The Unknown Warrior (34 page)

Letters from the front, although censored by officers, were permissible and the paraphernalia associated with this activity is visible in the archaeological record. Pencils have been found by The Diggers (Aurel Sercu, pers. comm.) and a number of ink pens were found in the French mass grave at Saint-Rémy-la-Calonne, Meuse (Adam, 1999: 32). The German bodies at Gavrelle, Pas de Calais, were also associated with writing materials – a phial of ink and a fountain pen (Desfossés
et al.
, 2000, 35). Perhaps the English–French/French–English dictionary excavated by The Diggers (Aurel Sercu, pers. comm.) had been used not simply to talk with local civilians and French troops, but also in an attempt to write something in a foreign language.

Although a naval site, recent discoveries at Scapa Flow in Orkney may well prove an exciting dataset, too. In 1919, the seized German High Seas Fleet was scuttled at Scapa Flow by the ships' own German sailors. In 2003, divers discovered material drifting from the wrecks. A series of postcards have since been retrieved from SMS
Karlsruhe
. Not only do these depict ships, but an example of a wounded infantryman with an attending nurse has been recovered. Once the cards have been fully conserved, they may provide interesting written information, which may also have some facets relating to the infantry of the age (Clydesdale, 2005: 42–3).

The First World War was noted for its poetry and also its biting satire, composed by the men who fought, frequently at the expense of those whom they considered responsible for the war, its privations and huge death toll. The same men who scratched their names into their billets, or carved images of women and regimental badges into caves, may also have come across the writings of their comrades in so-called trench newspapers such as the
Wipers Times
:

Building land for sale
—

Build that House on Hill 60.

Bright – Breezy and Invigorating

Commands an Excellent View of the Historic Town of Ypres.
For Particulars of Sale Apply :–

BOSCH
and
CO
.
MENIN

(
Wipers Times
or
Salient News
, I, 1, 12 February 1916, in Beaver, 1973: 11)

Art

Our present trenches are largely in Chalk – the most fascinating stuff to carve with a jack-knife – and it is like visiting an art gallery to walk through them. Model prayer books and hymn books and slabs of chalk carved with the Regimental crest.

(Fielding, 2001: 9 – written on 22 May 1915)

The carvings found in caves and trenches such as those mentioned above are dramatic, perhaps none more so than in the Chemin des Dames, Soissons, which present a view of the world of the soldier and his culture – of weapons, the desire for women, regimental honours, calls for victory and even religious shrines (Becker, 1999: 118). The quarries changed hands from one army to the other and motifs dear to both German and French soldiers have been found in close proximity. The imperial Prussian eagle, painted red after its carving at Les Cinq Piliers, near Dreslincort, sits in almost direct challenge to a nearby bright Gallic cockerel (Saunders, 2003: 124).

The work of the Durand Group has been important in uncovering much information pertaining to the underground battles of the First World War – in tunnels, mines and dugouts. Their techniques, using ground-penetrating radar, have shown several major tunnel complexes. In addition, standard surveys have located the presence of artistic depictions by British soldiers of their comrades, including a Scottish soldier accompanied by the phrase ‘Stand Easy' (Durand Group, n.d.: 13).

For the French, images of soldiers were also popular and their infantry –
poilus
and North African Zouave troops (see Plate 24) – are depicted in the Soissonais and Noyonais cave carvings. Parisian skylines also feature, and the depiction of ‘Marianne', symbol of the Revolution and French womanhood, was a popular subject – Joan of Arc being the other French female depicted to escape the more lascivious portrayal afforded to the female subject of the
‘poilu
's dream' (Becker, 1999: 124; Saunders, 2003: 123).

Chalk was not only a suitable material to carve in relief, it was also cut into blocks and shaped as free-standing objects – some of the more unusual examples being the carved and painted chalk dragons made by members of the Chinese Labour Corps (now held in the Imperial War Museum in London). Art could also be on a grand scale. Moving through the landscape in Wiltshire, one cannot help but notice the impressive white horses cut into the chalk bedrock of the otherwise lush green hills. These can be hundreds, or in the case of the Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, thousands of years old, but chalk motifs can also be more recent. Anzac troops training in and around Salisbury Plain left permanent testaments to their presence in the shape of the Australian Commonwealth forces badges at Codford and Fovant, and the huge chalk kiwi carved into the hill at Bulford, overlooking the rifle ranges (see Plate 25).

The type of art from the First World War that is perhaps best known, and was produced in many cases by the front-line troops themselves, is the so-called ‘trench-art'. Detritus of the battles was turned into souvenirs both during and after the war (Briet, 2002: 20). Saunders's (2003) excellent work draws much of this together and reveals a vast array of works of art: smoking equipment (lighters, tobacco boxes) made from bullets and scrap metal; writing equipment (letter openers and inkwells); shell cases decorated to make vases, sometimes with places and dates depicted; rings or bracelets made from the copper driving bands of shells; miniature tanks (see Plate 26) fashioned from shell cases; and even photo frames decorated with army issue biscuits (
ibid.
: 39–40). The construction of these artefacts was not without its risk to the troops – especially when trying to remove the copper driving bands from shells: ‘Even when the men were only chipping off the copper rings from the shells to work them into paperknives or bracelets, there were incidents' (Jünger, 2003: 61).

An example of trench art found
in situ
at Auchonvillers was a ‘bullet pencil' (Saunders, 2002: 106), and there seems to have been a workshop for these products close to Arras (see page 201). Much of what we regard as archaeological, material that has remained
in situ
on the battlefield, has been reused, which is perhaps not surprising given the huge quantity of material expended in the conflict and discarded.

Religion

From a practical point of view there was no religion in the front line, although our unit padre used to come and visit us quite a lot. But he was never allowed to stay in one place too long because he got in the way.

(Private Norman Demuth, 1/5th Battalion London Regiment, in Arthur, 2002: 165–6)

For some, amid all the slaughter of the Western Front, it was well nigh impossible to have religious faith; for others it was all that the individual held on to – trusting to their God rather than simply to chance. With so many different nationalities serving in this theatre, inevitably there was a range of religious belief: Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic and Protestant were all represented within the armies of the British Empire alone.

In terms of archaeological evidence to date, the traces seem to be predominantly Christian. The frequent invocation to God to back their cause or at least to look over and protect the individual soldier can be seen both at micro and macro level. Remains of soldiers have been found with religious icons ranging from a small white porcelain figurine of Christ on the cross uncovered in fieldwork at Boezinge (Aurel Sercu, pers. comm.) to rosary beads and religious medals found in the excavation of the French mass grave of 1914 at Saint-Rémy-la-Calonne, Meuse (Adam, 1999: 32).

At a grander level, there are many religious carvings and shrines in the caves of the Soissons and Noyon areas. These include inscriptions such as the ubiquitous German
Gott mit Uns
(Saunders, 2003: 122) and the French
Vive le Christ qui aime les Francs
at Pierre (Becker, 1999: 125), or
Dieu protège la France
in the Chapel of Father Doncoeur at Confrécourt (Saunders, 2003: 124). French Catholic soldiers carved altars into the chalk and these are often supported by battle honours of the various infantry regiments. At Pierre, a relief of a crucifix sits upon a carved altar composed of an image of a castle's wall and turret. Below this, within a circle surrounded by what appears to be a laurel wreath, a chi-rho (an early Christian symbol) is depicted, only in this case it is formed by the crossing of three swords – perhaps a strange juxtaposition of the sacred and profane, but inexorably appropriate in the context of soldiers asking to survive, to be remembered or for salvation. To the left of the altar are escutcheons of the 97th and 264th Infantry Regiments, and to the right, the 98th and the 265th Regiments. Their honours contain memorials to the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars as well as the Somme.

For some, chance or fate was still the abiding force. The central character of
All Quiet on the Western Front
, Paul Bäumer, voices this feeling eloquently: ‘It is simply a matter of chance whether I am hit or whether I go on living. I can be squashed flat in a bomb-proof dugout, and I can survive ten hours in the open under heavy barrage without a scratch. Every soldier owes the fact that he is still alive to a thousand lucky chances and nothing else. And every soldier believes in and trusts to luck' (Remarque, 1996: 72).

Casualties, Hospitals and Medical Care

About saving the lives of enemy wounded there was disagreement; the convention varied with the division. Some divisions, like the Canadians and a division of Lowland Territorials, who claimed that they had atrocities to avenge, would not only avoid taking risks to rescue enemy wounded, but go out of their way to finish them off.

(Graves, 1960: 112)

Keegan (1991: 305) compared the casualty rates of two of the biggest battles in the history of the British Army: Waterloo and the Somme. As an example, he found that, ‘In the two battles the 1st Battalion, Inniskilling Fusiliers, suffered 427 and 568 casualties, out of 698 and 801 soldiers engaged: casualty rates of 61 and 70 per cent respectively. But at Waterloo … the infliction of casualties was spread out over three hours; on the Somme, the losses were probably suffered in the first thirty minutes.' Such vast numbers of wounded placed huge strains on the medical services, who were detailed to deal with them both at the front line and also in hospitals.

There's a stench of blood, pus, shit and sweat.
Bandages ooze away underneath torn uniforms.
Clammy trembling hands and wasted faces.

Bodies stay propped up as their dying heads slump down.

(Wilhelm Klemm, 1914, from ‘Clearing Station', in Silkin, 1979: 226)

A couple of recent excavations have located medical facilities relating to the First World War, both in the trenches and also behind the lines. During pipeline work in Arras, France, workmen discovered a series of steps going down into a basement. What they had found proved to be a British military hospital from the First World War. Alain Jacques surveyed the site and found it to be both large and self-contained. Painted signs on the walls pointed out directions,
TO OPERATING THEATRE
or
EXIT RUE ST QUENTIN
, while other graffiti was inscribed by the wounded and by medical staff. The hospital was just 800m from the front line and had room for 700 wounded. According to Jacques, all logistical rooms were present, including an operating theatre, kitchens and billets. Signs such as ‘Iceland Street' and ‘Hunter Street' were displayed for the benefit of stretcher bearers on their way back to the front (Desfossés
et al.
, 2000: 37–8). Much of the tunnelling had been undertaken by New Zealand miners, hence an inscription by a Maori Sapper, no. 20680 Toi. Karini, among others, also found in the entrance to the tunnels (Giradet
et al.
, 2003: 67). The hospital did not have a long working life; it was partially destroyed by shell fire on the third day of its existence, 11 April 1917, during the Battle of Arras, and the wounded were rehoused in two other sites in Arras (
ibid.
: 38).

Work at Auchonvillers examined this village, which was used by medical units. ‘An Advanced Dressing Station had initially been set up in the station building just to the west of the village but was shifted at some unspecified time in the winter of 1915/16 to the large farmhouse on the western edge of Auchonvillers.' Graffiti in the cellar connected to the trench that has been excavated, ‘indicate[s] that the French army used the cellar as a medical post. The British graffiti dates from 1915 and 1916 and includes an inscription written by a member of the 48th Division Field Ambulance, which can be dated to August 1916' (Fraser, n.d.: 6). Further excavation pertaining to a medical function included the presence of six glass ampoules. They contained iodine, which was issued to infantrymen as a form of field treatment of wounds. In the First World War, the wounds suffered by infantrymen were from a variety of sources. Keegan (1991: 264) stated that, on the Somme, combat wounds were accounted for by bullets (around 30 per cent), bayonet (a fraction of 1 per cent), and the vast majority by shells and bombs (around 70 per cent).

Such ampoules and a bottle of iodine in a German fire pit were also found at Boezinge, Belgium (see Plate 27). The latter was located next to some scissors, which might perhaps have been used for cutting field dressings. Indeed, the excavators have also discovered belts from stretchers and a bottle bearing the legend ‘Boots the Chemist' – the well-known British chain of chemist shops. Furthermore, in 2001, excavation work revealed a small underground construction with two rooms close to light-railway tracks serving the trenches. In it was the remains of a stretcher, some 2.2m in length, this may well have been a small dressing station (Aurel Sercu, pers. comm.).