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Govan Remembers World War One : Introduction

Welcome – St Constantine's Primary School to a presentation of the Govan Remembers World War One research project in conjunction with the Govan Fair association and Fablevision studios! ( team - Emma, David and Shanice ) We will discuss the following -

2. In the trenches and going over the top.

3. Building Warships on the Clyde.

4. Women at war – behind the line.

5. Women at home – govan on the home front.

6. School life during the great war.

7. Hobbies and other interests.

8. The Govan Fair history.

9. The legend of the sheep's heid.

10. Govan fair 2015.

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Govan Remembers World War One : In the trenches and

beyond Fighting in the trenches and going over the top

Why was Britian at war with Germany ?A WW 1 Soldiers kitWhat were trenches ?What was trench foot ?On watch and On dutyWhen did you eat and sleep ? - a soldiers dayWhy use periscopes in the trench ?Why were dogs a common sight in the trenches ?How did the soldiers communicate with their families ?Over the topShell shock

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Govan Remembers World War One : In the trenches and

beyond Fighting in the trenches and going over the top

Why was Britian at war with Germany ?A WW 1 Soldiers kitWhat were trenches ?What was trench foot ?On watch and On dutyWhen did you eat and sleep ? – a soldiers day Why use periscopes in the trench ?Why were dogs a common sight in the trenches ?How did the soldiers communicate with their families ?Over the topShell shock

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Govan Remembers World War One : Building warships on the Clyde

Building warships on the Clyde during 'The Great War' /a

Between the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Govan was at the centre of the shipbuilding industry! To meet the insatiable demand for ships during the outbreak of the Great War, by 1915, the entire shipbuilding industry on the Clyde began to mobilize. Govan’s contribution to the warshipbuilding effort amounted to the output of 481 naval vessels aggregating 759,407 tons in the years between 1914-1918, and a further 26 warships and 50 naval auxiliaries were launched in 1919. A considerable portion of this output was attributed to seven key shipbuilding firms which had been involved in warshipbuilding - Clydebank, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Harland & Wolff, Dalmuir, Scott's, Denny's and Yarrow's.

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Govan Remembers World War One : Building warships on the Clyde

Building warships on the Clyde during 'The Great War' /b

Fairfield and Harland & Wolff were leading the way on the output of ships for the war effort. Not only was Harland & Wolff credited with 12 naval vessels totaling 27,405 tons, Fairfield was responsible for the output of 43 ships (the second largest behind Clydeside!) totaling 136,270 tons.

None of these yards were a free agent during the war. In Govan, Fairfield became Admiralty-controlled dockyards on the outbreak of war, subject to admiralty direction from the passing of the Munitions of War Act 1915.

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Govan Remembers World War One : Building warships on the Clyde

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

• It began as the yard of Randolph, Elder & Co. which later became John Elder & Co under the direction of John Elder.

• Under William Pearce, the company became the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and continued to flourish, becoming not only one of the leaders of shipbuilding during the Great War, but became the leading shipbuilding company in the world!

During the First World War Fairfield was responsible for the output of 43 ships (the

second largest behind Clydeside!) totalling 136,270 tons.

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Govan Remembers World War One : Building warships on the Clyde

Case Study - Naval Architect - James Reid Campbell

• Went to Hill Trust School and was the Dux medalist, later after that he also was in the Hutchesons School which “was an excellent finishing ground for clever pupils”.

• He received his training in shipbuilding with the London and Glasgow shipbuilding company and had complete knowledge of naval architecture before he took up a position in Fairfield during the Great War - a major contributer to warshipbuilding.

After 10 years as a Naval Architect and became the superintendent of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, James was responsible for the design of the companies finest vessels at that time.

• During his time in Govan, he was a member of the Old Govan Club and a member also for the lodge Govandale (His interest in the craft was very keen).

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Govan Remembers World War One : Women at war – behind

the line Women at War : Scottish Women’s Hospitals /a

When the FWW broke out in August of 1914, many of the women who had supported the suffrage movement and women’s rights abandoned

their campaign and instead threw their support behind the war effort. Men volunteered to go off to war and women took up the jobs the men had left

vacant when they left, and some notable few helped to establish the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. As a relief unit, the Scottish Women’s Hospitals

were unique as they were established with two specific aims, the first of which was to aid the war effort by providing medical relief and the second,

of equal importance, was to promote women’s rights and using their involvement in the war as a platform, help to gain those rights.

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Govan Remembers World War One : Women at war – behind

the line Women at War : Scottish Women’s Hospitals /b

Dr. Agnes Ellen Porter was a young woman involved in the Scottish Women’s Hospitals and a supporter of women’s suffrage. She graduated from the MBChB class at University of Edinburgh in 1906.

In 1915, as described in the Govan Press during that time, she played a heroic part in the retreat from Serbia where she dressed wounds and attended to the wounded soldiers. Following her devotion to the war effort, not only did she continue to be a fundamental supporter for women's right to vote, the Govan Parish Council secured her services where she continued her glorious work.

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Women at home : On the home front in govan and else where

Inflation and the increased price of food – milk 5 ½ d = ?What was the diet like during the war ?Mary Barbour and the rent strikes and why ?Women working in place of men – the jobs they did ?

Tram conductorsShipyard workersAmmunition factoriesFarm labourersSocks and flowersCan you think of anymore ?

Govan Remembers World War One : Women at home – the

home front

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Govan Remembers World War One : School life during the

great war Schools in Govan history - First

World War /a • Before Govan became annexed by

Glasgow in 1912, it area was a parish and burgh in its own right between 1864 – 1912! Many locals did not consider their identity as Glaswegian, but more as 'Govanite'.

• Schools in Govan during the war up until 1918 were opened under the Govan Parish School Board .

• 47 schools in the Parish and it was found that provision would require to be made for upwards of 3000 children! Most of the schools were found to be very overcrowded and others very unsuitable, while there remained a large number of children not at any school.

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Govan Remembers World War One : School life during the

great war Schools in Govan history - First World War /b

Due to overcrowding, classrooms were found to have hard narrow plank as seats, often with no back. While benches were usually made for two people, sometimes, because of overcrowding, up to 5 kids sat at one bench - can you imagine that?Teachers would often either sit on raised platforms or at a podium so they could watch the children at their desks. Usually near to the teacher's desk was an iron stove with a coal fire burning during the Winter months. However, the fires were often very small, even though the rooms were very big, so kids at the back would shiver their way through classes.

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Govan Remembers World War One : School life during the

great war Schools in Govan history - First World War /c

The maximum nowadays is usually about 30 pupils to one class. During the war years, often there were as many as 60 CHILDREN in one class! If the school was large, boys and girls would be taught separately.

Classrooms during the war years were very bare simple in design - not what you see today. There were just a few books, as most learning was done straight from the blackboard.

Pupils used a slate with a squeaky, chalky 'slate pencil' to write. Their writing would come up white against the dark slate and would have to spit on their slate to rub out mistakes.

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Govan Remembers World War One : School life during the

great war Schools in Govan history - First World War /d

Lessons - The teacher wrote the lesson on the blackboard, using chalk and the children were expected to copy the lesson then memorize it. Children who made mistakes in their copying or chanting faced very strict punishments. In Glasgow and wider Scotland, teachers used a leather strap called a 'tawse’.

Children during the 1900s through the end of war who were well behaved were rewarded with special classroom jobs - blackboard moniter and bell ringer.

Pupils had P.E. lessons, known as 'drill‘ whereby girls and boys marched on the spot and did stretches. To build up their strength, they swung large wooden clubs around and in some schools, boys were also given boxing lessons.

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Govan Remembers World War One : Hobbies and other

interests Hobbies and other interests during the First World War - Collecting badges, stamps, brass buttons

Bill Hughes :As a young boy during the 1914 - 18 war, I collected army badges and brass buttons. Soldiers on their tunics wore brass insignia and on their collars. I remember having quite a collection of infantry badges and cap badges. I gave them all away for cards when the war finished… There were cards such as: British birds, British castles, Famous Ships, Famous soliders, Fish of the Deep, Sailors, Airmen, Flowers and Trees. The collecting bug is still with me…

Tommy Stewart :Whenever hobbies are mentioned I think back to what teachers and youth leaders directed young people towards: birdwatching, (badge) stamp collecting, even butterfly collecting...

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Govan Remembers World War One : the govan fair

The Govan FairThe Govan Fair came into being in the fifteenth century, then faded into the mist of time. In those days, Fairs in Scotland were granted by the ecclesiastical rescript or by Royal Charter.The Fair was revived in 1756 and was celebrated annually until 1881.

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Govan Remembers World War One : the govan fair

• Re-established again in 1920 by the Govan Old Club and has been celebrated on the first Friday of June since then.

• The whole population gave way to rejoicing, a procession formed, and the Govanites marched the village boundaries. At the front of the procession, the wearers emblem, the Sheep’s Heid hoisted aloft on a pole and gaily decorated. After the villagers marched the boundaries they assembled at the Cross where festivities, street performances and fair activities took place.

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Govan Remembers World War One : the govan fair 2015

The legend of the Sheep’s heid

From some research on the origin of the Sheep’s Heid there are various forms of this story. One story goes that all those years ago a local minister refused permission for his housemaid to marry. In protest, the people of Govan cut off the heads of his sheep and paraded them all. Others say that it was only the prized sheep that met a grisly end in an act of macho retaliation by the young man, but constants remain. The head that is paraded during the procession to commemorate the event (despite these tales) is in fact a ram's head.

Thanks for listening! Get Involved in Govan Fair

2015!