1941: On this day, 814 20-year-old city girls responded to their call-up papers - although some forgot their registration card! Many of the girls had come with their mothers, while others had their boyfriends for company. Some are described as arriving 'with an army escort on either side'. Quite a few perambulators are also recorded as being parked outside the building. (Gray, David, Peterborough at War 1939-1945, David Gray, 2011)
Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.
The 1918 influenza pandemic also known as Spanish flu, was a deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people around the world killing 50 million but possibly as many as 100 million people. It was one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. Where it originated is unclear but it certainly spread to Britain from France with returning soldiers, with Peterborough suffering as much as the rest of the country.
The name Spanish flu arose because Spain, being neutral in the First World War, did not censor the news to maintain wartime morale, so the epidemic’s effects were freely reported, falsely making it appear that Spain was particularly hard hit.
This particular pandemic had a very high mortality rate because of several factors including malnutrition due to the war, overcrowding in hospitals, lack of hygiene and the movement of troops all around the world. The pandemic also came in 2 waves, the first in the spring of 1918 producing a more usual ‘Three Day Fever’ followed by recovery except in the very vulnerable, the very old and very young, but the second wave, peaking in October 1918, was more virulent and targeted particularly young adults; nearly half of all deaths were people aged between twenty and forty years.
By the summer of 1919, the flu pandemic came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed immunity.
References:
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed The World, Spinney, Laura. Vintage 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
Images (in the Public Domain)
A chart of deaths in major cities, showing a peak in October and November 1918
On 23 March 2020, Boris Johnson the Prime Minister announced a 'Stay at Home' order in response to the world wide corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this order, publicised with the phrase Stay at Home, Protect NHS, Save lives, the UK public was told that they were only allowed to leave their homes for limited reasons, including food shopping, exercise once per day, medical need and travelling for work when absolutely necessary. Schools were shut to pupils, exceptions made only for vulnerable children and the children of essential workers.
Image: Center for Disease Control, USA. In public domain
On 5 November 2020 a lockdown of England occurred to combat the second wave of COVID-19, a disease caused by a Corona virus, which caused a worldwide pandemic. This lockdown was less stringent than the one in March 2020:
The lockdown was set to end on 2 December 2020
Image: Center for Disease Control, USA. In public domain
References: Multiple, including The BBC News and The Peterborough Telegraph.
On 5 November 2020 a lockdown of England occurred to combat the second w…