Anti War March Commemorative Plaque – Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 47.763 W 001° 45.542
30U E 581739 N 5961544
This plaque on the wall of a textile hall commemorates the start point for a peace march of 3000 women who tried to end the First World War.
Waymark Code: WMJWWY
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/08/2014
Views: 4
During the industrial revolution Bradford became a major textile manufacturer and was known as the 'Wool capital of the world'.
The textile mills and warehouses employed a large work force. When the First World War I started many large cities formed battalions of volunteers from the factories known as Pals Battalions.
In 1916 a major campaign in France which became known as the Battle of The Somme was the most disastrous single day ever experienced by the British army with thousands of casualties. Many of the Pals battalions were almost totally wiped out resulting in disastrous consequences for many families in the cities that had formed them.
In the case of the Bradford Pals they were told to attack the village of Serre and it was expected that there would be little resistance. Instead they were met by fire from German machine guns. By the end of the first hour of the battle, 1770 men from Bradford had either been killed or injured and no ground had been gained.
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A year later the Bradford Women’s Humanity League led a campaign to try and bring an end to the war. They organised a protest march at 2:30pm on September 9th 1917 which started from this textile hall. A total of 3000 women attended the march.
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This commemorative plaque was erected exactly 90 years later jointly by the Bradford City for Peace Group and The Bradford Peace Museum. It is on the right hand side of the entrance to the building.
Sadly the textile hall is now rather run down and houses a Pound Shop on the ground floor and a snooker hall on the top floor.