Soldiers' attitudes to World War One
We are very grateful to Rachel Ward and
Laura Berzins for their permission to use their ideas and
materials.
The following sources relate to the
attitude of British soldiers to World War One. Ideally, they should be used
after reading Christine Counsell's article in Teaching History No. 99
('Planning' Special Issue), and the section in History, ICT and Learning:
214-5 which gives further information on how the sources were used in a
classroom context.
One of the advantages of ICT in this
exercise is that the time consuming task of finding appropriate sources to
'fit' the ideas behind the exercise has already been done by someone else. ICT
also enables us to edit and amend the sources in whatever way the teacher
thinks most appropriate, so as to be suitable for the particular group of
pupils they will be used with. Although there are 47 sources in the collection,
this can be pared down to a shorter collection if required.
As Christine Counsell suggests in her
article, there are important progression issues surrounding the use of these
sources, which focus on what questions we ask of the sources.
1. 'Towards the end of the war, we were so fed up we wouldn't
even sing 'God Save the King' in church parade. 'Never mind the King' we used
to say, he was safe enough, it should have been 'God save us'.' Private J A
Hopper |
2. 'I was up nearly all last night mending the barbed wire
entanglements in part of our trenches and this morning can hardly keep my eyes
open. There is nothing glorious in trench warfare ... And it is all for
nothing.' Second Lieutenant Roland Leighton, April 1915 |
3. 'We were happy that our country had gone to war ... We were
going to do great things for one another and for the folks at home. We were
going to win fame and glory ... We really believed that we were going to fight
for freedom, as the newspapers told us.' Officer writing to a newspaper |
4. 'The time came for us to go over ... before we were going up
over our own trenches about half of us were knocked out, killed or wounded, and
going across the meadow a lot more were killed. We laid down and tried to get
shelter. A sergeant just in front of me jumped up and said 'Come on men, be
British!'' Alan Bray, NCO, 1915 |
5. 'We saw some infantrymen down the slope in front of us. They
... looked as though they were walking in their sleep. I saw Tommy's colonel
going out to see them. 'Come on lads' I heard him say ... they took no notice
of him ... He called some of them by name 'Don't let the Regiment down'. His
voice was pleading not ordering. ... It was the first time I had seen men who
were finished.' Artillery Officer P J Campbell, 1917 |
6. 'Well we mucked in all day. Talking one thing or another. One
of the Germans said to me, in excellent English too. 'Well' he said, ... 'how
long do you think this damn war's going to last? I'm fed up to the neck.' 'Oh'
I said, 'you're not the only ones fed up ... we're up to our necks in water and
mud'. He said 'and we're the same.'' Infantryman Frank Richards, talking about
the Christmas truce 1914 |
7. 'The Battle of the Somme was a great triumph for the genius
of British leadership and command.' Colonel J H Boraston, Field Marshall Haig's
personal secretary |
8. 'I felt like laughing with the excitement of it. It was the
whole country, the whole Empire at war together.' Lieutenant Adrian Stephen |
9. 'We came out of action at 5.30 pm ... we are going to a rest
camp ... We need it very much and are to sorry to get away from Ypres ... [On]
the last day of the battle ... we lost our Major, Captain, two officers,
Sergeant Major, two sergeants and about 20 NCOs and gunners, besides 20 drivers
... A very dear price to pay, but that I suppose is war. I count myself very
lucky.' General C B Burrows November 1914 |
10. 'Our present billet is in some charming scenery; a village
in a valley surrounded by wooded hills with the many varied autumn tints on the
trees and as the sun has been brilliant yesterday and today the whole place is
beautiful ... But our time here is limited ... soon we shall be in the War
again ... I am afraid not so much for myself but for the men under me.' Second
Lieutenant Geoffrey Thurlow October 1916 |
11. 'We are in another lot of wet tents surrounded by mud and it
is very cold as usual; consequently our men, with the customary cheerfulness of
the British, are singing joyfully.' Captain E Brittain October 1917 |
12. 'We were told to walk over. Walk. Which, in itself, was
stupid. And you had to go over in a line, walking. That was the stupid idea.
But, still, we had to do what we were told.' Private Frank Lindley |
13. 'I remember thinking that if we survived, it would be a
miracle ... After a couple of hours we got into a shell-hole and there was a
youngster in it, crying. He was obviously in a state of terrible shock, he
flung himself on us and threw his arms round my neck, shouting for his mother
... My brother-in-law ... had his right leg shattered and it was removed. He
was nineteen years old.' Gunner W Lugg 1917 |
14. 'I am ... feeling thoroughly cheerful and happy, more so
than I've felt for many months past. In the first place the show is being a
success, a great success, I believe and hope. At first I was very depressed at
our losses ... so many people I have seen ... who I miss so much. But now that
there seems no doubt that [the war] is going to be a great success ... I have
the consolation that these brave men gave their lives for a successful effort
and not in a forlorn hope.' Captain L Spicer, July 1916 |
15. 'The enemy is facing a defeated enemy. Risks [with the
soldiers] may be freely taken.' General Allenby |
16. 'It achieved nothing except loss' Captain B Liddell-Hart
1917 (Passchendaele) |
17. 'While we were there some men of the Lincoln regiment came
through ... they had had a very bad time in the front line and were getting out
as quickly as they could. They were stopped by our officers and told to join
us. They weren't reluctant, they were quite happy to stay, they just hadn't
known what to do.' Private Alex Jamieson 1918 (Heudicourt valley) |
18. 'During our advance, I saw many of my colleagues killed by
German machine gun fire. I came to the conclusion that going on would be
suicidal ... Lieutenant Wallace said that we had been ordered to go on at all
costs. At this he stood up and within a few seconds dropped down riddled with
bullets ... I felt that I must do the same. I stood up and was immediately hit
by two bullets ... I am now convinced that when it comes to the crunch, nobody
has any fear at all.' Private Henry Russell 1916 |
19. 'We have heaps of gassed soldiers. I wish those who call
this a holy war could see the poor things burnt and blistered all over with
great mustard-coloured, festering blisters, with blind eyes all sticky and
glued together, always fighting for breath with voices a mere whisper, saying
their throats are closing and they will choke.' Private G Chapman (not before
1915?) |
20. 'We formed a line and walked slowly forward. We had only
gone a few yards when my mate was hit. Lines of men were just disappearing. The
Germans' machine guns fired at us like it was target practice. It was all over
in ten minutes. It was slaughter. The commanders, Haig and Rawlinson, didn't
care about us. I don't think they cared about human life.' Private G Morgan |
21. 'It was a misty morning, but this soon cleared up when the
sun came right up - lovely day it was later on. We felt tense, but this is what
we'd waited for - for a year now. To know we were at last 'going over the top'
was a sort of relief. In a way we were frightened and excited at the same
time.' Private Frank Bastable, after mid-1915 |
22. 'Whether they did this on purpose to show how lucky we were
and had nothing to fear, whether they did it to cheer us up or whether they
really thought they were correct, I don't know. But they made a huge mistake, a
wicked mistake. There's no doubt about that.' Private Russell Bradshaw, talking
about the order to walk across No Man's Land |
23. 'It is noon now, and some of them are blowing on hot tea to
cool it, or eating out of their dixies a hot stew of meat, potatoes and peas.
The day is fine and other men are asleep, basking like cats on little sunny
shelves and bunks cunningly sculptured out of the trenches' firm clay walls.
One little knot of men off duty are bending over a comic paper.' Officer C E
Montague |
24. 'We were smelly, unshaven and sleepless. My uniform was
rotten with other men's blood and partly spattered with a friend's brains. It
is horrible, but why should you people at home not know? I cannot describe the
horror. I honestly believe these men were murdered through the stupidity of the
men in charge.' Lieutenant J A Raws |
25. 'Very successful attack this morning ... All went like
clockwork ... The battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are
surrendering freely. The enemy is so short of men that he is collecting them
from all along the front line. Our men are in wonderful spirits and full of
confidence.' Field Marshall Haig, July 1st 1916 |
26. 'We saw the bombardment the Germans were getting. We thought
this was the chance to get our own back. Everyone was wildly enthusiastic. Not
many men were off sick. Nobody wanted to miss the fight.' Private Williams |
27. 'We couldn't speak, but it was an amazing show. We stood
behind the lines and watched the giant fireworks in the darkness. No one could
live through that.' Lieutenant John Parker |
28. 'I thought of all the things I liked, and all the things I
wanted to do. I told myself that it was all over but I was sick with sadness. A
rat ran down the trench. The men stabbed at it but it got away. In five minutes
I would be dead.' John Masefield |
29. 'I am writing this on the night before my first action.
Tomorrow we go to the attack in the greatest battle the British army has ever
fought. It is a great war and I am here to serve King and Country. I hope I
will have the courage and strength to lead my men well.' Lieutenant Eric Heaton |
30. 'I kept reminding the men what to do, wiping the mud off my
rifle, over and over again. Five minutes to go ...' R H Tawney, NCO |
31. 'Our High Command had not advanced beyond the tactics of the
Stone Age. They could not think of any other form of warfare, except to throw
into battle large numbers of men month after month.' Infantryman Lovatt Fraser |
32. 'Four of us were talking and laughing in the road when about
a dozen bullets came with a whistle. We all dived for the nearest door ... and
fell over each other, yelling with laughter ... I adore war. It's just like a
big picnic ... I've never been so well or so happy.' Captain Julian Grenfell,
October 1914 |
33. 'One day towards the middle of the month we heard away
across the other side of our camp boundary the old familiar sound of bugles on
the march. Later we heard it was a unit marching to the railway station on
route to the Front. There were many light infantry units in the army but we
know that there was a chance that it was our own 3rd Battalion. How we wished
we were going too! Bandsman H V Shawyer 1914 |
34. 'We were happy that our country had gone to war ... We were
going to do great things for one another and for the folks at home. We were
going to win fame and glory ... We really believed that we were going to fight
for freedom, as the newspapers told us.' Officer writing to a newspaper |
35. 'The time came for us to go over ... before we were going up
over our own trenches about half of us were knocked out, killed or wounded, and
going across the meadow a lot more were killed. We laid down and tried to get
shelter. A sergeant just in front of me jumped up and said 'Come on men, be
British!'' Alan Bray, NCO, 1915 |
36. 'We came out of action at 5.30 pm ... we are going to a rest
camp ... We need it very much and are to sorry to get away from Ypres ... [On]
the last day of the battle ... we lost our Major, Captain, two officers,
Sergeant Major, two sergeants and about 20 NCOs and gunners, besides 20 drivers
... A very dear price to pay, but that I suppose is war. I count myself very
lucky.' General C B Burrows November 1914 |
37. 'Our present billet is in some charming scenery; a village
in a valley surrounded by wooded hills with the many varied autumn tints on the
trees and as the sun has been brilliant yesterday and today the whole place is
beautiful ... But our time here is limited ... soon we shall be in the War
again ... I am afraid not so much for myself but for the men under me.' Second
Lieutenant Geoffrey Thurlow October 1916 |
38. 'We are in another lot of wet tents surrounded by mud and it
is very cold as usual; consequently our men, with the customary cheerfulness of
the British, are singing joyfully.' Captain E Brittain October 1917 |
39. 'We were told to walk over. Walk. Which, in itself, was
stupid. And you had to go over in a line, walking. That was the stupid idea.
But, still, we had to do what we were told.' Private Frank Lindley |
40. 'We saw the bombardment the Germans were getting. We thought
this was the chance to get our own back. Everyone was wildly enthusiastic. Not
many men were off sick. Nobody wanted to miss the fight.' Private Williams |
41. 'Towards the end of the war, we were so fed up we wouldn't
even sing 'God Save the King' in church parade. 'Never mind the King' we used
to say, he was safe enough, it should have been 'God save us'.' Private J A
Hopper |
42. 'We have heaps of gassed soldiers. I wish those who call
this a holy war could see the poor things burnt and blistered all over with
great mustard-coloured, festering blisters, with blind eyes all sticky and
glued together, always fighting for breath with voices a mere whisper, saying
their throats are closing and they will choke.' Private G Chapman (not before
1915?) |
43. 'It was a misty morning, but this soon cleared up when the
sun came right up - lovely day it was later on. We felt tense, but this is what
we'd waited for - for a year now. To know we were at last 'going over the top'
was a sort of relief. In a way we were frightened and excited at the same
time.' Private Frank Bastable, after mid-1915 |
44. 'We were smelly, unshaven and sleepless. My uniform was
rotten with other men's blood and partly spattered with a friend's brains. It
is horrible, but why should you people at home not know? I cannot describe the
horror. I honestly believe these men were murdered through the stupidity of the
men in charge.' Lieutenant J A Raws |
45. 'We formed a line and walked slowly forward. We had only
gone a few yards when my mate was hit. Lines of men were just disappearing. The
Germans' machine guns fired at us like it was target practice. It was all over
in ten minutes. It was slaughter. The commanders, Haig and Rawlinson, didn't
care about us. I don't think they cared about human life.' Private G Morgan |
46. 'Very successful attack this morning ... All went like
clockwork ... The battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are
surrendering freely. The enemy is so short of men that he is collecting them
from all along the front line. Our men are in wonderful spirits and full of
confidence.' Field Marshall Haig, July 1st 1916 |
47. 'I am ... feeling thoroughly cheerful and happy, more so
than I've felt for many months past. In the first place the show is being a
success, a great success, I believe and hope. At first I was very depressed at
our losses ... so many people I have seen ... who I miss so much. But now that
there seems no doubt that [the war] is going to be a great success ... I have
the consolation that these brave men gave their lives for a successful effort
and not in a forlorn hope.' Captain L Spicer, July 1916 |
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