Histoy Society at the Bromyard Gala

World War I - Ninety years on

1918, the Eleventh Hour, of the Eleventh Day, of the Eleventh Month, the guns of World War I were finally silenced. It was a war which forever changed the political map of Europe.  It spelled the end of the Ottoman and Hapsburg Empires and was a catalyst for the Russian Revolution. Economic hardship followed the war and also led to social changes as women gained wider opportunities and greater equality.

Ninety years later, it is best remembered for the staggering loss of life as the war claimed over 10 million lives. In August 1914, there were street celebrations throughout Great Britain and Europe and many believed the war would be over by Christmas 1914. Young and older men rushed to answer the call to arms. The government asked for 100,000 volunteers but got 750,000 in just one month. 

Many local men fought for their country, and many of them did not come back home to Bromyard and its surrounding parishes. They left from Bromyard Railway Station, local army depots or rode a horse to recruitment centres. Those who stayed behind worked long hours to make up for the lack of man power, and always there was that dreaded letter as trench warfare, disease, infection and constant warfare took their toll.

Today, ninety years after the armistice, visit the Bromyard and District Local History Society's Exhibition Tent to remember those times and the local men who fought for their King and Country in what became known at that time as " the war to end all wars".