13th November 1916

[Flyby PC]

Today in 1916, short story author Hector Hugh Munro (pen name Saki) was killed by a sniper during the Battle of Ancre, last phase in the first Battle of the Somme.

 

He wasn't the most famous author, but amongst his works he wrote "When William Came" in 1913, a ficticious story set in the future when London and the British Isles had been successfully invaded by Germany.

 

Intended focus the mind during the growing pre-war tensions, it predicted WW1, and British life under occupation. It's probably more interesting for what it is, rather than the text itself.

 

The film "Riddle of the Sands" was on UK TV a couple of days ago, and it too was a pre-war (1903) fiction written by Robert Erskine, and although it was a childrens adventure story, it too predicted WW1.

 

Strikes me the turn of the Century must have been not unlike the Cold War, with life under perpetual threat of war. Perhaps the enthusiasm of 1914 had been something of a relief, to actually 'get on with it'.