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On Flows the Tay
Perth and the First World War
Dr Bill Harding Ph.D., F.E.I.S.
Foreword by Alan Hamilton
The Times Staff Correspondent and Author
Part of the Voices of War series
ISBN 0953503623
pbk £12.99 £5.00
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Foreword
Even at this distance, the First World War is imprinted on our consciousness as a watershed of history : the end of the long sunlit Victorian afternoon of British imperial power, the first medieval war fought with weapons of mass destruction, the slaughter of an entire generation at the hands of generals better acquainted with horses than with men. Three-quarters of a century have allowed mythology and a kind of grim romance to cloud historical truth.
Ten million men may have died as a result of conflict, but the influenza pandemic which swept the world in its immediate aftermath carried off twice as many. And the eventual defeat of Germany was more the fruit of economic blockade than the unspeakable waste of life in the trenches of Flanders.
We know of the Somme and the Ypres Salient, of Vimy Ridge and Loos. We know much less of the home front, beyond a fuzzy picture of drawn blinds in bereaved streets, and men on leave too traumatised to tell their families how conditions really were in the mud of northern France. We think of it in domestic terms as the war which restricted pub hours and liberated women, the catalyst of the century's greatest social upheaval.
Dr Bill Harding tells, in meticulous detail, a different story. Taking the example of the City of Perth he not only traces the war's effects on those back home, but shows how many changes in society, so easily and conveniently ascribed to the conflict, were the result of undercurrents flowing long before the assassination at Sarajevo in 1914 triggered the cataclysm. It is a fascinating examination of how great wars can both advance and retard the march of society and can, more surprisingly, leave it remarkably undisturbed.
Alan Hamilton The Times staff correspondent and author.
Introduction
War has always had an unhealthy fascination for man, not least for those who, safe in their armchairs, have never heard the roll of drum, seen the flash of steel, or sniffed the whiff of grapeshot. The First World War of 1914-1918 has attracted an enormous amount of comment and analysis. By 1935 alone there were over 20,000 books in print describing the conflict. The number today is vastly greater, most dealing with the glorification of war and the courage of men and women, regardless of the colour of their uniform.
There are hundreds of regimental histories and thousands of accounts of personal experience. Hence, the First World War is frequently seen as a 'total war' and a watershed in history. However interesting these accounts may be, they leave untouched important issues such as the effect of the war on society. Did class values change ? Did housing improve ? Did dress habits alter ? Was there an increase in drinking and crime ? Was there an improvement in health ? Did women benefit ? Did the power of the State increase ? Was poverty reduced ? Were trade unions encouraged ? How was industry affected ? The answers, however, will vary from region to region.
Perth is an excellent area for an in-depth study of such questions. It is centrally located and is partly Highland and partly Lowland. It is neither rural nor heavily industrialised and early in the century it had a manageable population of under 40,000. Besides these advantages, it had three newspapers, each with a different political outlook. Furthermore, it was a garrison town and home depot for the Black Watch. In many ways it is rather like Stirling, its sister-city and rival gateway to the Highlands. Most important of all, the local library has a splendid Archive Unit with hundreds of thousands of documents, many of which are examined in this book for the first time.
Visual sources for Perth are poor for 1910-1922. Police records show why : all photography in Perth was forbidden and every shop was searched for postcards. When found, they were systematically destroyed. The few that have survived are of little value. Most photographs, legally taken for propoganda purposes - smiling soldiers and cheering crowds - are obviously posed. As the impact of the war can only be measured against the background of pre-war events, the framework of this study is 1910-1922.
Readers interested in checking detailed sources will find them in "War and Social Change" by Dr Bill Harding in the Archive Unit at the AK Bell Library, Perth.
Biography
Dr Bill Harding, Ph.D., F.E.I.S. Although born in Angus, Bill Harding was brought up in Perth. Educated at Perth Academy and Aberdeen University, he worked as teacher, lecturer and researcher, both at home and abroad, during which time he graduated from the Universities of London, St Andrews, Dundee, Glasgow and Strathclyde. A Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland, he won a Page Scholarship to the United States. Unfortunately, ill health forced his early retirement. This, however, did not put an end to his research and writing. "On Flows the Tay" resulted from his interest in the relationship between war and social change.