World War I Articles | The Western Front Association

Articles on every aspect of the First World War written by experts in their field. Some were first published in Stand To! or Bulletin, others have been researched and written for the web. If you would like to contribute an article please get in touch.

Turkey for Christmas Dinner, 1915

Christmas Day in the front line trenches was (with the possible – partial – exception of 1914) li...

The Short, Sad Military Career of Thomas Adams by John Bourne

My collaborator in compiling a Roll of Honour for Burslem, Mick Rowson, was recently attempting t...

Robert ‘Bobbie’ Loraine M.C. : Actor-Airman

The once-renowned Robert ‘Bobbie’ Lorraine is now an obscure figure. Born on 14 January 1876 in...

Mervyn Johns, First World War RFC Pilot and film actor

Mervyn Johns was born on 18 February 1899 at Pembroke. He was a medical student at a London Hos...

John Laurie : Shakespearean actor and Private Fraser in the BBC's Dads Army

John Laurie was born 25 March 1897 in Dumfries and was destined to be an architect before the Gre...

Ronald Colman : London Scottish, British Stage Actor, Broadway, Film Act...

[This short profile of the actor Ronald Coleman first appeared in a piece by Mark Bristow titled...

Lieutenant Philip St John Basil Rathbone aka Sherlock Holmes

[This short profile of the stage, film and later TV actor Basil Rathbone first appeared in a piec...

Arnold Ridley aka Private Godfrey of Dads Army

[This short profile of the actor and playwright Arnold Ridley first appeared in a piece by Mark B...

The strangest dog fight of the war?

The German Albatros aeroplane shown here is preserved at the AWM in Australia. It was shot down d...

The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of C...

[This article first appeared in Bulletin 99 August 20214] Barely forty-eight hours into the firs...

Christmas Day 1914 – Goodwill to all men?

Much has been written about the Christmas Day ‘Truce’ on 25 December 1914 – while the popular ima...

The Sinking of the RMS Apapa 28 November 1917

It was towards 4 o'clock on the morning of 28 November 1917 with a choppy sea running - cold, dar...