Case Study : WW1

Question 1

When and what happened during the first battle of Ypres

Answer 1

October-November 1914. The British try to stop Germany from capturing ports, so equipment could keep arriving. By end of 1914 trenches stretch from channel to Switzerland. Calais defended and German army now surrounded Ypres and 50,000 Great British soldiers died

Question 2

What happened and when was the Second Battle of Ypres

Answer 2

April-May 1915. Chlorine gas used for first time by Germans and they fail to capture Ypres.
35,000 German casualties and 60,000 allied casualties Germany advanced two miles

Question 3

When and what were the Gallipolli Landings

Answer 3

August 1915 GB, AUS and NZ forces land at Gallipolli in Turkey to defeat them and the plan fails and results in high casualties.

Question 4

When and what was the Battle of Verdun

Answer 4

Feb-Dec 1916 - German forces attacked French army of Verdun. The French held out and 160,000 soldiers were killed.

Question 5

When was and what happened during the Battle of the Somme

Answer 5

July-November 1916 - British try to force Germany out of Verdun to Somme to relieve pressures on French army . 60,000 GB casualties on the first day and over 400,000 overall. 5 miles of land gained and pressure relieved.

Question 6

When did the US enter the war

Answer 6

August 1917

Question 7

When and what was the Battle of Arras

Answer 7

April - May 1917 - Allies large scale attack, some ground captured and high casualties. (100,000 GB died and advanced 8 miles)

Question 8

When and what was Third Battle of Ypres

Answer 8

July-Nov 1917 - Trying to capture Passchendaele but German defences too strong and heavy rain. 245,000 casualties and ridge captured.

Question 9

When and what was Battle of Cambrai

Answer 9

Nov-December 1917 - Large number of tanks used for first time to attack German trenches after initial success (500 tanks easily moved across barbed wire), forced back and 40,000 GB casualties. Progress made and artillery barrage was changed so Germans given less warning

Question 10

When and what was German Spring Offensive

Answer 10

Spring 1918 - Germany launch attack over 50 mile front to try bring war to end before US soldiers arrived and supplies run out.
Started successful with 200,000 British casualties but could not break through

Question 11

What were the final months of the war like?

Answer 11

New US troops helped allies breakthrough German lines and pushed back army. Germany ran out of resources and the war ended

Question 12

What is the BEF

Answer 12

British Expeditionary Force - trained permanent army

Question 13

Outline Ypres

Answer 13

-Most direct route to Calais and Dunkirk
-Germans had land overlooking it so could fire down + see allied troops (Hill 60 and Passchendaele)
-GB Lowlying land easily waterlogged and shell fire churned up wet ground.
-By 3rd battle of Ypres drainage systems had mostly been destroyed by shell fire and rainfall

Question 14

Outline the Arras sector

Answer 14

-Soldiers from GB and NZ dug tunnels beneath ground of Arras
-Chalky earth made tunnelling easy
-Rooms made with running water and electricity
-Accommodation for soldiers, hospital with 700 beds and operating theatres
-Tunnels used for shelter from artillery fire
-April 1917 the tunnels hid 24000 troops before battle of arras

Question 15

Role of stretcher bearers

Answer 15

-Recovering the dead and wounded
-Carried bandages and morphine and other medical supplies

Question 16

Difficulties stretcher bearers faced

Answer 16

-Had to deal with mud, shell-craters and crowded twisted trenches
-Only 16 bearers per battalion which could be up to 1000 men
-Took 4 men to carry one stretcher bearer

Question 17

Location of the regimental aid post

Answer 17

-Close to frontline
-Could be a dugout, ruined buildings or behind a wall

Question 18

Role and problems of Regimental Medical Officer

Answer 18

-Had to distinguish between lightly injured and seriously wounded.
-Would bandage light wounds and send men back into action.
-Often under fire/poorly lit conditions. Only 1 officer per battalion.

Question 19

Location of Ambulance and Dressing stations

Answer 19

-Large mobile medical unit between 1/4 and 1 mile behind front line.
-could only deal with 150 men

Question 20

Job of Field and Ambulance staff

Answer 20

-Set up dressing stations in tents or derelict buildings .
-Received sounded soldiers from RAP and sorted them

Question 21

What is the Triage system

Answer 21

-Where soldiers were sorted into less and more serious cases

Question 22

Casualty Clearing Station location

Answer 22

-7-12 miles away from the fighting in a series of large tents or huts

Question 23

Staff and facilities at CCS

Answer 23

-Around 7 doctors with nursing + other staff
-Operating theatre, mobile x-ray machines, kitchens, toilets wards with beds for 50 men and accommodation for staff.

Question 24

Triage in CCS

Answer 24

-Divided into 3 groups
1. Walking wounded
2. Those in need of hospital treatment
3. So severely wounded no chance of recovery

Question 25

Number of casualty difficulties in CCS

Answer 25

Could deal with 1000 casualties but in first 2 years would have more to deal with

Question 26

Location of base hospitals and transport

Answer 26

-Near railways so could be moved quickly
-Arrived by train, ambulance or even on barges in the canal

Question 27

Facilities and role of base hospitals

Answer 27

-Operating theatres, labs, x-rays, special centres that could treat things like gas poisoning
-Specialised wards so doctors could become experts in a specific thing

Question 28

Why was the chain of evacuation better in 1918 than 1914

Answer 28

-Higher number of casualties than expected
-No motor ambulances

Question 29

Highlight some improvements in the chain of evacuation

Answer 29

-450 motor ambulances arrived in France in November 1914
-7,000 from 3 days during Arras, successfully treated using chain of evacuation.
-Meant 67% of casualties could be treated and return to fight

Question 30

Royal Army Medical Corps

Answer 30

-Ambulance driving, stretcher bearers and doctors
-Kept men healthy through good sanitation as well as treating the wounded and sick

Question 31

How did the RAMC cope with the scale of the war

Answer 31

-The age doctors could serve abroad raised to 45
-Had to learn about wounds they had never seen before in different/new conditions
-Had 9000 men in 1914 that increased x12 to 113,000 by 1918

Question 32

Queen Alexandra’s Nurses

Answer 32

• 300 in late 1914 but 10,000 by end of war
  -From professional nursing in operating theatres to cooking, washing clothes and scrubbing

Question 33

Volunteer Aid Detachment

Answer 33

-Mainly middle/upper class women with little work experience pre-war
-Started cooking cleaning and scrubbing
-By 1917 they were changing dressings and given painkillers

Question 34

First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

Answer 34

-Founded in 1907 by wounded soldier in Sudan
-Britain recruited them in 1916
-One unit ran the Calais ambulances with 22 drivers and 12 ambulances.
- Carried supplies to frontline, drove motorised kitchens and bath vehicles which could bathe 40 men an hour

Question 35

Why was the RAMC and nurses work difficult

Answer 35

-New wounds
-Number of casualties ; 60,000 British casualty in battle of Somme and only 174 medical officers treating the casualties
- Terrain/working conditions

Question 36

What happened during the mines at Hill 60 - April 1916

Answer 36

GB gained high strategic ground after blowing top off of Hill 60, so they can see approaching enemy troops

Question 37

Outline 4 features of trench conditions

Answer 37

-Narrow so you are protected from shrapnel blasts
-Duckboards to keep soldiers feet dry to prevent diseases
-Hygiene of soldiers to prevent deaths from disease
-Common diseases include, gangrene, dysentery and trench foot

Question 38

What was the communication trench?

Answer 38

Ran between the other trenches linking firing line with the command, upper and reserve lines

Question 39

What was the front line trench and how much times did soldiers spend here

Answer 39

This is where attack would be made from and the soldiers spent around 15% of their time here.

Question 40

What was the support trench?

Answer 40

80m behind the frontline trench troops would retreat if the frontline was under attack, and only 10% of soldiers time was spent herr

Question 41

What was the reserve trench

Answer 41

At least 100m behind the support trench where reserve troops could be mobilised for counter attacks. Around 30% of time spent here.

Question 42

What shape were the trenches built into and why

Answer 42

In a zigzag pattern so if someone gets in artillery blasts are limited