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While the Armistice was signed at 11am on 11 November 1918, it was not the end of the war. There was still a bit of mopping up to do. There were also a lot of service personnel that had to be demobilised and returned to the UK. This led to a lot of men being less than happy about the way it was being accomplished.
Unlike the other allied countries who had a policy of bringing everyone home as quickly as they could and then letting them loose on the job market, the UK government decided on a fairer solution.
At least they tried a couple of ideas that didn’t really work. Not as far as the men were concerned anyway.
So there were a series of strikes by serving men, both in Britain and in France. One particularly bad strike occurred in Calais, where a Private was arrested for speaking out against the process for bringing the troops home. Haig, convinced this was part of a Bolshevik plot (the Russian Revolution was still fresh) said that anyone like the Private should be shot as a traitor.
With this announcement, the rest of the regiment came out onto the parade ground and refused to move. No matter how loud and abusive the Sergeant Major became, they stood their ground. It was a huge stand-off. The men won, the Private was not shot and things started to change.
Churchill, as Secretary of State for War and Air, came up with a new system whereby men who had been serving the longest could return home soonest. It was still a massive undertaking but at least it seemed a lot fairer.
It took until 17 October 1919 but, finally, everyone was home.
This all sounds very interesting, and it should have been. Sadly, it wasn’t. It was one of those WFA webinars that I wished I’d missed. In fact, by the time we reached the Q&A I was struggling to keep my eyes open and left early.
A real shame.
Not so, however, the day itself.
The weather was truly beautiful, as if a slice of Portugal had arrived in Sweden to brighten our daytime. Even the girls enjoyed it relentlessly.
Talking of the dogs, I accidentally discovered today that they have to be registered with the Swedish Agricultural Department. They handle animals. I went online and registered them without any fuss.
It made me wonder how many more little administrative things will keep popping up.
That’s what people need to do with so many things. I guess soldiers are brave.