On Tuesday 8th October, The History Press was pleased to sponsor the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. In the morning Robert Dixon, the Chairman of the museum trustees, invited an audience of around 250 to explore the county at war. The museum keeps alive the memory of the Gloucestershire Regiment and the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.
The audience was taken aback when the experience started with a prominent local musician, Johnny Coppin, who put words to Gloucestershire based war poet Fredrick Harvey. Harvey is widely considered to be one of Gloucestershire’s greatest war poets and has since been dubbed ‘the Laureate of Gloucestershire.’ Harvey formed a close friendship with Ivor Gurney, another famous wartime poet, who wrote hundreds of war poems in his long career as a writer. Harvey spent the rest of his life after the war in Gloucestershire and died there, he was subsequently buried in Minsterworth
Robert’s talk was packed with enlightening information and anecdotes. It was particularly interesting to trace the current domination of our local Gloucestershire industries by aviation manufacturers to the spill over of demand in Bristol which had been created by the war. The Gloster Meteor, used during the Second World War and the Korean War, was Britain’s first jet fighter and operational jet aircraft. Gloucestershire’s supremacy in the aircraft production industry has never waned, now Messier-Bugatti-Dowty operates just north of Gloucester and GE Aviation out of Cheltenham, reinforcing a long standing regional supremacy in the industry.
In the afternoon Robert Dixon, took 45 engrossed historians around key local First World War sites ending up at the museum in Gloucester Docks. Gloucester is linked to the national waterway network by the Severn Estuary. This navigable part of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal is part of the reason why Gloucester became such an important trade hub during medieval times.
First on the tour was Cheltenham College where several memorial plaques were observed, these plagues where dedicated to old Cheltonians who had died in the war. Robert was particularly keen to point out the history of one old pupil who it is claimed was the first Englishman killed in the First World War. Henry Hadley had been a languages teacher in Berlin when he was shot by German officers just moments before Britain had formally declared war on Germany.
Rendcomb Airfield was also visited on the tour. Rendcomb Airfield had been an RFC training facility in the War and maintains several First World War buildings including an RFC Flying Hut. In the present day the airfield is perhaps most famous for its Breitling Wingwalkers who grace the skies of Gloucestershire and are seen by some six million spectators every year.
The History Press was truly honoured to be able to sponsor such an event. Robert Dixon’s talk was informative and moving, reminding those in the audience of the impact of the First World War on Gloucestershire and its subsequent regional legacy. It is vital that these events continue to take place, especially next year when the 100th anniversary of the war will be commemorated nationwide. Dixon’s talk and coach tour reminded us all of how closely we are connected to all those who gave up their lives in the conflict and how much we are still indebted to them.