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‘The Scum of the Earth’
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In 1813 the Duke of Wellington, angered by incidents of looting amongst his army, wrote sourly: ‘We have in the service the scum of the earth as common soldiers.’ The words were harsh, but not altogether inaccurate, for the British Army had a long tradition of recruiting primarily amongst the poorest and most desperate of society. Above: The Du...
A Turbulent Time? The impact of officer attrition on officer-man relations during the Great War in the 2/Royal Irish Rifles.
Online Meeting A Turbulent Time? The impact of officer attrition on officer-man relations during the Great War in the 2/Royal Irish Rifles. By Dr. Tom Thorpe The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact that officer attrition and casualties had on officer-men relations in a single infantry battalion fighting on the Western Front during t...