the fir st w orld w ar and knitting by K. L. Bevan
“ W h e n y o u g o h o m e, t e l l t h e m o f u s a n d s a y, f o r y o u r t o m o r r o w s t h e s e g a v e t h e i r t o d a y.”
John Maxwell Edmonds
The ‘War to end all wars’ was only 100 years ago but there are few people alive who remember it. By the time of WWII my own grandfather was in the Home Guard, but in the first ‘Great War’ he was one of the youngest to sign up. His regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders wore traditional kilts and before he died he told me that his mother knitted him some bloomers to keep him warm underneath – he was too embarrassed to wear them. My great-grandmother was not alone in knitting for her son at the front. Women knitted for their husbands, brothers and sons sending parcels with their regimental number hoping that they would find their destination. As the war continued knitting for the troops became a point of national duty.
This was not the first time that knitting had been associated with war. It started with Lord Raglan who, on losing an arm at the battle of Waterloo, asked his tailor to devise a more comfortable sleeve style that we still use today. People were accustomed to knitting for the soldiers in the Crimea who were not resourced to survive the harsh winter of the Ukraine. Lord Cardigan famously allowed his men to wear jumpers under their uniforms, which with no lapels, could not be seen inside their jackets but kept them warm nevertheless. By the time of the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 people were making and sending helmet-liners, though they weren’t known as balaclavas until sometime later.
In fact knitting supplies for army uniforms was a staple of the UK textile industry. Berets or bonnets are still knitted and fulled in Ayrshire, Scotland, with their distinctive checkered head-bands and red torrie or pompom on top. Stewarton, near Kilmarnock is still known as the ‘Bonnet Toun’, and regimental berets, all meeting with stringent Ministry of
Defence requirements of course. Stockings and socks for the troops were made by the thousands in the knitting mills in Leicestershire and elsewhere and before that knitted by hand in the Dales. During the Seven years war, 1756-1763 boot hose was supplied by hand-knitters in Dent at 2 guineas a pair.
The Red Cross and the Guilds It was industry shortages that prompted the call for volunteers to help make up the difference. Queen Mary answered the appeal from Lord Kitchener in September of 1914 to supply 300,000 pairs of socks and 300,000 woollen belts for the use of the troops by the beginning of November. The Queen and the London Needlework Guild spearheaded the campaign of the British Red Cross Society and St John Ambulance Association, putting the request out in all the daily papers.
“The Queen asks the women of the Empire to assist her to make this offering to the troops”. All clothing was to be sent to Friary Court, St James Palace. The target was not only met but exceeded and by November 1918 there were 630 branches of the re-named Queen Mary’s Needlework Guild and a membership of over 1million in the UK alone.
Trench hose and other patterns Regulation patterns were produced for sewing uniforms as well as knitted garments. The British Red Cross produced its own pattern booklet including woollen belts, not something we pick up in the accessories aisle these days. They were an all-in-one cummerbund arrangement known as body belts, “So useful for preventing colic” according to the Western Daily Press in 1915. They were particularly good for keeping the back and kidneys warm and thought to prevent cholera. There are other items in the pattern
books that are unfamiliar to us now. Trench stockings were recommended to be soaked in linseed oil to make them water-resistant and protect soldiers from trench foot. Each soldier would have a rationed three pairs of socks every six months, but these would wear out quickly. Puttee were the straps that were wrapped around the ankles, much like gaiters, and the puttee stocking looks much like a leg warmer with a spiral, designed to go underneath. Published by Maud Nicol – an American nurse who was injured and stranded in London – the pattern is spelt out over eight long pages. Other favourites were chest protectors, fingerless mittens for gunners and rifleman’s mittens with an open trigger finger. The cap and muffler combined in the official Red Cross pattern book was an ingenious double-cloth scarf that could be turned inverted to make a hat at one end.
By 1917 there were regular updates in the newspapers of what was required by each appeal and more importantly who had donated what. Speed was of the essence and “double-knitting” two pairs of socks or sweaters at once was one way to keep up with production and to been seen to be doing ones duty.
Most of the patterns from this time are not attributed though one designer is named: Marjory Tillotson. She was a designer at Baldwins in Halifax (later to merge with Patons in 1920) and went on to design throughout WWII and beyond. The spinners who produced the yarn were also quick to respond to the cause. Women’s Weekly was a regular supplier of patterns and most of the major producers contributed to the genre. However the quality of the work was not always consistent and much allegedly had to be unpicked. New knitters were not to be discouraged and large knitting bags were carried everywhere conspicuously. The
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