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Conditions In The First World War Trenches. L.O: To know what conditions the soldiers had to endure during their stint on the front. When the war started young men were eager to join the battle and fight on the front line…. In the fight for King and country against the HUN!
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Conditions In The First World War Trenches. L.O: To know what conditions the soldiers had to endure during their stint on the front.
When the war started young men were eager to join the battle and fight on the front line…. In the fight for King and country against the HUN! This can be seen in this diary entry of Sergeant Davies.
LICE: Due to the fact that there was little fresh water in the front line, soldiers did not get a great deal of time to wash. This meant they became INFESTED with LICE and ITCH MITES. These were not only an irritation to the soldiers but they were a means of spreading diseases such as Typhoid.
GAS. Gas was first used by the Germans in the Battle of the Somme. It had DEVESTATING EFFECTS. Gas would burn The eyeballs, burn the throat, and the skin. This was what Worried soldiers. After a gas attack it would sit on the water, And burn soldiers when they went “Over The TOP”. This Would then turn to GANGRENE. This was often FATAL. Due to the poor medical provision on the front line.
These men were returning from the front after a gas attack Which blinded them all.
CONSTANT SHELLING The trenches never slept, the troops were under constant firing from the trenches often just meters away. Soldiers were constantly petrified that death was just around the corner. This fear sent many soldiers mad with SHELL SHOCK.
Rats: They were hated by the troops, they swarmed in the trenches, they gorged themselves on the ever growing supply of dead bodies. Some grew to the size of small dogs. They were also a means of spreading disease. But when the troops ran short on supplies they troops could EAT them!
Routine: The soldiers day was long and the leaders tried to fill it with daily routine. This was to break the boredom and to take their minds off the forth coming attacks.
LICE: …………………………………………………….. Gas: …………………………………………………………………………………… Shells: …………………………………………………………………………………… Routine: …………………………………………………………………………………… Rats:………………………………………
What is it? • The way the war affected the people of Britain when the soldiers were away fighting in the trenches.
Men go and join!!! • Britain only had a small army in 1914. It was clear that this was not going to be enough from the start. • A campaign was launched immediately to persuade young men to join up.
RECRUITING Patriotism. A love for your country should make you do it. ITS YOUR DUTY TO FIGHT. A spread of HATRED of GERMANY. Shame, Embarrassment: You were seen as a coward If you did not join. HEROISM. Share the GLORY Of beating Germany.
At this hour of England's peril, I hereby pledge Myself most solemnly in the name Of my king and country,
“A soldier can not function without farms, the factory worker, and all other providers behind them” (Lloyd George British prime Minister)
conscientious objectors. • Not all men wanted to join. Somme men were in no rush to get their head’s blown off. • Some men said that they could not kill another HUMAN BEING. • They quoted the 10 commandments • “Thou shall not kill”
The government insist that they do something: 6000 are sent to do “work of national Importance” 5000 were given non fighting duties in the army. 2600 were told “tough you have to join the army anyway”
1/2 • The men were arrested and taken to army barracks and ordered to put on the uniform. If they REFUSED they would be shot for refusing to follow orders. • Other conscientious objectors were sent to prison to do hard labour: breaking rocks in quarries.
Questions: What does the term the Home Front mean? What four things did Kitchener do to get people to join up? Explain what a conscientious objector was? Explain how the government deal with them? Do you think the government was right to make them fight? What would you have done with conscientious objectors?
It's A Long Way To Tipperary Sung By John McCormack • http://www.ww1photos.com/ItsALongWayToTipperary.html
What did the war mean at home? • The troops at the front needed arms and ammunitions to fight with, food, clothes and other supplies.
How the mood of the troops changed 1914 Queue of men over two miles long Lionel Fergusson Shifting morale 1916
But for Gawd sake don’t send me (1916) • http://www.ww1photos.com/ButForGawdsSakeDontSendMe.html
'When this lousy war is over' • Tune: 'What a Friend we have in Jesus' • When this lousy war is over no more soldiering for me,When I get my civvy clothes on, oh how happy I shall be.No more church parades on Sunday, no more begging for a pass.You can tell the sergeant-major to stick his passes up his arse. • (Repeat first two lines of first verse)No more NCOs to curse me, no more rotten army stew.You can tell the old cook-sergeant, to stick his stew right up his flue. • (Repeat first two lines of first verse)No more sergeants bawling, 'Pick it up' and 'Put it down'If I meet the ugly bastard I'll kick his arse all over town
Your Latin for the day • Dulce et decorum pro patria mori = an old saying meaning that ‘it is honour and delight to die for your country’. • Such were the horrors of life in the trenches many men struggled to deal with their emotions. • Of these, a great number suffered from shell-shock or mental breakdown. Many soldiers continue to suffer from this today but it is now called post traumatic stress disorder. • Afraid to express their emotions to their peers, other men turned to writing in their diaries. Some of these chose to express their feelings in poetry. After the war this poetry was collected together. It forms an outstanding collection of writing and provides valuable evidence about the impact of war on those that fought.
Dulce et decorum – (Wilfred Owen) • Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned out backs,And towards our distant rest began to trudge.Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf gas-shells dropping softly behind.Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumblingFitting the clumsy helmets just in time,But someone still was yelling out and stumblingAnd flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.--Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.In all my dreams before my helpless sightHe plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.If in some smothering dreams, you too could paceBehind the wagon that we flung him in,And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,If you could hear, at every jolt, the bloodCome gargling from the froth-corrupted lungsBitter as the cudOf vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--My friend, you would not tell with such high zestTo children ardent for some desperate glory,The old Lie: Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori.
