Video summary
Behind the lines men could relax and forget about life on the front line. British troops remember the fun of living in an outdoorsy male environment.
Games, singing, and fraternising with the locals provided an opportunity to gain respite from the war.
Meanwhile, even at the Front, religious festivals such as Easter and Christmas occasionally brought a break from the fighting with temporary truces observed by both sides in the conflict, exchanging gifts and even addresses.
This is from the series: I Was There: The Great War Interviews.
Teacher viewing recommended prior to use in class.
Teacher Notes
Key Stage 4:
Students could focus specifically on the 1914 Christmas truce, and discuss what it suggested about the soldiers’ attitudes towards the war, and also why senior officers were reluctant to allow it occur again.
This clip will be relevant for teaching History at KS3, KS4/GCSE, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
Also at Third Level, Fourth Level, National 4 and National 5 in Scotland.
This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC, CCEA GCSE and SQA.
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