First World War Folk Tales

by Taffy Thomas MBE, Helen Watts

Overview

From 2014 to 2018, people all over the world will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. They will not only be honoring those who lost their lives on the battlefield between 1914 and 1918, they will also be remembering everyone who played a part in, or lived through, those troubled times. First World War Folk Tales is a very special collection of legends and folk tales from the World War I era. This special centenary collection shows how elements of truth can become legend, how people often attempt to explain the strange and the mysterious through stories and tales, and how storytelling can ease the pain and the burden of war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780750958325
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	11/01/2014
Series:	Folk Tales Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	4.70(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Taffy Thomas is a storyteller and performer who gives around 300 storytelling performances a year. He is the author of Cumbrian Folk Tales, and was given the honorary position of first Laureate for Storytelling in 2012. Helen Watts is a former commissioning editor for Scholastic and has her own small publishing company, The Literacy Club, and runs Aston Hill Editorial Services. She has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal in 2014, and is the author of No Stone Unturned, One Day in Oradour, and wrote The Ghost of the Trenches and other Stories with Thomas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Prologue 11

Introduction 13

The Great War of 1914-18 13

Tales from the Great War 15

1 Legends of the Fallen 17

The Rock Climbers 18

The Hartest Florins 20

Billy Peasecod's Harp 23

The Strange Meeting 28

The Black Chair 33

2 Supernatural Sightings 43

The Angels of Mons 44

An Angel's Guiding Light 53

The Vision of the Virgin 60

The Brother Who Returned 64

The Haunted Hills 67

3 Tales of Extraordinary Folk 73

Unsung Heroes 74

From Battlefield to Movie Screen: The Story of Sergeant York 76

Legend of the Sloes: The Story of Gilbert Insall 86

The Story of Edith Cavell 93

What Goes Around Comes Around 102

4 Humour from a Dark Place 109

The Photo of the Girl I Left Behind Me 110

Underground Mutton 116

The Chef Who Saved Thousands of Lives 117

Good News and Bad News 119

Jack's Wager 121

5 When Truth Becomes Legend 127

The Tale of the Accrington Pals 128

Keeping a Promise to the Kaiser 130

The Poppy Lady 136

About the Authors 142