Armistice: How Our Ancestors Threw Off the Restrictions of World War One 

By Ruth A Symes

[A version of this article was first published in Family Tree Magazine in 2018]

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Civilians celebrating the end of World War One by climbing on a captured German 10cm Kanone 17 field artillery gun exhibited in Waterloo Place, London, 1918. Horace Nicholls. Via Wikimedia Commons.

This week, we celebrate the Armistice of World War One, and our thoughts inevitably turn to the laying down of arms and the end to killing. But, for the ordinary people in our families, especially those who had remained on the Home Front, 11th November 1918 was marked in a multitude of other ways. Many of our ancestors, for example, took the day off work to celebrate the end of the four-year long conflict that had irrevocably changed hundreds of thousands of lives. For women, older men and children, the War years would be remembered mostly as a period of fear, darkness, quietude and sobriety, an anxious time in which people kept a watchful eye on the doings of their neighbours to ensure that no-one stepped out of line.  

For our ancestors who hadn’t been allowed even the simple pleasure of buying their friends or work colleagues a round of drinks without facing a fine (yes, really!) for nearly four years, the Armistice, when it finally came, must have been an immense relief, not only because it saw the end of bloodshed, but also  because it signalled the end of a large number of restrictions which had greatly affected the normal workings of domestic life.  

World War 1: Defence of the Realm Act (DORA)  

The Defence of the Realm Act of 1914 (aka DORA) which came into force on August 8^th 1914 (just five days after the start of World War One) had been designed to give the government greater powers over communities in order to keep them safe from attack or invasion, buoy up morale and maintain productivity during the War Years.  DORA was seen as a means of curbing the growing power of the trade unions, holding back the cause of the suffragettes (who were becoming violent and causing considerable social unrest) and keeping a tab on German business people residing in Britain who were universally suspected of spying.  

DORA was amended and made more forceful as many as six times between 1914 and 1918. The government now had the power to requisition buildings and take over any land for War purposes. In many types of employment, wages were either kept at the same level or lowered, and striking in workplaces was forbidden. Clocks were put forward by an hour on May 21^st 1916 (via The British Summer Time Act) to allow our wartime ancestors more daylight hours in which to undertake productive work. All these major changes must have been unsettling for the man-or-woman-in-the-street, but it was the smaller, and seemingly more trivial, regulations brought in by DORA, that most came to irritate many of our ancestors most and that are the most intriguing to contemplate today. 

1000,000 Breaches 

Almost a million arrests were made for breaches of DORA during the War years. Our ancestors lived with the anxiety of knowing that punishments ranged from fines and imprisonment to execution. 

 Boy Scouts give out chocolate and cigarettes to departing American soldiers after the Armistice service in Winchester in 1918. Via Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain. [[File:The US Army in Britain, 1917-1918 Q31215.jpg|The_US_Army_in_Britain,_1917-1918_Q31215]] 

What Our Ancestors Could Not Do 

Talk about naval or military matters in public places/spread rumours about military matters 

Don’t imagine that your ancestors sat around discussing the War with their neighbours and workmates. The law required everyone to be tight-lipped about what was going on unless they were within the privacy of their own homes. Conversations across the garden fence must have been limited anyway since newspaper censorship meant that ordinary people could discover little in the press about operational movements. Letters sent home by the troops serving in France were also vetted with any passages that could potentially lower the morale back home often crudely scored out by senior officers. 

Use invisible ink when writing abroad 

Vetting of mail to the troops abroad also took place to ensure that no secrets were passed to the enemy. ‘Invisible ink’ could be made from a variety of substances including lemon juice, nitrate, soda and starch and even semen! The messages were then revealed by holding the paper over heat, ironing it, or painting over it with a natural PH indicator such as boiled red cabbage! In 1915, German Anton Kupfurl – posing as a businessman, was discovered to have sent secret messages to the enemy using invisible ink and writing between the lines of otherwise innocent-looking commercial letters. Kupferl committed suicide before he could stand trial but not before composing a suicide note in which he admitted he was a spy. 

Ring Church Bells 

Our ancestors’ home towns and villages were quieter places than they had been in the earliest years of the twentieth century. Church bells no longer rang at night (their use being reserved for situations of real alarm) and striking clocks were silenced. Our great-grandparents were not allowed to whistle in the street (in order to hail a taxi, for example) since it was thought the sound might confuse other people into thinking that there was an imminent air-raid.  

Buy Binoculars 

Strangely enough, your ancestor on the Home Front is very unlikely to have owned a pair of binoculars! Those who tried to buy such items were suspected of being spies intent on snooping on naval ports or other sensitive military areas. Moreover, binoculars and many other optical items were desperately needed by the military. The British optical industry, which consisted chiefly of one firm (Chance Brothers), couldn’t cope with demand, and our ancestors would have seen plenty of adverts in the newspapers appealing for the public to donate their own binoculars and similar items (sometimes with the promise that they would be returned to their rightful owners once the War was over). 

Ironically, the biggest pre-war supplier of binoculars to Britain had been Germany and now a dirty deal with the enemy was mooted. The Germans apparently agreed to supply the British with over 30,000 pairs of binoculars in return for rubber for the tyres of their military vehicles. Its not clear whether the exchange ever actually happened.  

Trespass on railway lines or bridges 

It’s worth remembering that people were not allowed to move about as freely round their local area as they had done before the War, and that certain parts of the towns in which they lived might have been out of bounds. DORA forbade civilians from congregating or trespassing on railway bridges or in tunnels, for example. It was of paramount importance that the railways and ports were kept running safely as there were no major roads, heavy vehicles or air transport to move munitions, supplies and the armed forces.  

Melt down gold or silver 

Metals of all kinds were in great demand during World War One for the making of war machinery and weapons. If you have been rummaging in the family jewellery box to find clues to your family history you are unlikely to find any gold or silver items purchased during the War. Instead you might come across contemporary jewellery made from natural or inexpensive materials such as copper, brass, aluminium, mother-of-pearl, wire, wood or coins. This jewellery was sometimes known as ‘sweetheart’ jewellery since it was often made and sent by army personnel to their loved ones back home. 

In 1914,  for economic reasons, the government suspended the Gold Standard and asked our ancestors to hand in any gold sovereigns. These 22 carat coins were worth £1 or 20 shillings and they could now be swapped at the nearest Post Office for newly-produced Treasury notes. The government used the precious metal to pay off its international debt, to finance the War Effort and to replenish the Bank of England’s reserves. By 1918, civilians were also firmly prohibited from melting down silver currency in order to profit from the newly high price of silver. The government feared that if the amount of silver coinage in circulation was reduced, this would necessarily lead to the issue of small-denomination notes and consequently to higher inflation. 

Light bonfires, fireworks or fly a kite 

Some of the simple outdoor pleasures of life were outlawed by DORA. Kite-flying, for example, was prohibited because it was thought that such entertainment might attract a Zeppelin attack or might be wrongly interpreted as a signal by the military. And for the four years of the War, your ancestors will not have celebrated Guy Fawkes night because both bonfires and fireworks were banned.  

Drink As Much as They Liked 

In order to keep the workforce hangover-free and as productive as possible the government cut licensing hours. Gone were the bucolic days of the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Pubs could now open only between midday and 2.30pm and  then had to close until 6.30pm. They could then open again until 9.30pm. People were disallowed from buying rounds of drinks for friends and colleagues, and pub landlords were allowed to water beer down. People were also no longer able to buy whisky or brandy in railway refreshment rooms – presumably to ensure that their tongues didn’t wag on their ensuing train journeys!  

Have Lights Visible at Night 

Although blackouts are more usually associated with the Second World War, they also occurred in a piecemeal way during the First World War after the advent of German zeppelin attacks on Britain in 1915. In certain areas, all lights visible from the outside of any house had to be extinguished or obscured within specified hours, and motor vehicles were not allowed to use powerful lamps. 

In the Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel, Dr Picton, was fined  – a total of 7s and 6d  – for not obscuring lights correctly in his home on two occasions in April and June, 1916. Ironically, the same doctor was called to attend at an accident in November 1916 when a car driving with reduced motor lamps hit a small boy and crushed his leg.  

Give Bread to Horses or Chickens (or Feed Wild Animals) 

Our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors were renowned for their kindness to animals. Indeed, in cold winters, such as that of 1890-1891, newspapers had specifically asked the public to put bread out for wild birds. It was now made clear, however, that this must stop, and that bread should be reserved for the populace. Although formal food rationing was not introduced into Britain until 1918, the government was keen to ensure that no food went to waste well before this. Over the course of the War, agricultural food production declined and prices went up.  When Germany introduced a policy of ‘unrestricted submarine warfare’ on January 9^th, 1917, the supply of imported food lessened and our ancestors had to become more thrifty and ingenious in their shopping and eating habits. 

It is hardly surprising that after four years of restriction and austerity, our ancestors marked the Armistice with such huge vigour. They lit the streets with torches, fireworks, bonfires and illuminated street signs; they created joyful noise by whistling, cheering, playing musical instruments and ringing church bells. Though there were still post-War restrictions due to a shortage of coal supplies and though there was still a need to ration food, the nationwide Armistice celebrations signalled that the darkest days of War – abroad and at home – were at last well and truly over. 

Useful Books and Websites 

Mirrorpix, Victory 1918: Celebrating the Armistice in Photographs, History Press, 2018 

Paul Kendall, Voices from the Past: Armistice 1918, Frontline Books, 2017  

http://holmeschapelhistory.co.uk/downloads/leaflets/9Rulesandregulations.pdf How Dora affected the Cheshire village of Holmes Chapel 

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/217 Explanation of the Defence of the Realm Act 

https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/ztx66sg/revision/3 The Domestic Impact of World War One 

https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2014/11/on-the-home-front-original-wartime-recipes-from-the-great-war-1914-to-1918.html Recipes from World War One. 

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