The Annual General Meeting of the branch was held at the Best Western Shap Wells Hotel on Sunday, 4 December 2011. Bruce Simpson, Chairman of Trustees, was a welcome visitor, along with the Mayoress of Ulverston and colleagues.
Martin Simpson, Branch Chairman, reported on a year of mixed fortune, based on the regular meetings at The Royal British Legion in Penrith, reinforced by the Occasional Day at Hundith Hall Hotel, Cockermouth, with three invited speakers. A planned visit to the Italian Front fell through, but a Western Front visit in France forms part of the 2012 programme. Martin thanked Ken Mansell, retiring Branch Treasurer, for his long and sustained work for the branch dating back to its foundation.
Following an excellent carvery lunch, Peter Hart gave a well illustrated talk on ‘Life in the Trenches'. Based on interviews with veterans, this included a description of the basic diet of bread, bully beef and tins of McConachies, supplemented by tea laced with condensed milk and sugar. Huntley & Palmers biscuits, known as tooth breakers, intrigued the audience, as did the use of knives and bayonets to open the corned beef tins.
Jam in various guises, plum and apple, apricot and strawberry, was a welcome supplement. Rats infested units that failed to bury their waste. Other hazards of trench life were also outlined, including lice and trench foot. Whale oil was a remedy for the latter condition. Snipers picked off the unwary. Respirators provided protection against gas attack, but reduced the ability to see, hear and fight. Latrines, patrolling and weaponry added to the colourful portrayal of a routine that has passed from memory into history.
Peter was thanked for another fascinating talk before leaving to catch a train back to London.
The next branch meeting is scheduled for 16 February when Sean Godfrey will take as his subject ‘Guillemont 1916'.
Frank Walmsley
Editor's note: I, too, was privileged to attend the Cumbria AGM and can also report on an excellent and very convivial meeting. The Cumbria Branch members made us feel very welcome and we enjoyed excellent hospitality at the venue with not a tooth breaker or any bully in sight.
