THE YMCA proved its worth during the Great War, when its branches supported rest and recreation centres for the troops, to which they could attach their names.

This was a Keighley Hut at Belton Park in Lincolnshire, a training camp for the Machine Gun Corps.

A surviving report by JK Horne Crawford, organiser of another Keighley Hut at Camiers in France, details a variety of activities. The Camiers centre comprised a large canteen, a quiet room, billiard room with three tables and concert hut “with a good stage and wings”, where lectures, cinema shows, a mid-week service and impromptu sing-songs vied with concert parties, both home-grown and from other units. Outstanding events included a Christmas pantomime and a show “managed by a well-known London pierrot entertainer”.

The billiard room was “always in great demand”, while the quiet room was used for Bible classes and French lessons. After the Armistice, more educational classes were introduced after a successful appeal for volunteer teachers.

Canteens employed female workers. A Mrs Burwin from Oakworth served for two years in a YMCA Hut in Italy.