Y9 WW1 Past Paper PDF

Dangers Rest The Battle of the Somme Trenches filled with water and soldiers In between fighting soldiers tried to sleep,...

Dangers Rest The Battle of the Somme Trenches filled with water and soldiers In between fighting soldiers tried to sleep, In 1916 British carried out a major got trench foot. read magazines, played cards, or wrote There was a risk of being shot by a attack to break though the German letters home but these were censored to trenches, which is known as the sniper while in a trench as the remove any important military information. Soldiers would usually spend four to nine Battle of the Somme. Germans usually had the high ground. British casualties on the first day Before an attack the enemy would days in the trenches per month The rest of the time, soldiers were stationed were the worst in the history of the shell the opposing to cause British Army, with over 57,000 substantial damage when they landed behind the lines in nearby towns and casualties of whom over 19,000 were in a trench. villages, often sleeping in barns or tents. Soldiers were subjected to long killed. Soldiers could also spend their The battle lasted for several more periods of time being shelled suffered free time in the towns going to months more, with repeated British from ‘shell shock’. the cinema or attending variety Gas shells caused terrifying attacks. Over 2,5 million British and shows. Empire soldiers were involved. injuries and deaths but were Home leave back to Britain was By the end of the battle many more less effective once troops were rare and only for officers. British and Empire troops had died issued gas masks. Various pests were found in the and the front line had moved forward Y9 History KB1: First World War, 6 kilometres. the trenches such as included British commander, Field Marshal Jobs 1914-18 rats, flies and lice. What was trench warfare Douglas Haig later gained the To maintain the trenches soldiers needed to carry out essential jobs like? nickname ‘The Butcher of the such as filling sandbags and laying Somme’ as his decisions had barbed wire in no man’s land. seemingly led to so many deaths for At all times some soldiers were on little gain. sentry duty watching for enemy Victory activity across no man’s land usually By 1918 the British, French and using a trench periscope to avoid Americans (joined in 1917) learned a being shot. better way to fight the war. Soldiers also had to ‘stand to’ at 5am A First World War trench Aircraft were used to spy on German and 7pm fully armed in the front line system trenches trenches as this was the most likely Troops from the Empire Tanks were developed to help soldiers time for an enemy attack. Indian troops fought in the trenches punch a hole through the German lines Food alongside British troops A creeping barrage of shells was fired British soldiers in the trenches Whilst Indian troops won many medals ahead of advancing soldiers to keep the relied mainly on tinned for bravery they also experienced high Germans pinned down. casualties and racism from their British Shock troops sneaked into no man’s rations. These rations included bully officers land to launch surprise attacks. West Indian troops from colonies like A series of British, French and American beef (corned beef), plum & apple jam, ‘Maconochie’ (beef Jamaica and Barbados were not allowed victories which slowly pushed the and vegetable stew) as well to fight due to racist attitudes Germans back in what is known as the West Indians were used as ammunition ‘Hundred Days’ as hard, dry biscuits. British rations were better carriers instead, which was still a very The German government chose to dangerous job surrender in November 1918