The Wipers Times
What was the Wipers Times?
The Wipers Times was a First World War trench newspaper. It was created by members of the 12th Battalion (Pioneers) The Sherwood Foresters. The paper provided light relief for the soldiers who were fighting on the Western Front. The paper was shared between the soldiers many times.
A damaged printing press was found in amongest the rubble of Ypres, known as Wipers to the soldiers. The press was restored by Sergeant George Turner of the 12th Battalion, a printer in civialian life. Publication of the paper began started. Captain Roberts, as editor and Lieutenant Pearson named as sub editor.
The first edition was printed on Saturday 12th February 1916. 100 copies were snapped up. The print runs were small and the newspaper passed around the trenches and often read out loud. Due to the Battalion being moved around, the name of the paper changed to the location where the Battalion was based. For instance it has the of ‘the Somme Times’ and ‘B.E.F Times’
