Soldiers’ Conditions (Section 1)
Living day-to-day in the trenches, getting asphyxiated from mustard gas, and not knowing if it would be possible to survive until tomorrow. These were all common realities running through the minds of the British soldiers fighting in World War I. Trench warfare, especially along the Western Front, was the complex, twisted, and enveloping home for soldiers for much of World War I.[endnoteRef:4] While it was banned to keep diaries in the trenches, for many of the soldiers it was their only sense of solace as machine guns, torpedoes, and the threat of mustard gas incessantly loomed in the soldiers’ minds.[endnoteRef:5] [4:
"World War One - What Is a Trench?" From Ancient Times to the 20th Century. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.historyonthenet.com/ww1/trenches.htm.
] [5: "Cambridge Digital Library." Sassoon Journals. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/sassoon.
]
Trench warfare took a great toll psychologically on the British soldiers on account of the unpredictability of the future. With the average of one soldier per every four inches in the trenches, living conditions were cramped and typically unsanitary.[endnoteRef:6] Over one million soldiers were stationed in the trenches, and would be resupplied in accordance with the slaughter that would ensue during soldiers’ time in the trenches.[endnoteRef:7]5 Soldier Isaac Rosenberg’s, “In the Trenches,” provides a glimpse into the mindset of this soldier as he speaks of the darkness experienced in the trenches. Also, he reveals a variety of sights soldiers would see in the trenches, such as other soldiers’ limbs, bodies, or blood. A vivid portrayal of the condition in which these soldiers lived can best be expressed in Rosenberg’s own words, which was that living in the trenches was like living “sprawled in the bowels of the earth.”[endnoteRef:8] This provides vivid imagery and insight as to the mental status of the soldiers living conditions. They were trapped for what was to them an unending amount of time, comparable to the most dirty, and often regarded as the lowest parts of the earth. This was the unending home for British soldiers. [6: "Revealed at Last... Secret Diary of Hell in Trenches." Daily Express WWI RSS. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world-war-1/450563/Revealed-at-last-secret-diary-of-hell-in-trenches.] [7:
5 "Revealed at Last... Secret Diary of Hell in Trenches." Daily Express WWI RSS. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world-war-1/450563/Revealed-at-last-secret-diary-of-hell-in-trenches.] [8:
"Sensuous Life in the Trenches." The British Library. Accessed November 22, 2014. http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/sensuous-life-in-the-trenches#.]
Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry also provides haunting experiences of the trenches, which contributed to the high number of cases of shell shock among British soldiers. His “Suicide in the Trenches” touches not only on youth present in the trenches, but also the extremely fragile mental status of the soldiers. According to Sassoon, “In winter trenches, cowed and glum, /With crumps and lice and lack of rum, /He put a bullet through his brain. /No one spoke of him again.”[endnoteRef:9] This stanza illuminates upon the desperation running through the minds of the soldiers. The boy in Sassoon’s poem was most likely suffering from shell shock, and his reaction was to kill himself. However, like the young boy in Sassoon’s poem, many soldiers, as a result of their shell shock, would flee. If caught, these were the soldiers tried and executed for desertion and cowardice.[endnoteRef:10]1 [9:
"Siegfried, Sassoon: Suicide in the Trenches," Siegfried Sassoon: Suicide in the Trenches. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/suicide.html.] [10:
1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
]
The terror of having to live in a trench as a home was only exemplified by the advanced and agonizing weaponry revolutionary during World War I. No weapon was more torturous or excruciated to soldiers than mustard gas.[endnoteRef:11] Even minimal exposure to mustard gas would cause vomiting, skin conjunctivitis, and blisters on the soldiers’ skin. However, minimal exposure to areas such as the eyes would be even more excoriating for soldiers to cope with the pain.[endnoteRef:12] Severe exposure to poison gas was likely fatal for soldiers, or, if it was not, it would typically result in great outward disfigurement to the body and severe internal and external pain. [endnoteRef:13] At the onset of World War I, the masks available to protect soldiers against the looming poison gas attacks were primitive at best, with the more sophisticated and effective masks not being created until closer to the end of the war. A preventative measure soldiers were told to take was to place a cloth soaked in their own urine and place in over their mouths as means to partially protect against the agonizing effects of poison gas.[endnoteRef:14] For a significant amount time during the World War I, the British soldiers lived in a continuous hell in the trenches, always worrying and the threat of the weaponry, and knowing that when the enemy did strike, there was very little that could be done to protect themselves. [11: ""Poison Gas and World War I"" History Learning Site. Accessed November 29, 2014. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/.] [12:
"Effects of Mustard Gas, WW1 | Gas Warfare Medical Aspects | WWI Resource Centre." Effects of Mustard Gas, WW1 | Gas Warfare Medical Aspects | WWI Resource Centre. April 5, 2003. Accessed November 30, 2014. http://vlib.us/wwi/resources/archives/images/i040823a/key.html.] [13:
"Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.firstworldwar.com/photos/gas.htm.] [14:
"World War I British Press Photograph Collection." World War I British Press Photograph Collection. Accessed December 3, 2014. http://digitalcollections.library.ubc.ca/cdm/landingpage/collection/WWIphoto.]
Wilfred Owen was a prominent poet of the war, able to give insights to the terrors of war. In “Dulce ET Decorum Est,” Owen gives an eye-opening image for the effects of poison gas on the soldiers. He describes a soldier doubled over, guttering, choking, and drowning in the lethal gas.[endnoteRef:15] The use of the word drowning in the poem is an interesting choice to compare getting attacked with the poison gas. People often find drowning as a terrifying way to die, so Owen emphasizes how terrified and psychologically damaging the weaponry was to the British soldiers. Also, the significant number of underage soldiers in the British military was even more vulnerable to the encroaching effects of shell shock. Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth,” also gives key connections to the troubled mental status of the British soldiers, who, as Owen bluntly puts it, “die as cattle,’’ and “the demented choirs of wailing shells” call to their death, with no hope for peace or prayers.[endnoteRef:16] This life was typical for the British soldiers in, which sheds light upon why so many of the soldiers ended up with shell shock. Moreover, many of those shot at dawn were suffering from shell shock, and had enlisted underage so were even more vulnerable to the symptoms of shell shock, which for them was a death sentence. [15:
"Firing Squad at Dawn - Executions in World War One (WWI)." HubPages. Accessed December 4, 2014. http://trish-m.hubpages.com/hub/Firing-Squad-at-Dawn-Executions-in-World-War-One#slide5228867.] [16:
Wilfred, Owen"Anthem for Doomed Youth." IT Services. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/4544?CISOROOT=/ww1&CISOPTR=4544&DMSCALE=50&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMX=0&DMY=75&DMTEXT=%20sassoon&DMTHUMB=1&REC=10&DMROTATE=0&x=161&y=114.]
British Politics and Nationalism Regarding the War (Section 2)
Several of the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers that deserted on account of shell shock and were subsequently shot for treason also felt a substantial political pressure from their king and country to fight until the death.[endnoteRef:17]1 The ideology impressed upon the British soldiers minds was that if mortal danger or peril came, then they should face it like men, or else bring the utmost shame to their country.[endnoteRef:18]1 [17:
1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
] [18: 1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
]
Not only did ideology place tremendous political pressures on the soldiers, it went as far as to question their masculinity. To further the political agenda for Britain to fight in the war, the government would release propaganda and dramatized stories of the German atrocities.[endnoteRef:19] The purpose of these political moves was to light the patriotic fire in the hearts and minds of the British people, again relating to the ideology of the British men fighting for their country no questions asked. This ideology was a major force in the minds of the young British soldiers, some as young as age 12 that lied about their age to fight for their country.[endnoteRef:20] Furthermore, many military officials were rather lenient when soldiers were enlisting, and were not very thorough in checking to make sure that soldiers had all their required paperwork.[endnoteRef:21] The political pressures the British government extended not only to the male soldiers pressured to fight unquestioningly for their country. Women took up active roles in the war effort as well. Whether it was raising money for the government or working as a nurse, women had the same expectations as men to provide service for their country, and if necessary to die for their country.[endnoteRef:22] Throughout Britain the ideology was to service the military, no matter how offensive the officers were to soldiers, or how dangerous the circumstance.[endnoteRef:23] [19: "World War One." The British Library. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one.] [20:
"The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918." The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918. December 9, 1999. Accessed December 4, 2014. http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-shotatdawn.html.
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/atrocity-propaganda#] [21:
"World War I British Records." British Numbers. Accessed January 10, 2014. http://www.hmc.gov.uk.] [22:
"To the Memory of a Great Englishwoman." Daily Sketch, October 22, 1915. http://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/assets/pdf/ww1-teaching-booklet.pdf.] [23:
"Unit War Diaries." The National Archive. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/centenary-unit-war-diaries/.
http://microsite.proquest.com/page/trench?WT.mc_id=70140000000WQ4d&sp_ctc=70140000000WQ4d&sp_cts=Responded&sp_source=Web]
The underage soldiers in the British army were especially vulnerable to shell shock. Once afflicted with the disease, many would flee on account of no longer being able to stand the raging conditions of war. Boys were terrified and felt as if they were not only disappointing the friends and family, but their country.[endnoteRef:24] The British military took no measures to look into any kind of psychological trauma, which their soldiers may have been experiencing. Desertion for any reasons whatsoever was a sign of cowardice and weakness in the eyes of British military.[endnoteRef:25]1 Furthermore, the British military felt the need to execute any deserters, including the underage sufferers of shell shock, as a politic message to the other soldiers showcasing the amount of power the commanders kept in the British military.[endnoteRef:26] As a further sign that deserters were thought to have committed the most detestable and shameful of crimes in abandoning their duty to their country, the 306 soldiers shot at dawn had their names kept off all war memorials.[endnoteRef:27]2 For almost 100 years these soldiers that ended up giving up their lives for their countries were associated with the greatest shame and cowardice. It was not until a law passed in 2006, which pardoned the men in the British and Commonwealth armies executed during the war. The sentence removed some of the dishonor and stigma of shame on these soldiers, but it did not cancel out the sentences.[endnoteRef:28]2 The executions of the soldiers shot at dawn have been a source of great controversy for almost 100 years. The pressures and ideologies drilled into the British soldiers of unconditional political subservience were looming in the minds of the soldiers as machine guns raged around in unending trenches. [24:
"Explore over 200 Years of History." Home. Accessed November 13, 2014. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/.] [25:
1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
] [26: "Main Page." World War I Document Archive. Accessed December 3, 2014. http://wwi.lib.byu.edu.] [27:
2 "Search the History Learning Site." History Learning Site. January 1, 2014. Accessed November 28, 2014. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/.
] [28: 2 "Search the History Learning Site." History Learning Site. January 1, 2014. Accessed November 28, 2014. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/.
]
Siegfried Sassoon’s hauntingly vivid poem “Does it Matter?” illuminates how idealized the British soldiers were in the eyes of the people and how unaware and ignorant people were to the horrors and shell shock endured. [endnoteRef:29]15 Siegfried contemplates as to whether all the sacrifice and pain matters, because people will always be kind to those who served their country. While the soldier in Sassoon’s poem drinks to forget the dreams and to dull the pain, his last two lines leave a searing portrayal of the political attitude the British imposed toward soldiers. For the angry soldier trying to numb the pain and black out the memories it is acceptable ““For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country / And no one will worry a bit.”[endnoteRef:30] Young and old, the British government placed great pressures on their soldiers. The propaganda and call to serve and be a brother to the king was so persuasive that many child soldiers took up the call.[endnoteRef:31]15 Soldiers shot at dawn include Private Thomas Highgate, who witnessed the slaughter of 7,800 of his fellow comrades and suffered from shell shock. His inability to cope with the horrors he had witnessed made him the first soldier to be shot at dawn. He was seventeen years old.[endnoteRef:32]1 Shell shock presented itself in a variety of ways, but some soldiers were simply unable to control it. Instead of trying to help these soldiers, they were considered cowards and executed. [29: 15 "The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918." The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918. December 9, 1999. Accessed December 4, 2014. http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-shotatdawn.html.
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/atrocity-propaganda#] [30:
"Cambridge Digital Library." Sassoon Journals. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/sassoon.] [31:
15 "The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918." The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918. December 9, 1999. Accessed December 4, 2014. http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-shotatdawn.html.
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/atrocity-propaganda#] [32:
1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
]
While its true that many of the British and Commonwealth soldiers executed were suffering from shell shock or underage, along with the tens of thousands of unreported cases, there were soldiers that deserted and were not suffering any type of impaired mental status. There were simply soldiers in their right mind that deserted their duties.[endnoteRef:33]1 However, for these soldiers, the choice of military justice can still be correlated to the highly nationalistic ideology of the British military that these soldiers deserved to be executed for betraying their country. (Concession) [33: 1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
]
Conclusion
In World War I, tens of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers were suffering from shell shock on account of the horrific conditions of trench warfare and the revolutionary weaponry. Soldiers from several countries, particularly the British, were executed for desertion even though suffering psychological warfare and were thought to have brought great shame on their country.[endnoteRef:34]2 (Summary) As early as 1678, Swiss military physicians had identified an impaired mental disorder in soldiers, which was coined as “nostalgia,” with Spanish, French, and German doctors also having similar terms for soldiers. In America, the Civil War showcased the first time soldiers appeared to suffer mental disorders, usually attributed to homesickness and weakness on the soldiers’ part.[endnoteRef:35] (Historical Parallels) The cowardice that was thought to be shell shock during World War I is today the diagnosed disease of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Even today, PTSD is a prominent psychological disease with every one in three troops returning home today being diagnosed with serious PTSD symptoms. Moreover, less than 40% of these troops are seeking help for their condition, usually wanting to avoid any association with the origin of their trauma.[endnoteRef:36] Dr. Charles Myers of the British Psychological Society was the first to recognize the occurrence of a disturbed psychological presence in soldiers, but at the time it was still highly considered a weakness and not a disease. (Contemporary Relevance) While progress has been made to bring retribution to those executed, the Shot at Dawn Campaign still works today to bring justice for the soldiers wrongfully executed, and work to wipe out the stigma that all of these brave soldiers brought shame upon their country.[endnoteRef:37]1 (Sexy Closer) [34: 2 "Search the History Learning Site." History Learning Site. January 1, 2014. Accessed November 28, 2014. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/.
] [35: "Early History." WordPress.com. March 15, 2005. Accessed December 3, 2014. https://historyofprsd.wordpress.com/early-history/.] [36:
"The Statistics - PTSD Foundation of America | Combat Trauma Support Groups, Camp Hope Houston, Warrior Shield Fort Hood, Warrior's Shield Radio." PTSD Foundation of America Combat Trauma Support Groups Camp Hope Houston Warrior Shield Fort Hood Warriors Shield Radio. January 1, 2012. Accessed December 4, 2014. http://ptsdusa.org/what-is-ptsd/the-statistics/.] [37:
1 Peter, Taylor-Wiffen, "Shot at Dawn: Cowards, Traitors or Victims?" BBC News. (March 3, 2011.) Accessed November 27, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml#three.
]
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