“War broke: and now the Winter of the world
With perishing great darkness closes in”
– from 1914 by Wilfred Owen
Winter of The World (1914) forms part of a portfolio of original engravings commissioned by the Folio Society. This engraving focuses on the shelling of the North-East coast at the start of the First World War. In particular, the engraving focuses on Hartlepool because the Headland area, which housed the Heugh Battery guns, suffered some of the worst damage, with over 1000 shells raining down on the town in 40 minutes. Consequently most houses suffered some form of damage with 130 dying in the attack. Private Theo Jones, a 27-year-old former headteacher from Leicestershire, was the first person to be killed in the bombardment and was the first soldier to die on English soil during the war. More engravings from this series can be viewed here.
I hope this work titled Winter of the World (1914) in some way helps to mark the event, the war, Wilfred Owen and the tragic loss of life – Neil Bousfield 2018
