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THE ACTUAL PRINTING PRESS |
A most unusual story about two men decided to print a
newspaper during the most fearful fighting in Ypres during the First World War.
It 1916 when infantry men went through demolished houses and
trying to find food, bedding and all sorts of thing which made life a bit
easier two officers stumbled on a printing press . No soldier gave the rubble covered printing
press a second glance but for Captain Fred Roberts of the Sherwood Foresters.
He brushed the debris away and saw to his surprise the machine was
undamaged. He called his friend
Lieutenant Jack Pearson and another sergeant who was a printer. It took only a few days till the first 100
copies were rolled out. They named if “Wipers Times” after the mispronounced
name of Ypres, Belgium.
Ypres was on a strategic route blocking the German advance
to France. It was under heavy bombardment and the scene of three major
battles. It also had the first mustard
gas attack.
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| CAPTAIN FRED ROBERTS |
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| LIEUTENANT JACK PEARSON |
The papers contained a mixture of trench humour, poetry and
spoof advertisements. The soldiers also enjoyed the biting satire and fearless
lampooning of the top brass. Captain
Roberts who was an adventurer and prospector before the war in South Africa
wrote: “We lived in rat-infested, water-logged cellars by day and Hooge (a
nearby village) by night. As an existence it had little to recommend it.”
Excerpts from the Wipers Times show in-jokes and thinly veiled
attacks on officers. It described ordinary Tommies as PMI – poor bloody
infantry. The spoof adverts were loved.
“Insurance policies available for badly defended trenches.” “Wanted wire cutters. Good openings for sharp
young men.”
You could read about golf which included tips on how to play
18 holes in no-man’s land. The scramble
to escape a gas attack was written in horse racing terms. The great number of bombed out buildings
provided a good market for the property section. A house with no roof was
labelled as “airy”. Other properties were offered with good “underground
residences ready for habitation” and “shooting estates” were all on sale in the
Wipers Times. They advised to contact
the estate agents “Bosch and Co” and added that intending purchasers ill be
shown round any time, day or night.
A favourite subject was the pot-holed roads leading to the
battlefields and many times the various brothels in the area were mentioned. They
were also writing seriously about the British “friendly fire” casualties and
incompetence by the generals and making
sure the soldiers had a constant rum supplies. Greatly appreciated were also
the poems by the solders.
They launched attack against people at home glorify the war
and didn’t mention the condition, not even downplayed while the soldiers lived
in waterlogged and rat-infested trenches
There were other newspapers produced during the Great War
but none of it was printed near the front. At one time Roberts and his
sub-editor brought out an edition only 100 yards from the enemy. For two years
they were hauling the one-ton machine all over the Western Front and issued 23
editions. To the soldiers it kept up
some normality. Once the military was thinking of banning the publication but
had to change their minds when they realised the importance of keeping up the
moral. The newspaper also managed quiet
a number of times to avoid censorship. Against all the great danger both men
survived the war and were awarded the Military Cross for their bravery at
battles, including the Somme. Roberts became commanding officers of his
battalion.
The Wipers Times is seen as the beginning of the satirical
magazine Private Eye, whose editor Ian Hislop co-wrote the drama. The BBC is
bringing out two dramas with Michael Palin about the remarkable story of the
Wipers Times.
In his last edition Roberts wrote: “Although some may be
sorry it’s over there is little doubt that the linemen are not, as most of us have
been cured of any little illusions we may have had about the pomp and glory of
war, and know it for the vilest disaster that can befall mankind,”
After the war both men faded back into civilian life. In
spite of their great talent there is no evidence that they ever wrote another line.
Roberts migrated to Canada and he died there in 1964. Pearson also establish
a make shift pub behind the frontline serving refreshment to wounded soldiers.
He went to Argentina to work on the railways and later became an owner of a
hotel. He died two years later after his great friend and fellow publisher.
It will be almost 100 years when they finally receive the
recognition they deserve.
The BBC showed a drama written about the Wipers Times on
BBC 2, at 9pm on September 11, 2013.
