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Letters
Every week, around 12 million letters were sent back home. It only took 2 days for a letter from Britain to reach France's front. By the time the war ended, 2 billion letters and 114 million parcels were sent. -
Animals in the War
Over 16 million animals were used in the war. The uses of these animals were communication, transportation, and morale. In 1914, both sides of the war had a large number of cavalry forces such as horses and camels, they were used in the desert for campaign. Dogs, cats, and even monkey, bears, and lions were there as pets. -
Journalist and Execution
Some journalist wanted to report the reality soldiers were facing while the war office thought that was helping the enemy/other side. At the beginning of the war, journalists were banned. If a journalist was caught, they would be given a death penalty. -
The Explosion in France that was heard in London
A group of miners who were working in secret were said to have caused the explosion.
Their goal was to plant and detonate mines underneath the enemy.
At the Messines Ridge in Belgium 900,000 of pounds of explosives were set off and there had been reports of people hearing the explosion all the way in London 140 miles away. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, while on a royal tour in Bosnia, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot and killed by a group called the “Black Hand”, they believed that Bosnia should belong to Serbia.
Ferdinand’s last words to his wife were “Stay alive for the children”.
Earlier that day, that Archduke’s motorcade was targeted in a bomb attack but the royal tour continued on. -
The first use of poison gas in the War
In the first winter of he war, both sides of the war started to experiment with tear gas.
In January of 1915, the Germans started using a a deadly chemical called xylyl bromide that killed around 1,000 Russians at Bolimov.
Germany let out thousands of canisters of chlorine gas which caused over 7,000 casualties among the British, Canadian, and French. -
Sinking of Lusitania
One new weapon used in WW1 was the submarine.
Germany used the submarine to sink the Lusitania ship that carried 128 Americans.
More than 1,200 people died with the 128 Americans included. -
Conscription use in Britain
By 1916, there were heavy losses on the Western front which meant the Britain needed more volunteers.
On January 27, 1916, the British government introduced conscription to the country.
All single men from the age of 18 to 41 was now able to join the army but some weren’t able to because of the importance their jobs had to the war .
In 1917, the US, Canada, and New Zealand were forced to bring in conscription because only 73,000 people volunteered for the Western front. -
Zimmerman Telegram
On January 1917, Germany sent a telegram to Mexico asking them to join them and in return Germany would give Mexico their states back. The US later found out and this caused the US to join the war. -
Plastic Surgery in WW1
In 1917, plastic surgery started to rise because of the facial injuries surviving soldiers faced after the war. The causes of facial injuries were heavy artillery, machine guns, and poison gas. Shells filled with shrapnel caused most of the facial injuries as they were designed to cause heavy damage, the hot flying metal was able to cut through flesh which could create twisted, ragged injuries to the face, or could even rip the face off entirely. -
Life Insurance for Edgar Andrews
Some soldiers along with Edgar Andrews would apply for life insurance before the war started. It would be terminated if one were to die in the war and a letter was usually sent out if that ever happened. -
Regulations with Letters
The government set up regulations and rules for letters to be sent to and from overseas. -
Records of death or injuries of Gun Battalion
A record or bulletin of the death or injuries caused by a gun battalion would be kept and who would be killed or injured. -
Paper stating issued weapons
The government kept a list of weapons that were distributed to the soldiers. In the list, the names and rank were listed. In here, you can see the weapon Andrews was issued and his rank, Andrews was a corporal.
