A Soldier's Life Flashcards
Why did soldiers need humour? How did it affect them?
- Important to keep good morale
- Produce lots of funny news sheets (often making fun of conman.)
How was there good comradeship between soldiers?
1) OLD BUDDIES- lots of battalions made from old buddies. Don’t want to disappoint. Post war? Many miss it.
2)Allied soldiers all over world
E.g Canada, Australia, Africa,India
Why did many soldiers respect their leaders?
- Officers went over WITH men &suffered high ☠️ rates(17% v.s 12%)
- 78 offic. 👆 brigadier-gen. we’re close enough 2 FL 2 die
Why were soldiers generally patriotic?
Most believed they were doing job 4 country &a worth doing well.
Some soldiers act. liked the risk &a thrill of war… why?
- Most were ordinary working class who never travelled => fighting? France - Africa
- Many got the impossible . Act of bravery or surviving pain/hardship
How were soldiers disciplined?
How many British soldiers were condemned and killed?
- Break rules, sleep on duty or desert posts?= COURT MARTIALLED AND COULD BE EXECUTED.
- 3,080 brits killed & 346 executed
Officers worked hard so troops could relax.. on avg . how many days could battalions spend in trenches?
10 days- a month in trenches ( including reserves).
How long would troops usually spend on v 🙅parts?
- Usually 3 days BUT major assault ? (eg battle of Somme) could be longer
What was the percentage that soldiers spent OUT OF trenches ? What would they do?
- 60% out of them
- Sightseeing,football,parties etc
How was a soldiers life expectancy impacted during the war?
- Life expectancy was in 40s 4 civilians(WC) as diseases were common.
- Army took care as much as possible so suffered less.
How were food rations for the British army?
They were better off than the French & germans.
THEY WERE 10 KILOS HEAVIER post war!!
How was the postal service for soldiers? Did they get many gifts?
- v efficient. And kept morale high
- lots of luxeries like choc, cigarettes and alcohol
