Commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in Britain

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Robert Foley for comments on a draft of this article and Jamie MacColl for his insightful analysis of the Path of the Remembered, undertaken as part of his Undergraduate Research Fellowship at King’s College London. I would also like to thank Dr David Morgan-Owen for his collaboration in conceiving and convening the symposium from which this article stems and Professor Jay Winter for numerous thought-provoking discussions on the topic.

Notes

¹ Geoffrey Cubitt, History and Memory (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007), kindle edition, Loc. 4223.

² Dan Todman, The Great War: Myth and Memory (London: Hambledon, 2005), 221.

³ Keith Jeffery, ‘Commemoration in the United Kingdom: A Multitude of Memories,’ Australian Journal of Political Science, 50.3 (2015), 562–7.

⁴ Dan Todman, ‘The Ninetieth Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme,’ in War, Memory and Popular Culture: Essays on Modes of Remembrance and Commemoration, eds. by Michael Keren and Holger Herwig (North Carolina: McFarland, 2008); Mark Connelly, The Great War, Memory and Ritual: Commemoration in the City and East London, 1916–1939 (London: Boydell and Brewer, 2001); Adrian Gregory, The Silence of Memory: Armistice Day, 1919–1946 (Oxford: Berg, 1994); Jay Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: the Great War in European Cultural History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); David Reynolds, The Long Shadow: The Great War and the Twentieth Century (London: Simon and Schuster, 2013); Emma Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009); Stephen Heathorn, Haig and Kitchener in Twentieth-Century Britain: Remembrance, Representation and Appropriation (Burlington Vt. : Ashgate, 2013); Jenny Macleod, ‘The Fall and Rise of Anzac day: 1965 and 1990 compared,’ War & Society, 20.1 (2002). For analysis of the current centenary see: Andrew Mycock, ‘The First World War Centenary in the UK: A Truly National Commemoration?,’ Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 103.2 (2014); Catriona Pennell, ‘Learning Lessons from War? Inclusions and Exclusions in Teaching First World War History in English Secondary Schools,’ History and Memory, 28, 1 (2016), 51; Bart Ziino, ed., Remembering the First World War (London: Routledge, 2013); Helen B. McCartney, ‘The First World War Soldier and his Contemporary Image in Britain,’ International Affairs, 90.2 (2014); Jeffery, ‘Commemoration in the United Kingdom’; Joan Beaumont, ‘Symposium: Introduction: The Politics of Memory: Commemorating the Centenary of the First World War,’ Australian Journal of Political Science, 50.3 (2015); Dan Todman, ‘Something About Who We Are as a People’: Government, Media, Heritage and the Construction of the Centenary,’ 20th Century British History, 27.4 (2016); Lucy Noakes, ‘“My Husband is Interested in War Generally”: Gender, Family History and the Emotional Legacies of Total War,’ Women’s History Review, (2017); Helen B. McCartney, ‘The First World War Soldier and his Contemporary Image in Britain,’ International Affairs, 90.2 (2014); David Reynolds, ‘Britain, the Two World Wars and the Problem of Narrative,’ The Historical Journal, 60.1 (2017).

⁵ Jay Winter, ‘The Generation of Memory: Reflections on the “Memory Boom” in Contemporary Historical Studies,’ Bulletin of the German Historical Institute Washington DC, 27 (2000), 69–92.

⁶ Alon Confino, ‘Collective Memory and Cultural History: Problems of Method,’ The American Historical Review, 102.5 (1997), 1395.

⁷ Mark Connelly, ‘The Ypres League and the Commemoration of the Ypres Salient, 1914–1940,’ War in History, 16.1 (2009), 74–6.

⁸ Todman, The Great War, 221.

⁹ Mark Connelly, ‘The Great War, Part 13: The Devil is Coming,’ Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 22.1 (2002), 21–8.

¹⁰ Jay Winter, ‘The Generation of Memory: Reflections on the “Memory Boom” in Contemporary Historical Studies,’ Archives and Social Studies: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 1.0 (2007), 391.

¹¹ Martin Middlebrook, The First Day on the the Somme: 1 July 1916 (London: Book club edn., 1971); John Keegan, The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme (London: Penguin, 1976); Lyn Macdonald, Somme (London: Michael Joseph, 1983); Jon Cooksey, Barnsley Pals (Barnsley: The Barnsley Chronicle Ltd, 1986).

¹² David Reynolds, The Long Shadow: The Great War and the Twentieth Century (London: Simon and Schuster, 2013), kindle edition, Loc. 6614.

¹³ For a recent example, see: ‘The young Leeds Pals who died in a moment,’ Yorkshire Evening Post, 11 November 2013, <http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/offbeat/the-young-leeds-pals-who-died-in-a-moment-1-6234556> [accessed 6 March 2017].

¹⁴ William Turner, Accrington Pals: The 11th Service Battalion (Accrington), East Lancashire Regiment (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 1993), 247.

¹⁵ John Keegan, The First World War (London: Hutchinson, 1998), 321; Randall Stevenson, Literature and the Great War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 3. For a discussion of how the negative image of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig developed and became increasingly associated with failure and the Battle of the Somme, see Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen, 89–90.

¹⁶ Paul Cornish, ‘The Imperial War Museums and the Centenary of the First World War,’ 20th Century British History, 27.4 (2016), 316.

¹⁷ McCartney, ‘The First World War Soldier,’ 303.

¹⁸ Tom Sear has also discussed the ways in which the internet and social media have created an alternative commemorative space in relation to the Australian First World War Centenary. See Tom Sear, ‘Dawn Servers: Anzac Day 2015 and hyperconnective commemoration,’ in War, Memory and Commemoration, ed. by Brad West (London and New York: Routledge, 2017), 69–89.

¹⁹ Andrew Hoskins, ‘The New War Ecology,’ in Beyond Gallipoli: New Perspectives on ANZAC, eds. by Raelene Frances and Bruce Scates (Clayton: Monash University Press, 2016), 83.

²⁰ ‘Shrouds of the Somme,’ <http://shroudsofthesomme.com/?s=visitors> [accessed 28 March 2017]; <https://www.facebook.com/shroudsofthesomme/?fref=ts> [accessed 28 March 2017].

²¹ ‘Shrouds of the Somme: Artist’s memorial to war dead,’ BBC Arts, 30 June 2016, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/KQHNmmMK0hwLB8WLvtmznT/shrouds-of-the-somme-artists-memorial-to-war-dead> [accessed 10 May 2017].

²² ‘Shrouds of the Somme,’ <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/622425218/shrouds-of-the-somme> [accessed 30 May 2017].

²³ 14–18 NOW, We’re here because we’re here, <https://becausewearehere.co.uk/we-are-here-about> [accessed 23 November 2016].

²⁴ Jeremy Deller, ‘We’re here because we’re here,’ BBC Four, 13 November 2016.

²⁵ 14–18 NOW, Meet the creatives behind ‘We’re here because we’re here,’ Discussion at the National Theatre, 15 July 2016, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJEy5Y3JFCU> [accessed 20 October 2016].

²⁶ Mark Sinclair, ‘We’re here because we’re here – a silent commemoration of the soldiers of the Somme,’ Creative Review, 1 July 2016.

²⁷ ‘Heaton Park during the First World War,’ <http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500306/heaton_park/7158/heaton_park_during_the_first_world_war> [accessed 23 November 2016].

²⁸ Department for Culture, Media and Sport, ‘Make your mark on the Path of the Remembered,’ 9 May 2016, <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/make-your-mark-on-the-path-of-the-remembered> [accessed 2 May 2017].

²⁹ For example, the 50 workshops held to produce tiles were largely held across Greater Manchester. Manchester City Council, <https://twitter.com/ManCityCouncil/status/746761247908061186> [accessed 22 March 2017].

³⁰ ‘The making of the Path – our short film,’ Path of the Remembered <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/> [accessed 2 May 2017].

³¹ GOV.UK, First World War Centenary, <https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/first-world-war-centenary> [accessed 2 May 2017].

³² ‘Battle of Jutland centenary marked,’ BBC News Online, 31 May 2017, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-36390168> [accessed 2 May 2017].

³³ In a British government survey 10.3 per cent of interviewees were aware of commemoration for the Battle of Jutland while 27.7per cent were aware of the commemoration of the Battle of the Somme, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Taking Part 2016–17, Quarter 2, 17, <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/586932/Taking_Part_2016-17_Q2_Report.pdf> [accessed 15 May 2017]; The Battle of Jutland Commemorative Programme, <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-battle-of-jutland-commemorative-programme> [accessed 15 May 2017].

³⁴ Commonweath War Graves Commission, ‘Remembering 141 Days of Sacrifice on the Somme,’ <http://www.cwgc.org/news-events/news/2016/11/18-november-remembering-141-days-of-sacrifice-on-the-somme.aspx> [accessed 15 May 2017].

³⁵ ‘Shrouds of the Somme,’ <https://www.facebook.com/shroudsofthesomme/?fref=ts> [accessed 30 July 2016]; Manchester City Council, <https://twitter.com/ManCityCouncil/status/746761247908061186> [accessed 22 March 2017]; 14–18 NOW, We’re here because we’re here, <https://becausewearehere.co.uk> [accessed 12 November 2016].

³⁶ Nadia Khomami and Michael Safi, ‘Battle of the Somme centenary commemorations as it happened,’ Guardian, 2 July 2016, <https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/01/battle-of-somme-centenary-commemorations-live> [accessed 15 May 2017].

³⁷ See, for example, ‘Walk in the footsteps of heroes,’ Australian Government, <http://www.anzaccentenary.gov.au/news/2016-fromelles-and-pozières-commemorative-service-arrangements> [accessed 17 May 2017]; 12 July 2016: Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood in the North of France, France in South Africa and in Lesotho, <https://za.ambafrance.org/12-July-2016-Commemoration-of-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-Battle-of-Delville> [accessed 17 May 2017].

³⁸ Jeremy Deller briefly considered representing German soldiers in his memorial but felt that presence of German uniforms on British streets might be misinterpreted and attributed to the Second World War. Jeremy Deller, ‘We’re here because we’re here,’ BBC Four, 13 November 2016.

³⁹ For more discussion on the British government’s desire for inclusivity see: Andrew Mycock, ‘The First World War Centenary in the UK: A Truly National Commemoration?,’ Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 103.2 (2014), 153–63.

⁴⁰ Path of the Remembered, ‘Welcome to the Path of the Remembered: A Crowd-sourced Tribute to Thousands of People Connected to the Battle of the Somme,’ <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/> [accessed 15 June 2016].

⁴¹ The home web page for the Path of the Remembered which hosts featured memory squares displays a diverse range of tiles. ‘Welcome to the Path of the Remembered,’ <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/> [accessed 17 May 2017].

⁴² Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 17 May 2017].

⁴³ This commemorative trend supports David Reynolds’s argument that Britain has always lacked a ‘positive European meta-narrative’: Reynolds, ‘Britain, the Two World Wars,’ 229–31.

⁴⁴ Bart Ziino, ‘Introduction: Remembering the First World War Today,’ in Remembering the First World War, ed. by Bart Ziino (London: Routledge, 2013), 7.

⁴⁵ Noakes, ‘My Husband is Interested in War Generally,’ 7; Todman, ‘The Ninetieth Anniversary,’ kindle edition, Loc. 490.

⁴⁶ Georgia Dean, Dedicated to the Accrington Pals, Memory square, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 15 May 2017].

⁴⁷ Deborah Hill, Dedicated to the Manchester Pals Battalions, Memory Square, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 15 May 2017].

⁴⁸ Thirty-five per cent of contributions came from children of school age. Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 15 May 2017].

⁴⁹ Catriona Pennell, ‘Learning Lessons from War?,’ 51.

⁵⁰ Indeed, the same school often submitted tiles which espoused a range of moral messages. See, for example, the ten memory squares submitted by Carl Byrne on behalf a class of high school students from East Lancashire, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 17 May 2017].

⁵¹ Libby Elliot, Dedicated to all those who fought at the Somme, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 17 May 2017].

⁵² Jeremy Deller, ‘We’re here because we’re here,’ BBC Four, 13 November 2016.

⁵³ Jeremy Deller, ‘We’re here because we’re here,’ BBC Four, 13 November 2016; Nicola Oakley, ‘Brits moved to tears by “walking ghosts”: Somme tribute which “puts Brexit in perspective”,’ Mirror, 1 July 2016, <http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brits-moved-tears-walking-ghosts-8323603> [accessed 2 May 2017].

⁵⁴ ‘Shrouds of the Somme,’ <https://twitter.com/shroudsofsomme/status/869277278034948096> [accessed 30 May 2017].

⁵⁵ Shrouds of the Somme, ‘Jim Carter announced as patron,’ <http://shroudsofthesomme.com/blog/jim-carter-announced-patron/> [accessed 1 June 2017].

⁵⁶ This sort of contested commemoration has been noted elsewhere, albeit for differing reasons. See, for example, Bruce C. Scates, ‘Manufacturing Memory at Gallipoli’, in War, Memory and Popular Culture, eds. by Keren and Herwig, Loc. 1035.

⁵⁷ ‘Shrouds of the Somme,’ <http://shroudsofthesomme.com/?s=visitors> [accessed 28 March 2017].

⁵⁸ Sam Rkaina, ‘Art project creating figures of all 19,240 soldiers killed on the bloodiest day in British military history,’ Mirror, 11 October 2015, <http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/art-project-creating-figurines-19240-6613727> [accessed 11 December 2016].

⁵⁹ Shrouds of the Somme, ‘Memory and Loss; Why it is Important We Remember Our Distant Relatives,’ <http://shroudsofthesomme.com/news/memory-loss-important-remember-distant-relatives/> [accessed 15 May 2017].

⁶⁰ ‘Shrouds of the Somme: Artist’s memorial to war dead,’ BBC Arts, 30 June 2016, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/KQHNmmMK0hwLB8WLvtmznT/shrouds-of-the-somme-artists-memorial-to-war-dead> [accessed 10 May 2017].

⁶¹ Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning,’ 95.

⁶² Reynolds, The Long Shadow, Loc. 6614.

⁶³ Todman, ‘The Ninetieth Anniversary,’ 37.

⁶⁴ Ziino, ‘Introduction,’ 1.

⁶⁵ Sinclair, ‘We’re Here because we’re here’; The National Commemoration – Our Full Film, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/> [accessed 12 May 2017].

⁶⁶ Jeremy Deller, ‘We’re here because we’re here,’ BBC Four, 13 November 2016.

⁶⁷ See, for example, Charlie Over, Dedicated to Lcpl Thomas Mellor, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 26 May 2017]. This concept has been explained by Tom Sear, ‘Dawn Servers,’ 71.

⁶⁸ Noakes, ‘My Husband is Interested in War,’ 2; James Wallis, ‘Great-Grandfather, What Did You Do in the Great War? The Phenomenon of Conducting First World War Family History Research,’ in Ziino, ed., Remembering the First World War, 21; McCartney, ‘The First World War Soldier,’ 304.

⁶⁹ For a discussion of the significance of victimhood and the First World War soldier see: McCartney, ‘The First World War Soldier,’ 307, and Bart Ziino, ‘Family History and the Great War in Australia,’ in Ziino, ed., Remembering the First World War, 39–41.

⁷⁰ Tracey Binks, Dedicated to William Mountain, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 26 May 2017]; Jay Winter, ‘The Generation of Memory: Reflections on the “Memory Boom” in Contemporary Historical Studies,’ Archives and Social Studies: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Research 1.0, (2007), 379.

⁷¹ See, for example, Mason Knowles, Dedicated to Captain Tough, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 2 May 2017].

⁷² Gordon Minton, Dedicated to Corporal Arthur Baldwin, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 2 May 1917].

⁷³ Angela Clark, Dedicated to Leonard Sibbring, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 2 May 2017].

⁷⁴ Although not a key focus for the Shrouds of the Somme, this type of personality-driven commemoration can also be seen on the project website. Sergeant Duncan Currie was described in the following terms: ‘In addition to being a good soldier, he had a most loveable nature; his death has been a heavy blow to the battalion, for he was universally popular,’ Shrouds of the Somme, <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/622425218/shrouds-of-the-somme> [accessed 30 May 2017].

⁷⁵ Anthony King, ‘The Afghan War and “Post-Modern” Memory: Commemoration and the Dead of HELMAND,’ British Journal of Sociology, 61.1 (2010), 17.

⁷⁶ Philip Jarvis, Dedicated to George Henry Jarvis, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 27 May 2017].

⁷⁷ Olivia Hankinson, ‘Everyone who was affected by World War One,’ Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 27 May 2017].

⁷⁸ See, for example, Liam Wilson, Dedicated to the Accrington Pals, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 27 May 2017].

⁷⁹ ‘Artistic responses to the Battle of the Somme,’ Front Row, BBC4, 1 July 2016.

⁸⁰ Kevin Bourke, ‘Somme 100 Pals: A National Commemoration in Manchester,’ Northern Soul, 1 May 2016, <http://www.northernsoul.me.uk/somme-100-pals/> [accessed 26 May 2017].

⁸¹ Rob Heard, ‘The pain behind the stitching: how Rob overcame depression,’ Shrouds of the Somme, <http://shroudsofthesomme.com/blog/pain-behind-stitching-rob-overcame-depression/> [accessed 1 June 2017]; Rosie Hurst, Dedicated to St John Battersby, Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 1 June 2017].

⁸² Stephen Heathorn has argued that ‘simplified class resentments … feature prominently in later biographical discussion of Haig,’ Heathorn, Haig and Kitchener in Twentieth-Century Britain, 150.

⁸³ This trend to downplay the significance of the generals has also been noted in the following articles. Vincent Andrew Trott, ‘Resisting Myth: Veteran Autobiographies and the Great War in the Twenty-first Century,’ Journal of War and Culture Studies, 6.4 (2013), 328–42; Amanda Phipps, ‘Journey’s End: An Account of the Changing Responses Towards the First World War’s Representation,’ Retrospective: A Postgraduate History Journal, Warwick, 3.1 (2014), 59–78.

⁸⁴ Path of the Remembered, <https://www.1418now.org.uk/somme100/gallery> [accessed 26 May 2017].

⁸⁵ Heathorn, Haig and Kitchener, 151.

⁸⁶ King, ‘The Afghan War,’ 19.

⁸⁷ For further discussion of this phenomenon see Anthony King, ‘Sport War and Commemoration: Football and Remembrance in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries,’ European Journal for Sport and Society, 13.3 (2016), 208–29.

⁸⁸ Tom Sear has argued that technical structures and the ownership of online platforms will also play a role in shaping commemoration. Sear, ‘Dawn Servers,’ 70–1.