The Great War (Part One)...

As we head toward the 100th anniversary of the remarkable Christmas truce of 1914, here is the first of a number of posts regarding The First World War, and what it meant for the British people, both on the front line, and at home.  I will admit, although I have a great interest in the subject, it is still very difficult to comprehend the concept of trench warfare, and what conditions were like for the men on the front line.

I will be covering in depth some of the events - and the personalities - of The First World War, but I will start here with some simple facts, all pertaining to Great Britain.

1)  The average life expectancy in British trenches was no more than six weeks.  Fortunately, most men spent no more than two weeks at a time on the front line.

2)  The minimum required age for a British soldier to serve overseas was 19.  However, there were some 250,000 under-age boys who served, the youngest being just 12 years of age.

3)  Jack Cornwell was the youngest recipient of the Victoria Cross (for gallantry) in World War I, at the age of 16.  He received the award posthumously for his actions at the Battle of Jutland, while serving on the HMS Chester.

4)  Over 250 million tons of supplies were shipped to British forces in Europe during the War, including three million tons of food.

5)  The Battle of Mons was fought in 1914.  During the battle, the British were so efficient firing their Lee-Enfield rifles, the Germans thought they were facing machine-gun fire!

6)  Anti-German sentiments in the UK were so strong that King George V changed the British Royal Family's name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.

7)  Britain suffered its first ever air raids on January 19, 1915, when German Zeppelin airships dropped bombs on the Norfolk towns of King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth.

8)  Horses were very common on the British Front Lines.  Those horses that died in action, and could be salvaged, were burned in order to provide fat for use in explosives.

9)  The top British flying aces of WWI were Major Edward "Mick" Mannock VC, DSO and Two Bars, MC and Bar (shooting down 61 enemy aircraft), Major James McCudden VC, DSO and Bar, MC and Bar, MM (57), Captain George McElroy MC and Two Bars, DFC and Bar (47), and Captain Albert Ball VC, DSO and Two Bars, MC (44).  All four lost their lives during the war.

10)  On the morning of July 1, 1916, the British suffered 60,000 casualties (including 20,000 dead) at the Battle of the Somme.  This is the worst single day toll in military history.