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BBC Schools - Trench food 18 February 2014Last updated at 17:06 British soldiers eating hot rations in the Ancre Valley during the Battle of the Somme, October 1916 Maconochie's meat stew advertisement Even though food was very short in Britain during World War One, families often sent parcels to their fathers and brothers fighting at the front. The parcels contained presents of chocolate, cake, tobacco and tinned food.
Life in the Trenches - History Learning Site Trenches and life within those trenches have become an enduring topic from World War One. Throughout the war millions of soldiers experienced and endured the horrors of trench warfare. Some wrote down for posterity what these experiences were and as time has moved on from World War One more and more of these written documents – frequently in the form of a diary – have come to light. Others wrote about their experiences in book-form. On the British side “Goodbye to All That” by Robert Graves is considered a classic. For the Germans, “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich von Remarque was considered to be such a potent anti-war book that Hitler banned it.
BBC Schools - Life in the trenches 31 October 2014Last updated at 15:07 Two British soldiers standing in a flooded communication trench during World War One On the Western Front, the war was fought in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived all day and night. There were many lines of German trenches on one side and many lines of Allied trenches on the other.
Life In The Trenches There was nothing glamorous about trench life. World War 1 trenches were dirty, smelly and riddled with disease. For soldiers life in the trenches meant living in fear. History - World Wars: Shell Shock during World War One Somme History The Battle of the Somme, 1916 On 24 June 1916, British and French artillery began a seven-day bombardment which marked the start of what became known as the Battle of the Somme. It had been in preparation since an Allied conference in December 1915. On 14 February, French and British generals agreed that 1 July would be the opening day of the offensive, which would strike north and south of the river Somme. Barely a week later, however, the German army launched its own major campaign against the fortified town of Verdun on the River Meuse which would continue for most of the year, killing more than 250,000 French and German soldiers. For France, Verdun became synonymous with national resistance and pride, but also with the devastation of the war.
Heros of 'India's Battle of the Somme' honoured by royal visit Battle of the Somme. Some of the Japanese soldiers had died of starvation and disease. By then end, more than 4000 allied soldiers were dead, and 5764 Japanese troops had been killed. Had they lost the Battle of Kohima, Japan would have taken the nearby railhead and air field at Dimapur, then in Assam, and used it as a base to sweep across Bengal. The heroism of the troops of Kohima has been the stuff of legend but their unique contribution to winning the war was finally recognised by Britain's royal family on Tuesday when the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, visited the town's Commonwealth War Cemetery. "It's very important for the modern generation, particularly across India, for people to remember and recognise the sacrifice that took place here, because without that sacrifice and that stand then the freedom that we now have … would not have been possible," he said.
First world war: Volunteers from the colonies - the forgotten soldiers Racism in the trenches There was a time when George Blackman would have done anything for the mother country. In 1914, in a flush of youth and patriotism, he told the recruiting officer he was 18 - he was actually 17 - and joined the British West Indies Regiment. "Lord Kitchener said with the black race, he could whip the world," Blackman recalls. "We sang songs: 'Run Kaiser William, run for your life, boy'."
'We were nine round the table, now I am the only one' Image copyright IWM If you think of the Imperial War Museum as a place full of tanks, interactive displays and a Spitfire hanging above an exhibition hall - its beginnings were very different. As the museum marks its centenary, it is making public the very personal mementoes in its first collection. "Dear sir, I have sent some of the incidents of my dear son's life. Have no relics.