KEIGHLEY features heavily in a new book about Yorkshire people’s experiences of life during the First World War.

Yorkshire’s War uses first-hand accounts to paint a comprehensive picture of life both on the frontline and back home.

The £14.99 paperback is written by Tim Lynch, from Barnsley, who specialises in military and social history.

Mr Lynch gives a detailed account of the riots against German businesses in Keighley, soon after the war started in 1914.

He tells how a drunken man called Kelly brought a gang of friends back to a German-owned butchers’ shop following an argument over the price of a Polony sausage.

The windows were smashed, and the following night police reinforcements had to be drafted in from neighbouring towns as 1,000 people gathered to set the shop on fire.

Other pork butchers were attacked, despite their owners being naturalised British citizens, and the looting spread to jewellers, bookmakers and the home of Keighley business mogul Sir Prince Smith.

Mr Lynch’s book follows the progress of the war chronologically, looking at its effects on ordinary people over four years, telling the story through the use of never-before-published diaries and letters.

Mr Lynch tells how in the battles of 1916 Yorkshire provided 25 battalions, the largest contingent from any county across the UK, and as a result paid one of the heaviest prices.

Two months later, as the families back in England mourned their dead, Zeppelin bombers brought the war closer to home.

In the book Eva Lynch, who worked at the Kings Head in Keighley, recalls how local soft drinks firm Hoyle’s sold pop that looked like beer, in response to limits on alcohol.

Mr Lynch tells how police and soldiers began raiding railway stations, cinemas and football grounds to round-up men of military age.

In one round-up, 150 men were arrested while watching the film Little Marie at the Cosy Corner Picture House, Keighley, although most turned out to be exempted munitions workers.

Mr Lynch also tells how local men with German ancestry fought for the British, including Cononley man Norman Muller, who died leaving leading his troops into battle in 1918.

Yorkshire’s War, part of the Voices of the First World War series, is published by Amberley Publishing.

Visit amberley-books.com for further information.