AT the start of August, 1918 the Craven Herald made muted reference to the start of the fifth year of the First World War. In sharp contrast to the early years of the war, there was a definite feel of exhaustion., and far less of the bravado of the early years. The paper, then reduced to just four pages, was still full of the pictures of men who had lost their lives - although the pictures themselves were much reduced in size - and the births, marriages and deaths columns were swollen with the numbers of men who had died in the earlier years of the war.

The start of the fifth year, July 28, was marked by religious services across the whole of Craven. ‘As yet, the war is not won, we shall probably have a long way to go before Germany is beaten, but there is no now doubt of the issue,. The Allies have but to keep their courage to the sticking-point to win’, reported the Herald, which of course had no way of knowing the war was to end in a matter of a few months time, on November 11.

The paper reported that British, French, and now American, troops had all shared in recent successes on the Western Front. M|ore than 50 villages previously occupied by the Germans had been taken back into Allied hands, in just one day, reported the paper, and some 40,000 prisoners taken on the Marne Front.

The new American Draft Bill was expected to produce an army of ten million, of which at least three million were expected to land in France the following year. Meanwhile, a ‘continuous stream’ of new ships were expected to be sent out, for which crews were being trained in ten training ships.

It was however, not all good news, the Herald reported on the British ambulance transport, The Warilda, which was torpedoed and sank with more than a hundred men, including Americans, reported missing, believed dead.

In Craven, as with every other city and town in the country, Remembrance Day - then marking the outset of the war - was marked with religious services. In Skipton, a short united service of all churches, was held in front of the town hall. A large number of people gathered for the service, which was conducted by the Ven Archdeacon Cook and the Rev Joseph Johns, the Wesleyan Superintendent minister. It included the singing of the National Anthem as well as a number of hymns. There was also a service at the parish church, Holy Trinity, attended by members and officials of Skipton Urban Council, and a detachment of soldiers from Raikes Camp. The ancient church was filled for the service, which was ‘simple, but impressive’, reported the Herald. “The references to war carried the thoughts of the congregation back to that memorable day four years ago when the leaders of the nation acted the part of honourable men and took up the fight for freedom.’

The church service opened with the National Anthem and once again, was conducted by the area’s Archdeacon, together with the parish church’s Rev F G Forder. Special prayers were said for many brave lads who had fought, or who were still engaged in the fighting.

A the Wesleyan Church, in Water Street, the Rev J Johns denounced Germany and accused the Kaiser and his advisors of secretly planning a ‘wicked war’. “They broke from justice and their plans were an outrage against God and humanity, “ he raged. “There could be no peace until Germany repented, restored and repaired according to the law of justice.” The Rev Forder continued with his condemnation of the nation. “We could not make peace with a rattlesnake or with a tiger whose fangs were dripping with the blood of our own brothers,” he said. Adding, only when Germany repented and repaired the wrongs it had carried out would it be welcomed into the League of Nations and to the Brotherhood of Man.

In Barnoldswick, hundreds of people lined the streets to see a procession made up of police officers, firemen,council officials and about 70 discharged soldiers and sailors. A wagonette conveyed injured soldiers, and the procession was headed by a band of pipers, drummers and buglers, while Gill Church was filled to capacity.

The Herald reported that for some reason, Remembrance Day services had been more greatly observed than in previous years. Perhaps, its leader writer observed, it was because the prospect before the Allies was ‘brighter than at any previous period’. The editor continued: “In Skipton, and throughout Craven generally, the fourth anniversary of the war was observed with due solemnity by all classes of the community. From the beginning, this district has played its part in the war, and will continue to do so until victory is assured. Sunday was indeed a memorable day, and it is hoped it will be the means of helping the people to realise afresh the high ideals that moved us as a nation four years ago.”

Elsewhere in the paper, the Herald reported on the death of Corporal William Astle, of Skipton., a married man with four children, who lived at York Place, Waller Hill. After about two and a half years in the army, Corp Astle, a member of the West Yorkshire Regiment, was shot dead by machine gun fire during an attack on German lines. He had enlisted into the ‘Bradford Pals’ and was awarded the Certificate of Merit for ‘exceptional courage’.

Private E Storey, of Victoria Street, Skipton, of the Duke of Wellington’s, was killed during a raid on July 18. The 30 year old, who had previously been a platelayer for the Midland Railway, had joined up in 1915 and had spent more than two years on the Western Front.

The parents of Private Robert Walker, from Carleton, received notification from the War Office that their son had died a prisoner of war in Germany from wounds he had received in France. He had been missing since the previous March and was buried at Rosiers Cemetery, Germany. Mr and Mrs Butt, of Main Street, Long Preston, also received the news of the death of their son, Private Wilfred Butt in a hospital in France. He was the second son they had lost as a result of the war.

Mrs Harrison, of Bolton-by Bowland, learnt of the death of her husband, Private George Harrison. All three of his brothers were serving in the war and he was the second to be killed. Before the war, he had been churchwarden at Rathmell, he was 30 years old, and left two children.