SOLDIERS were given VIP treatment in Oxford as the first Christmas of the First World War arrived. The city pulled out the stops to welcome them and make sure they enjoyed the festive season 100 years ago.

There was sorrow in some homes as families mourned the loss of a loved one in the first three months of the war.

But in others, as The Oxford Times pointed out, “soldiers were welcomed home from the training centres – and in some cases, from the battlefield – to spend their Christmas leave”.

The paper added: “The outstanding feature of the celebrations in Oxford was the eagerness displayed by rich and poor alike – to make Christmas a time of happiness and enjoyment for the wounded soldiers and the men of Kitchener’s army now in the city.”

Memory Lane this week

Between 400 and 500 wounded soldiers spent Christmas in Oxford, mainly in the makeshift hospitals at the Examination Schools in High Street and at the Town Hall.

The paper reported: “No effort was spared to make the welcome an exceedingly warm one.

“They were mainly British, but there were some Belgians who cheerfully joined their English allies celebrating the festival.

“In addition, there were four wounded Germans, prisoners of war who were deprived of none of the good things provided for other patients.

“The wards were gaily decorated with laurels for victory, holly, mistletoe, paper streamers and Chinese lanterns, and the flags of the Allies were used in abundance. Some charming effects were achieved, including a mock snowstorm.”

A group of women had raised money to provide Christmas fare for the wards. On Christmas Day, patients tucked into eggs, bacon and coffee for breakfast, turkey and plum pudding for dinner and at 5pm, there were tea parties at which the sisters acted as waitresses. Desserts of all kinds were provided, followed by tobacco, cigarettes and crackers.

Oxford Mail:

  • The boar’s head ready for the table at Queen’s College on Christmas Day 1914

The city als0o welcomed many fully-fit soldiers, who had been given five or six days Christmas leave and supplied with free railway travel passes to travel home.

Those with nowhere to go did not miss out – Oxford families opened their homes to some, while others were entertained at guest houses.

Even the children of soldiers were not forgotten – they were invited to a tea party at Balliol College.

Christmas services at Christ Church Cathedral and in many churches were well attended, with clergymen in their sermons emphasising the Christmas message of peace. The old custom, dating from at least 1660, of bringing in the Boar’s Head at Queen’s College on Christmas Day was faithfully observed. A number of wounded soldiers were invited to see the traditional ceremony.

The Oxford Times reported: “Taking his place at High Table, the Pro-Provost said a Latin grace after which a fanfare was blown by a bugler. This was the signal for the procession to start, headed by a soloist who sang a carol in honour of the dish and followed by the boar’s head borne on a silver salver. The head was a record 905lb and very impressive it looked with its golden crown.”

APPEAL BROUGHT CHEER TO TROOPS

OUR sister paper, The Oxford Times, launched a tobacco fund to cheer up the troops fighting in the First World War.

Readers were invited to contribute money so that soldiers from the local regiments received a constant supply of tobacco and cigarettes. “Every penny you send to our tobacco fund is spent in tobacco,” the paper promised.

Indeed, for every sixpence subscribed, three times that amount of tobacco was despatched, the balance presumably paid by the paper’s proprietors.

The fund had been set up primarily to benefit soldiers serving in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars.

The paper printed the names of subscribers and how much they had contributed. Some were from individuals, but there were also collections in pubs and at concerts.

The list published on Boxing Day 1914 showed that 15s 8d (78p) had been collected at the Royal Oak in Woodstock Road, Oxford, and 17s 9d (88p) at two concerts given by the Charlbury Patriotic Society.

Senior Army officers were in favour of the fund, telling the paper how much their men appreciated a plentiful supply of tobacco and cigarettes.

They said: “Nothing else keeps them in such good spirits and they often occupy any spare time they get in holding sweepstakes for a packet or two. Everything we hear tells us that ‘smokes’ are a crying need – shells, cold, all warfares, most trying hardships don’t seem to matter half as much to Tommy as a cigarette.”


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