Great War Archives in Special Collections, University of Bradford

1. Priestley’s War

J.B. Priestley served in the British army in the Great War from 1914-1919, volunteering for the Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment. He was wounded three times, and later became an officer. His experiences in the War had a profound effect on his life and writings. All his childhood friends from Bradford were killed. Although he wrote little directly about it until the unforgettable dreamlike middle section of Margin Released (1962), the experiences underlies his later writings about war, the bomb, and 1930s social conditions.

The J.B. Priestley Archive includes:

·  Priestley’s letters home from the camps in the South-east and from the Front (not yet catalogued, text published in “Priestley’s Wars”).

·  Photographs of Priestley in uniform, in a convalescent concert party, with officers, men and German prisoners (PRI 21/2 Photographs – Army).

·  Priestley’s personal documents from the time (PRI 14/5).

·  Letters received by Priestley from readers and listeners, many of which relate to WW1 service. Those responding to the serialisation of Margin Released are particularly interesting. (PRI 17).

To see the full handlist:

http://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/special/priestley.php

2. Other archives

Most archives held in Special Collections are post-WW1 in date. However, many concern individuals who experienced and were deeply influenced by the Great War . Some became conscientious objectors, or later campaigned for peace.

Relevant archives include:

·  Many of the Commonweal Archives (Cwl ...).

·  The Peart-Binns Episcopal Biography Archive (PEB).

·  Bradford Technical College Archive (BTC).

·  The David Mitchell Archive of Military Non-conformity (MIS).

·  The Peart-Binns Christian Socialist Archive (PEA).

·  The Arthur Raistrick Archive (RAI).

We also have relevant rare pamphlets, newspapers, and ephemera, particularly relating to peace campaigning post-WW1.

Alison Cullingford

Special Collections, J.B. Priestley Library, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP.

01274 235256

http://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/special