The Wipers Times, Birmingham REP - review

The centenary of the First World War Armistice is fast approaching, and cities, towns and smaller communities throughout the country are putting together events which for many will be a final reminder of the occasion as indeed there are many groups that claim there are no survivors now left at all.

The Wipers Times is based on a very small part of that war and relates the history of the production of a small newspaper in the Ypres area of the Western Front.

It was called Wipers because the British troops had difficulty pronouncing the French part of the title.

In 1916 Captain Roberts, Lieutenant Pearson, Sergeant Harris and a group of soldiers from the Sherwood Foresters came across an abandoned printing press near the town of Ypres.

WATCH a trailer for the show here:

There was a small supply of printing materials - enough to start producing a run of about 100 copies or so which they did on a bi-monthly basis for the next two years.

It was not so much a newspaper, more a collection of jokes and by turns it was subversive, mawkish, groaningly punny and incredibly funny.

It satirised the press and poked fun at the high command so much so there were moves to have the paper shut and the editorial staff court-martialed.

It should be remembered that the army in 1914 was made up of legendary line regiments, but you needed to have gone to a public school to get into these.

There were regiments which took school-teachers and the like because they had son of the right leadership skills, and old rankers who knew the ropes could also be given commissions.

The General Staff, once it became clear that the war was going to become dominated by trench warfare, made their headquarters in the freshly-laundered comfort of the beautiful chateaux near Montreuil-sur-Mer, where the only real concern was a continuing supply of quails’ eggs and champagne.

The British High Command was renowned for the excellence of its wine cellars.

It was therefore not surprising that the chief War Lords were not universally loved by their troops.

Indeed, General Haigh acquired his nickname “The Butcher” not because of the effect his policies had on the enemy troops but mainly because of the deadly effects on his own, of which nearly one million died and two million were wounded.

If you think the soldiers were badly treated the figures for equine injuries were even more horrifying.

Some eight million horses were used in the four years of the war, but only 62 000 of them returned home, the rest dying of wounds, disease, dehydration exposure and overwork.

Life on the front line was both dangerous and boring.

Apart from having to cope with trench foot, trench livers and rat-infested accommodation, there were also artillery shells, chlorine and mustard gas shells and snipers to contend with.

No wonder that the gallows humour of the Wipers Times proved so popular.

And if that weren’t enough the pair of Roberts and Pearson set up a pub called the Foresters’ Arms near the front line.

Some of the senior officers thought that these two could not possibly considered as good role models for their men - until it was pointed out to them the Roberts and Pearson had both received the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and the latter also being awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Their part in history may well have gone unrecorded except for writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, who worked for many years to get the BBC to produce the story as a television film in 2014, winning the Best Single Drama award that year.

Caroline Leslie’s production catches some of the poignancy created in war situations and the futility of war is well presented as the characters remark how familiar the scenery is, having moved just ten yards sideways in six months.

It may not have the buzz of a Ben Elton Script, or the social dynamics of Black Adder, but is still a thoroughly good piece of journalistic theatre.

By Jerald Smith

• Wipers Times can be seen until October 13