Recruiting, recruits & equipment

Preparation and Planning

You will need to ensure that you photocopy enough Student Worksheets for the whole class. Students will benefit more from seeing colour copies of Worksheet 1a-1k which could be presented on screen.

Episode 4 involves a student carrying a heavy load of school bags in an attempt to empathise with the amount of equipment that soldiers fighting in the First World War had to carry. This should only be undertaken with a sensible class and if there is enough room to create a clear route for the student in question to walk about the classroom.

About the MOD Topic

Recruitment
When war was declared in July 1914 there were 450,000 men in the British Army. By the end of September 1914 this had been supplemented by a further 2.5 million volunteers. Conscription was introduced in January 1916 for all single men between 18 and 41. However the Armed Forces continued to sustain heavy losses leading to the extension of conscription to married men in May 1916 and those up to the age of 51 years old in 1917.

A soldier's kit
When a British Army soldier was ordered to attack the enemy on the Western Front (in Europe) he carried a great deal of equipment through mud, barbed wire and crater holes. This included a Meal bag, mess tin, tin cup, webbing (comprising of ammunition pouches, bayonet, water bottle) small pack containing iron rations, knife, fork, spoon, toothbrush, soap and towel, shaving kit, cleaning kit, mending kit, spare bootlace, spare socks and cap comforter (a sort of woolly hat), a PH hood (gas mask), steel helmet, an entrenching tool , shovel (not standard issue, but often issued), a jack-knife, a Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle (SMLE) and wire cutters. A soldier's pack containing standard issue kit would have weighed more than 30kg (66lbs). Many soldiers also supplemented this with other useful items of equipment as well as letters, journals, diaries and entertainments such as packs of cards.

The Schlieffen Plan
In 1914, Germany believed war with Russia was extremely likely. If war did break out, Germany thought France would attack - as she was an ally of Russia. If this occurred, Germany would face a war on two fronts which they wanted to avoid at all costs.
Germany wanted to defeat France as quickly as possible and then turn to the Eastern front for a major offensive on Russia. This strategy was the basis for what came to be known as the Schlieffen Plan. The plan was named after Alfred von Schlieffen, the German Army Chief of Staff. Schlieffen was asked to plan a way of preventing a war on two fronts. His initial plan which was produced late in 1905 involved defeating France quickly, forcing them to surrender before Russia had a chance to mobilize their troops.
Schlieffen proposed attacking France through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. He planned to use 90% of German forces to attack France, with the remaining 10% defending the eastern border of Germany against Russian attack.
When Von Molkte replaced Von Schlieffen in 1906, he made some alterations to the original plan. His version avoided invading Holland, instead directing the attack through Belgium. According to Von Molke, the Belgium Army would be unable to resist the force of the German military, and German troops would be able to rapidly enter France.
The flaw in this plan was that Von Molkte made several (incorrect) assumptions:
- Russia would take at least six weeks to mobilise
- France would be easily defeated in six weeks
- Belgium would not resist German invasion
- Britain would remain neutral.

On 2nd August 1914, the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium according to the details outlined in the Schlieffen Plan.

The Germans were held up by the Belgian Army, backed up by the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) which arrived extremely quickly. Russia mobilised in just 10 days and Germany was forced to withdraw troops from the Schlieffen Plan to defend her eastern border. Germany did not get a chance to take Paris, deciding instead to attack east of the capital. They were met by the French at the battle of the Marne (5-11 Sept) which halted the German advance.

Further Opportunities for Learning

Using the internet, students can research what kit soldiers were issued during the Second World War, The Bosnian conflict and Afghanistan. How does the kit differ to that issued during the First World War? How does the different kit reflect the different conditions and styles of warfare experienced during these conflicts?

Student worksheet answers

Download the teachers notes PDF to access the answers for this lesson.