Friends of Islington Museum

Category: Projects

  • Away from the Western Front: 1st – 30th April, 1918.

    Training, road-building and enemy fire…   In March 1918 the Germans launched a major offensive in France and Flanders. This had an immediate effect on the Southern Palestine campaign . The War Office ordered General Allenby to send 2 infantry divisions to France as soon as possible although they acknowledged this would  ‘entail…

  • Away from the Western Front : 13th-31st March, 1918

    Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught reviews the troops   Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught toured bases of the EEF in Egypt and Southern Palestine during March 1918. A career soldier for over 40 years, the Duke’s visit was calculated to raise morale amongst all the troops . L/Cpl Jock  Christie should have…

  • Away from the Western Front: 9th – 12th March 1918.

    Operations in the Jordan Valley Mule drawn limber 1/11th London Regiment. El Kubri, December 1917. © IWM (Q 57790) At this stage in the campaign it was increasingly hard to replace transport animals and their equipment. During the action at Mejdel Taba, artillery fire killed and wounded some of the brigade mules (the…

  • Away from the Western Front : 25th February – 9th March 1918.

    Victoria Cross awarded !         The award of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the British Armed Forces  to Lance-Corporal Jock Christie was a great morale booster for the battalion, 162 Brigade and the 54th East Anglian Division. In later life Jock Christie preferred not to…

  • Away from the Western Front : 25th January 1918 – 25th February 1918

    Visiting Jerusalem    After fierce fighting  over the previous weeks, Jerusalem had been captured by the Allied Forces on 9th December 1917 . This  tremendous boost for Allied morale and public opinion   was a massive blow for the Ottoman Empire which had now  lost control of three holy sites in spite of German military support. The painting above…

  • Away from the Western Front : 27th December 1917 – 24th January 1918

    Football, Salvage and Training   Football was a popular form of recreation in the army and was often used as a morale booster.. The battalion diary mentions several organised games like the one between the officers and sergeants on New Year’s Eve. Of course, leather footballs would have been low on the list…

  • Away from the Western Front : 25th – 26th December 1917.

    Merry Christmas ?   The battalion’s arrangements for Christmas 1917 were a far cry from the warmth and hilarity of the seasonal celebrations of the year before. Not only was it the rainy season when temperatures could be more like those back in London but festive meals were impossible to…

  • Away from the Western Front : 18th – 24th December 1917.

    The battle of Jaffa – Bald Hill     The key port of Jaffa, some 40 miles north of Gaza, had been captured by the Allied forces in November. However, Ottoman & German forces still controlled the River Auja which reached the Mediterranean Sea near the port. From their system…

  • Away from the Western Front : 27th November – 17th December 1917

    Wilhelma   The Ottoman forces had retreated further north to the area around Wilhelma. This was  a successful agricultural colony founded in 1902 by the German Templar movement and named for the Emperor of Germany,  Wilhelm II.  For the Finsbury Rifles a return to trench warfare and artillery bombardment seemed likely. They were fortunate not to suffer any casualties…

  • Away from the Western Front : 17th – 26th November 1917

    Marching North     While other divisions of the EEF advanced east into the Judean Hills, the 54th (East Anglian) Division now marched north along the coastal plain.  It was now the rainy season which at least gave the Finsbury Rifles a chance to catch up with some long overdue…