In 1939, South-East Northumberland shared a proud tradition of military service with its wider region and this was reflected in the huge numbers of men and women from the area who came forward for service in the military or in roles such as the Home Guard, ARP services or nursing. This part of Northumberland was a key recruitment center for the local county regiment, the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, with men from the area being heavily involved...

A history of the English seaside town during World War I, from its significance to its sacrifices. Tynemouth Borough, which included the towns of Tynemouth and North Shields, was an area of strategic value to the national war effort as it contained the mouth of the river Tyne and was the entry point to the most important munitions center in Britain. Industry upriver included the manufacture of munitions, armaments, and military and civilian ships,...

Scotland was of grave strategic importance during the war because of its geographical position and its capital was the location of a significant number of important military and civil organizations. Edinburgh Castle became the HQ of the Scottish Home Forces whilst the Forth was a vitally important port and was heavily protected even before the start of the war. Its importance was marked by its attracting the first air raid of the war on mainland Britain...

Morpeth played a key role in Northumberland's war effort. As a market town and the seat of government of the county authority, the town was significant in the coordination of Northumberland’s war effort. With a wide rural hinterland, it played a huge part in the production and dispersal of vital food. The town also occupied a position on the fringes of the Northumberland coal district, and many of the men and businesses of Morpeth were engaged in...

Scotland was of grave strategic importance during the war because of its geographical position and Glasgow was the location of a significant number of important military and civil organisations as well as housing industry which was vital to the national war effort. Glasgow's importance attracted enemy attention on many occasions with the city and its hinterland being heavily raided by the Luftwaffe. These raids included the infamous raid on Clydebank...

Newcastle was a key cog in the national war effort despite its northerly location, located on the key East Coast it played a significant military and civil role in the war. Newcastle is situated on the strategically important River Tyne and was well defended against enemy attack with several forts and other measures in place. Newcastle, a largely urban industrial community, was home to key wartime industries with its shipbuilding yards building and...

A portrait of the battle for voting rights in a rural English county, and the dramatic life and death of one fierce suffragette. For much of the nineteenth century, the women of Northumberland occupied crucial, though largely underappreciated, roles in society. Aside from the hard life of raising families in an area where money was often hard to come by and much of the available work was labor-intensive and dangerous, women were also expected to...

Berwick-upon-Tweed was an important garrison town and regional center, which, as befit its history, had a strong sense of duty, reflected in its proud martial traditions. During the catastrophic years of 1914-18 many Berwick families found themselves greatly affected by the war. Large numbers of Berwick men volunteered to serve in the forces and many were killed. During the first months of war the local barracks were overwhelmed by the number of...

The world was at her doorstep! Jeanette Maillet had no reason not to pursue a university degree followed by a career in social neurology, educational tourism, or business as an entrepreneur like her father. Her family, friends, and the eccentric millionaire Ma'am, all encouraged this direction. But when she added up all of her life's encounters, she was not at all certain university would lead to her destiny. The year she turned eighteen she discovered...

Christian, an idealistic and impoverished young writer who, newly arrived in Montmartre, is haphazardly inducted into a circle of young bohemians led by Toulouse-Lautrec. A comedy of mistaken identities ensues, quickly enmeshing the young poet in a love triangle involving the unobtainable and consumptive Satine, queen courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, and the foppish Duke of Roxbury, his villainous rival for her affections.