‘Seventeen is not very old, but I feel I am no longer a child’ Diary of Eirene Champney, December 1914

Children were encouraged to help the war effort by raising money or taking on support roles. Boy Scouts helped in the work of the recruiting committees, guarded bridges and water towers at night, and signalled ships in the Bristol Channel. In 1915, Scouts from Bristol travelled to Cornwall and patrolled the coastline by day and night to keep watch.

Toys and books were produced which portrayed war as a glorious adventure and encouraged patriotic feeling.

Sidney Beach was a soldier from Bristol who fought and was seriously wounded in the trenches. As an older man, he hated to see children in uniform.