What was life like for a british soldier during world war one?
I have to do a school project on the life of a british soldier during world war one. I cant seem to find any links on how their life would have been, and all the troubles they would have faced. If anyone knows of any links, or just knows anything about world war one that would help.
British soldiers served in many different theatres in ww1, Europe ( The Western Front), Africa and Asia (Middle East). Some did not leave the UK as they were Yeomanry ( equiv. to National Guard). Some British troops fought on the North-West frontier of India, modern day border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
I assume you are asking about the Western front ( the trenches), the most deadly front and most well known. My Great-grandfather served there in a “dehorsed” cavalry regiment, horses were useless due to modern weapons such as machine guns, artillery and poison gas. They fought on foot as infantry. He very rarely talked about it as he was at the Battle of Pascendale (Ypres campaign) and I believe Cambrai.It was certainly horrific, very high casualty rates and many other problems low morale, desertion, mental illness (shell shock) amongst troops. He was a regular soldier, not conscripted, so had been in combat before but nothing prepared them for it. A lot of the time they were just cold, hungry and exhausted. Terrified even when it was quiet, due to snipers, commando raids by Germans and the early aircraft that could be used against them. It was probably the worst experience a soldier could face, up to that point in history. Gas was particullarly horrific, people wounded by schrapnel and artillery just as bad. Very few soldiers talked about it after it ended and didn’t have much nostalgia, they were traumatised really. He was a casualty of the war as he died of alcohol abuse several years later. It changed British attitudes to war it was not as “heroic” or patriotic as it was seen as before. People also wanted to avoid another war in Europe and the loss of countless lives which lead to the brief policy of appeasement.
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