All Pals Together: A First War Soldier's Story (Key stage 3)
Aims of the workshop
It is vital that all students complete the preparatory work before the videoconference workshop and are fully prepared so that they can get the most from this experience.
The aim of this videoconference workshop is for students to develop their understanding of life in the trenches, through engaging with an actor in role as a soldier from a Pal's Battalion. It is also an opportunity to consider how useful this type of historical interpretation is as a piece of evidence, is it pure entertainment or has it more value?
Students can also develop their ICT skills by interacting with a historical character via videoconference. Through developing their own questions they will be able to shape their own session.
Documents
- Document: WO 363/F022 (p.340)
Short Service Attestation Form for Private Henry Fairhurst of the 14th Yorkshire and Lancashire Battalion (Barnsley Pals).
- Document: WO 363/F022 (p.341)
Descriptive Report on Enlistment.
- Document: WO 363/F022 (p.342)
Protection Certificate and Certificate of Identity.
- Document: WO 363/F022 (p.343)
Casualty Form-Active Service, part 1.
- Document: WO 363/F022 (p.344)
Casualty Form-Active Service, part 2.
All documents have transcripts.
These documents provide the evidence for the soldier whose life is being re-enacted in the workshop.
Resources
Activity
During the videoconference workshop, students will be encouraged to ask Henry questions about any aspect of his life in the trenches.
To prepare the students for it we suggest that you use documents from the Learning Curve's online exhibition on the Great War to help you think of questions to ask Henry.
Divide the students into groups and give each group a particular case study or theme to research in order to generate their questions. Students could ask Henry about the source used to prompt their question, for example, the film of The Battle of the Somme. They could ask Henry if his experience contradicts or supports their conclusions from this about life in the trenches.
The following sources and questions are suggestions to help get you started. Students can ask Henry any questions they like. They can use any other sources to prompt questions. They can ask Henry about facts they have found out about trench life and see if his experience matches with this. Was life in the trenches all mud and blood or wine, women and song?
Gallery 1: The Great War: conflict and controversy
Case Study 1: Changing views on the Great War
Source 1: Mother's Poem, 1918.
- You could ask Henry what his family think about him joining up. How does his mother feel about it, is she proud or scared?
- Does he miss his family and home?
- What job did he do before he joined up? Would he rather be in the trenches?
Gallery 2: Why did Britain go to war in 1914?
Case Study 3: Did public opinion drag Britain into war?
Source 2: Diary of a factory worker.
Source 5: Recruitment Poster.
- You could question Henry on his reasons for joining up, was it due to pride, money, or pressure?
- What was the recruitment process like?
- After his experience in the war so far, does he think he was right to join up?
Gallery 3: The Trench Experience
Case Study 4: The daily grind
Source 7: Mealtime in the trenches.
- You could ask Henry about what he got to eat and drink every day. How did this compare to what he usually ate and drank back at home?
- Does he get any extra treats from home? Are there ways he can earn extra rations?
Source 1: Film of soldiers digging trenches.
- What duties does Henry have to carry out in the trenches each day?
- Does he spend all of his time fighting, or preparing to fight?
- What does he do if he gets time off?
Source 4: Postcard sent home.
- Does Henry write letters home to his family, what does he tell them, or what can he tell them?
- Does he get letters from home? What does his family write about?
Case Study 1: Weapons and Warfare
Source 9: British Soldier in full kit.
- You could ask Henry to describe the different parts of his kit and explain what each item is used for.
- How does it feel to carry all this kit?
- How does he keep it clean and in good working order?
- What does he think about tanks and the effect they might have on the war?
Gallery 4: Lions led by donkeys
Case Study 3: The Somme, 1916
Source 7: British film, The Battle of the Somme.
- You could ask Henry about his experiences of going over the top. How does he prepare for it?
- What does he feel like as he goes over?
- What are his feelings for his friends in his battalion at this time?
- Has he lost any friends during the war?
- What is his opinion of the generals, does he think they are doing a good job or is he loosing faith in them?
Extension preparation activities
Organise the students into their groups to write a letter to Henry explaining their views on the war based on their research. They can also write down their questions for him. Please produce one letter per group.
During the videoconference, Henry can refer to these letters and questions. He can address his comments to the group concerned, also inviting additional questions from that group. It is important that the students are prepared to talk to Henry about what they've written to ensure the session remains fully interactive.
If you would like to do this, please retain a copy of your letters and questions for students to refer to during the session.
Send your letters to the Education Service, National Archives, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Surrey, TW9 4DU at least two weeks before your workshop. Please provide a covering sheet with your name, school, and the date and time of your workshop.
Download exercise materials
The materials are provided in Adobe PDF format so that they are easy to print out. Anyone with a visual impairment who is unable to use PDF documents should visit access.adobe.com for information about converting documents and versions of Adobe Reader with added accessibility features.
If you are unable to print out the preparation materials and need us to send you a paper print out, please email education@nationalarchives.gov.uk or call 020 8392 5365 and leave a message stating the title of the workshop you want the materials for, your name, your school's name, and the date of your workshop.
The workshop
The content of the workshop will consist entirely of Henry talking about his experiences in the trenches, prompted and led, we hope, by your students' questions. There will be no introduction or plenary by an education officer. Students should put their hands up if they have a question to ask and Henry will speak directly to them. He will ask the teacher for help if there is any difficulty hearing the question, or seeing individual students. Try and make sure that all students can be seen clearly on screen and have good access to the microphone. If you have trouble hearing Henry's questions, do ask him to repeat them.
Classroom follow up
We hope that this session will form a very useful part of your studies on the First World War. To help students evaluate their conversation with Henry as a historical source for life in the trenches, students can see video clips of the actor, John, who plays him. John talks about the research that went into creating the part and which sources and books he used. Students can assess the reliability of his account.
Knowledge, skills and understanding
- Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past
- Historical interpretation
- Historical enquiry
- Organisation and communication
QCA Schemes of work
Unit 18: Hot war, cold war: why did the major twentieth-century conflicts affect so many people?
Useful links
Please note, many of the All Pals Together workshops are advertised and booked on the Global Leap website.
|
