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On Saturday 12th December 1914 at Whaddon Lane Football Ground a match took place between 9th vs 10th Battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment.  Admission was 3d, (Military 1d) with proceeds to Gillsmith’s Motor Ambulance Fund for the Front.

There were many Cheltenham boys in the Territorial Force’s 5th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.  In fact, their commanding officer was Frederick Tarrant, Bursar at Cheltenham Ladies College and among their officers was Cyril Winterbotham, brother of Councillor Percy Winterbotham, who himself later became an officer in the same battalion.  Their sister Clara was Cheltenham’s…

Miss Edith Skillicorne, the Lady Mayoress and sister of the Mayor, appealed for mittens for every one of the soldiers billeted in Cheltenham to be sent to her house at 9 Queen’s Parade.  The knitters will need to be fast – her request  in appeared in the paper of 11th December and she wanted the…

On 5th December 1914, The Rector of Cheltenham Rev Dwelly asked for Christmas puddings from the townspeople for the soldiers. People were asked to “Kindly put your name on the bowl so that we may return them after use.” The Soldiers’ Welcome held a Plum Pudding Supper on New Year’s Eve and expected 1,200 soldiers…

“Christmas is Coming and the Boys are at The Rotunda” Friday 13th and Monday 16th November 1914 Cheltenham was “invaded” by over 2,000 soldiers of the 9th and 10th Battalions of the Gloucestershire Regiment, billeted in the old, empty houses, mainly in Lansdown.  Officers of the 9th Battalion were billeted at the Queen’s Hotel and…

Monday 11th November 1918  At 10.40 a.m news reached the Echo office by telephone that The Armistice had been signed at 5 a.m. that morning and came into force at 11 a.m.  The discussion between the German delegates and those of the Allies had lasted all night.  A special edition of the newspaper was immediately…

“In war, truth is the first casualty”, so said Aeschylus.  It is not surprising, therefore, that the news of the impending end of the war was greeted, as Cheltenham’s Rector of the Parish Church Rev H.A. Wilson said, “…with dazzling suddenness”.  Who knew what to believe from newspaper reports in the Echo?  Local and national…

Would you like to volunteer at our exciting WW1 Re-enactment event on Saturday September 1st or Sunday September 2nd? The Great War Society will be setting up a recreation WW1 hospital and training camp at the Folly, 280 Swindon Road and we’re looking for volunteers to help out with this family friendly event. Please contact…

On Saturday November 10th Cheltenham Rememers will be holding a WW1 Memorial March through the town. We are looking for 1,290 volunteers to each represent a name on the Cheltenham War Memorial. Click here to sign up to take part in this moving tribute to the Cheltonians who lost their lives in WW1 Everyone taking…

Several peace celebration took place in Cheltenham over the summer of 1919. Commencing with a Peace Fete held in Pittville Park during July and culminating in a tribute to the ‘fighting men of Cheltenham’ in August, where more than 4,000 returned servicemen marched between Montpellier Park and Pittville Gardens. Later this year on November 10th,…