Item Detail
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30054
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0
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2
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English
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British Latter-day Saints in the Great War, 1914-1918
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Journal of Mormon History
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July 2018
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44
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3
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Champaign, IL
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University of Illinois Press; Mormon History Association
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70-88
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Joseph Smith assigned the first missionaries to labour in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1837. Over the next eighty years, tens of thousands were baptised across the country. Most emigrated to America. After many decades of migration, President Joseph F. Smith encouraged members to remain in their own countries. As a result, Church membership in the UK was approaching a total of six thousand at the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. By this point, some families had been in the Church for two or more generations.
These Latter-day Saints were scattered throughout the UK in thirteen conferences. As in other areas, they depended on missionaries to operate local congregations. When world events prevented Americans from travelling, local members were forced to depend on
themselves to operate the Church. This article examines how British Saints supported the war effort during the Great War of 1914 to 1918 (often referred to as World War I or the First World War). Whilst many LDS men were called upon to serve in the military, men and women also supported the soldiers and the war efforts on the home front. During the war, many members remained true to their convictions by
living the standards of the Church, maintaining Church programs, and continuing with missionary efforts.
The major source for understanding the Church in the UK is the Millennial Star, a periodical that was launched by Elder Parley P. Pratt in 1840. Throughout the war, the Star reported on the activities of local branches and districts and missionary programs. It also shared the experiences and testimonies of Church members serving in the military. Many of the editors were American missionaries assigned to its Liverpool office. Based on the Star, I have identified sixty-two
British LDS soldiers who died during military service. The periodical gives significant personal detail about these casualties including birth and death information and LDS ordinance dates such as baptisms and ordinations to the priesthood. To augment the understanding
of these men and their sacrifices, I use socioeconomic information from the 1911 censuses and military data from the Commonwealth War Grave Commission database for additional context.
[Author's Introduction]