STUDENT RESOURCE 9-A

I've A Little Wet Home In A Trench
John Lucy

I've a little wet home in a trench,
Where the rainstorms continually drench,
There's a dead cow close by
With her feet in towards the sky
And she gives off a terrible stench.
Underneath, in the place of a floor,
There's a mass of wet mud and some straw,
But with shells dropping there,
There's no place to compare,
With my little wet home in the trench.

 

QUESTIONS

1. Imagine you were in the same trenches as John Lucy. What other things might he and you have seen in your "little wet home in a trench"?

2. This poem is said to be an example of the humor men used to stay sane in the trenches. For what reasons would this poem be a humorous one?

3. What is a definition of 'home'?

4. For what reasons might a soldier view his trench a 'home'?

5. Given the descriptions in this poem, what would be reasons for not wanting to live day after day in a trench?

6. Reflect on what you know about the battlefields, No Man's Land, and the machine guns and rifles used at the front. Imagine you were a soldier on the Western Front. What are at least three reasons you would want to view your trench as being your 'home'?

7. Imagine that Lucy asked you to write a poem about life in the trenches. What would be at least five things you might mention about what you observed in and around your trench?

8. In the poem you might write, what words describing your emotions and thoughts about being in the trenches would you include?

9. On a separate page, use the words in the answer to the last two questions to write your own poem about the trenches and living in them.

Excerpt from Dulce et Decorum Est
Wilfred Owen

Gas! Gas! Quick boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in times,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime -
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Obscene as cancer
Bitten as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent from some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

 

QUESTIONS

1. What is the meaning of the punctuation symbol known as the exclamation mark "!"?

2. What does Owen's use of three exclamation marks in the first line reveal about the urgency and emotions in the trenches at the first appearance of poison gases?

3. What might Owen have meant by the expression "under a green sea"?

4. What words does Owen use to describe the immediate responses of someone who failed to get his gas mask on in time?

5. What words does Owen use to describe the body of one of his fellow soldiers who died as a result of "the green sea" of poison gas?

6. Life in the trenches was then and is still described in terms of the terror, horror and violence that were 'constant companions' of the men who were there. In what ways does this poem reveal this terror, horror and violence?

7. Imagine you were alongside Owen in the trenches and saw what he saw as revealed by this poem. What words would you have used to describe what you would have seen during this gas attack?

8. Imagine you were alongside Owen in the trenches and saw what he saw. What words would you have used to describe what you would have felt (a) at the moment the gas began to enter the trench? (b) at the moment you saw the soldier dying from the effects of the gas? (c) after the gas had gone away and you, a survivor, glazed your eyes on the still dying and dead?

9. Given what you know about the effects of the different gases, if you had been on the Western Front and been given the order to use gas against your enemy, would you have released the gas? What reasons would you have given for this decision?

10. Rather than write narratives and stories, Wilfred Owen chose to write about his experiences in poems. For what reasons are poems a good means to express one's thoughts, experiences and feelings about some thing?

Poison Gas!
Wilhelm Hermanns

The following description of a poisonous gas attack by the French against the Germans was written by a German soldier. The Germans were in an underground fortress that they had earlier captured from the French by using gas. Hundreds of French soldiers had died in this underground fortress. The Germans soldiers, crowded in the fortress, believed they were safe from enemy attack and were relaxing.

"It was an enormous place crowded with many hundreds of soldiers. Some lay on bunks sleeping, snoring and moaning. Here a flashlight, there a candle, match, or cigarette dotted the dark with flickering islands of light continually shifting in brightness.

I opened my knapsack to get something to eat, but a putrid smell spoiled what little appetite I had. Schulze told me that under this heap of earth many French soldiers were buried, having been killed by poison gas when we Germans captured this underground stronghold.

Suddenly I heard the cry "Poison gas!" I saw people around me putting on their gas masks. Soon many were dying, and the bunks and floors were filled with bodies over which the living stepped and stumbled in search of air. It was as if the souls of the dead Frenchmen who were gassed and lay under the very mound on which I was standing had demanded and were receiving their revenge....Firmenich said to me, "Remember, Willie, we must not hate the French for using gas. We used it first."

 

QUESTIONS

1. The Germans built many underground fortresses and barracks to house and protect their troops below the surface of the Western Front. What are at least three reasons why these fortresses and barracks may have been preferable to the open trenches along most of the Front?

2. Given the description above by Wilhelm Hermanns, how might these barracks have become 'caverns of terror' and death?

3. In this report, what words best describe the violence that was an all-too-common part of life in the trenches?

4. For what reason did Hermanns lose his appetite?

5. Once the gas had entered the underground barracks, what was the major task of each soldier?

6. Once the gas had entered the barracks, what specific activities did Hermanns observe among his fellow soldiers?

7. In this report, what reason was given to Hermanns to not get upset with the French for using poison gas against the Germans?

8. Imagine you were alongside Hermanns when the poison gas was first detected in the barracks. If you were there and heard the shout "Poison gas!", what would have been your first thoughts?

9. If you were there in the trench with Hermanns and heard the shout "Poison gas!", what would have been your immediate feelings?

10. Imagine you were in Hermanns' barracks. After you observed the effects of the gas on your fellow soldiers, what would have been your feelings about what just happened in this barracks? What would have been your feelings toward the French who just gassed this barracks?

11. If you read the poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen, consider the information and emotions that Owen expressed through his poem and those expressed in this report by Hermanns. Which of these two means of expressions reveals the most graphic details of a gas attack? Which of these two reveals the most emotions of those who were being gassed?

Diary Entry
2nd Lt. Kenneth Callan-Macardle, Manchester Regiment

As we advanced, German shells littered the battlefield with dead and wounded. All around us and in front, men dropped or staggered about. I found a Sergeant and shouting in his ear asked where were his officers. 'All gone, sir', he shouted back.

The regiment was crumbling away.... All the world was forever dead to Vaudrey and Kenworthy, to Chesham, Sproat, Ford, and of the other ranks. We did not know how many. Vaudrey used to enjoy early morning parades; Chesham had loved to hunt the buck in Africa when the heat was shimmering with the birth of a day. Young Victor was killed, his problem of marriage to a woman six years his senior finally settled. General Shay has wired 'Well done, 90th Brigade, you will attack again soon'. We are about 400 strong today. We who went in eight hundred.

 

QUESTIONS

1. In the opening paragraph, what words would best describe life in No Man's Land during this assault?

2. What did the Sergeant mean by the statement "All gone"?

3. Imagine you were on this battlefield on the day Lt. Callan-Macardle described in this diary entry. What words did he use that would best reveal the extensiveness of the violence and death around him?

4. What words would best describe how Lt. Callan-Macardle might have felt about the violence and death that accompanied him on this day?

5. What words would best describe how Lt. Callan-Macardle might have felt about the friends he lost on the battlefield that day?

6. What words would best describe how Lt. Callan-Macardle might have felt toward General Shay who wired "Well done, 90th brigade, you will attack again soon"?

7. What is the significance of Lt. Callan-Macardle's statement "We who went in eight hundred"?

8. Suppose you were in Lt. Callan-Macardle's regiment and observed this scene day in and day out for several weeks. For what reasons would you have continued to remain in the trenches and followed orders to advance across No Man's Land?

9. The above statement was Lt. Callan-Macardle's last diary entry. Within days of writing it, he was killed in the same area of the battlefield where the men he described above were killed. Does this news alter the meaning you have for the above statement?

This is the House That Jack Built.
Nursery Rhythm, Anonymous

This is the house that Jack built.
This is the bomb that fell on the house that Jack built
This is the Hun that dropped the bomb,
that fell on the house that Jack built.
This is the gun that killed the Hun,
that dropped the bomb,
that fell on the house that Jack built.

 

QUESTIONS

1. In your own words, what is the main theme of this nursery rhythm?

2. When a nation develops and uses nursery rhymes such as these to describe its enemies, what does this practice say about the hatred that the people have towards its enemies?

3. To what extent is it a good idea to teach young children to recite rhythms such as this?

4. What are the advantages of teaching such rhythms to children?

5. What are the disadvantages of teaching such rhythms to children?

6. In time of war, would it be better to develop rhythms in support of one's nations and its war efforts or against one's enemies?

7. Imagine you were one of the children in the Great War that was taught to recite this rhythm. What would be your attitudes toward the 'Huns'? toward the teachers who taught this to you?

Personal Comments by Two "Girls With Yellow Hands"
Gabrielle West and Caroline Webb

With men off to war, many women volunteered to do what previously had been 'all -men's' work. One job was in the munitions factories helping to make bullets and artillery shells. This was dangerous work because of the chemicals that were used, insufficient safety and health standards, and possibility of accidents. The effects of the chemicals turned the skin of many men and women yellow, made women infertile, and lead to illness and death. The readings below represent just a few observations by two of the women who sought to help their country win the war.

The first time you go around [the factory], you think, 'What an interesting place.' Then the evil smell becomes more noticeable. The particles of acid land on your face and make you nearly mad with feelings like pins and needles.

The fumes [from the acid and chemicals] often mean 16 or 18 casualties a night... You are blind and speechless by the time you escape [from the factory].

Gabrielle West

 

It was all bright ginger, all our front hair... and all our faces were bright yellow.... They used to call us canaries. This doctor, he was looking at us girls one day and he's say, 'Half you girls will never have babies and the other half are too sick. God help you.'

Sometimes when we came up on our old train, it would be packed with different people. And there'd be all the officers, sitting there. Some of them used to look at us as if we were insects.... And other used to mutter, "Well, they're doing their bit." We said, "well, we don't mind dying for our country."

Caroline Webb

 

QUESTIONS

1. What do these statements reveal about the desires of some of the women to contribute to the war efforts of their respective nation?

2. Given the little details in these short statements, what price did these women pay to help their nation win the war?

3. To what extent might the men on the battlefield have appreciated the efforts of these women with 'yellow hands'?

4. Suppose you were a woman in England during this war, would you have volunteered to help in a munitions factory?

5. What were at least three other dangers for women working in these factories?

6. For what reasons should women such as these deserve to receive medals from their nations for injuries and deaths due to participation in the war effort?

7. Suppose these women died of the chemicals in their system or an accidental bomb explosion in the factory. Should the nation have rewarded each with a medal?

Suffering in Germany
Princess Blucher

Princess Evelyn Blucher, British by birth, was married to a German Prince and chose to spend the war in Germany with her husband. She kept a diary. The segments below reflect some of her reactions and feelings during the latter part of the war.

Reading A: There is intense cold here, such as has not been known for more than half a century. There are shivering throngs of hungry care-worn people picking their way through snowy streets... We are all gaunt and bony now, and have dark shadows around our eyes. Our thoughts are chiefly taken up with wondering what our next meal will be, and dreaming of the good things that once existed.

Reading B: Strikes are breaking out in different parts, leading to disturbances which have already caused the deaths of a few unfortunate policemen....We are now entirely at the mercy of the military courts of justice.... Anyone who strikes is being sent off to the front at once. In the darkest days of serfdom men could not have been more in a state of slavery than we are in these days of militarism.

Reading C: Naturally [the people] begin more than ever to say; "Why should we work?... starve?... send our men out to fight? What is it all going to bring us?... More work?... more poverty?... more men crippled?... our homes ruined? What is it all for?

Reading D: The days come and go. Every hour brings its fears, disappointments, and vague hopes.... The feeling towards the Kaiser is steadily diminishing in loyalty and respect.... The same people who greeted him so warmly a short time ago with 'Ave, Caesar,' are now distributing leaflets in the back streets of Berlin proclaiming 'Down with the Kaiser, down with the government.' More and more [Ludendorff] and his adherents are perceiving the fatal mistakes of the U-boat war, and the madness of ever allowing things to go so far that America should enter the war.

 

QUESTIONS

1. What words would best describe the emotions Princess Blucher felt as she wrote these words?

2. What do her observations reveal about the conditions in Germany for the common people as the war came to a close?

3. Which one of these readings reflects the most negative emotions she might have felt? Which one most reflects positive rather than negative emotions?

4. Suppose you were living in England at this time and read Princess Blucher's per-ceptions of conditions in Germany. To what extent would you empathize with her suffering and fears?

5. These words reveal a number of things about the impact of Total War on a society. What are at least three situations or conditions that her statements reveal about the impact of total war?

6. Given her words, to what extent did she seem to fear the actions of her own government against the German people?

7. Suppose you were an advisor to the British government at the end of the war. What advise would you suggest to the government that would relieve or extent the suffering of Germany's civilian population after the Armistice?

Aftermath Siegfried Sassoon

Have you forgotten yet?...
For the world's events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you're a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.
But the past is just the same -- and War's a bloody game.
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget.
Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz --
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench --
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, "Is it all going to happen again?"
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack --
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads - those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?
Have you forgotten yet?...
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget.

 

QUESTIONS

1. What is this poem's central theme?

2. What are all of the specific things that Sassoon urged people to remember?

3. What is the difference, if any, between 'remembering' and 'not forgetting'?

4. Is it easier to 'remember' or 'not forget'? For what reason would one of these be easier than the other?

5. What might have caused Sassoon to write a poem around the question, "Have you forgotten yet"?

6. For what reasons might Sassoon have urged people to "never forget" the "slain of the War"?

7. Most people today have forgotten the importance of the Great War and the millions of men who died in that War. To what extent might Sassoon have written this poem for you rather than those who survived the War?

8. What would it take for you to learn more about this War? What would it take for you not to forget the War and those who suffered and died during it?

9. On a scale of '0' to '10,' with '10' being the highest value, what number best represents the power of this poem in describing what should be remembered about this War and those who died during it?

10. If after studying this war you decide to forget most of what you found out about it and to forget the millions who died during it, would rereading this poem by Sassoon help you to remember?

11. What are the likely consequences for a group of people or a nation to forget significant events such as this War and the men and women who died during it?

A Sense of the Meaning of Total War
Peter Strasser

We who strike the enemy where his heart beats have been slandered as baby killers and murderers of women. What we do is repugnant to us too, but necessary. Very necessary. A soldier cannot function without the factory worker, the farmers and all the providers behind them. Nowadays there is no such animal as a non-combatant.

During World War 1, German Airman Peter Strasser commanded the fleet of Zeppelins that, in early 1915, flew to Britain and carried out the first systematic bombing of civilians from the sky. Strasser did not live to see the end of the war. His Zeppelin was shot down and all aboard were killed.

 

QUESTIONS

1. From the biographical data above, what are three of the most important facts about Peter Strasser?

2. What might Strasser have meant by the phrase "strike the enemy where his heart beats"?

3. What justifications might Strasser have given for the armed forces of nations to be 'baby killers and murderers of women"?

4. What is the definition of 'repugnant'?

5. Even though Strasser claimed that being "baby killers and murderers of women" was repugnant, he also claimed there were necessary acts of modern warfare.
For what reasons would he have said such actions were 'repugnant'?

6. Strasser claimed that such actions as killing babies and murdering women were necessary acts of war. What are reasons might he have used to defend these actions?

7. What connection does Strasser make between the combatants (fighting men) on the battlefield and the people back in the combatants' homeland?

8. What might Strasser have meant by the phrase "Nowadays there is no such animal as a non-combatant"?

9. To what extent does Strasser's statement reflect the claim that the Great War was an example of 'total war'?

10. Suppose you were asked to advise the President in planning the defeat of a nation which this country was about to fight. Suppose further that another advisor urged the President to act in ways that were identical to the ideas of Peter Strasser.
Would you agree or disagree with this advice?

11. What are all the reasons would you give the President to justify your decision to follow or not follow Strasser's ideas?