Death of George Horrod – one of The Alberts dead | Private George Horrod served in The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment). He survived almost to the end of the war. He is named on the Vis en Artois Memorial, which lies between Arras and Cambrai, and George was probably killed while taking part in…
Turkish forces collapse at Megiddo | The final Allied Offensive in the Middle East began on 19 September 1918 with the Battle of Meggido. The ancient Greek name of this small town was Armageddon. With support from Arab tribes revolting from Ottoman rule, the British, Australian, and Indian forces led the attack to push the…
Death of Frederick Reynolds – one of The Alberts dead | Frederick Reynolds was born in 1873, the youngest child of George, a carman, and Elizabeth Reynolds, who lived at 5 Talbot Cottages. Fred had 3 older brothers and 4 sisters. Like his father and brother, Fred started work as a carman, driving a horse and…
Death of Thomas Clements – one of The Alberts dead | Thomas Henry Clements was barely 19 when he was killed in the fighting around Arras on 23 August 1918. He had been baptised in the church of St Mary Magdalene, Richmond, and lived on Princes Road, The Alberts. He was buried in Bucquoy, Communal…
German Front collapses | On 8 August the German front collapsed following a massive tank attack around Amiens. Combined British, Australian and Canadian forces smashed the German defences. The German forces were exhausted following months of attack, and the Allies recovered most of ground lost to the German Spring Offensive. Some 17,000 German prisoners were…
British landing in Russia | Russia had been one of the original powers in the Triple Alliance with France and Great Britain. The new Bolsheviks regime in Russia had negotiated a ceasefire with the Central Powers – the German led alliance – at the end of 1917. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed in Spring…
Death of Arthur Stacey – one of The Alberts dead | Arthur Athole Orwell Stacey had grown up in The Alberts, and attended St Mary’s School. He was a regular soldier, serving at the start of the war and surviving so close to the end. He was a Private in the 2nd Battalion Loyal North…
Start of the Second Battle of the Marne | The second Battle of the Marne was the last of the German Spring Offensives, which had been their last gamble for victory. Its failure was the beginning of the collapse of the German Army. Reinforced by men released from the Eastern Front after Germany’s Armistice with…
Llandovery Castle is sunk off the Irish coast | HMHS Llandovery Castle, was one of five Canadian hospital ships that served in the war. Sailing from Nova Scotia to Liverpool, the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine off southern Ireland on 27 June. The sinking was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of…
General rationing announced | On 19 June 1918, general rationing was introduced in the UK. The government had resisted early calls for food controls, arguing it would damage morale. However by the fourth year of the war, morale was already low. In 1914 the people of Britain had benefitted from food and goods coming from…
1914-1918 Richmond at Home and at War 