Tag Archives: Sunderland

Diary entries which mention places and events in and around the Sunderland area. See also Sunderland map.

5 September 1914; Saturday

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Finished about 1.30. Went to Tunstall Hills1 in the afternoon with Father and saw a destroyer off the harbour. Went to Roker at night with Charlie and met Willie Whittaker at Whitburn. A lot of soldiers in the town. News to hand of the Germans sinking 15 fishing vessels in the North Sea. Received Ernie’s letter stating that if things didn’t improve he was going to <en>list.

Pathfinder sunk by submarine 250 dead wounded & missing2.

  1. See footnote on 15 May 1914 and Sunderland map. ↩

  2. Pathfinder: a 4″gun destroyer, 2940 tons, built 1904, sunk by submarine U21 in the Firth of Forth 14 miles ESE of May Island; a contemporary report says that the majority of the 268 crew were lost. ↩

29 August 1914; Saturday

August 1914, ,

Got to work rather late. Busy all morning. Finished about 2 o’clock. Heard of British Naval Victory. Russians invest Koenigsberg. Our Army doing nothing but recover. 12,000 men being sent to replace the lost 6,000. Decided to send another Army Corps. Indian troops to be used. Read about the Renascence in the afternoon and an interesting article on Russian language. Heard the band of the Coldstream Guards at Roker at night. It was very good. The band master made a speech and asked for recruits.

22 August 1914; Saturday

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Busy at work. Finished about 2.15. An aeroplane passed over the town in the afternoon. Trial football match played. Took Histories1 up to Hills’ to be bound. Went to Roker at night with Willie Whittaker and Charlie. Discussed war news. Belgians retire to Antwerp & Germans occupy Brussels. They demand 8 million indemnity for the town. Various rumours from Austria & Russia. Charlie heard of the movement of the German fleet to Ostend.

  1. “Histories”: presumably History of the Nations; see note on 11 April ↩

19 August 1914; Wednesday

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Busy all day. Finished about 6 o’clock. Felt rather tired and had a walk to Roker with Charlie. Saw a liner go south all lit up. It caused a lot of stir in the town. A little bit better, but still unwell.

News to hand of the arrival of our soldiers in France. A report of some desultory fighting in the North Sea. Pope Pius X died1.

  1. According to Wikipedia, Pope Pius X died on 20th August 1914. ALL was in the habit of writing up events in his diary on the date they were reported to have happened and not on the date he became aware (see, for example, “we didn’t get to know until the 18 & 19th” on 13 August 1914). It seems he may have missed by one day on this occasion. ↩

18 August 1914; Tuesday

August 1914, ,

Busy all day Finished rather late. 60 tons gone out.

Heard of Gen. Grierson being died 1 [sic]. He died of heart failure in France. French capture Saarburg2.

Went down to play for Mr Lawson’s meeting. Shook hands with him at the close of the meeting. He is leaving on Thursday for home in Leeds. Felt very much off form.

Scarcely any soldiers left in Sunderland.

  1. Haig and Sir James Grierson commanded 1 and 11 Corps respectively, and crossed to France together on 16 August. Grierson died of natural causes on the 17th; replaced by Gen. Smith‐Dorrien. ↩

  2. Saarburg: then in Rhenish Prussia, just N. of Lorraine, near the (then) French border; an early and somewhat deceptive French success. ↩

16 August 1914; Sunday

August 1914, ,

At church and School as usual. Got on very well. Had short walk in the day and long walk at night. We looked in the new park and had to climb over the gate at the top.

Nothing startling from the front. Sir John French1 arrived at Paris. Mr Lawson spoke in the pulpit. His last Sunday at So. Durham St. Mr Blott & Mrs & Joyce at Church.

  1. Sir J. French: Field Marshall, Commander‐in­‐Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, replaced by Haig in December 1915. ↩

12 August 1914; Wednesday

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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.

  1. “Out there”: presumably St Andrew’s, where he was working. ↩

7 August 1914; Friday

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Got up at 6 o’clock. Went to the baths. Only 4 of us there. Had good swim. Received news of the sinking of the cruiser “Amphion” on a mine1. 131 English & 20 Germans lost. Further news of the Liege battle. President Wilson’s wife reported dead2. Rumours of North Sea fight, but not confirmed. Had walk with father at night. Town full of soldiers. Defence of Boldon & Cleadon being proceeded with. Ad Ahlers3 remanded for a week.

  1. “Amphion”: the scout cruiser leading Lance’s flotilla, which next intercepted the “St Petersburg” which was taking the German ambassador back to Germany; on realising the St Petersburg’s diplomatic status, Amphion interposed herself between it and the British shelling, which eventually ceased. Amphion then struck one of the Königin Luise’s mines, her surviving crew and rescued German sailors were taken by attendant destroyers, but Amphion drifted onto another mine and more lives were lost in a further big explosion. ↩

  2. “President Wilson’s wife”: Ellen Axson Wilson, first wife of President Woodrow Wilson, died on 6th August 1914. ↩

  3. Ad Ahlers: See note on 6 August. ↩