FWW Life in the Trenches Flashcards
1
Q
Quality of food
A
- regular rations, hot meal at least once a week
- boosted morale/something to look forwards to
- promised 1lb meat per day/generous veg amount
- daily rations - biscuits, corned beef, jam, tea
- meal times allow camaraderie and bonding
- Navy ensured regular supply
2
Q
post and parcels
A
- busy
- hard to sort - postal service had to find which reg/part of cycle the solider was it
- 12 million letters to Western Front weekly!
- chocolate and pictures
- good for moral - connection to home to remind them what they are fighting for
- regular and sophisticated
- could get in touch every couple of weeks
- Royal Mail and Royal Navy did exceptional job
3
Q
discipline
A
- punishment different now - Cardwell for rid of branding, whipping, flogging etc…
- punishment 1 and 2
- harsher punishment was court martialled
- punishment 1 - visible symbol
- punishment 2 - making an example of/made life more difficult
- fined - lose some rest days
- in general - respect between the soldiers and the rules
4
Q
what were field punishment one and two
A
- 1 - tied to fixed object and made to stand there for up to 2 hours - used 60,210 times
- 2 - prisoner handcuffed but still expected to carry out duty - tolerable
5
Q
why was punishment not as harsh as it could have been
A
- aware the soldiers are already going through hell and a lot of the men were volunteers who hadn’t got used to these minor offenses yet like not polishing their buttons properly
- army understanding of the challenges faced
6
Q
discuss the court marshalling for a serious offense of breaking of rules
A
- 238,000 held - 3,080 resulted in sentence of execution but only 332 actually executed
- can’t afford to lose the men so just scare them
7
Q
leave
A
- every year and a bit - 15 months
- 3-5 days at home - not a lot because they need the men in the Western Front
- can’t go home on your two weeks rest for the most part unless your leave is coming up
- short period to make the 28 day cycle work
- officers got leave every 3 months - they did have a hard job to do and weren’t ungrateful aristocrats - risked their lives for their men
- French did not allow any leave periods until after the mutiny in 1917 even though they’re in their own country and leave would have been much easier
8
Q
entertainment
A
- quite a lot to do on the rest periods - sing, dance, sport, cards
- women in the bars behind the trench lines if you had money for a bit of cheeky fun wink wink
- have a laugh
- read
9
Q
black humour
A
- making light of and a joke about the situation
- dark humour
- form of defence to keep you sane
- some soldiers came across an abandoned printing press and began to make a paper called the Wipers Times
- small weekly document of black humours to give everyone a laugh
- realise you’re not the only one struggling
- criticisms about Haig in it but it was allowed as it kept morale up and showed Haig was only human
- allow people to see him as real
- gets there having a tough time and has empathy for men
- reduce hate towards him
- he was resented for some of his tough calls
10
Q
sport
A
- football, wrestling, fighting, rugby, tug of war, strength competitions
- get testosterone flowing and forget about things for a bit
- good for morale and togetherness
11
Q
acceptance of hierarchy and authority
A
good degree of togetherness between the officers and rank and file
- officers actually cared for the men
- CLASS LEVELLING made the war work
- the officers would lead men into battle and risk their lives to save them
- men ate before officers
- v different dynamic to previous wars
- created trust
- the French didn’t have this
12
Q
discuss CLASS LEVELLING
A
- paternal instinct from officer so different to Crimea
- French wars - officers aristocrats - men scum of the earth - same in Crimea - men just criminals and convicts
- Boer less but still got Buller/Kitchener - elite people compared to civilian volunteers
