REMEMBRANCE
‘People laughed,
cried, cheered...’
This November will mark the 100th anniversary of the armistice of 11 November
1918, which officially ended the First World War. At ealingnewsextra.co.uk/history
we have been running a series of articles by Dr Jonathan Oates on the impact of
the war on our borough, which will conclude on 1 November.
T
hat famous 11am declaration
on that day sent our towns into
a delirium of relief and joy.
“Can I ever forget the scenes
that followed when at 11 o’clock on 11th
November 1918 news came through that
an armistice had been signed? All work
stopped. Cheering and singing some
made their way to the Hospital…The
celebrations continued well into the
night.” So wrote Richard Meads of
Southall in his memoirs.
An Ealing newspaper
reported: “The scenes were
indescribable. The great
burden of more than four
10
around ealing October 2018
years’ agony was lifted and loved ones
were safe again. People laughed, cried,
cheered and sang almost in one breath.”
It was the end of a terrible war. No part
of the country was left untouched by the
hand of death as young men from almost
every family fought and died, while those
left behind coped with the tasks and
tribulations of wartime at home.
As you can read at
ealingnewsextra.co.uk/history there
were a number of war heroes from our
borough. Meanwhile, women went to
work in munitions factories and hospitals,
among other places, and ran businesses;
while older men took to unfamiliar
jobs such as in the special
wartime constabulary; and new
inventions such as the tank
even left their mark.
Meanwhile, hundreds of
Belgian refugees arrived in
Tank rally during the war
outside Ealing Town Hall