TYNESIDE’S GREAT WAR: THE HOME FRONT 1914-1918, by Vanessa Histon. Published by Tyne Bridge Publishing (0191-277 4174). £7.99. Softback.
FOR the first time in history, the Great War brought conflict right to the doorsteps of ordinary people. Drawing on the diaries of two Tyneside women – Isabel Dalkin and Ruth Dodds – and newspaper reports, the author reveals the way in which the war escaped the battlefield and found its way into the homes and workplaces of ordinary people on Tyneside. They had to cope with everything from the Zeppelin raids of 1915 and 1916 to rationing of meat, butter, flour, sugar and milk.
Archive photographs from Newcastle Libraries’ collection featured in this book show some of the wartime roles played by women, ranging from members of the Newcastle Church Nursing and Ambulance Brigade and tram ticket collectors to the many who worked in iron foundries, factories and shipyards to help supply the munitions, arms and ships that helped win the war.