Source B
Source A
We set to work to bury people. We pushed them into the sides of the trenches but bits of them kept getting uncovered and sticking out, like people in a badly made bed. Hands were the worst; they would escape from the sand, pointing, begging even waving! There was one which we all shook when we passed, saying, "Good morning," in a posh voice. Everybody did it. The bottom of the trench was springy like a mattress because of all the bodies underneath... Extract from the British film 'The Battle of the Somme', produced in 1916. This was produced by the British government.
Leonard Thompson - A Diary Entry from 1916
Source C
Source D Despite the horrific hardships endured by British Tommies in the trenches of northern France, it has to be said that comradeship among the troops that survived remained quite high. Soldiers took solace in each other, providing, in the absence of family, companionship and support.
Paul Nash, The Mule Track (1918). Nash took part in the Battle of Ypres and when sent home, he worked on war paintings based upon what he’d seen.
James Henry, historian (1996)
1. Describe the impression each source provides of the Western Front (Level 4) 2. How reliable are these sources as sources of information about what life was like for the soldiers? (Level 5/6) 3. How useful are these sources to a historian studying the Western Front (Level 6/7) 4. Why are these images depicting the Front so different? (Level 6-8)