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

by Thomas Cairns Livingstone

  23 The quote is from Hyperion by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

  24 The Salon Picture House stood at 90 Sauchiehall Street. She, which was released in 1916, starred Alice Delysia and Henry Victor.

  25 There were a number of strikes in Glasgow in early 1916, over the employment of women in the heavy industries. The authorities were quick to suppress them, and workers’ leaders were arrested and tried.

  26 Bantam regiments were made up of volunteers who were fit but below the minimum height requirement of the army. Many of them were miners.

  27 ‘They shall not pass.’ The rallying cry of the French military leader, Henri Pétain, who defended Verdun from the Germans.

  28 John Maclean, a self-educated Marxist who vehemently opposed the war, had been arrested on charges of sedition. He was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on 11 April 1916, and sentenced to three years penal servitude.

  29 The German ship Libau, which was disguised as a Norwegian fishing trawler, failed to meet its Irish contacts, and was scuttled after being intercepted by the British navy.

  30 The British forces under Townshend had been besieged in Kut, Mesopotamia by Ottoman forces since December 1915. Despite sending a British relief expedition under Aylmer, an attempt to buy their way out, and an appeal for help to Russia, Townshend capitulated after 147 days and 13,000 British Empire soldiers were taken prisoner.

  31 ‘Ireland for ever’ in Irish.

  32 In a series of courts martial beginning on 2 May 90 people were sentenced to death. Fifteen were executed by firing squad between 3 and 12 May.

  33 Easter Uprising leader James Connolly, who was born in Edinburgh, was executed by firing squad while tied to a chair. He was too seriously wounded to stand.

  34 The British government introduced British Summer Time as a wartime measure, to save fuel on the home front. Like the restricted pub opening hours, it was not repealed at the end of the war.

  35 Lumbago is a general term for lower back pain, usually brought on by lifting heavy weights. Wet washing, presumably, in Agnes’ case.

  36 Pyelitis is an inflammation of the renal pelvis, the central part of the kidney. Symptoms include pain and tenderness in the loins, irritability of the bladder, remittent fever, bloody or purulent urine, diarrhoea and vomiting. This is probably what is referred to later in the diary as Agnes’ ‘old trouble’.

  37 A diuretic.

  38 When Agnes is not able to carry out her household work, the women of the family rally round to help. Thomas may polish some brass or cook breakfast, but he is not expected to wash, dry or iron clothes.

  39 Donald’s epilepsy had evidently worsened and he had given up his job in a grocer’s shop, probably in Bridgeton.

  40 Holidays for munition workers were suspended until the end of the war.

  41 The People’s Palace is a social history museum on Glasgow Green.

  42 To ‘mooch’ is to scrounge.

  43 This was a temporary military hospital, built at the west end of Bellahouston Park in the south-west of the city, during the First World War. After the war, the injured soldiers were moved to Erskine Hospital.

  44 The St Enoch Picture Theatre opened in Argyle Street in 1913, in the former Crouch’s Theatre of Varieties. That night’s programme evidently featured Charlie Chaplin.

  45 Smithfield Market, in central Belfast, was a covered market with dozens of shops.

  46 Holywood Arches and Bloomfield are neighbourhoods in east Belfast.

  47 Ligoniel is a village on the edge of north Belfast, Cliftonville is nearby.

  48 Paisley lies eight miles west-south-west of Glasgow and is the county town of Renfrewshire.

  49 The key office was presumably where the keys to the various offices, stores and cupboards were kept, supervised by a trusted employee who would record each person who borrowed a key. Perhaps, because of the wartime importance of the shipping company, a policeman had been seconded to the job.

  50 Glasgow Cathedral, also known as the High Church, stands about a mile north of Glasgow Cross. It is the principal Church of Scotland, or national Kirk, place of worship in the city.

  51 The propaganda film The Battle of the Somme was made by the British Topical Committee for War Films, and released on 10 August 1916. In using footage of the first days of the battle it exposed the home front for the first time to the horrors of mechanised warfare.

  52 To tie in with Tommy’s school timetable.

  53 The reference to the Scotch betrays Thomas’ Irish roots.

  54 Thomas is being facetious. The ferry crosses an upriver stretch of the River Clyde, far from the open sea.

  55 His biggest stick.

  56 School Board inspectors visited houses where children were known to live if they were not attending school. This was designed to deter truants.

  57 Studs are small metal plates attached to nails, which are hammered into the soles and heels of shoes to lessen wear on the leather.

  58 Thomas evidently suspects that the mice are coming into the kitchen through a hole in the coal bunker.

  59 The milk may have been something stronger.

  60 The first tanks were used during the Battle of the Somme in August 1916. The Royal Tank Regiment was formed from the Heavy Machine Gun Corps earlier that year.

  61 Sighthill Cemetery, opened in 1840 as Glasgow’s second garden cemetery, stands about one mile north of the cathedral.

  62 Tommy has adapted the French expression ‘J’y suis, j’y reste’ (‘Here I am and here I stay’) to mean ‘Here I am, here I don’t stay’ in reference to his cemetery visit (‘J’y suis, je n’y reste pas’ is the correct usage).

  63 Troublemakers. Thomas is casting himself as a frontier scout or cowboy, in danger of attack from hostile Native Americans.

  64 Riddrie Cemetery lies in Riddrie, a suburb in the north-east of Glasgow.

  65 From the Book of Job.

  66 Passenger ship the Connemara collided with a coal transporter and sank at the mouth of Carlingford Lough, in the north of Ireland, on 3 November 1916. More than 90 people were killed.

  67 Springburn and Maryhill are working-class districts in the north-west of Glasgow.

  68 The government appointed Lord Devonport as Food Controller, to regulate the supply of food and to encourage food production, and hinted that it would take control of bread production.

  69 The government announced on 29 November 1916 that the Board of Trade would take control of the south Wales coalfield from 1 December 1916, to ensure supplies.

  70 On 1 December, Lloyd George, Secretary of State for War, declared that he could no longer be part of the coalition government. On 3 December, Herbert Asquith, who had been Prime Minister since 1908, and who was facing mounting criticism over his handling of the war, announced that he would reconstruct the government. The following day, the King approved the reconstruction, and on 5 December both Lloyd George and Asquith resigned their positions.

  71 Lloyd George was Prime Minister from 1916 until 1922.

  72 More than 400 Native Americans from the western plains of Canada fought for the British Empire in the First World War.

  73 The War Loaf was made with whole wheat and other grains as well as potato flour. It had a darker colour that the usual bread, which was made from wheat grain alone.

  74 Lloyd George made his first speech as Prime Minister on 19 December 1916. He laid out his government’s plan for conscription, the state control of shipping and other critical issues.

  1917

  Monday, 1 January

  Being New Year day, I am on holiday. So is Tommy. Seeing half the railway stations are closed, and a big lot of trains off, and railway fares put up 50% from today, I went into town in forenoon to see about a train to Coatbridge. We got 2.20 from the Cross, and visited our friends in Coatbridge. Hetty Cook there. We got 9.20 train back, travelling in a manner befitting our noble station in life, viz. first class. The Carmichael clan first-footed us.1

  Tuesday, 2 January


  Wild wet day, and still very mild. Ella Gordon here in forenoon, asking us down to Ibrox at night, which invitation we gratefully accepted. She brought Tommy a scarf for his Ne’erday.2 Britain stops the export of coal to Norway.

  Wednesday, 3 January

  Wilder, wetter and stormier than ever. Very mild. Started work today. Met my niece Lily in Buchanan Street. She told me Sam’s boy Wee John was away with diphtheria. Josephine and Wee Jack here at 7.30. Tommy got from them a little case containing two pencils, one pen, one rule, one pen wiper and a piece of ‘injy’ rubber.3

  Thursday, 4 January

  Agnes and Tommy down at Clydebank in afternoon to see Jenny Roxburgh and family. I went straight from my work by car. Train smash near Edinburgh. NB express, 12 killed and about 40 injured.4

  Friday, 5 January

  Went out to Ruglen at night to inquire as to Wee John, but got no one in. When I got home, Duncan was in. British transport Ivernia (Cunard Line) sunk in Mediterranean by U-boat. About 160 lives lost. During 1917, 582,423 of the enemy taken prisoner on all fronts.

  Saturday, 6 January

  Took Agnes and Tommy to town in afternoon, and admired the shops, and looked at the things we would buy when the war is over. Allies have a war ‘pow wow’ in Rome.5 Lloyd George attends. TCL does not.

  Sunday, 7 January

  Pouring wet day. Took a swim out to Ruglen to see how Wee John was keeping. Got them in this time. Sam and Nellie came back with me. Spent an enjoyable evening. I ate an orange tonight. It was rotten.

  Monday, 8 January

  Tommy’s holidays over now. Agnes in wash-house today. Called in at Hugh Paterson’s on my way home and got 12 bed boards for 2/3. Did a little sawing with same.

  Tuesday, 9 January

  Did some wood splicing at night. Agnes ironed all night. Great Russian victory on Riga front. Greece gets 48 hours to behave itself.

  Wednesday, 10 January

  This is the day the War Loaf is official. Agnes ‘plunked’ her cookery class tonight. Did some sawing. Roumania still retreats.

  Thursday, 11 January

  Again, Agnes ironed at night. I did nothing of vital importance. Word to hand from America: death of Buffalo Bill.6 Great British victory in Egypt. Two British warships sunk by the enemy in the Mediterranean. Ben-my-Chree and Cornwallis; 13 lives lost.

  Friday, 12 January

  Cleaned all the handles of brass in the house, including the jam pan. The Allies publish the peace conditions to America. The Great British War Loan launched today – another reply to Germany.7 Think I’ll invest a million or so. Greece climbs down.

  Sunday, 14 January

  Before dinner I went out for a walk by myself. Queen’s Park, Maxwell Park, and back by Paisley Road. After dinner we all went to Queen’s Park.

  8

  Monday, 15 January

  Tommy not at school.

  Tuesday, 16 January

  School Board officer up for Tommy.

  Thursday, 18 January

  Tommy still got a bit of a cough. British troop train smash in Paris, 10 killed. Greece accepts the Allies’ demands in full.

  Friday, 19 January

  Saw searchlights in the sky tonight. The government thinks it will put CIII class (mine) to farm work.

  Saturday, 20 January

  Took a walk to the Library de Langside in the afternoon. Agnes spent the rest of the day going the messages. Tommy got a new pair of house shoes. Great munition factory disaster near London: 70 killed, 500 injured.9 Canada has raised about 400,000 men for the war.

  Sunday, 21 January

  Stood at the Jail Square and listened to the Clincher, Scott Gibson and a few others spouting forth words of lewdness and treason, blasphemy and socialism.10 As the Clincher said, ‘No wonder we cannot win the war!’ Great explosion in munition factory in Austria: 40 killed. Explosion in munition factory in Germany: 10 killed.

  Monday, 22 January

  Bright day, but cold as ever. Agnes went to the wash-house at night, but Sam and Nellie came up so Agnes did not get much done. Tommy at school today. Germany seems to be in a very bad way for food.

  Tuesday, 23 January

  Agnes up at 4.40 a.m.!!! and went to the wash-house. All boys of 18 must join the army immediately. Germany’s doom is sealed.

  Wednesday, 24 January

  The military may put me to a coal mine to replace men called up. Fighting in North Sea. German torpedo flotilla smashed up. We lose a destroyer.

  Thursday, 25 January

  Agnes nearly cut her finger off today. The output of whisky and beer to be reduced by 30%.11

  Friday, 26 January

  Got a letter from Jenny Roxburgh saying they would all be out on Saturday. Agnes did a big baking at night. German U-boat shells the Suffolk coast for three minutes, then bolts for its life. No damage done.

  Saturday, 27 January

  Had a small party on tonight. Jenny Roxburgh and her three sisters arrived at 4.45. Had a great time. Tommy got a fancy affair of flags sent by Miss Fraser.

  Monday, 29 January

  Tommy got a medical ticket from school for me to fill in. Has he had the measles, scarlet fever, the mumps, whooping cough, corns, warts, bunions, DTs, wooden legs, brain fever, etc., etc., etc.12 British success at Transloy. British auxiliary cruiser Laurentic (White Star Line) mined south coast of Ireland. About 350 lives lost.

  Wednesday, 31 January

  Plot to murder Lloyd George.

  Thursday, 1 February

  Not feeling well tonight at all, so sat in and did nothing. Think I’ve got the cold. Germany declares a blockade on the entire world. Ora pro nobis!

  * * *

  On 1 February 1917 Germany promised a strategy of ‘unrestricted’ submarine warfare, which meant the sinking without warning of all merchant ships, Allied or neutral, in European waters. The Germans hoped by this policy to starve Britain into submission, and they came close to succeeding. The submarine campaign reached its height in March and April 1917, when about 750 Allied and neutral ships were sunk.

  * * *

  Friday, 2 February

  Tommy got a card at school. He is to be medically examined next Thursday. Wild wrath in America with Germany. Britain gets ready for the U-boats.

  Sunday, 4 February

  Agnes and Tommy at church today. My cold seems not so bad, but I did not go out. Got in a bottle of olive oil to drink; see if it will do any good.13 Diplomatic relations broken between USA and Germany. In a year or so they might be at war.

  Monday, 5 February

  I’m feeling much worse again. America very war-like now.

  Tuesday, 6 February

  Left my work at 4 p.m. All out. Bathed my feet and went to bed. Looks as if I wasn’t well. Brazil and Spain protest to Germany.

  Wednesday, 7 February

  In bed today. Had to rise in the forenoon as the daft wife upstairs called Dunn flooded the kitchen by leaving her taps turned on. Went upstairs and cussed, then went back to bed. The factor here in the afternoon for the rent. He got it. He is giving us paint for the kitchen. I got up at night and Agnes went to her cookery class. Hetty Cook in at night.

  * * *

  Housing and factors

  In the early days of the twentieth century the majority of Glaswegians lived in rented properties owned by private landlords and administered by factors, or property managers. Houses were rented by the year, beginning on 28 February, so on that day each year the streets were thronged with horses and carts laden high with household goods as people ‘flitted’ from one rented property to another. This was one of the four Scottish term days, equivalent to the four quarter days observed in England when servants were hired and rents and rates were due.

  The traditional term days date back to the medieval period, when everyone’s calendar was based on the church’s high days and holy days. In Scotland, the traditional term days were Candlemas, or the feast of the Purification (2 February); Whitsunday or Pentecost (15 May); Lammas
, Long Mass, or the Feast of First Fruits (1 August); and Martinmas or the Feast of St. Martin (11 November). In order to standardise the days on which servants were hired and houses were let, which had become quite varied across Scotland, the government passed the Removal Terms (Scotland) Act in 1886. This detached the term dates from their religious origins and fixed them as 28 February, 28 May, 28 August and 28 November. Thus, Thomas’ diary entry for 28 May 1914 noted: ‘This is the day we all flit but I didn’t.’ The family had just moved into their new accommodation at 14 Morgan Street, so were not part of the great flight on that occasion.

  Glasgow is traditionally divided into four geographic areas. There is the city centre, where Thomas worked; the east end, where the factories and their workers were housed; the west end, where the middle classes lived; and the south side, which was mainly residential and included a mix of working-class and middle-class housing. The district of Govanhill, where the Livingstones lived, was firmly in the working-class area of the south side, about a mile south of the Clyde.