Tommy's on the Western Front.

 

British soldiers - 1914-18

I have just been reading the book ‘Tommy's’ by the military historian Richard Holmes. This is not the only book that I have read about WWI. It's about British soldiers in the 1914-18 war.

Soldiers' opinions about their German enemy/opponents varied with the circumstances. It seems the British soldier had quite a lot of respect for Fritz as a German infantryman. They often thought that the Germans were better disciplined and had better officers than themselves. As far as the ordinary British soldier was concerned, he bore no real hatred against the Germans. They probably disliked the French even more because they ripped everybody off. We do know that there were instances of fraternisation between German and British soldiers especially at Christmas and gifts were exchanged. This sort of thing worried the military top brass. Nevertheless, many soldiers knew that they were at war with an enemy and that involved killing one another.

I suppose the soldier is fighting to keep himself alive and his mates. The British soldier had no time for the sniper or trench mortar men or those that used gas. If captured they would probably be shot or bayoneted. If a soldier surrendered there was no guarantee that it would be accepted. A German officer surrendered to a British sergeant and handed him his field glasses. The British soldier politely thanked him and then shot him through the head. As for the Germans, the Saxon Germans hated the Prussian Germans more than the British and some even deserted. The same can be said for people from Alsace.

In WWI, conscription wasn't introduced until 1916 and many lads were keen to join up. They probably saw it as a bit of an adventure and an opportunity to travel. They were clothed and fed and got a wage and cigarettes. Many had probably never travelled far from their home area or could have been unemployed. The Germans did shell and bomb parts of Britain which resulted in deaths. The British soldier would have had different ideas about why he was fighting in that war. Some thought that they were doing so to prevent the Germans from invading Britain or coming under the control of Germany. As far as I understand the Germans did not plan a large-scale invasion of Britain during WWI and the allies didn't really take over the running of Germany.

That imperialist war was more about the possession of colonies and the struggle for markets. When Germany was defeated, the French and British basically carved up between themselves what was left of the Ottoman Empire. The British were very interested in the oil wells of Mesopotamia and waged war there in the 1920s.

As with all soldiers, the British soldier was subject to military law. If he struck an officer he could be shot. Over 3,000 death sentences were issued in the British Army during WWI. Around 90% of these were not carried out and some other punishment might be imposed. Around 346 British soldiers were shot for desertion or other offences. The vast majority of these were ordinary rank and file soldiers and they were probably shot as an example to others. Some of these would be suffering from shell shock or battle fatigue. Only three British Army officers were shot during WWI. Siegfried Sassoon who fought on the Western Front said that some British Army officers did lose their nerve but they were often removed from active service and this was often covered up. Sassoon said you couldn't do this with Tommy. If he loses his bottle, it was a No 9 pill and he stayed there until he was wounded or killed.