Cambridgeshire Kitcheners by Joanna Costin

Author:Joanna Costin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2016-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

A New Year Begins

New Year’s Day 1917 and the first few days of the year, were occupied with working parties. At home, the newspapers reflected on the year passed and looked ahead to the year to come.

A special service was held in Great St Mary’s to mark the Day of National Prayer and Resolve and to open the week of prayer arranged in Cambridge by the branch of the Evangelical Alliance.

‘The Bishop of Ely preached a stirring sermon, in which he uttered a warning against war-weariness and premature peace. A united prayer meeting took place in the Guildhall in the evening, when addresses were given by the bishop and ministers of the town. Prayer meetings at the Henry Martyn Hall begin to-night, and will continue during the week.’

The bishop told the congregation that they should thank God, not for the fighting, but for the fact that they had been brought through great dangers and had seen great successes. The whole nation had been brought together, and ‘our men, those living and those who had laid down their lives, had encountered unmentionable dangers with a noble courage, self-sacrifice and tender consideration for others which no human words could possibly describe.’ He also emphasised that the war was a righteous one, fought not because of national ambition, ‘but because of a deep and awful sense of duty, and this sense must still remain strong as at the beginning… . We must not shrink from self-sacrifice, however hard and long-drawn-out the war proved.’ Lastly he called on his congregation to return to God, to seek forgiveness for wrongs and to pray sincerely for not only their soldier sons and husbands, but also for the enemy that they too might turn to God.

The same week, the local newspapers printed Douglas Haig’s despatch about the Battle of the Somme. He claimed a victory, but continued:

‘The enemy’s power has not yet been broken, nor is it yet possible to form an estimate of the time the war may last before the objects for which the Allies are fighting have been attained. But the Somme battle has placed beyond doubt the ability of the Allies to gain those objects.

The German Army is the mainstay of the Central Powers, and a full half of that Army, despite all the advantages of the defensive, supported by the strongest fortifications, suffered defeat on the Somme this year. Neither victors nor the vanquished will forget this; and, though bad weather has given the enemy a respite, there will undoubtedly be many thousands in his ranks who will begin the new campaign with little confidence in their ability to resist our assaults or to overcome our defence.

Our new Armies entered the battle with the determination to win and with confidence in their power to do so. They have proved to themselves, to the enemy, and to the world that this confidence was justified, and in the fierce struggle they have been through they have learned many valuable lessons which will help them in the future… .

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