The P&O liner SS Persia was travelling from London to India when it was torpedoed without warning by submarine U38 on 30 December 1915, about 70 miles off the coast of Crete. Of the 501 people on board, 167 survived. Among the passengers was Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

  2 Thomas evidently has a soft spot for Miss Cook, his wife’s young cousin.

  3 The Tigris Corps, under Lieutenant-General Sir Fenton Aylmer, was tasked with the relief of Kut in Mesopotamia, where Major-General Charles Townshend’s 6th (Indian) Division was under siege by Turkish troops.

  4 The Zuider Zee flood on 14 January 1916 breached a number of dykes and inundated the low-lying lands of North Holland and Friesland. Following this disaster, the government of the Dutch built the barrier dam that turned the Zuider Zee into an inland lake.

  5 This Latin phrase (actually ‘Ex fumo fama’) is the motto of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen. It means ‘fame from smoke’, and refers to the heavy industry that brought prosperity if not exactly fame to the region.

  6 The conflagration destroyed much of Bergen, the second-largest city in Norway.

  7 The British submarine HMS H6 ran aground off Ameland Island, part of the Netherlands, with no loss of life on 19 January 1916. The crew were interned at Groningen.

  8 On 20 January Russian troops captured Sultanabad in Persia and made great progress in Armenia.

  9 The Tigris Corps, on its way to relieve the British forces under siege at Kut al-Amara, arrived at the Tigris River on 22 January, where they were attacked by a large Turkish force.

  10 The Rent Restrictions Act, introduced in December 1915, controlled rents during wartime.

  11 The British-owned liner Appam had been captured off the African coast by a German raider, which had installed a prize crew to take charge of the liner. She sailed into the harbour at Hampton Roads, Virginia, with 429 captives and a 22-strong German prize crew. Under international law, the German crew could ask a Prize Court to award them ownership of the captured vessel, or prize.

  12 Fire raged through the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa on 3 February 1916. The entire centre block, with the exception of the Library of Parliament, was destroyed and seven people died. Despite rumours of enemy sabotage, a Royal Commission ruled that the fire was accidental.

  13 Literally ‘high’ in German, used here as a cheer to mean ‘hurrah!’.

  14 On 11 February the Arethusa, which took part in the first significant naval action in the North Sea in August 1914, was hit a mine off Felixstowe. Six people died.

  15 The Russians captured Erzerum in Turkey on 16 February, taking almost 13,000 prisoners and 323 guns.

  16 The Allies spent 18 months fighting to control the Cameroons, a German protectorate on the coast of western Africa.

  17 The government introduced blackout regulations in areas where they thought Zeppelins might attack. Street lighting was dimmed or turned off, and householders and business owners were required to make sure that no light escaped from their premises at night.

  18 The SS Maloja, the largest vessel in the P&O fleet, struck a mine within view of Dover on the morning of 27 February: 155 were drowned. The Empress of Fort William, which came to the rescue of
the Maloja, struck a second mine, with no losses.

  19 The Military Act gave some exemptions to conscription, such as people with ill health, those whose jobs were judged to be of national importance or those who were the sole breadwinner in a family.

  20 Govanhill and the Gorbals, the neighbourhood immediately to the north, had a substantial Jewish population. There was a mikvah, or ritual bath-house, in South Portland Street in the Gorbals.

  21 ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’ was a hugely popular wartime song written by Ivor Novello and Lena Ford in 1914.

  22 Alfred von Tirpitz, Commander of the German Navy, firmly believed in a policy of sinking any shipping that could be of aid to the enemy, which angered the neutral Americans. He resigned to appease Washington and prevent the United States stepping into the war.