Category: Home Front

  • Cheltenham and the other pandemic – the Spanish ‘Flu

      Many commentators today are likening the Covid-19 pandemic to that of the Spanish flu which hit the world in 1917-1920.  It was named as neutral Spain had no need to censor its newspapers and therefore the  first reports of the ‘flu appeared in Spanish newspapers, particularly  as the Spanish King Alfonso XIII was seriously…

  • Slippers for soldiers

    THE COUNTY COBBLERS and THE BELGRAVIA WORKROOMS No 8 Queen’s Parade, Cheltenham was home to the Gloucester County Association for Voluntary Organisations – a house lent by the Mayor William Nash Skillicorne and his sister Edith.  One of the tasks carried out here was the cutting out and construction of slippers for men at rest…

  • Arthur Inglis – The First Tank Commander

    On September 15th 1916 Arthur McCullock Inglis became the first person in history to lead tanks into battle. He is buried in Prestbury St Mary’s churchyard, where on 12th May 2019 they will be marking the centenary of his death. This is the story of how Arthur and his family are connected to the Cheltenham…

  • John Chandler : Cheltenham’s Forgotten WW1 Inventor

    The First World War sparked innovation in medicine and technology at a rate unseen in almost any other period of history.  The work of talented metalworker and inventor John Chandler is today largely forgotten but the legacies of his inventions live on. John Edgar Chandler was born in Cheltenham in 1873. A new documentary film…

  • Remarkable Women of Cheltenham – Part 1

    Extracts from Cheltenham in the Great War by Neela Mann (2016, The History Press) “Cheltenham’s Prisoners of War and two remarkable ladies       The large basement at Dumfries House, in Bayshill (now County House) became the source of a life line to 197 Prisoners of War (POWs) from Cheltenham.  The house was the home of Mrs…

  • Armistice 1918

    100 years ago today the Armistice agreement was signed, bringing an end to fighting in the First World War. When the news reached Cheltenham people took to the streets in celebration of peace.

  • The Story of a Cheltenham Munitions Worker

    This is the story of Ada Shadbolt, a Cheltenham munitions worker during the First World War. Ada’s granddaughter Dawn explains: “Ada (pictured in her munitions uniform) was born in 1887. She was my paternal grandmother and was in service in various places before the war. The only definite detail that I have so far is…

  • New WW1 Resources

    A fascinating glimpse into life in Cheltenham during the First World War. The gallery below shows a small selection of the material relating to WW1 held at Cheltenham Local & Family History Library (Chester Walk, Cheltenham GL50 3JT). You can also view several wartime programmes and leaflets from their collection by visiting our new WW1…

  • Life in Prestbury during WW1

    Click here  to view the slideshow exhibited at this year’s Prestbury Village WW1 Fete. Learn more about how the village was affected by the war both on the ‘front lines’ and the home front. (Unfortunately we don’t have permission to add the soundtrack and animations to the internet, but there will be another opportunity to…

  • Women of Cheltenham…

    Read this fascinating article about the contribution of local Cheltonian women during the First World War. Reproduced with kind permission of by Neela Mann (author of Cheltenham in the Great War) and the History Press. How the well-organised women of Cheltenham contributed to the war effort