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39 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What were the conditions in the trenches like? |
There was: a prevalence of rats, trench foot and lice which caused trench fever. Trench conditions were dangerous, 31% of those who served in the army were wounded, compared with only 3 or 4% of those in the navy or air force. |
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What tactics were adopted for trench warfare? |
Going over the top (of the trenches) through no man’s land, or by bombarding opposing forces with shells and shrapnel or even the creeping barrage – tactics were used by the British at Messines Ridge near Ypres in 1917 when they dug underground toward German lines and detonate lines underneath them |
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What innovative developments were there during WW1? |
Tanks – enable movement across difficult terrain, by the end of the war tanks were used by the BVritish as a method of breaking through enemy lines. Furthermore, a new and deadly form of warfare – chemical warfare, was developed: poisonous mustard gas was deployed from 1915. |
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What were there initial shortages of? |
Shells – specifically for the howitzer – and other ammunition – the importance of machine guns had not been recognised. By 1916-17 however the British army was well-supplied with all of these items? |
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What was the Lee Enfield rifle? |
A very efficient rifle issued to infantry soldiers. |
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What was the Vickers machine gun? |
A machine gun which could fire 450-550 rounds a minute and had a range around 3,000 yards – very valuable in Trench combat |
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What was the Lewis gun? |
A light machine gun which was highly effective in trench warfare, and, initially, the Germans had no similar gun |
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What was the Stokes mortar? |
A small mortar which could fire 22 shells p/minute |
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What happened on the first day of the Battle of the Somme? |
The battle of the Somme was the single worse day in British history in terms of casualties. The British and their allies had 57,000 casualties and 19,000 deaths. |
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What problems emerged as a result of the first day of the battle of the Somme? |
Many of the explosives that had bombarded the trenches were duds, German trenches were very deep and well-constructed and most were not destroyed – in fact, German soldiers had been able to shelter from the bombardment. Much of the barbed wire remained intact and the creeping barrage had some success but lacked precision |
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What happened during the rest of the battle of the Somme? |
The German’s eventually withdrew, but there was no major breakthrough achieved. Furthermore, overall casualties were at 1.2 million and according to Prior and Wilson, British casualties were twice that of the Germans. |
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What controversy surrounded General Haig? |
His reputation was particularly damaged. He devised the battle plan and has been called ‘the Butcher of the Somme’ for sending wave after wave of solders to fight for so little apparent purpose. However, these tactics were standard for the time and contributed to the war of attrition. |
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What was the BEF like in 1917? |
In 14 it numbered 80,000 men, but by October 1917 it totalled 3.9 million. As the Germans concentrated on unrestricted submarine war fare, to try and starve Britain into defeat, the British launched a major offensive against the Germans near Ypres in Belgian Flanders. |
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What happened at Passchendaele? |
The British ahd initial success, but poor weather and drainage rendered the battlefield a swamp. After a slow advance, the British captured Passchendaele in December 1917 – it had taken the British four months to advance 7 miles. German casualties were 200,000 and British were 250,000. Despite its reputation as a futile battle, and the fact that the British lost the land they had gained in March 1918, the battle contributing to the exhausting the German army. |
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What happened as a result of the 1918 German offensive? |
In Spring 1918, the German met with initial success and the British lost nearly all gains made at Passchendaele. However, Britain and her allies halted the German advance at Amiens in August, where Australian and Canadian troops took 18,000 German prisoners – the French and Americans did the same at the Marne. The German army was weak and overextended and the Allies launched a massive counter-attack, which broke the Hindenburg line by September, and the Germans surrendered in November. |
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How successful were the BEF? |
They took 188,700 prisoners and 2840 guns from the Germans in 1918 and experienced – 1918 - ‘by far the greatest military victory in British history’ according to Gary Sheffield. |
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Why was the BEF such an effective fighting force in 1918? |
They were skilled an experienced, accuracy of guns and the creeping barrage had greatly improved since 1916, they had sufficient artillery, a growing tank division and a large air force, military production (organised by Churchill) outstripped German, tanks were now more reliable, could be deployed to seize land quickly, they could now advance using their creeping barrage, infantry and tanks at a rate of 100 years every 3 minutes |
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What were other reasons the Allies won in 1918? |
Fighting was a joint effot between the Allied armies and imperial forces, in addition, the Germans were exhausted because of the strain of previous battle sand the impact of a blockade on German ports. Furthermore, the arrival of American soldiers also aided the counter-attack and the Americanshelped the British and French with supplies and finance. Finally, the role of the Russians in wearing down the Germans from 1914-1917 was important. |
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How did post maintain morale? |
Regular and efficient postal services were organised by the Royal Engineers Postal Section (REPS) and in 1916, 11 million letters and 875,000 parcels were handled |
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How did entertainment maintain morale? |
Behind the front line, entertainment – such as concerts – were arranged, as were many sporting activities such as football and athletics |
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How did food maintain morale? |
The British Army managed to keep soldiers supplied with reasonable rations throughout the war. The French Army’s ration contained more calories but was of poorer quality nutritionally and mainly consisted of just bread and wine |
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How did leave maintain morale? |
How did leave maintain morale?Many soldiers did not get home to Britain for considerable periods of time during the war. By 1918, however, all soldiers returned home on leave after six months |
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How did tobacco maintain morale? |
Tobacco was often issued to soldiers for free by the British Army
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How did time away from the front line maintain morale? |
Most British soldiers were in the trenches for an average of ten days each month, and only two of these days were at the front line. Troops received on average 10 days of every month and only two of these days were at the front line. Troops received on average 70 days leave per year, the constant rotation of troops had some drawbacks however, as soldiers were not always as familiar with their trench area as were the troops of other armies. But rotation helped to maintain morale. |
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How did pay maintain morale? |
Pay for British soldiers was not high, but those from the lowest-paid occupations, such as agricultural labours, would have been better off than in peacetime. The lowest rate of pay was one shilling a day, but average wages were 50% higher than this and soldiers did not have to pay for their food ration or clothing. |
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What was discipline like in the army? |
It varied across different units and divisions. During the war, 5952 soldiers and 298,310 other tanks were court martialled, and 89% of these were convicted. The most common offence was absence without leave |
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How was execution used by the army? |
306 were executed for desertion of their posts or for cowardice. However a number of those who were executed for desertion were young men possibly suffering from shell shock, such as Private Harry Farr. |
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How was Field punishment number one used? |
It was designed to humiliate miscreants, they were fettered and tied to a field gun for up to two hours per day |
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What other punishments were used? |
What other punishments were used? Imprisonment, fines and demotion and commanding officers could impose extra duties, or confine soldiers to barracks |
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What was a problem with medical provision? |
A shortage of doctors, so large numbers of volunteer doctors had to be deployed. |
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What was VAD, what did it do and how many nurses were there? |
23,000 nurses, supplemented by 38,000 members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment who undertook roles as nurses, ambulance drivers and cooks |
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What was better in comparison to earlier conflicts? |
Pain relief was more available, while stomach disorders such as typhoid and dysentery were much less common. Furthermore, inoculation against typhoid and improved hygiene reduced the incidence of the disease to only 2% of that of the Boer war and for the first time, more soldiers died from battle wounds than disease (740,000 to 84,000) |
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What was the problem with infection? |
Lack of antibiotics meant that most wounds went septic, Gangrene frequently set in and was a big killer, and shrapnel, shell fragments and bullets often remained within the body and sometimes create septicaemia |
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What problems with injury were there? |
41,000 amputations, 272,000 additional injuries to the arms or legs, 60,500 wounds to the head or eyes and 89,000 other serious wounds to the body |
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What developments were there in psychiatry? |
WW1 was the first war here the psychological impact had been seriously considered. Shellshock was recognised from 1915 and the Mental Health Bill of 1915 provided for the treatment of mental disorder resulting from war. Shell shock was initially thought to be a psychological reaction to explosions, however, it was gradually recognised that a cause of the condition was the psychological toll war could take. By 1918 80,000 cases of shell shock had been diagnosed |
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What were blood transfusions? |
These were developments in field hospitals during the war, although, as transfusions were an innovative treatment, most of those who suffered major haemorrhages died |
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What were skin grafts? |
What were skin grafts?Harold Gillies developed the use of plastic surgery to treat soldiers with facial injuries through pioneering the use of skin transplants. He was one of the first surgeons to consider the impact of his work on a patients appearance |
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What was brain surgery? |
Improvements in treatment for brain injury enhanced survival rates during WW1 |
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What were prosthetics and orthopaedics? |
Artificial limbs were greatly improved as a response to the high number of soldiers with missing limbs |
