The Battle of the Somme – source related study

Question 1: Source a shows us the life of the men in trenches during a war. The source is a secondary sourced book by an English (not British) historian and published in 1976. the extract does not at any stage write about a particular war or side but one can assume from the year of the battle of Somme and the year of the book, the aim of the author was to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the battle of Somme. Source a describes life in the trenches as silly and repetitive, the author writes that night time was more busier than daytime which means it was more hazardous.

The author attempts to describe that general day to day ituation in trenches. He talks about the trench life of being a daily routine and of bleak discomfort for the soldiers. This implies that there were often great periods of quiet. Source a fails to describe the fighting in trench life and does not mention the diseases such as trench foot, the soldiers were faced with. It does not clarify what techniques of fighting used by the soldiers or how they coped when they had to face horrible situations.

Questions 2 Source b is primary evidence which supports and backs up source a. the picture is taken during day time and shows a scene or a quiet trench with oldiers lying down and one looking towards no-mans land. Source b supports source a as the guards are relaxing during the day means that most of the major activated were at night. The heading of source b tells us the photograph is of British soldiers in Somme, September 1916. it was photographed by British military. We can see by the angle of the photograph that the guard is over looking no-mans land.

This is very dangerous, as he becomes a target for enemy snipers. Examining the photo further it can be seem that the barbed wire is on the opposite side of the trench along with the fire step. The only explanation is that the British had captured the trench, which means that no-mans land would lie to the left of source b and the guard is looking to the right. This now explains the purpose of the photo.

Source c shows us how dangerous it was to occupy trenches. Source c confirms the amount of deaths during certain periods of the battle of Somme.Neither the provenance nor the actual source gives us the detail to who complied the figures or how they were used. Source a tells us that life in the trenches were dull and tiresome but source c shows that even in the quietest eriods men still died.

If the men did not die from full on contact deaths still occurred from snipers and shells. Source c clearly shows that other times were dangerous than others, or example July - November 1916 was more dangerous than July 1915- June 1916.Source c may also be misleading, as there is no reference to injured soldiers of the battle. Source c is inaccurate as it tells us the same number of deaths occurred a day over a period of time, which is very unlikely so consequently the deaths would have been averaged over this time period. As a conclusion, source a is booked up by source b but re both challenged by source c. Question 3 Source d is an extract from a book for children, which was published in 1916.

It is a primary piece of evidence as it is written at the time of the event.The extract talks about the allied troops and how they battled through no-mans land and described the battle as one-sided. It also implies that not a single allied soldier was injured. ' Our men leapt with from there trenches and advanced..

. but not a man did falter... ' this did not happen and in fact the British troops had suffered 60,000 casualties. The source is full of propaganda.

An important fact is that many of the children reading this were enjoying the fact that their fathers and older brothers were winning the battle in France.Source e is a letter by Lieutenant John Raws, he was a soldier on the Somme. This was his last letter before he dies in 1916. I assume he had been writing to a close friend or family by the use of nicknames in the letter and he must trust the recipient a lot. In the letter he says that other officers who were killed as a result of disregard by higher powers in the army. He also talks about the incompetence of these in high ranks who command the war.

This would be seen to destroy any public support because it will let people know that the troops did not prepare well for the war.He also talks about the deaths of soldiers and that would also upset the families of the soldiers battling in the war. Lt. John Raws was quite fearful of what he was writing would get out to his officers as the higher ranks control every situation and would not allow leak of information getting out to the people if it was not positive. Source f is a film that gives encouraging footage of the soldiers at Somme. It is in black and white and is a primary piece of evidence as it is taken at the ime of the war.

The film shows cheerful soldiers smiling as they carry their equipment and are in good morale and good spirits as they walk in an orderly fashion. This was made to ease the suffering and pain for the wives and children of the soldiers and o gain more support from the public. This source is very positive and inspiring due to film editing such as looping. Footage is looped to give the effect of many good things happening a lot such as prisoners being led away. The film also shows that the Germans were not returning fire but would show the allied troops with big weapons nd seem to be in power.

Question 4 In source g, there are many dead bodies lying on the floor and four living soldiers looking down on them. This source is a primary piece of evidence as it is looking down on them. This source is a primary piece of evidence as it is taken at the time. The provenance does not tell us who took the photo or what purpose it was for.

I would imagine it was taken to keep record and not for the public at home as it would cause panic and they would cause panic and they would lose support, as people would see the reality of what is actually happening to their loved ones.