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Trench Diseases of the First World War
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Trench Diseases of the First World War Introduction to the Western Front The establishment by the belligerent nations, in late 1914, of a complex line of trenches stretching almost 500 miles (800 km) from the North Sea to the Swiss Border, brought with it an extraordinary concentration of millions of men from many nations and cultures. These men …
The BEF, Human Diseases and Trench Warfare on The Western Front
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Introduction The Great War was the first major conflict where the death rate due to the trauma of war (largely inflicted by projectiles such as bullets and shells) was greater than that due to disease; on the Western Front the ratio was 5:1. But no soldier on the Western Front could ever be entirely free from the threat of war diseases in their …
The Rationale for and the Deployment of Poisonous Gas on The Western Front in the Great War
The rationale for and the deployment of poisonous gas on The Western Front in the Great War Introduction In early 1915, accounts were freely circulated in turn by the French, British and Germans that poisonous gas was being used as a weapon of war by their opponents on the Western Front. This was in clear contravention of the 1899 Hague Convent…
Why the British Army did not mutiny en masse on the Western Front during the First World War
Why the British Army did not mutiny en masse on the Western Front during the First World War Many historians of the Great War, both professional and amateur, have used much ink and paper in the discussion of why, uniquely among the major Powers, the British Army never faced serious mutiny in the Great War. And, particularly, given the horrendous…
Some Prominent British Generals and their Fortunes in the Great War
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[This article first appeared on The Western Front Association's old website and was published in September 2009]. Introduction At first sight, the neophyte amateur war historian may find the nomenclature of the war of 1914-1918 rather confusing. For many years, it was called the Great War and then, from 1939 on, when the Second World War broke…
How a Stockton man won the VC
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Ted Cooper writes how his granda won the VC. Edward Cooper was born in Stockton on the 4th May 1896. He left school at the age of 13 and by 1914 he was selling fruit for the Co-operative Society. When war was declared, many of the Co-op’s horses were commandeered by the army and Ned was unable to work. He was put on an early holiday, during whi…
'The Centenary of the Battle of the Somme 1916' reflections by Rev. Dr Robert Beaken
‘A slightly amended version of this article first appeared in the Church Times'. I once met an old lady in a parish in Sheffield who had been a schoolgirl in that city at the beginning of the battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916. She remembered playing in the street with other children a few days later when the postman arrived and delivered letters …
Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Carter DSO and Bar, MC and Bar
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This article is the story of a man from a working class background who joined the British Army as a private soldier in 1899, and served in the ranks for seventeen years, before being commissioned in the field during the Great War. He proved to be an outstanding officer, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; his military élan was recognised by t…
The story of how 2nd Lieut. Edward Felix Baxter was awarded the VC : 16 April 1916
The short biography that follows is based on the account which appears in Gerald Gliddon's 'VCs of the First World War: Cambrai 1917' (The History Press. 2012). E.F. Baxter At Ransart near Blairville, France, 17/18 April 1916 Nearly three weeks after Edward Mellish won his VC at St Eloi, Belgium, a fourth Western Front VC of 1916 was gained appr…
Lance Corporal William Cotter : 14 March 1916
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The following account is based on Gerald Gliddon's account of Cotter's career published in 'VCs of the First World War: Cambrai 1917' published by The History Press. Lance/Corporal (Acting) Corporal William Cotter was the second Allied soldier to win the Victoria Cross on the Western Front in 1916. He was a member of the 6th (Service) Battalion Th…
Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills : The Clifftop Amazon
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Following the early death of her father, Janet Stancomb and her sister were adopted by their uncle, Sir William Henry Wills. The Wills family amassed their vast fortune in the 18th century in the tobacco trade when slave produced tobacco was imported to Bristol from the American Republic. It was not until the Crimean War that cigarettes were smoked…
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
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The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 by Dr. David Payne, PhD EurProBiol CBiol MIBiol History records several great pandemics (i.e. country-, continental- or world-wide outbreaks of disease). Prominent among these were the Black Death, 1347-1351, the Great Plague in the 1660s, cholera in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the 1918 infl…
British Medical Casualties on the Western Front : Wound Induced Trauma Related to Technological Advances in War
British Medical Casualties on the Western Front in the Great War Part 2: Wound Induced Trauma Related to Technological Advances in War by Dr David Payne Introduction It has been said that the infantry soldier of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) went to war on the Western Front dressed and armed like a game-keeper from an English or Scottish…
Malaria in the Great War
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A 1946 map by kind permission of the World Health Organisation) Malaria in the Great War by Dr David Payne (This article first appeared in Stand To! No.77 September 2006 pp5 - 8) Introduction Throughout history pestilence has been the cause of the majority of the casualties of war. In general, the Great War proved to be an exception, with a r…
The Final One Hundred Days of the Western Front
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Introduction The British involvement in war on the Western Front lasted for 1,294 days: from the 12th of August 1914 - when the first elements of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) arrived in France - until the 11th November 1918, when the Armistice took effect. For each of those days an average of 1,751 men were wounded and 436 died (the latte…
After Amiens – 38th (Welsh) Division
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It happened in the barber’s where my mother had taken me when I was a young child. ‘Mummy, why is that man making funny noises?’ The wheezing, rattling and muted bubbling sound stopped briefly as he turned to look at me, expressionless, then nodded towards my mother and turned away. My mother gave a very, very sharp tug on my coat sleeve. ‘Shhh!…
To Cross the Rubicon You Need… Life-Jackets! The 46th (North Midland ) Division Crossing of the St Quentin Canal: A Supply Perspective
One of the most remarkable ‘tactical incidents’ (as the official battle nomenclature describes it) of the Battle of St. Quentin Canal was the ‘Passage at Bellenglise’ and in particular the capture of the vital Riqueval Bridge by 137th Brigade (46th North Midland Division) on the morning of 29 September, 1918. This action gave rise to one of the…
Great War Pension Record Cards and Ledgers: deeper understanding
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The history of the Great War is not just about generals and statesmen. In examining the Great War, we can often overlook the real people and the real lives that lie behind the "other ranks" who served in their millions. Many died during a long and arduous campaign, and we remember their sacrifices in a number of commemorative ways, not least on 1…
Further sets of Pension Records saved by The Western Front Association available on Ancestry
The Western Front Association are pleased to share the excellent news that Ancestry will be making publicly further Pension Records in the lead up to the 11th November 2018. Ancestry are working hard on the scanning and digitisation of the Pension Record Cards and Ledgers that The Western Front Association saved from destruction. As with the the …
A Further Release of First World War Pension Records by Ancestry
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Western Front Association members will already know that the Naval Records were released a few weeks ago, but today (10 November 2018), Ancestry have made 1.5 million records available on their Fold 3 platform (please see FAQs below regarding WFA members' access to these). Until The Western Front Association stepped in to save these ledgers and ot…
The German Spring Offensive March 1918
/world-war-i-articles/the-german-spring-offensive-march-1918/
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which marked Russia’s withdrawal from the war, was signed on 3rd March 1918 by the new Russian government which had come to power in the October Revolution. For the first time since the conflict had begun, Germany and the Central Powers could concentrate their efforts on the Western Front. For the German High Command i…
The Truth About German Atrocities
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Founded on the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, 12, Downing Street, London, S,W. Introduction Prussia joined in a Guarantee of Belgian Neutrality The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1839 to which France, Prussia and Great Britain were parties. Recent German A…
The Contemptible Little Army, 1914 -1918
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By Alex Saunt (Major Alex Saunt MBE served with the Light Infantry and with the SAS in Libya, Borneo, Northern Ireland, Germany and Denmark. He was awarded an MBE for his courage). The story of the expansion and development of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 1914-1918 and how the Contemptible Little Army became a huge, effective machine. B…
The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of Cultural Memory
[This article first appeared in Bulletin 99 August 20214] Barely forty-eight hours into the first centenary year of the First World War, History teachers found themselves under attack from the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, for the way the topic was (believed) to be taught in British classrooms. His remarks quickly developed int…
Alcohol in the trenches: the rum ration
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The daily rum ration to British troops has its roots in the British Navy, dating back to the mid 17th Century when Britain captured Jamaica from Spain. Up until then, beer had been the staple beverage – and in some prodigious quantity, as the daily ration was eight pints! With the introduction of rum to the Navy, senior ratings would receive neat r…
Shackleton’s Pall Bearer
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William Sandison, oldest of eight children, was born on the 4th of January, 1898. His post-war experience was typical of many men from the Shetland Islands who returned home from the Great War. William's family grew up in the docks area of the island capital of Lerwick, working in and surrounded by the herring fishing industry. Many Shetlanders rel…
The Even Shorter, Sadder Military Career of Thomas Beech
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Thomas Beech’s military service in the Great War lasted officially for thirty-five days. He attested on 5 January 1915 and killed himself on 1 February while home on leave.(1) He never served abroad. Thomas was born on 25 January 1885 at 16 High Street, Burslem, the so-called Mother Town of the Staffordshire Potteries.(2) His mother, Emily (née Fo…
Hooge in the the ‘Wipers Times’
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The Wipers Times was published by soldiers fighting in the front line. It was produced by British soldiers from the 12th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derby Regiment) of the 24th Division. In early 1916, the 12th Battalion was deployed in the front line at Ypres and Captain F. J. Roberts and his men came across an abandoned pri…
Horses on the Western Front by Elspeth Johnstone
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Horses on the Western Front by Elspeth Johnstone (This article first appeared in Gun Fire pp38-52. All issues are available to Western Front Association members to access via your member login.) (1) You have shod them cold, and their coats are long, and their bellies stiff with mud; They have done with gloss and polish, but the fighting heart…
Finding Captain Brooke: The oldest Regimental Medical Officer to be killed in the war
On 27 May 1918 the Headquarters of the 1st Battalion Wiltshire Regiment was surrounded during a desperate rearguard action at the village of Bouffignereux on the Aisne. Numerous officers and men were killed, with others being wounded and taken prisoner, including the battalion's commanding officer. The unit’s war diary – perhaps inevitably – does n…