Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?

British First World War recruitment poster, 1915.

Poster no. PRC 79 by Johnson Riddle & Co. 1915.

This British recruitment poster was intended to shame men into enlisting. The premise was that in the future fathers would feel ashamed or embarrassed if they could not tell their children that they had fought in World War One¹. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the poster, it emphasises how future generations, genealogists and family historians will always have questions about our lives.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to ask our ancestors questions about their lives?

Often questions would start with “why?" Now, turn the question around and ask the same question about your own life. These questions can provide answers to things you did not do, as well as things that you did. Future family genealogists will love to read your answers.

• Why did you choose the university / college / school you went to?

• Or why did you not to go to university / college / school?

• Why did you not pursue a different career?

• Why did you buy / rent the house where you raised your family?

• Why did you move, or why did you stay in the same area?

• Why did you emigrate or not emigrate?

• Why did you pass on that great opportunity? For example, to start your own business.

• Why did you marry X?

• Why did you not do X?

• Why did you have X number of children, or no children?

• Why did you continue to use X for so long? For example, an old phone, washing machine, typewriter, almost broken watch etc.

• Why is X your favourite hobby or sport?

• Why is X your best friend?

Here are two answers.

To Arthur Gunn the director of publishers Johnson Riddle & Company, why did you come up with the idea for the poster "Daddy, What Did You Do in the Great War?"?

Gunn believed this message would be a powerful tool for recruitment. In fact, the idea probably stemmed from his own sense of guilt, as he enlisted just a few days after the poster was finished. Gunn died in 1937, two years prior to the start of World War Two.

To Kate, why did you not pursue a different career?

Even with hindsight it can be unclear why one did not choose a different path. Partly because we forget our many youthful ideas (that were so important and urgent at the time), or were unaware of the many choices available (pre Internet), or the steps needed to make a career a reality. But we also often forget the circumstances of the time. We look back and wonder why we did or did not do something, forgetting the strength of the compelling reasons at the time.

For example, from the age of 16 I had to support myself. I had no financial assistance. I could stay with family briefly between jobs, but I was basically on my own financially. I became a nurse because they provided free training, a salary and housing.²

I found balancing a full time job with studying for another career was impossible. Besides, once I found a nursing speciality I enjoyed (Neonatal), I found fulfilment in the work. I believed it was meaningful and contributed to society, Also, I wanted to spend my free time enjoying myself and travelling. My later career changes were gradual, and related to my previous jobs.

1980s. Working in St Mary’s Neonatal ICU (London) with a premature baby in an incubator. That baby will be over 30 years old now!

Although I have always loved writing, I never considered it as a career. It would have been impossible for me to publish anything in the 1980s and 90s, as the entry hurdles of money and connections were too great.³ The wonder of the Internet, where I can sit at home, write on my computer, and immediately publish to the WORLD, still astonishes me.

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Do you have an answer to any of the ‘why’ questions? Or do you have any ‘why’ questions that you feel would clarify a time in your life?

1. This recruitment poster was not widely circulated due to some backlash against its message. In previous wars a professional army had been used, but in WW1 the government had to ask for volunteers. Conscription was first implemented in 1916, when the British government passed the Military Service Act, which made military service mandatory for single men aged 18 to 41.

2. I know! We did not realise how fortunate we were to have access to free education. Also we worked on the wards for several weeks in-between college classes, for which we were paid.

3. I applaud the writers who were more talented and motivated than I, and who managed to become professional writers before the age of computers. Though I would love to ask many of them how they managed to afford to write before they got a contract with a publisher!