WORLD WAR I 1914 - 2014
THE CENTENARY HISTORY
The war, told with soldiers’ stories
TRAVEL
Explore the war in France and Britain
LEGACY
Why and how the dead are remembered
EDUCATION Facts, figures and pictures
Brigadier General J V Campbell addressing troops of the 137th Brigade (46th Division) at the St Quentin Canal (1918)
WW1 > INTRODUCTION
The Centenary
Why World War I is remembered a hundred years on... The modern world has largely become defined by the wars that gripped Europe in the 20th century. A hundred years after the outbreak of World War I, it can clearly be seen how the confilct changed the world forever. The most obvious differences are technological but World War I has affected all aspects of contemporary life, from world politics and the women’s vote to our class structure and opinion of war. Beyond showing the influence of the war,
this publication seeks to viscerally describe the ‘hell on earth’ that the frontline was by showcasing the art from war time poets and photographers, along with statistics and facts that help to make the conflict easier to understand. By mixing history with the world around us and by showcasing travel opportunities that encourage further exploration of the archives, it is possible to, a century on, really experience the sobering power of World War I.
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Contents Travel 14
Photos & illustrations
Introduction 3 Timeline 6 Life in the Trenches 7 War Diaries 8 Commemoration 10 Social Reform 12 Casualties 13
We especially thank the Imperial War Museum and the Great War Primary Document Archive for their supply of amazing photographs and valued assistance.
Right: This iconic poster of Lord Kitchener from 1914 was hugely successful in attracting volunteers.
WWI WW1 > YEAR BY YEAR
TIMELINE
1914
Germany invades Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany. Japan sides with Allied forces: Ottoman Empire then joins the Central Powers. War takes to the seas.
1915
Women take up male jobs. Stalemate endures on the Western Front. The Lusitania passenger liner is sunk, with 1,200 casualties. London is attacked by German Zeppelins.
1916
Conscription begins for men aged between 18 and 41. A million casualties in ten months: Germany tries to ‘bleed France white’. The Battle of Jutland takes place at sea. Armed uprisings in Dublin: the Irish Republic is declared.
1917
German Army retreats to the Hindenburg. The United States joins the war. Tank, submarine and gas warfare intensifies. Royal family change their surname to Windsor to sound more British.
1918
Germany launches a major attack on the Western Front. Allies begin successful counter-offensives at the Marne and Amiens. Armistice signed on November 11, ending the war at 11am. A coalition government is elected in Britain and women over 30 succeed in getting the vote.
Top right: Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand
WW1 > ROUTINE
Life in the Trenches Life in the trenches was monotonous, hard and dangerous. But how did so many survive?
Above right A Cheshire Regiment trench at the Somme 1916
M
illions of soldiers died on the Western Front in World War I. The stories left by these soldiers paint a picture of terror, fear and hell on earth. But the trenches were not a death sentence. There were, of course, days of extreme bloodshed during the war – such as the first day of the Somme. However, almost nine out of every ten soldiers in the British Army that went to the trenches would return home alive. In just a few terrible hours it was certainly possible for tens of thousands of lives to be lost, and it is true that half of the British soldiers on the Western front would suffer from an injury. But the fact that nine out of ten ‘Tommies’ survived the trenches is still a staggering statistic. So what was life really like at the front? A normal day began with ‘stand to’ before dawn. Before soldiers took a place on the ‘fire step’, and fired towards enemy lines in a what was called the ‘morning hate’. From then on, soldiers
would work on chores from sentry duty to maintenance. Any spare time would be spent either writing letters, chewing the fat or sleeping. The ‘stand to’ was repeated at dusk before groups were tasked with venturing into the deadly No Man’s Land. The average day depicted above focuses on life in a front line trench but the average Brit spent nearly half of his time behind this, most dangerous, position. Of course, if a soldier’s rotation put him in the wrong place at the wrong time, the chances of survival would decrease drastically. If then, after months of avoiding the order to go over the top, the rotation placed a soldier in a position where they had to charge the enemy’s trench, there was a large chance that their life would end in No Man’s Land. To read Private John Gray’s final letter from the trenches, turn over >> WWI Centenary > 07
War Diaries
The Poignant last words of brave soldiers who never came home from the First World War
A
Above A postal warehouse filled with letters bound for soldiers serving abroad. 08 < WWI Centenary
fter more than a dozen years of hard work by volunteers and museum officers, the painstaking task of transcribing military diaries from the First World War was completed last year. Members of the Lanarkshire Family History Society focused on The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and began the transcription of diaries in 2001. The 12 year period was punctuated with many sobering moments for Alan Johnstone, a volunteer since 2002 -- one such moment came when he noticed the handwriting change between entries. “On several occasions, I noticed that the handwriting would change,” he says. “In at least one instance this was because the officer responsible for compiling the diary had been killed or wounded, with the next entry in the diary made by his replacement.”
By the end of the project, the volunteers had transcribed 24 battalion war diaries, including 16 diaries from the First World War, six from the Second World War as well as diaries from the 1936 campaign in Palestine and the Malayan Emergency of the 1950s. With the help of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry Group, the team was also able to transcribe the First World War diary of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry. War diaries are an important historical artifact containing the official record of a battalion’s movements and activities while on campaign. They describe in detail the battles that each battalion took part in and often describe the numbers of men wounded, killed, missing, as well as medals for bravery that have been awarded. During the First World War, these were handwritten by an officer at the end of
WW1 > ARCHIVED
each day, or whenever an opportunity to do so arose. Barrie Duncan, Assistant Museums Officer is keen to explain the importance of having transcriptions made: “The diaries themselves are often in poor condition, written on fragile carbon-copy paper with fading text that is difficult to read. “It was for these reasons that having transcriptions of the diaries was desirable. Transcribed copies allow easy access to the fantastic information held within each diary while, at the same time, reduce the need for museum staff and researchers to handle the original documents and risk further deterioration of these important documents.” The diaries are now able to be searched digitally, making it easier to find the
names of places, battles and of family members. One battle that stands out in the mind of Alan Johnstone was the Gallipoli campaign on 1915. “Having only arrived at Gallipoli two weeks earlier, the 7th and 8th Battalions of The Cameronians were involved in battle on 28th June 1915 at a place called Gully Ravine. The casualties among both battalions that day were extremely high - 720 officers and men killed, wounded or missing in one single day of fighting. What a tragedy.” The team are also currently transcribing a number of personal letters and diaries from the Low Parks Museum’s First World War collections in a bid to provide a visitor boost for in the run-up to the centenary anniversary of the conflict.
Sunday 27th June, 1915 Dear Mother, Just received Lizzie’s Letter (first one to Date) and also one from Maw & Arthur Cusack and Moll. It was a blow to me to hear you were still unwell but I hope and trust that your holiday at Aunt Kate’s has brought you back to yourself again, and also that when the holidays come, you take the advantage of another fortnight’s rest. Well Mother about myself, I’m keeping A1 now, and pushing through this life as best I can. It’s not a pleasant one but it’s got to be done. Things have been very quiet here lately but, as the saying goes, there’s always a calm before a storm. We’ve been resting now since Thursday, so that I think we’ll be going back to the trenches tonight. Well Mother, as there’s nothing more to say at present, I’ll start summing up give my best love to Liz and all at home and tell all my friends I was asking for them. Tell Maw Cusack I got her letter alright, also one from Arthur, and that I’ll answer them as soon as possible. I’ll draw to a close now, with the hope that it won’t be many weeks or months before were sailing back to Bonnie Scotland. From Your Loving Son Tuddle Bonny xxxa
From left to right The last letter Private John Gray of the Scottish Rifles sent to his mother - he was killed on June 28, 1915; a Scottish Highlander reading a letter in a trench.
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Commemorating the Fallen How the Commonwealth War Graves Commission helps us to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice
T
he Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) was set up to honour the 1.7 million men and women who died in World War I, II and subsequent conflicts. Their work follows the vision of Sir Fabian Ware who set the standards for the organisation now: each of the fallen should be remembered through a name on a headstone or memorial; gravestones and memorials should be permanent; headstones should be uniform, so that there is no distinction made between rank, race or creed. Sir Fabian Ware was aged 45 when World War I broke out but despite being too old to fight on the frontline, he became the commander of a mobile Above British Red Cross unit. Whilst helping Arras memorial, France; the injured on the Western Front, Fabian a member of the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Army Auxiliary Corps became distressed by the sheer amount of tends a grave. casualties he saw and, as a result, started to 10 < WWI Centenary
take on the further task of ensuring graves would be properly marked and never forgotten. His vision initially led to the unit taking this work with them wherever they were helping but by 1915 he had been recognised by the War Office and his unit was renamed under the British Army as the Graves Registration Commission. In May 1917, the Imperial War Graves Commission was created by Royal Charter with the Prince of Wales serving as President and Fabian Ware as ViceChairman. After the Armistice, when land had been set aside for graves, the Commission began the huge job of recording the details of the dead. In 1918 a staggering 587,000 graves had been identified and another 559,000 casualties had been registered as having no known resting place.
WW1 > REMEMBERED
THE CWGC TODAY In 1960 the Imperial War Graves Commission was renamed to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and they now care for 23,000 locations in 153 countries. Their most recent cemetery is Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) in France where 173 Australian soldiers from the First World War were buried in 2010. The business of burying the Great War’s dead a hundred years after they were killed is not as uncommon as one would think. On March 14, twenty British soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Loos in 1915 were re-interred in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Loos British Cemetery in Northern France. These soldiers were found in 2010 during clearance work for the construction of new buildings near Vendin-le-Vieil, north of Arras, but it is not unusual for farmers to find remains in the fields that now lie on top of battlefields. The British Army highlight their commitment “to ensuring all those who died as a result of their Service in the World Wars receive the recognition they deserve for their sacrifice and bravery.” And their partnership with the CWGC
continues today to provide a fitting end to the war dead who did not receive funerals or services. Today, genealogy is a growing hobby for many across the country and the Commission’s archive plays a great role in allowing families to trace their relatives back to World War I. Its casualty database lists the 1.7 million men and women who died during both World Wars and the Commission has recently installed a virtual cemetery website for teachers to utilise. Glenn Hearnden, the CWGC’s Education Manager, says that the powerful new tool will engage teachers’ “pupils in the relevance of the CWGC and the importance of the work we do to remember those Commonwealth servicemen and women who died in the war.” Glenn believes that the “Virtual Cemetery is the perfect learning tool ahead of the Centenary of the First World War, and will ensure that generations to come will continue to remember those who died.” Sir Fabian Ware would be proud to see that his vision has survived a hundred years, and a technological revolution.
Clockwise From Top Crucifix corner (1919); CWGC’s most recent cemetery, Fromelles; Rotterdam General Cemetry;. WWI Centenary > 11
WW1 > IMPACT
Social and Political Ramifications
WWI affected more than just the countries involved. It changed the world forever and set the foundations for yet another long war.
T
he war changed Europe and the world forever. Much of the continent was left as wasteland for the decade to come and the relative distance civilians had experienced from war was shattered. The bitter taste of blood and death was experienced by everyone and not a single person, rich or poor, was untouched by the conflict. The ramifications of this were inconceivable. At home in Britain, the erosion of the class system had been initiated and voting reforms allowed the masses to have a much greater say within society. Most significantly, women over the age of thirty were allowed to vote for the first time in the post war election of December 1918, after the Representation of the People Act was passed by Parliament. British suffragettes had been actively campaigning before the war, but in 1915 Emmeline Pankhurst instructed the Suffragettes to stop their campaign of violence and to support, in every way, the government and its war effort. The sacrifices made by the working class, along with the food and money they had earned from the war meant that they felt more deserving of a say in their countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political system. This ultimately ushered in the modern middle class, enabling Britain to become a meritocracy, where people are able to climb the social 12 < WWI Centenary
Above right ladder according to their skills and abilities. The rigid class system of, not just Women working in a shell factory. Britain but Europe too, was shattered. The colonies of Britain were also affected by their sacrifice. The colonies had lost considerable numbers of men, yet there was no perceivable gain to be had for these countries. As a result, the seeds of independence were sown, and slowly those nations realised that they would be better off separate from Britain and governing themselves. Meanwhile in Russia, the transformation from an imperialist nation into a communist state was well underway. The royal family, who were blamed for the war, had all been executed and the Bolsheviks had taken control under Lenin. The general Russian consensus was that they were tired of living in poverty while the aristocracy lived in luxury. The next 100 years would be shaped by World War I and, as the political map struggled to form a group of nations with aligning views, a new struggle began. Europe would find itself in another World War in twenty years and the conflict between fascism, capitalism and communism would continue through the Cold War into the 21st century. Even now, the legacy of WWI can be felt in the current Ukraine crisis.
WWI
WW1 > CASUALTIES
CASUALTIES TOTAL POPULATION
MOBILISED SOLDIERS
MILITARY DEATHS
CIVILIAN DEATHS*
BELGIUM
7,600,000
292,000
38,000
50,000
FRANCE
39,000,000
8,100,000
1,327,000
600,000
FRENCH COLONIES
52,700,000
449,000
78,000
--
GREECE
4,900,000
230,000
25,000
--
GB & IRELAND
46,100,000
6,100,000
750,000
BRITISH COLONIES
342,200,000
2,800,000
180,000
ITALY
36,000,000
4,300,000
460,000
JAPAN
53,000,000
30,000
100,000
MONTENEGRO
200,000
500,000
13,000
PORTUGAL
6,100,000
100,000
7,000
ROMANIA
7,600,000
750,000
--
RUSSIA
164,000,000
15,800,000
1,800,000
Unknown
SERBIA
3,100,000
750,000
250,000
300,000
USA
98,000,000
2,100,000
17,000
BULGARIA
4,700,000
600,000
88,000
300,000
GERMANY
67,800,000
13,200,000
2,037,000
700,000
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
52,600,000
9,000,000
1,460,000
400,000
TURKEY
17,000,000
3,000,000
325,000
2,000,000
The Allied Powers Top right: Iconic image: Lt Ernest Brook’s photograph of a British soldier standing over a grave during the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917.
600,000 -700,000 -Unknown -300,000
--
The Central Powers
* Including deaths from hunger and Spanish influenza -- No significant losses recorded
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WW1 > TOURISM
From Street to Trench Museums, memorials, re-enactments, tours – there is plenty of World War I attractions across Europe.
S
et within a building designed, by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, to represent a globe shattered by conflict, the multi award winning Imperial War Museum (IWM) North is home to innovative and dynamic exhibitions that make use of digital media and public events to encourage debates and explore how war shapes our lives. To mark the centenary the museum is running the exhibition From Street To Trench: A World War That Shaped A Region. The free exhibition in Manchesters contains more than 200 personal objects that help to tell the story of famous characters like Clement Attlee, who went on to become Prime Minister, but more importantly, it draws on first-hand 14 < WWI Centenary
experiences to explain what life during the Great War was like for the working class. The IWM North Director, Graham Boxer, says that “one hundred years on, the objects we display highlight the poignancy and courage of people who shaped and were shaped by this first global conflict. Even a century later there are stories untold, experiences undiscovered and tales that will surprise.” Perhaps the most surprising of which are the stories alongside real Victoria Cross medals, true tales of heroism and courage. The exhibit also boasts rarely seen documents, and manuscript poems provide a unique insight into famous war poet Wilfred Owen’s experiences during
Above The Canadian Vimy Memorial Park’s trenches.
WW1 > TOURISM
the war and the inspiration for his poetry. But film footage in the museum removes any glamour from the mind as they show trench combat and, fascinatingly, an immersive snapshot of life in Britain on the eve of war. Unfortunately the trench aspect of the exhibit is not as developed as the name suggests. Instead of creating a mock trench, Imperial War Museum North has put the artifacts at the forefront, including: personal objects, films, sound recordings, photographs, artworks and letters - many of which are on public display for the first time. But if a real trench is desired, the best are in Vimy Memorial Park, France. The Canadian memorial was designed to appear, as much as possible, untouched since the end of the war. Craters have formed the terrain and the trenches are lined with cement and limestone so that they will not decay with time. In the 1920s, as well as working on maintaining trenches and craters, work began on saving WWI tunnels. The entrance to Grange Tunnel
Subway, one of the tunnels dug by the Allies on the Vimy Ridge, was rebuilt with concrete and made safe for visitors with electric lighting. This preserved section of trenches is one of the few places on the old Western Front where visitors can walk through an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;originalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; section of Allied and German front-line trenches - a staggeringly sobering and emotional experience.
Below The entrance to the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester
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WW1 > REFERENCES
REFERENCES The museums, cemeteries and battlefields featured in this publication MAIN MUSEUMS & WEBSITES Imperial War Museum www.iwm.org.uk Firstworldwar.com www.firstworldwar.com Royal British Legion www.britishlegion.org.uk Commonwealth War Graves Commision www.cwgc.org Photos of the Great War www.gwpda.org
Written by Simon Thornton: simonsithornton@gmail.com
Simon Thornton devised, edited and wrote this WWI Centenary publication. A journalist at the University of the West of Scotland, he is a WWI enthusiast.
16 < WWI Centenary
With thanks to the Imperial War Museum and the Great War Primary Document Archive for their supply of incredible photographs and valued assistance.
British troops crossing the St Quentin Canal (1918). Taken at the same bridge as the picture on page two.
37 MILLION