SPECIAL FEATURE MARKING THE START OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. MATERIAL FROM OUR ARCHIVES AND BY SUBMISSION

THIS year commemorates the centenary of a dark day in history – the outbreak of the first world war.

Britain's involvement in what became known as The Great War, began on August 4, 1914, when it declared war on Germany.

It was to be a long and bloody conflict that continued until the armistice at the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month, November 11, 1918.

But left behind was nearly five years of hell and torment which had cost the lives of millions and would take many years to heal.

Life in south Devon plodded on much as normal in the first half of 1914, but little did Britain's population know that just around the corner lay years of horror and unbelievable tragedy.

Local weekly papers carried the London News Letter but even that concentrated on the government's attempts to sort out the problem of Irish Home Rule, and there was no reference to the dangers lurking from a different direction across the English Channel that would eventually spark The Great War.