WW1 TOPICS

The Christmas Truce

In 1914, 5 months after the war started, German and British soldiers made peace, emerged from the trenches, and stopped attacking each other.

• On Christmas Eve and day, 1914, German and British soldiers made peace, emerged from the trenches and stopped attacking.

On December 24th, Christmas Eve, British soldiers heard German soldiers singing silent night in their language. Recognizing the tune, the British soldiers sang along, and they sang Christmas carols through the night.

On December 25th, Christmas Day, Soldiers emerged from the trenches and chose to make peace. Many celebrated by gifting cigarettes and plum puddings, while others played soccer. sadly, some soldiers took this time to find the bodies of fallen comrades in no man’s land and bring them back to the trenches.

MAJOR BATTLES

What was the first battle in the war?
the First Battle of the Marne. Germany tried to defeat France before going to Russia to attack, however, due to low reinforcements they lost to Britain and France, then retreated.

What was the Last Battle in the War?
the Battle of Amiens was the Allied victory that brought WW1 to a close.

What battle lasted the longest?
the Battle of Verdun (1916) was the longest singular battle in WW1. It started February 21st and lasted until December 16th, between the French and Germans.

The Germans attacked in Verdun because there was a lot of historic sentiment in the 60 forts that had protected France in earlier history, and they knew the French would fight hard to keep that area. In The end france kept 2 forts, but the rest were a wasteland.

What was the largest battle on water?
the Battle of Jutland was between British and German naval forces. Germans attacked and were able to sink several ships, however, the British withdrew and when their main fleet arrived to the battle, they got the Germans to retreat.

WAR ANIMALS

What kinds of animals were used in the war efforts?
Dogs, pigeons, horses, camels, mules, donkeys
elephants, and cats (they just hung out in the trenches and caught rats).

In the beginning of the war, cavalry horses were used for charges (that didn’t last because of advance in better strategies with guns, etc.) Horses, donkeys, mules, and camels carried medical supplies, food, water, and ammunition. Dogs and pigeons carried messages.

Other dogs, such as sentry dogs, were trained to look out for danger in camps and bark or growl to alert soldiers, while scout dogs helped foot patrols to look out for dangers, and were to stiffen and point their tails at the danger rather than making an audible sound.

Casualty dogs found wounded soldiers and carried medical supplies to them. Also, many dogs were used to give comfort to soldiers during trench warfare.
Sometimes elephants were used to pull heavy loads of weapons.

One notable WW1 animal is Tirpitz the pig. Tirpitz the pig was kept on board a German cruiser ship, but she was abandoned on there by her crew when it started to sink. She escaped and swam away, and then got spotted by the crew of another ship nearby and was rescued.

Warrior, the horse of Captain Jack Seely, served through WW1, and survived many of the deadliest battles. He was said to be ‘the horse the Germans could not kill’, and was given the honorary Dickin Medal in 2014, representing all the animals who served in the war.