One activity that girls helped with was knitting for the troops. In the autumn of 1915 the staff and children of Alexandra Road Girls’ Council School received a letter of thanks from Mrs Lloyd George for a large box of woollen comforts – mittens, socks and helmets which they had sent to 11 Downing Street for the National Fund for Welsh Troops. After sending off the items which had been” most willingly and carefully knitted by the older girls”, the staff and girls collected almost £4 to buy more wool so that they could continue with their knitting.
The school also sent items directly to the Cardiganshire Battery. The Cardiganshire Battery of the Royal Field Artillery had been based in Aberystwyth before the war, being a territorial unit of the 2nd Welsh Brigade. One knitter, Gwladys Harries, was lucky enough to receive a personal letter from Major Rea, the commanding officer of the Battery, who was delighted with his socks and lucky enough to find a piece of paper giving the knitter’s name inside them when he put them on. He managed to find an address and wrote a letter of thanks saying they were the best pair of socks he had ever had and sending his best wishes.
The contribution from boys to the war effort seems to have been made mainly through the Boy Scout Movement. Very soon after the outbreak of war in 1914 the Scouts raised £18 10 shillings in Aberystwyth through organising, with the help of some ladies, a sale of flowers. Through Lady Evans of Lovesgrove the money was shared out between the Prince of Wales Fund, the British Red Cross Society and the Belgian Relief Fund.
In 1916 under the supervision of their Scout master, the Reverend Dr Stephenson, the Scouts set up a collection of all kinds of waste paper, starting first at the north end of the town - in Queen’s Road and Northgate Street. The price for the paper - £4 a ton -was regarded as quite high so it was felt that if the boys were well supported they could raise a substantial sum. The proceeds of the sale of paper were given to the War Service Committee’s Fund. The Scoutmaster asked if some patriotic person had a shed where the boys could store the paper. By August 1916 the boys had made £10 from the waste paper collection and arrangements were made to make weekly collections from businesses which were willing to join the scheme. Early in 1917 Aberystwyth, following the example of other towns, took over the system for collection of waste paper mainly because quantities increased as people supported the scheme. The council was able to start collections of tins and jars as well with the Scouts continuing to help.
The Scouts were encouraged in their efforts by their County Commissioner, Sir Edward Pryse, who was serving at the front. He wrote several letters to them which showed how anxious he was that the Aberystwyth troop should be a continued success. In his absence his wife presented badges to the boys who had earned them and she referred to “the excellent manner in which the lads carried out their duties”.
In September 1918 the Cambrian News offered children a halfpenny per pound for waste paper and cardboard brought to their offices in Terrace Road. As early as May 1916 the Cambrian News had had to be printed in a smaller format due to the increased cost of paper due to shortage.
Another more unusual way in which school pupils helped the war effort was by collecting sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss was in great demand during the war for medical purposes. It was not only a highly absorbent material, much more effective than cotton wool, but it also had antiseptic properties. These were extremely valuable when treating wounds sustained in the horrendous conditions of the trenches where so many men died because their wounds became infected. In late 1916 several large sacks of moss were collected in North Ceredigion and dispatched by Aberystwyth War Service Association to the sterilising depots in London. One of the depots said it was in urgent need of as much moss as possible and would be pleased if the helpers would continue to collect it. The importance of the moss is reflected in the fact that Aberystwyth had its own Sphagnum Moss Committee part of the War Service Association led by Mr J Emrys Jones of 43 Queens Road. In March 1917 Scouts together with County school pupils cycled to Capel Bangor with Mr Emrys Jones and succeeded in filling twelve sacks with moss.
Children like everyone else must have been affected by food shortagesi n 1917 and later food rationing in 1918. On 29th May 1917 an appeal from the Ministry of Food urged everyone - and children were specifically included -to reduce the consumption of bread. One of the most serious shortages by 1917 was of wheat. On a Friday afternoon in October 1917 pupils of Alexandra Road Boys School were given a holiday to gather horse chestnuts to be used in place of grain. They managed to collect nearly two hundredweight which equates to 100 kg.
Armistice Day on 11 November 1918 was of course a cause for great celebration for the whole town but children played a big part in creating the excited atmosphere. News first reached Aberystwyth at about 10.30am and half an hour later the streets were decorated with flags and bunting. Groups of boys paraded in the streets drumming on any conceivable object that would make a noise. On November 20 an organised procession took place in which all the schoolchildren in the town took part, many carrying banners. The County School pupils paraded their banner showing the school motto “Nerth Dysg ei Ymdrech.
Blog by one of our project volunteers
Material collected from Aberystwyth War Items Volumes 1-4 ,
compiled by George Eyre Evans and Catherine Powell Evans. National Library of
Wales
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