Tower and Town, March 2016 (view the full edition)Marlborough In The Great War
The 7th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, was raised in Devizes in September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Third New Army. They trained at Codford, spending the winter in billets in Marlborough - here they are on parade in front of the Town Hall in early 1915. 
Training was much improvised as equipment and khaki uniforms were not available until early spring 1915. To get some experience of the war they were about to join trenches were dug on Rockley Down, as shown here. They moved to Sutton Veny in the Wylye valley for final training in April, and then proceeded to France in September 1915 where they were deployed near Amiens. This picture shows some of the men who were unable to get home back in December 1914 enjoying the hospitality of the Town for a Christmas lunch In November 1915 as part of the 26th Division they moved to Salonika via Marseilles, where they remained until 1918. The 7th Battalion had been raised by a former professional soldier, Colonel Walter Leslie Rocke, who came out of retirement in 1914 in answer to Kitchener's call. He would doubtless have been delighted by the PR effect of this photo on his recruitment drive - two youngsters The 7th Wiltshires returned to France in mid-1918 to take part in the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, the pursuit to the Selle, and the final advance in Picardy in November. The picture below shows military transport There is a fine window in St Peter's church in memory of the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment, and of its commanding officer. They had suffered heavy casualties in an attack in northern Greece in April 1917, and again in October 1918 on the Somme. This photo shows the town's Volunteer Training Force (the Home Guard of WWI) David Du Croz |
A recent photographic exhibition mounted by the Marlborough History Society (in conjunction with Wiltshire Council) in St Peter's Church revealed some fascinating photographs of Marlborough 1914-1918 which deserve wider exposure. What follows is just a taste of what life was like for the town 100 years ago.
, including desserts an cigarettes paid for out of a fund set up by the mayor.
being admired by soldiers in the High St. The boy on the left is Eric Free, whose father ran a furnishing business in the town.
lined up along the High St in preparation for deployment on the Western Front.
in camp on Marlborough Common in the summer of 1917. The soldier seated fourth from the left is believed to be the unit's commanding officer, 2nd Lieutenant William Stephen Butler from West Kennett.