Photograph of the 1914 Christmas Truce
A friendly chat with the enemy
NAM 1995-06-89-1-1
During Christmas 1914, along parts of the Western Front unofficial truces between British and German soldiers took place. In the trenches on Christmas morning carols were sung and rations thrown across the opposing lines. It was not long before the more adventurous soldiers started to take matters into their own hands and venture into no-man’s-land.
Here they exchanged food, tobacco, cigarettes, drink, badges and buttons. Both sides saw the lull in fighting as a chance to find the bodies of their comrades and give them a decent burial. Although strict orders were issued against fraternization by the High Command, many junior officers tolerated the truce and allowed events to take their own course. They never doubted that eventually the fighting would resume in all its fury. They were proved correct. For the rest of the First World War (1914-1918) there was to be no major repeat of the 1914 truce. The event acquired semi-mythic status and has since been celebrated as an act of humanity in a brutal conflict.
Photograph of female munition workers, c1916
Women at war
NAM 1999-11-70-60
During World War One women volunteered for essential work in order to release men for service in the armed forces. Between 1914-1918, around two million women volunteers replaced men in employment.
During World War Two (1939-1945) it was clear that volunteers alone were not going to meet the demands of wartime production. In December 1941 the National Service Act made the conscription of women legal.
At first, only single women aged 20-30 were called up, but by mid-1943, almost 90 per cent of single women and 80 per cent of married women were employed in essential war work.
Trench signboard, Ypres, 1918
Hellfire Corner
NAM 1996-08-303
This sign was used to mark ‘Hellfire Corner’, a busy junction on the Menin Road, which ran from Ypres in Belgium to the frontline trenches. It was a very dangerous place, being within easy range of the German guns. As a result of constant heavy shelling it was given this nickname by British troops. This sign is believed to be the last used at this position and shows signs of shell and small-arms damage.
Lieutenant W. S. Storie of the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) brought this sign back to Britain after the First World War (1914-1918). He displayed it in his shop window on Prince’s Street, Edinburgh. The evocative name ‘Hellfire Corner’ was instantly recognizable to the generation who lived through the War, which is why Storie used it to attract crowds to his shop. Many of those who had survived would have passed the sign, or one of its predecessors, en route to and from the front line.
Soldiers have often placed signposts in their positions, naming them after famous streets and roads, and this practice was especially evident during the First World War. The need to maintain connections with home is still apparent in the British soldier’s mind today. In his book Rules of Engagement, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins describes the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment’s desert encampment on the Kuwait-Iraq border in February 2003:
‘rows of Bedouin –style tents running away at right angles, each forming a street, which the boys soon marked out with familiar street names: ‘Shankill Road’, ‘Newtonards Road’ , ‘O’Connell Street’
Photograph of Vickers machine gun team in gas masks, 1916
Horrors of industrial war
NAM 1995-03-86-3
Both the machine-gun and gas, along with barbed wire and artillery have come to define the popular view of the horrors of World War One. All four were the result of scientific developments during the 19th century industrialization of Europe. During this period, developments in metallurgy and chemicals led to new and improved weapons that could kill on a greater scale than ever before. Likewise, railways and steamships led to a revolution in transport, allowing large armies and their supplies to be moved long distances in days rather than weeks.
There was also a revolution in communications with the electric telegraph and, by the 1900s, the development of telephone lines and radio broadcasting. With landlines and submarine cables now connecting cities and the front lines, information could be passed almost instantly, where before it had sometimes taken weeks for instructions to arrive.
Smith Gun, 1940
Don't Panic!
NAM 1978-11-77-1
The Smith Gun was designed by the Trianco toy company at the beginning of the Second World War (1939-1945). It was one of several homemade pieces of artillery produced in Britain during the desperate days of 1940 when the threat of German invasion was at its greatest. When demonstrated to the Director of Artillery several faults were exposed and it was considered too dangerous to proceed with. By 1941 improvements had been made. Several thousand were built and issued to the Home Guard and for the defence of airfields.
It consists of two pairs of steel disc wheels, one forming the smooth bore gun, the other an ammunition limber. The weapon was light enough to tow behind a civilian car and was thus perfect for the Home Guard. Although the muzzle velocity and range were very low, it fired both a high explosive and an anti-tank round. As a weapon, the Smith Gun had little practical value, but as a symbol for the Home Guard it had a useful propaganda impact.
The Smith Gun was one of the many weird and wonderful devices used by Captain Mainwaring and the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard of TV's 'Dad's Army'. This is one of the few remaining examples in existence anywhere in the world.
