Got up early and went to baths. Still slack at work. Went down to Wanless’s at night and talked to Willie a bit and then Joe arranged with Mr Wanless to go to the dock with Father on Friday to try if he can work his machine. Walked round by chapel and went into Mission meeting last thing. Charlie had been there earlier and then arranged to give his testimony.
Germans occupy Antwerp.
At work as usual. Not much to do. Went to Mission at night with Joe. Another noisy time. Joe Speed was in good form. Had short walk round. Disagreed with what Mr Mathews said.
The bombardment of Waelhem, Wavre – Saint Catherine & other forts by 11 guns.
Chapel and class as usual. A stranger preaching in the morning and Mr Roope at night. Mr Roope preached very well and Fred Waggott asked Joe to write out the sermon for him1. Managed pretty well at Sunday School and my turn for the children’s service. Got on pretty well.
Invasion of British East Africa announced. Light cruiser Hela sunk by British submarine2.
Joe Wiseman used to practice his already excellent shorthand by recording speeches etc. verbatim; apparently he did sermons too. ↩
Hela was used as a supply tender for submarines in the Heligoland Bight (though classed as a light cruiser, she had only four 8.8cm guns.) She was torpedoed by the British submarine E9; see also 6 October 1914. ↩
Had heavy cold. Joe and Marmie went to church meeting. I stayed in tonight and read and played.
Germans defeated at Battle of Marne1. Oceanic2 wrecked off North of Scotland. No losses.
“Battle of Marne”: See note on 6 September. ↩
Oceanic: See note on 8 September. ↩
Busy at work. Finished early. Grand day. News of one Danish & one Norwegian ship being blown up in the North Sea. The British navy has landed marines at Ostend for its protection. The Cruiser “Highflyer” has sunk the German cruiser “Kaiser Wilhelm the Great”1 off the West Coast of Africa. Joe showed me some of Willie Wanless’s writings and we talked a bit about it. Had walk out last thing. The German cruiser Magdeburg2 sunk by Russians.
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a commerce raider; Highflyer, an elderly (1898) 6” gun cruiser, found her coaling off the Spanish/Saharan Rio del Oro and demanded her surrender. She refused, saying she was in neutral territorial waters; which neutrality she had however herself been violating, so Highflyer sank her, her crew escaping to the shore. ↩
Magdeburg: actually ran aground on 26 August off Odensholm (Estonia), and was captured by Russian cruisers. They seized code books, giving one copy to the RN, which was useful eg. before Jutland. ↩
Got up about 6 o’clock. Went to baths with Willie and Bob. Practiced diving a bit and got on very well. Busy all day at work. Had short walk up town with Joe.
Belgians & French holding their own. Mr Blott in town. War declared on Austria.
Very busy at work. Finished late about 6.15. Went up town with Father and Charlie. A few battle ships off Roker. Soldiers still busy making entrenchments. Read a bit and played a very little. Had walk last thing with Joe. Received postcard from Ernie saying how things were out there1.
A great battle commencing between Liege and Namur. About 2,000,000 men engaged and 200 miles of battle front.
“Out there”: presumably St Andrew’s, where he was working. ↩
Busy at work. Great excitement caused through war.1
War declared against Germany by England.2
Joe and I went to Roker at night and saw 5 different bodies of soldiers on parade. Soldiers placed in the Salvation Army barracks, Thompson Memorial Hall, Royal Hospital, Roker House, Mrs Chester’s and Lister’s, Reserve houses, Skating Rink, barracks, pottery plot, and warehouses on the docks. Digging trenches along Roker Way. We saw the big 4.7 guns go out to Cleadon. Ernie & Hilda got a baby daughter.
Most of Britain at the time, outside of Westminster and Whitehall, didn’t know about the final commitment to war until the 5th of August. ↩
ALL’s use here of “England” where one might have expected “Britain” may seem odd but was quite usual at the time – many contemporary newspaper reports similarly cite “England” – for example, see this reprint from the Guardian’s archive, which uses both “England” and “Great Britain”, and this from the New York Times. Incidentally, up to the mid-20th century “North Britain” was still occasionally used, and well understood, to mean “Scotland”, which is consistent with interchangeability between “Britain” and “England”. ↩
Went to work. Frank off. Busy all day.
Sir Edward Grey made his speech in the House & said if Germany attacked France by sea1, we must join in. We could not stand by & see Belgium trodden down & demanded that Germany should reply to us in a given time.
Walked round town with father and Joe. Crossed Town Moor and saw carnival. Saw Willie Warren2 standing beside pub. He was an awful sight. Charlie at work all night.