THE OUTBREAK of the First World War prompted the formation of societies and groups addressing all manner of causes, most of them driven by acts of great kindness as the public found various ways of directing their benevolence towards the country’s brave men.

One such initiative in particular, fronted by two local gentlemen, Mr F Emanuel and Mr W Saunders, hit upon the idea of taking parcels of cigarettes to the docks to provide some crumbs of comfort to the men doing their bit for King and country The initial purpose wasn’t to furnish goodwill “smokes” for the soldiers departing for the Front.

Instead, their service would concentrate on the hospital trains arriving in the docks and provide solace to the men who had been wounded and were returning home after many weary hours of travel by road and sea.

Around 3,000 cigarettes would be put into reach of the men during a single afternoon of providing the service, but with a staggering total of 23,000 cigarettes being distributed during the first week of September 1914, the initiative was still failing to keep up with demand.

One hundred years ago the pages of the Daily Echo reported: “Smokers will readily understand how grateful the men are for the taste of tobacco which soothes the jagged nerves and relieves the agony of wounds.

“The officers on the hospital trains are frankly pleased with the gifts, and they themselves will see that the men get their cigarettes.”

The success of the scheme soon led to the suggestion that pipes and small quantities of t o b a c c o could also be introduced into the scheme to meet the vast demand and provide benefit to all of the wounded men – with ideas of extending the service to include soldiers who were heading in the other direction to the battlefields of Europe.

However the enthusiastic giving of cigarettes to soldiers going to war was not shared in some quarters of Southampton.

The General Officer commanding the troops in the neighbourhood of Southampton issued a personal plea through the pages of the Daily Echo this week requesting that the civilian community refrain from throwing gifts of goodwill, such as cigarettes and apples, to the soldiers as they marched through the town.

While recognising the motives prompting a natural generosity, the General Officer was quick to point out that however well intentioned, the practice was “injurious to discipline” and appealed to Sotonians to discontinue the habit to prevent interfering with the training of troops.