Cornwall In The First World War

One hundred years ago today, on 4 August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. The First World War lasted four terrible years, and affected every town and village in Britain.

At the outbreak thousands of men joined the colours and left their homes, many forever. In Cornwall, naval ships, aircraft, even airships arrived along the coast, to help protect Britain's sea-lanes in a brutal campaign against  Germany's submarines. On the Duchy's home front, Cornish men and women worked tirelessly to support those fighting in ditstant battles overseas.

Here's a Cornish image from 1918. On the hard standing at Royal Naval Air Station Newlyn, an airman tends to a Short 184 seaplane. Between the floats of the aircraft is mounted a depth charge. In the background is a canvas hangar, standard issue of the day.
 
Newlyn was one of four Cornish centres of aero activity during the First World War; the others were at Bude, Mullion and Padstow.  An air base was also built at Tresco on the Isles of Scilly.

During this month, each day I'll be posting a different image showing the story of Cornwall's war.

My book, 'Cornwall In The First World War', is published by Truran. With 112 pages and 100 images, you'll find it in bookshops across the Duchy. It's also available through Amazon: http://amzn.to/19JbtZm