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Another casualty of the Great War: Wokingham's Mayor.
Our focus on the government of the Great War tends to be at national level, but Jim Bell’s extensive research… Read more…
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Wokingham Baptist Church Memorial The local Baptist Church in Milton Road is housed in a beautiful building first opened in… Read more…
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1919 Victory ! Wokingham celebrates.
Local Historian, Jim Bell unearths this extensive coverage of Wokingham's Armistice Celebrations: "On Saturday, Wokingham duly celebrated the peace. The… Read more…
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1915. Wokingham's heroes from The Great War
In this article we will take you back one hundred years to early 1915, a time when the first cinema… Read more…
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Names on St Sebastian's Roll of Honour: Whilst St Sebastian's does not have a War Memorial in the church, there… Read more…
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WW2 Garth: Wokingham's Destroyer
Jim Bell provides us with a fascinating insight into Wokingham's contribution to World War Two. Here we learn of how… Read more…
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River Loddon – once a navigable waterway
The area surrounding Wokingham is usually considered to have been a secluded region until the development of the road and… Read more…
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Remembrance Day – The Incredible Story
This year's Remembrance Day will have a special significance as it is the centenary year of the start of the… Read more…
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They remembered. What if we forget?
Six brothers of Emmbrook's Potter family joined the Great War. Only three returned home and two badly injured. Anna Matthews is… Read more…
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Here is a short summary of the main events of The Great War and links have been added to explain… Read more…
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Recent Posts
Category Archives: Aspects of World War One
Local exhibition for India’s warriors of the Great War
An exhibition organised by the Wokingham and Reading Sikh community will recount India’s support for the British Empire during World War One. India provided Britain with a massive volunteer army in its hour of need with over 1.5million Indian soldiers … Continue reading
1915. Wokingham's heroes from The Great War
In this article we will take you back one hundred years to early 1915, a time when the first cinema had recently arrived in Wokingham, when the unsealed roads were either rutted in the winter or dustbowls in the summer, … Continue reading
1914 – The 9th Lancers and Europe’s last charge.
Frederick Allfrey at the age of 22 was a Lieutenent in the 9th Lancers and killed in the minutes following Europe’s final ‘lance of lance charge’ on the 7th September 1914. The charge has become a famous moment in the … Continue reading
The importance of newspapers as source material
Newspapers provide invaluable sources of information for historians seeking to present the Great War from varying positions. They also help place the reader into the story of the war rather than through the words of a historian. You can gain … Continue reading
Where They Lived
For me, this is possibly the most fascinating and the saddest part of the research. Once we discovered the stories of the men, we started pinning their addresses to a modern map of Wokingham. Although we suspected that they would … Continue reading
The Great War: “I just think of all the poor mothers”
Mother’s Day: Thinking of Mothers Past. Although we have posted over 200 biographies of the men of Wokingham on this website, many more names have been investigated and in truth, it has at times been hard going. After looking through … Continue reading
The Somme Tunnels on BBC 4. Monday 19th May 9pm
One of the Western Front’s great journeys is a visit to the Lochnagar Crater in La Boisselle, a huge hole which is now the subject of a wider investigation called the La Boisselle Project. It is also a central site … Continue reading
1919: The British keep fighting.
Here is a story from the author’s own family history. Tracing our own ancestry can provide real insights into some historical events which have slipped by without recognition. How many of us knew Britain was still fighting into 1919? On … Continue reading
Another casualty of the Great War: Wokingham's Mayor.
Our focus on the government of the Great War tends to be at national level, but Jim Bell’s extensive research has enabled us to look into local government from a Wokingham viewpoint. His latest book ‘Memories of the Town Hall’ … Continue reading
1919 Victory ! Wokingham celebrates.
Local Historian, Jim Bell unearths this extensive coverage of Wokingham’s Armistice Celebrations: “On Saturday, Wokingham duly celebrated the peace. The proceedings commenced at 7 a.m., when peals were rung on the church bells. At 10 a.m. the town band commenced to … Continue reading