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By the end of July the great German offensive had failed and it was now the turn of the Allies to attack.
As the Allied offensive ground on, there was a realisation in Germany that the possibility of defeat was now very real and attempts were made to sue for peace.
'On Sunday last fitting reference was made in all the local churches to the war, and intercession made for the victory of the Allies and a speedy and just peace.'
For a change, the news from the front was good and it was clear that the Allies were indeed heading for victory. Yet that victory could still be lost.
At the Picture House on Monday evening, September 9th, Mr Borland, President of the local War Savings Association read a message from the Prime Minister to the nation.
'The message which I send to the people of the British Empire on the fourth anniversary of their entry into the war is 'Hold Fast'.'
'We are in this war for no selfish ends. We are in it to recover freedom for the nations which have been brutally attacked and despoiled and prove that no people, however powerful, can surrender itself to the lawless ambitions of militarism without meeting retribution, swift, certain, and disastrous, at the hands of the free nations of the world. to stop short of Victory for the cause would be to compromise the future of mankind.'
'I say 'Hold Fast' because our prospects of Victory have never been so bright as they are today. Six months ago the rulers of Germany deliberately rejected the just and reasonable settlement proposed by the Allies. ... but the battle is not yet won. The great autocracy of Prussia will still endeavour by violence or guile to avoid defeat and so give militarism a new lease of life. We cannot seek to escape the horrors of war for ourselves, by laying them up for our children. Having set our hands to the task we must see it through till a just and lasting settlement is achieved.'
'In no other way can we ensure a world set free from war.'
HOLD FAST. D Lloyd George. 4th August 1918.
The Advertiser re-enforced this message a week later.
'An army and its generals may win battles, but only a nation itself can be victorious in war...The brilliant successes of the past few days in
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