Composition: Solid Silver Material: Solid Silver Product: cutlery Brand: H.W. Age: 1900-1940 RARE & UNUSUAL STYLE W.W.1 SOUTHWOLD 1915 SOLID SILVER SOUVENIR SPOON Estate Find.

Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914, and the peace and tranquillity of the little coastal town of Southwold was shattered. Within weeks, recruits mustered in the Market Place and marched with the band and crowds to the railway station. A troop of the Lincolnshire Yeomanry arrived and set up camp on The Common.

Eighty miles from the Allied front in Belgium, and 250 miles from Germany’s naval bases, Southwold was at war. And it regarded itself as a special place, more vulnerable to the Germans than almost anywhere in England. The town was on the direct path of Zeppelins crossing the North Sea to bomb London and other targets in south-east England. Moreover, it was at the mercy of German naval raiders and invading troops. The fear of invasion persisted up to the last month of the war.

Holidaymakers had gone, but the town began to receive hundreds of refugees from Belgium. Dr D W Collings, Southwold’s Medical Officer for Health met the incomers, who were cared for at the Constitutional Hall.

In 1915 the Army and the Town Council introduced tough regulations about lights. Special constables used St Edmund’s Church tower as an observation post, pinpointing offenders. Many Southwold people, as well as soldiers, were prosecuted and fined.

Army units came and went as the carnage continued in Flanders. The Yeomanry were replaced by the Duke of Westminster units, with 15 armoured cars. In March the Royal Sussex cyclists (a bicycle mounted regiment) arrived, 670 strong. April 1915 saw our first air raid. To read about Southwold under Zeppelin attack, click here https://www.southwoldmuseum.org/War%20popups/Zeppelins_popup.htm

The major excitement of 1917 was the brief bombardment of the town by German naval vessels, including a submarine. Two star shells lit up buildings and 68 shells were fired.