WW1

Text written in relation to an international colloquium organised in Paris on 'Painters and the First World War', accompanying a recording (Editions Hortus, 2014) of two piano concertos for the left hand composed by Erich Korngold and by Benjamin Britten for Paul Wittgenstein.

At the start of the First World War German contemporary propaganda spread great patriotic enthusiasm and promised a quick victory within a couple of weeks. After a short period of time this turned out to be an illusion and the increasing number of Prisoners of War (POW) became a severe logistic as well as humanitarian problem. As several military units on the side of the English, French and Russian armies were recruited from their colonies with a population of Muslim faith, in Germany also Muslim POWs with specific needs regarding diet and religious practice had to be accommodated and supplied.
In this situation Max von Oppenheim suggested in autumn 1914 that the Muslim POWs should be kept in specific Muslim camps, which were then erected near Wuensdorf and Zossen south of Berlin. The camp for the British/Indian and French/North African prisoners was called ‘Halbmondlager’, the Russian/Tatarian prisoners were accommodated in a camp called ‘Weinberglager’. They were supplied with specific food, an ambitious Mosque was built in the ‘Halbmondlager’ and a Muslim cemetery was set up nearby. In addition, the POWs received religious education and great efforts went into massive agitation to join the Great War against Great Britain and France. The Russian/Tatarian POWs, however, were considered too unreliable to be agitated.
Oppenheims proposal for a Muslim POW camp was part of the Jihad strategy, which was organised by his ‘Nachrichtenstelle für den Orient’, and was intended to agitate the Muslim population of the British and French colonies. The expected uprisings were supposed to weaken the armies of the Entente in their colonies needed in the European theatres of war.
The practical use of the Muslim POW camps to recruit volunteers against Great Britain and France can be regarded as having failed. On the other side the propagandistic advantages of this exotic realization of Oppenheim’s Jihad strategy were obviously of great value. To the international community it demonstrated the fair treatment of the POWs, which was a matter of discussion again and again. It also raised as a severe threat the issue, if the military units from the colonies would stand to their forced loyalty. Finally its Orientalistic reminiscences served to gain acceptance for the ‘Preußisch-Osmanische Waffenbrüderschaft’ within Germany.

With the centenary years 2014–2018, a hitherto relatively unknown branch of archaeological research, the so-called conflict archaeology, is coming into the limelight. Since  excavation work is able to supply only very selective assertions on account of the enormous extent of the mountain front, the overriding objective of monument conservation in the years to come must focus on taking stock of all material remains from the WWI era.
As a result of the developments in satellite geodesy and 3D documentation, it is now possible to approach this task on a wide scale and comparatively economically. The data collected form the basis of targeted protection measures and provide for future reference numerous new methods of presentation which fulfil the requirements of nature and monument preservation as well as the growing interest of demographic groups.

A ‘Lieux de Memoire’, Pierre Nora argues, is a collective cultural memory of a certain key historical event. Over time this event is solidified and crystallises within our cultural memory in a certain way.

Our cultural memory of the conflict has remained the same since the 1960s when the anti-war movement was growing and social change created a more liberal society. A combination of Clark’s work and the anti-war sentiment of the 1960s combined to produce the stance of the war we see in film and literature, recently illustrated by books such as Sebastien Faulks’ Birdsong. As a result, the interpretation of the war illustrated in popular culture largely follows this outdated analysis of the conflict. Cultural memory is related to the time in which a society wishes to remember a certain event rather than actual memory of the event itself. Thus the ‘chosen memory’ of the First World War is that which crystallised in popular consciousness during the 1960s and continues to be taught today through popular culture.

This collection of fourteen, academically rigorous and accessible chapters explores the British Home Front in the last 100 years since the outbreak of WW1. The editors are Professor Maggie Andrews - Professor of Cultural History at the University of Worcester,  and Dr Janis Lomas - an Independent Scholar and Previously Worked as a Social and Women's Historian at University of Birmingham, UK. The wide range of case studies include war widows allowances, Landgirls, the role of factory inspectors in WW1 and canal boat women, national savings and clothes rationing in WW2. My chapter on the overlooked evacuated Guernsey mothers of WW2 is included. The meaning and images of the British home and family in times of war are interrogated in the past and in contemporary culture to challenge prevalent myths of how working and domestic life shifted in times of national conflict. This volume is intended to encourage a reappraisal of the place of the Home Front in British conceptualisations of war and conflict.

The Kukri (Khukuri) Knife and Nepali Arms & Armour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, compared to those shown in George Stone`s Book.

Image and item description from the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Original text from George C Stone`s work:
“A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times (1934).”
Includes a short biography about George C Stone and his Weapon collections.

SirKukri /Gurkha Antiques / VK Kunwor

exploring the Kukri, Gurkhas and Himalayan Martial Heritage.

A three pages long article, published on the weekend edition of Germany's first newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" from Munich (25.10.2014).
The author David Pfeifer describes our extensive archaeological documentation project along the high alpine frontline of WW! in South-Tyrol. (In german language)

Roughly 100 years after the outbreak of World War I this article reviews central positions taken by Freud and other early psychoanalysts with respect to the big subjects of war and peace. While Freud has often been perceived as a pacifist, an immediate comparison with the conservative philosopher Max Scheler and his eulogy to the Genius of War shows to what extend Freud is rooted in the spirit of his time. If even under different political premises, also Freud takes death and the violence of war to be the touchstone of civilization.

The Kukri knife, also written as Khukuri, Khukri, Khookree, Kookeri, Kukoori, Koorkerie, Kookery, Kukery, Koukoori, Khokreis, Cookri, Gurkha Knife and other variations, takes its name from the Nepali word "खुकुरी" . This dagger-knife is today world famous and known as the Symbol of the Gurkhas, National weapon of Nepal and a most excellent knife with a long and ancient history. Ive used the term "Kukri" over the more proper "Khukuri" as it is
probably a wider used word and thus more familiar to the reader. We here explore what has been written regarding the Kukri knife over the past 200 years, from the dawn of modern Nepal, Anglo-Nepal War, The Great Wars and until modern day.

This talk discusses investigative conservation of objects excavated from Western Front trenches. Some of these objects were associated with unidentified human remains thought to be of soldiers killed in battles between 1914 and 1918, and provided important information for their identification. Others provided more questions than answers, but also shed light on the reality of life and death in the trenches. The talk was part of the UCL Lunch Hour Lectures on Tour, at The Guardian newspaper in June 2014.
Watch the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClGW_oDUhv0

I will be speaking at this event, held at the University of Bristol in October 2014 . Abstract is as follows:

Military Identification Systems of the Major Combatants of World War One

Sarah I. Ashbridge


Sarah I. Ashbridge

The early 20th century saw the development of identification systems amongst military organizations in response to the rapidly increasing number of soldiers. The most rapid development of these systems occurred during the early 20th century, with both methods and administrative systems in a state of constant change. This paper will discuss the systems used by major combatants: the Belgian, British, French and German armies during the First World War, with a particular focus on the use of identity discs.

War on this scale was unprecedented, meaning that the size of armies increased dramatically in a short period of time; and with this it became apparent that systems for identification were inadequate given the number of casualties, and therefore needed improvement, to ensure that as many soldiers as possible were correctly honoured for burial. During this period we see forces using systems from other nations and learning from the mistakes of previous conflict, for example, the system used by the Americans during the Civil Wars, which saw the introduction of the first official system of identity discs would be of great influence across Europe.

Following a discussion on methods of identification of the war dead, the systems of each force will be described, giving visual examples. By understanding the differences between the intended procedure, and the action procedure under war conditions of the past we can attempt to understand the requirements for the present. By identifying the materials used for identity discs we can conduct further research to assist with archaeological excavation.

The Great War had an important role in shaping community identity and sense of place in many country towns across Australia.  Men and women volunteered and served overseas and on the homefront. The Camden community was one of these rural towns in New South Wales.