Scots on the Western Front Flashcards
Why did men volunteer to join the army? (7 reasons)
White feather campaign
Pals Battalions
Propaganda posters
Excitement
Provided a job and a wage (kings shilling)
Adventure and travel
Short war (war over by Xmas)
The parts of the trench? (7 things)
Sandbags- absorbs water, prevents flooding and support
Barbed wire- protection from energy soldiers
Parapet- top of trench and to lean on to fire
Ammunition shelf- where ammunition is stored
Fire step- to increase height to fire
Duck boards- to stop soldiers falling and drowning in mud
Dug out- where soldiers rested
Life in the trenches?
- Trench foot- feet swell massively and go 2
numb, skin would peel off when boots were removed and sometimes amputated, caused by ill fitting boots and living in wet conditions. - Boredom- soldiers spent lots of time doing nothing so they got bored.
- Shell shock- it is when soldiers are badly traumatised by war, symptoms; anxiety, nightmares, sickness, blindness and deafness.
- Lice- very common, men in front-line trenches rarely washed, they nested in plaits of Scottish kilts, trench fever was passed between soldiers easily because of body lice, causing; high fevers, headaches, aching muscles and sores.
- Rats- trenches were infested, fed on rotting carcasses and no cats to eat them, rats grew huge, men spent night hunting them.
- Food- strict rations in trenches, shortage of food in Britain due to war, designed to give soldiers vitamins etc, tasted awful.
Technologies of war (8)
- Tanks- Tracked, armoured vehicles armed with machine guns and/or cannons, they were used to attack trenches on the first used by Brits, major fire power very poor conditions inside
- Machine guns- A type of gun that had a very quick fire (600 round/min) which needs several men to operator, could shoot down lots of men at once.
- Poison gas – used to knock out or kill enemies, e.g. Chlorine – burned lungs and drowned you, mustard – blistering and used to cause fear and tear gas. It sticks to ground, could clear any before positions, depending on whether.
- Barbed wire – very sharp twisted strands of wire which were used to keep enemies out of trenches and to create barriers however it made it harder to cross No Mans Land.
- Rifles – very common weapon, rifle used by Scots was Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle MK III, very accurate, wide firing range and could fix a bayonet to them.
- Grenades – small explosive device thrown to cause burst and shrapnel damage to enemies, could be thrown from undercover.
- Artillery – large calibre weapons capable of direct or indirect damage, destroy the enemy trenches but also No mans land.
- Aircraft – could travel 100 mph and used for observation, they are made of canvas stretched over a wooden frame, and armed with machine guns.
Military tactics (6/10)?
- Tunnelling – tunnels dug under no man land, mines placed under enemy defensive positions to destroy them, couldn’t advance towards enemy, underground fights occurred.
- Over the top – four companies of men climbed out of trenches in advance towards enemy in attempt to overwhelm them, men were only armed with rifles and bayonet, caused casualties, boggy so easy target.
- Artillery barrage – lots of shells launched at once, caused huge damage, obliterated enemy position so easier to attack.
Box barrage: fire aimed at a target area to prevent enemy sending in reinforcements
Pinpoint barrage: attempt to wipe out a machine-gun post or deadly sniper
Search barrage: using reports from aerial observers and spies on the ground to destroy important targets such as enemy headquarters, animation shelves
Counter-battery barrage: artillery fire target against enemy guns - Creeping barrage – artillery barrage moving forward across the battlefield, soldiers then advance protected by explosions
- Preliminary bombardment – bombard enemy defence before sending an infantry, bombardment would either kill soldiers or force them to retreat, Germans knew how it works you could prepare
- Poison gas
The battle of loos why
It was on the 25th and the 28th of September 1915
Lord Kitchener wanted to launch early attacked distract the Germans so the French could attack later
General Douglas haig was extremely concerned and knew the battlefield at Loos was extremely flat and his men would have no cover from machine-gun fire
chlorine gas was used for the first time which cause burning of eyes nose throat and lungs and eventually death
Eventually to keep the French happy that we attack must happen
The battle of Loos Early Stages
For days before the battle of the British launched at German trenches which proved to be ineffective
On the first of the back of the British gas attack backfired: the wind blew the gas back in their faces and the 10th highlanders were badly affected.
piper Daniel Laidlaw
Battle of Somme The Plan
Half of the summer 1916 – it was agreed General Haig would lead a British of friends around the river somme- he devised a plan:
1. Artillery bombardment of German trenches
2. Enemy defences (barbed wire and artillery) were destroyed
3. Attacking troops would walk across no man’s land
4. Soldiers would rebuild the German trenches and make their own
5. British Calvary would charge the gaps in German line
Tanks were also used for the first time
Battle of Somme- what actually happened
Low cloud and mist reduced aerial spotting
Villages were destroyed but the defences weren’t
Shelling did not cut wire as many were duds
German trenches partly destroyed the soldiers were not killed
Germans had in-depth dugout and artillery was not destroyed
British troops got killed on no man’s land
Battle of Somme in statistics
1.6 million shells with buyers during the British bombardment
400,000 lbs of explosives were detonated under German machine guns
Over 57,000 British soldiers were killed on the first day
Over 1 million total deaths
600,000 British and French soldiers were killed
British gain 6 miles
Out of 21,000 dead one third with Scottish almost every time in Scotland was affected
