The Wipers Times: The newspaper of the trenches
Printed in the rubble and mud of the First World War, the paper became a source of light relief against the hellscape
First hand accounts of the First World War are plentiful and often graphic. The words of the soldiers who served in the trenches have been passed down through the generations, withstanding as a reminder to the horrors of the conflict.
Newspapers were a key source of information for the public, with articles painting at least a rough picture of what life was like for those who fought. There was one publication which was far from ‘the norm’ when it came to newspapers, but it helped to boost morale in areas of the front line where it was read.
The Wipers Times was first published in 1916 by Captain Fred Roberts and Lieutenant Jack Pearson of 12th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters. Coming across a damaged printing press in the ruins of the bombed Belgian city of Ypres (which was pronounced Wipers by the many of the soldiers), they got it back up and running.
With letters and other communications becoming subject to heavy censorship during the war, The Wipers Times needed to be careful what was published, and they made this clear to readers from the off. A section of the editorial in the first edition read: “Having managed to pick up a printing outfit (slightly soiled) at a reasonable price, we have decided to produce a paper. There is much that we would like to say in it, but the shadow of censorship enveloping us causes us to refer to the war, which we hear is taking place in Europe, in a cautious manner.”
The paper gave a satirical, light hearted look at a war in which millions suffered and needed some relief. For over half of the war, it gave this relief to many soldiers across the line, and even took a swipe at journalists from back home who wrote egotistical accounts of themselves at the front.
Getting the grim truth of life in the trenches across to loved ones back home was a job left to reporters and the many famous war poets who sprang from the chaos. The Wipers Times was the soldiers’ paper, written by the troops and for the troops — both sides of which wanted a return to normality as much as possible.
You can almost picture the scene of dozens of men huddled around one individual as he reads out an article from the publication. This brief moment would have been just that, but that wouldn’t have mattered to the soldiers.
The Wipers Times changed names throughout the war to reflect the location of where it was printed. However, this was one of the few occasions where high command censorship stepped in. it then became known as The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) Times.
To many of the soldiers reading it, the paper would always have been The Wipers Times. However, it had its final and perhaps most poignant name change at the end of the war. In December 1918, just weeks after the war ended, the final edition of the paper was published. Its title? The Better Times, for all those who were involved in the war and their hopes to never return to a state of World War again.
