Category: Women’s War

  • 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…

  • The Forgotten Female Casualties of WW1

    Over the coming months we will be telling the stories of some of the Cheltenham women who died as a result of their work at Voluntary Aid hospitals during WW1. Nurse Anna Madeline Shaw, known as “Lena “ was born in 1884 in Harbourne, Staffordshire. She is one of Cheltenham’s forgotten female WW1 casualties who…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • WW1 Digital Archive

    Cheltenham Ladies’s College have been digitising many of their WW1 resources which we will be adding to this website. Click on the image to read more about their collection. You can already find many of the documents referred to in the attached guide by visiting our WW1 Library page or by scrolling through the photo…

  • 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…

  • 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

  • The Cheltenham Aviation Industry

    H.H. Martin was a Cheltenham based company that originally specialised in architectural decoration. During the First World War, the company developed; and in early 1918 the Gloucestershire aircraft company was formed. Thus beginning the thriving aviation industry in Cheltenham. By April 1918, approximately 45 aircraft were being made in Cheltenham every week. Much of this…

  • Leckhampton Court VAD Hospital

    During the First World War Colonel and Mrs Elwes, who owned Leckhampton Court, placed it at the disposal of the British Red Cross to use as a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers. It opened in February 1915 and closed four years later. It was staffed by members of the Gloucestershire Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) No 42,…