Local Recruitment

In the Summer of 1914 trouble was stirring in Europe. On 24 July, the Austro-Hungarian Government sent an unanswerable ultimatum to the Government of Serbia. Four days later, Austria and Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, and one day later Austrian artillery bombarded Belgrade. The situation escalated rapidly and Europe was soon at war, with Great Britain declaring war on Germany at 23.00 on 4 August 1914.

Kate’s brother and Robert’s brother-in-law, Ralph Pitt, was a regular soldier in the Scots Guards, so he left with the rest of the comparably small regular army force for France and Belgium in late August. There were rumblings in the mining industry about pay and conditions, and the arrival of war only accentuated the situation. Shipping was under threat and was curtailed; exports to Europe quickly reduced; and mine owners looked at ways to reduce costs and labour as the price of coal would likely slump as demand reduced.

Local men were implored to volunteer for Lord Kitchener’s Army. The first one Hundred thousand would become known as K1. This first advert appeared in in the local Leven Advertiser & Wemyss Gazette on 13 August 1914. The target was young men aged 19-30 for a period of 3 years or until the War was over.

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