Armistice 100: Missing girl from Morley and telegrams from Russia...

Dateline: October 17, 1918: It seems there was nary a slow news day back toward the tail end of the First World War, as the Yorkshire Evening Post from this day 100 years ago bares witness.

Back then the YEP consisted of six pages , the back page of which was taken up with international news, mostly updates on the war - today was the day reports of the British capturing Lille were published, for example.

The inside back page was given over to more local news, although this was mixed with news in general. Thus, it was reported by Reuters that since US entered the war, 22,456,021 men had enlisted for military service.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Details were divulged of the new Naval and Military War Pensions Bill, which gave the authorities power to suspend any pension in the case of a person refusing treatment.

In Bradford, John Lesley Hilland, of Lion Strores, Cleckheaton, was fined £50 plus costs for selling a sack of white flour. May Robson, his assistant, was fined £5 and George Wright, wheelwright, was fined £10 plus costs for using it.

In Leeds, there was an appeal for a missing Morley girl, Ella Barraclough, 13, of Ackroyd Street, a champion swimmer who had just left school and was sighted in the Hyde Park area.

Abroad, there were reports of a fresh attempt on the life of Lenin and there was a wireless message from Ekaterinburg stating that Grand Duke Nicholas Romanoff had been condemned to death and would be “shot on October 16.” (He actually died the following January)

Another story detailed the horrendous conditions endured by British prisoners in German coal and salt mines.

Related topics: