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1918: So many men…
The nursemaid welcomes the attention of the passing soldiers. She has already concocted a story about a ‘cousin’. She intends to take her pick but the mother has asked her a question before she is ready to give an accurate answer.
The general theme here is that there were many such opportunities presented by the war which had not been there in peace time.
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1918: The real war worker
We have seen several cartoons which satirised upper middle class women who falsely claimed to be doing war work. In fact they had simply renamed what they would have been doing anyway – charity bazaars and matinees. This cartoon acknowledges the many women who genuinely expended real effort. A twelve hour unpaid shift would seem excessive even when performed in a good cause. However a temporary staff shortage might well have caused this one-off personal sacrifice.
I suppose she felt obliged to play bridge as it was a regular fixture. She wouldn’t have wanted to call it off though it would have bene quite reasonable to have done so.
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1918: A child’s attempt to understand the war
This kind of scene could have actually occurred. This boy has not yet grasped some basic facts about the war that was consuming more and more of the nation’s consciousness. These included a front line away from the rest of the population. The soldiers asleep in the railway carriage look as if they need their sleep.
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1918: A tenuous qualification
It isn’t much but at least she knows what the job is about. He obviously wouldn’t even be interviewing her if it wasn’t for the severe shortage of anyone suitable because of the war.
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1918: He doesn’t need an incentive
The millionaire jockey doesn’t need the half sovereign (a ten shilling note). Probably it is pride in his skill will make him go all out to win. I do wonder why the officer doesn’t realise to whom he is talking. Surely the man’s name would be known to everyone.
This cartoon belongs to a series of jokes which highlight the changed personal circumstances that occur during the war.
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1918: Another ten years of the war?
George Belcher continues to depict people who are not upper middle class. Clearly the editors of Punch felt that he had something to important to contribute. Did he really intend his readers to anticipate another ten continuous years of blood-letting on the Western Front? I think the answer is probably not although the person in the cartoon clearly seemed to think so.
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1918: Happy memories of feeling sick?
Bobby misses the times when he overate even if it had made him feel sick. The rationing theme is never far away in this, the last year of the war. Of course, at the time they didn’t know it was the last year of the war.
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1918: The place of horses in mechanised warfare
For over a thousand years horses had played a significant part in warfare. During World War One the army was reluctant to accept that horses had become increasingly irrelevant. Both the General and the Private are of the old school on this. This cartoon relates to one instance where horses still were useful.
The letters RFA, which describe the Private, mean that he is in the Royal Field Artillery. Fairly small mobile artillery pieces were being dragged over rough terrain by teams of horses. This could give tactical advantage where the heavy big guns could only be moved very slowly.
The Royal Field Artillery still exists today but is only used for ceremonial uses such as royal salutes and the Trooping of the Colour.
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1918: Scotland Forever
Is this a joke about the absurd pretension that Scotland as such has any say in Britain’s foreign policy? Or is it an early sign of the move to give Scotland real political power whether this will extend to independence or not? In my opinion neither of these ideas was in the cartoonist’s mind. I think that Jock is simply reminding the others of Scotland’s proud history and distinct identity.
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1918: Shortage of Butter
The scene could hardly be more elegant but the guest cannot help noticing that real butter is on offer. Clearly even the ‘higher orders’ were not immune from the widespread shortages caused by the war.
The hostess had hoped that the distinguished looking guest would be taken by her niece but the sight of butter proved to be more alluring.
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1918: Mules inferior to horses
Mrs Green is talking to the lady from the ‘big house’ and her young daughter. She doesn’t know the right words to describe how her son is employed in the Army. She understands that he isn’t doing anything ‘posh’ and uses this fact to try and answer the lady’s question.
The readers of Punch would have realised all this. They would not have laughed at the rustic simplicity of Mrs Green since the efforts of all combatants were appreciated. With minor exceptions they really were all in it together. That is a feeling that I can remember from World War Two. The bombs didn’t distinguish between rich and poor.
Mules were more useful than motor vehicles in the often muddy conditions of the Western Front. They did a lot of the heavy carrying behind the front line. Mrs Green’s son would be loading the mules, leading them on their journey and unloading them when they had reached their destination.
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1918: An important innovation
The tank was first developed during World War One in order to make a breakthrough from the stalemate of trench warfare. Given enough armour this ship on the land was intended to withstand the bullets fired by the enemy. It was also intended to drive over obstacles. It failed to be the single weapon which won the war but it certainly helped. The Germans soon copied the idea and called their tanks ‘panzer’. During World War Two tanks were extensively used by all combatant nations.
The tank commander’s grubby uniform is due to the fact that these contraptions required frequent adjustments to the moving parts. Getting dirty was part of the job.
During the development stage back in Britain the word tank itself was used in order to keep its true purpose secret and the name has stuck.
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1918: An idyllic scene at the allotments
This cartoon emphasises that all sorts of conditions were engaged in the act of growing their own vegetables. They have all been successful and are all equally delighted with their crops. I do wonder why they have all been growing the same crop – that of onions. Surely onions aren’t that significant when growing your own food. Might it be because they are the easiest to grow? I wouldn’t know.
Hi Mr M
Nice to bump into you after all this time. I hope you are keeping well.
Arena
Nice to hear from you. Welcome aboard.
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1918: Facing the tribunal
The military presence in this scene alerts us to what is happening here. This typically academic man is seeking to avoid military service by volunteering to work on the land. The need to grow food is righty seen as extremely important. He clearly wouldn’t be any use to the army. The chairman is probably sympathetic and is trying to find a good reason for granting this request. This has not been forthcoming.
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1918: Not what the General expected
The proud farm labourer doesn’t see why only military decoration may be worn on his uniform. The General would hardly be likely to agree.
I am somewhat puzzled by the title ‘GS Man’. I know what is meant by a General Service Officer. We had one of those as the Adjutant in the unit in which I served. I could easily see why no regiment or corps would want him! All the men being inspected are GS men and I wonder what makes them so special. This is one minor mystery that is not going to be solved.
Perhaps ‘GS men’ were soldiers who had not yet been assigned to a specific regiment or corps. 
Hello JBR! You could be right. It doesn’t tie in with my experience of National Service. My corps affiliation was already decided before I reported to at my Basic Training depot. However I can’t be certain that this applied to everyone – particularly a generation earlier.
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1918: Repetitive Strain Injury
There was an urgent need for ever more munitions to feed the war machine. Factory owners became rich and were labelled war profiteers by the upper middle classes who read Punch. Their wealth had not increased at all. Factory workers who were prepared to work a lot of overtime also became richer than ever before. This also dismayed the readers of Punch who now saw a threat their ‘superior’ status.
The cartoon shows that a recent piano owner really thought that you played the instrument with just one finger! How ignorant was that. The world had gone topsy-turvy.
After the war things soon got back to ’normal’ for the workers but profiteers continued to be satirised in Punch during the 1920s and 30s.
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1918: ‘War Work’ for the super wealthy
This super rich lady does not look like the stereotype of a profiteer’s consort. So it appears that this type of joke is aimed at a wider population.
