World War One:
Music & Memories
In 2014, as part of the events to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, FiSH launched an oral history project aimed at capturing the war-time reminiscences of some of our members. We recorded 15 local people who, often very movingly, told stories passed down from parents and grandparents about experiences at the front and back home. The project was generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund of the National Lottery, which enabled us to make the video and supporting materials available free of charge to schools in our local area. The video was made by Tom Stanier, an ex BBC director who lives locally. It is much more than a series of interviews and cleverly interweaves stories with original footage used with permission from the Imperial War Museum.
The project
The stimulus for this project was the enormous value that FiSH places on listening to our members. People who are isolated, or sometimes lonely, find the opportunity to talk to people like FiSH volunteers, who are good listeners, very valuable. The chance to tell their story to one of our volunteers is often a significant part of what would otherwise be just a very everyday journey to an appointment.
The centenary of the First World War has offered us a rare opportunity to listen to the direct and indirect memories of our members of this momentous event. Listening would itself be therapeutic, but recording these memories has given us the chance to share them with others and to stimulate further thoughts and stories. By creating a community event around this project we hope to not only educate and entertain, but to generate interest in the issues affecting older people and also the work of FiSH.
The project received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, for which we are very grateful, and culminated in an evening of Music and Memories at Wathen Hall, St Paul’s School on Saturday November 15th. 2014. This page aims to give just a taste of the stories we have received.
Just some of the stories
André Adolph Walser
André Alolph Walser was the uncle of David Walser, a Barnes resident and FiSH volunteer. Andrew attended St Paul’s Boy’s School in Hammersmith and joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1914 at the age of 25. He was awarded the Military Cross and later became an Air...
Amputees and Queen Mary’s Hospital
The rehabilitation of amputees has been an established service at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton for over ninety years. The history of Queen Mary’s began with the rehabilitation of service personnel who had lost limbs during World War I and amputee rehabilitation...
Joan Salmon
Joan Salmon's mother, Violet Cornwall - back row, 4th from rightWhilst the men were fighting overseas, many women were engaged in munitions work during WW1 and the mother of FiSH member, Joan Salmon, was one of the many who worked in a munitions factory. The work was...
Richmond Park
Richmond Park was an armed camp during WW1 with several London Territorial regiments being trained there, including the 2nd Batt. Artists Rifles, 28th Battalion the London Regiment, who are seen here leaving Richmond Park for a route march, headed by their band. The...
George Walton
George Victor Walton served in the King’s Liverpool Regiment during WW1. His daughter, FiSH member Elaine Price, once asked him if he had killed anyone face to face during his war and he told her this story: He had been in the trenches for many weeks, always wearing...