100 Years Ago - Russia, Munitions

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/royal-visits-to-munition-factories-jc2bmqps7

may 15, 1917

Royal visits to munition factories

The King and Queen began today a tour of the industrial North-West. In the course of nine crowded hours their Majesties have made themselves known to tens of thousands of their people. The first visit was to a great explosives factory on the borders of Wales, which employs over 6,000 people. Some 3,000 of them are women and girls, and, perhaps because they were both more picturesque and more exuberant, the women’s welcome left the deeper impression. The King and Queen saw some of them at work in a chain of buildings devoted to the production of TNT, from the raw material to the completed and packed explosive. They watched others engaged in the conversion of cotton waste into gun-cotton, they examined the dressing rooms and the canteens, and inspected the firemen and firewomen, the latter clad in serviceable suits with oilskin coats and souwesters. But the picture which stands out most clearly is that of hundreds of trousered young women, some in brown, with brown or scarlet caps and scarlet belts, some in cream, with white caps, some in khaki, surging blithely along behind the Royal party, while men and women police with linked hands tried in vain to stem the merry rush.
The King was challenged to declare any “contraband” he carried. He surrendered a gold cigarette and match case readily, and also removed his spurs. Again, the King and Queen conformed to the rule that those who enter certain buildings should wear rubber soles. Their Majesties and suite put on rubber overshoes before inspecting the TNT and guncotton processes.
Outside the station at Birkenhead a Transport Workers’ Battalion was lined up, and the King inspected it before going on to Messrs Cammell Laird’s shipyards. Here he spent nearly two hours talking with many of the workpeople. Some of them were a little embarrassed to find themselves unexpectedly confronted with the King and Queen, but the hearty good will with which their Majesties gripped their hands, and the intimate kindly way in which they spoke made the men forget their workaday overalls, and they beamed with delight. Their Majesties, who are sleeping in the Royal train, will spend tomorrow morning in Liverpool, and in the afternoon will go to Manchester.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-05-13/register/london-without-omnibuses-dp88dkc35

may 13, 1917

London without omnibuses

London was practically deprived of its motor-omnibus services yesterday, and will be in the same position today. The employees of the London General Omnibus Company and of Messrs Tilling, acting on a message which was sent to them at half-past 3 o’clock yesterday morning, took a day’s holiday, and the result was that, with few exceptions, the streets were without omnibuses. Though it was known that the members of the London and Provincial Union of Licensed Vehicle Workers had decided to take a ballot on the question of declaring a strike against the two companies, who had refused to recognize the union, it was not known what course was being pursued. That the stoppage of nearly every service came as a great surprise to the public goes without saying, but even the employees concerned were not prepared. It had been arranged that they should meet last night to determine whether a strike should be resorted to or not, and when they assembled at the Euston Theatre of Varieties they learnt that the result of the ballot was in favour of a strike.
The absence of omnibuses gave the streets a deserted appearance, and the unusual quietude that prevailed was most noticeable. Save for taxi-cabs and an occasional vehicle of the old type there was nothing to prevent pedestrians from strolling along the roadways, and in places which are at other times dangerous crossings children took advantage of newly discovered playgrounds and games of various kinds were heartily played. The weather was brilliantly fine, and people who had arranged for trips into the country assembled at the usual starting or calling places. Their disappointment naturally was great when they found that the services had been stopped.
In some cases, omnibuses were brought out of the garages, and preparations made for a start. Pickets, however, appeared and had no difficulty in inducing the men to fall into line. Apart from the trippers, disappointment was experienced by those compelled to travel to various parts of London; but the tramway services continued in full operation, and the cars were well filled on every journey, while the tube railways and the Underground Railway were uncomfortably crowded throughout the day.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-05-12/register/civilians-fighting-qualities-rj0vwp9w9

may 12, 1917

Civilians’ fighting qualities

on this day may 12, 1917
Among those who have borne themselves very gallantly in the Arras fighting have been London troops. Besides breaking through the German first and second lines on the whole of their front in the initial attack on April 9, they have to their credit the capture of three villages and some 1,100 prisoners. In one operation they took more prisoners than their own total casualties. With bomb or bayonet they have cleaned out innumerable trenches, some of which were most formidable.
Some recent attacks have been delivered very early in the morning, when it was still dark, and attacking in the dark, when individual example counts for nothing and it is very easy to lose your way, is a particularly trying experience for young troops. On one occasion when advancing in the dark over ground which had no landmarks, it was found that there was a gap of 1,000 yards between the Londoners and the troops on their left. Heavy counter-attacks were delivered on their exposed flank, but they held their positions with the utmost stoutness. On another occasion, when the troops on their right had difficulty in getting on, the Londoners came bombing down the German trench and relieved the pressure on their neighbours.
I have heard many gallant stories of individual achievements. There was a Homeric combat between a single rifleman and a machine-gun. The machine-gun was knocked out, and those of the crew who had not been killed surrendered. A private who went into the enemy with a bayonet is known to have killed nine Germans, and he took one prisoner, then he put in time attending to wounded under fire. The troops are loud in praise of the whole Medical Staff and the stretcher-bearers, one captain of the RAMC especially, and one orderly, who attended the wounded under conditions of great danger for several hours, and seemed to bear charmed lives.
It would be impossible to make a catalogue of all these gallant deeds. For many it has been their first taste of real fighting, and they had to fight in the dark and the grey dawn and through snowstorms, and to hold on under the heaviest shelling at night, to attack again in the early morning. Youngsters and all, they have proved themselves. They have seen how their comrades fought, and now they know their own strength.