History Detectives Case File no.10: The First World War

World War One 1914-1918

HISTORY DETECTIVES CASE FILE NUMBER:

"We shall remember them"

10

November 11th is Armistice Day. This marks the day that fighting stopped and ended the First World War for most soldiers. In this Case File we find out all about the First World War, what life was like for soldiers in the trenches, and explore how life changed for those at home. We will also discover how we remember those who died in the First World War and other conflicts around the world.

Talk about it!

War can be a difficult subject to read about.

In this Case File you might read about things that make you sad, angry, or worried.

It is important that you talk about how you feel with someone else.

This Case File also talks about men a lot. That is because it was men and boys (the youngest was 12!) who went and fought on the front line. Millions of them never came home again.

Women were also vital to the war effort as Fundraisers, Doctors, Nurses and Ambulance Drivers, Munition Workers (making bombs and amunition) as well as many other jobs that they had to take over from the men. The Salvation Army, the Red Cross and many other organisations depended on thousands of female volunteers.

why it started

A series of events led to the outbreak of war in 1914.

In June 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot and killed in Bosnia by a Serb student.

At that time, Russia was friends with Serbia, and Austria was friends with Bosnia.

The Russians thought Austria might invade Serbia, to get them back for the shooting, so they decided they had better invade Austria first - just in case!

Austria was friends with Germany, so Germany thought it should attack Russia to help its friend out. But if Germany was busy attacking Russia it would leave itself undefended on the other side. So, if Germany attacked Russia, then it would also have to attack France, who they were meant to be friends with!

If France was invaded, then Belgium would be under threat. Belgium was one of Britain’s friends (as was France) so Britain came to their help.

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follo e you w so faring ?

Triple Entente Britain had had a powerful Empire spread across the world and was dominant in the seas with a really strong navy. Despite this, it didn’t have a lot of power in Europe.

The Russian Empire was very powerful but still quite scared of Germany.

France really disliked Germany and had done since the FrancoPrussian War (1870-71) which took only weeks for France to be conquered. This left France feeling embarrassed and a bit sorry for itself.

Germany had suffered at the hands of different leaders in the past. The government was jealous of the British Navy and the strength of the Empire and wanted one for itself!

That was it then - Britain was at war and up to 22 million people died because of it!

Austria: Austria was strong and successful. In the past it had conquered lots of countries, which were the remaining bits of the Hapsburg Empire.

Italy had been friends with Austria-Hungary for a while and was in their gang at first, but then fell out with them in 1915 and switched sides. and was replaced

by The Turkish (Ottoman) Empire.

triple alliance

it was one of the most deadly events in history

Pack up your troubles Being a First World War soldier was incredibly hard. Living conditions were terrible and each man had to carry everything he would need with him.

In winter a soldier’s pack would weigh about 35 kilograms. That is like carrying a sack of 230 bananas!

The minimum kit would include a heavy coat, clothing, a wash bag including toothbrush, comb, and soap, water bottle, waterproof sheet, gas mask, weapons, entrenching tool (like a shovel), sewing kit, and even bootlaces!

From our Collection

These two sketches are called "Going In" and "Coming Out" by Captain Albert E Ellwood of the King's Own Royal Regiment and are from the King's Own museum collection.

What do you think that the artist, who was a soldier himself, was trying to show people?

"Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag and smile, smile, smile, While you've a lucifer to light your fag, smile, boys, that's the style.

What's the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile, So pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag and smile, smile, smile."

(This popular marching song was published in 1915. It was written by Welsh songwriter George Henry Powell and was sung by soldiers to keep their spirits up on the way to the front.)

Evidence From History People who were left at home missed their loved ones very much. It was hard for the soldiers, and for the parents, wives, partners, and children too. Postcards such as this one were made for sentimental purposes: for sending messages to loved ones, or to remember loved ones who had died in the war.

The First World War began in 1914 and was known as the Great War. It was such a terrifying event and there was so much loss of life that people said it was ‘the war to end all wars’.

Sadly, it wasn’t.

LIFE

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(IF YOU CAN CALL IT THAT)

IN THE TRENCHES

Look at th is photo from the trenches .

Can you s ee the soldiers a sleep?

What els e can you see?

The First World War began and, within weeks, the British and French armies, and the German army started digging trenches, which were a complicated system of channels dug into the ground.

Along the line of each trench were ‘Dug Outs’ or bunkers where soldiers could shelter when they were under attack from the enemy. The trenches were reinforced with corrugated iron, wood, and sandbags, and the floor was lined with wooden ‘duckboards’ to try and stop them from getting too muddy.

The space between the ally and enemy trenches was called ‘noman's land’ because it didn’t belong to either side. When soldiers were ordered to go ‘over the top’ this meant they had to climb out of their trench and run into no-man's land firing their guns at the enemy to try and take new territory.

This was very frightening, and the guns and shells would have been extremely noisy and dangerous. Some men were so disturbed by their experiences that they were never the same again after serving in the First World War. Millions never made it home at all.

The trenches went all the way from the English Channel to the Swiss border. The armies fought but no progress was made for a long time. The soldiers were stuck living in the trenches for months and months with filth, rats, lice, and the ever-present danger of the enemy.

A soldier's feet would stay wet for days, even weeks. They would develop something called Trench Foot, which rotted their feet away.

writing Home & keeping busy Mum I saw this beautiful red poppy yesterday growing out of the mud. It was so pretty and it reminded me of you.

Letters home were very important to soldiers at the front line. They felt connected to their families, which was important when they were living in such lonely and difficult conditions.

Dearest Mum and Dad, l back home. Here, at I hope this letter finds you all wel mud; it hasn’t stopped the front, we are up to our knees in I haven’t been sleeping raining for what feels like weeks! are wonderful well with all the mud (but the rats company!). gh I will never I am less upset at being here now, thou and the chloride fully get used to it. The water is grim make it safe makes and lime that we have to add to it to tea around the table the tea taste dreadful – how I miss cious jam tarts! The with milk and sugar and your deli est, but we get by. Good food is pretty grim here, to be hon old bully beef! chocolate, which will Thank you for the socks and for the keep my spirits up! ntly, but we are well There have been some gas attacks rece n, for which are equipped with masks in our battalio the trenches are as eternally grateful; not all men in e are bombs are being lucky. There are rumours that ther h, but here the main dropped on the trenches further sout no-man's land. threat comes from the other side of its, and as friends, we Despite it all, we are in good spir keep one another jolly. see you all again Love to you all back home. I long to

Soldiers’ letters were read by officers before they were sent home and information could be removed.

This was because some of the bad things that soldiers saw would have been upsetting for people at home to read about.

Other information was sensitive and letters could be intercepted by the enemy who could then use that information! This is called Censorship and sometimes it was essential to protect our country.

soon.

Yours, Alfred xxx

(This isn’t a real letter)

FROM OUR COLLECTION Soldiers would use metal that they found lying around the trenches (such as food tins, or bomb shells) to make beautiful objects that they could take home with them.

This is called Trench Art. This example was made by a soldier from the Lancaster King's Own Royal Regiment.

It’s true that the water was filthy an d would make you il l if you didn’t ad d th e chloride and lime . But unfortunatel y, th e chloride and lime gave you awful diarrhoea! You wo uld have to be especially carefu l using the loo in the morning as the Ge rmans had a habit of shelling the latr ines at this time of day!

The Western Front is the name given to the part of Europe where the main part of the First World War was fought, mainly in France and Belgium. The war also took place in other parts of the world, including Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific.

As a symbol of anger toward people who refused to go to war, they were sometimes handed a white feather by people in their community. It was a symbol of cowardice and was meant to make them feel ashamed.

Would you object?

So many men died in the early months of the First World War. Recruitment, which is the method that the government used to persuade men to join the army, wasn’t good enough at getting new soldiers to join. Some men felt that their jobs at home were too important to leave, a lot knew about the horror of the war and were too scared to join the army, and others chose not to join because they didn’t believe in the war.

Britain had tried hard to avoid having to conscript men but by 1916 the army was so desperate for new soldiers that conscription began. Conscription means that it is compulsory for all men to join the armed forces.

During the First World War, all men aged 19 –41 had to join up, but not everyone wanted to. Men who refused to join the armed forces because of their beliefs were known as Conscientious Objectors.

These men believed in peace and non-violence. They were made to feel really bad for their decision, and some were imprisoned, tortured, ridiculed, sentenced to death or were forced to be soldiers.

How do you think you would feel if you were told you had to fight in a war? Would you fight out of duty to your country, or would you refuse? Would it matter to you what the war was being fought about?

Evidence From History

This photo is of the Lancaster Pals 1st/5th King's Own Regiment and comes from the museum collection.

The army realised that many more men would enlist if they could serve alongside their friends, relatives, and workmates. So, to encourage men to join, Pals Battalions were established. This meant that some towns and villages saw all of their men go to war at the same time and that many would not come back. Some towns lost many, many men.

Eventually, because of the impact that losing lots of men from the same place had on communities, this changed and men from the same towns and villages were sent to different regiments.

During the war, Lancaster and Morecambe factories made more than 2 million shells!

After the war the factory was changed a bit so that it could make aircraft bombs instead.

Women worked in the munitions and they were called 'munitionettes'.

Shellshock A shell is a name given to the large exploding device that was fired into the trenches and onto the battlefield during the First World War. These caused horrid injuries and killed many, many soldiers.

They also left soldiers very traumatised, and a lot of men who fought in the First World War came home with serious mental health problems. They were left scared and panicked by loud noises, and many were unable to sleep or go back to normal life.

During the First World War, British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers used the term Shellshock to describe the condition. Nobody really understood how to help these poor men.

We would now call this kind of psychological injury Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment: local heroes The King’s Own was involved in the first actions of the war on the Western Front as well as taking on duties guarding important places in Britain such as the railways and the docks. They also fought in some of the major battles of the war, including the Battle of the Somme. The regiment lost 953 men in the Somme alone.

Have you ever heard of the Victoria Cross? The Victoria Cross is a very special medal that is awarded to members of the British Armed Forces for outstanding bravery and devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.

There is no award greater than the Victoria Cross, and eight members of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment were awarded it during the First World War. Many medals were won by the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment at Givenchy, 9-15 April 1918.

Above Right: These medals are a Victoria Cross Medal Group and show extreme bravery by the soldier who received them.

One of the most famous war poets, Laurence Binyon, was born in Lancaster and grew up at the Vicarage in Burton in Lonsdale in the Lune Valley. One of his most famous lines comes from his poem 'For the Fallen':

‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.’

It makes us remember that most of the men who died in the war were very young and it is recited during Remembrance Day services throughout the world.

There is a plaque for Laurence Binyon at 1 High Street, Lancaster.

The First World War is best known for trench warfare, aeroplanes were also used. Bombs were dropped on soldiers at the front, and the Royal Air Force was formed in April 1918. The first tanks appeared in 1916.

Towards the end of the First World War, Lancaster’s own maker of fine furniture, Waring and Gillows, turned its hand to making wooden parts for aircraft, including the wings!

be a history detective visit a cenotaph or war memorial – The Garden of Remembrance and War Memorial is on Nelson Street, next to Lancaster Town Hall. Have a look at all the names of the soldiers lost in WWI – you will see that many men died and that often share the same name – could these men have been brothers, fathers and sons, uncles, nephews?

The Butterworth Brothers: These young men were from the Ridge in Lancaster. Five Butterworth brothers were sent to fight in the First World War, four were killed in action and only one survived. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for the family to live with this tragedy? The Lancaster Guardian wrote that the father of the four boys died of a broken heart. The War Memorial in the Garden of Remembrance was unveiled in 1924. The mothers who had lost multiple sons or relatives unveiled it, including the mother of the Butterworth boys.

Maybe you can find your family name. It can be very emotional visiting this kind of memorial, and people that visit like to stand in peaceful contemplation while they remember those who gave up their lives for peace and our freedom. You often see poppies or crosses laid at the foot of a memorial or cenotaph, particularly at this time of year.

You may like to lay one when you visit.

This month visit the Kings Own Museum and have your History Detectives passport stamped.

Can you find a luger?

The luger was invented in 1898 and patented by Georg Luger. It was adopted by the German army in 1908 and was the trademark handgun used by all German soldiers during the First World War. You can spot the luger being used by German or Nazi soldiers in many war films, as well as the Indiana Jones films.

The example in our display must have been taken by a British soldier from a dead or captured German; it would have been a sought after prize and would have been a real talking point in the mess.

We must remember that no matter which side people fought on, they were all just ordinary men and women and we should be respectful to all of the front-line soldiers and regular civilians who died.

Above Top: Lancaster's War Memorial Above Bottom: Morecambe's War Memorial Below: German Luger Pistol, a spoil of war

Your mission... ...is to make a poppy to put in your window Why not colour in our template and cut it out? Or use scraps of recycled paper to create a collage? If you are feeling really creative, you could make a chain of poppies and hang them up. Why not paint a pebble or make a badge? Perhaps you have other exciting ideas for making a poppy out of recycled materials! We would love to see your creations.

Why do we wear a poppy?

The reason poppies are used to remember those who have given their lives in battle is because they are the flowers, which grew on the battlefields after World War One ended. Ever since then, they have come to be a symbol of remembering not just those who gave their lives in World War One, but all those who have died on behalf of their country. This is described in the famous World War One poem In Flanders Fields, by Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McRae.

write your own poem inspired by something that helps you to remember someone.

In Flanders Fields

We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow Loved and were loved, and now we lie, Between the crosses, row on row, In Flanders fields.

That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

LANLM.2009.13.2 Black and white photograph with Alfred Clowes on the left and Sergeant Nelson on the right. Thought to have been taken in 1915 in Messines Ridge, Belgium whilst Alfred was a Sergeant with the King's Own Royal Regiment.

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