A soldier’s possessionsUsing artefacts to explore personal experiences in WW1

What will we learn?

This activity will help you to learn that:

• Artefacts (objects made by people) are historical sources – information about the

past doesn’t just come from written sources!

• Artefacts can be read– even when they don’t have writing on them - in order to gain

information about the past

• Artefacts provide lots of different kinds of information about the experiences of

soldiers fighting in WW1

• No words here – but I bet you know exactly what these two objects are, and what they mean to the people who use them

• In other words..you can ‘read’ the messages they are sending out

• All objects (archaeologists call them artefacts) say things about the people and the societies who use them, or want them

‘Reading’ artefacts

Have a go at reading these: What does owning (or wanting) these say about you?

What signals or messages are they sending out to other people?

This artefact was made in 1916, by an Australian army driver. His name was Ewen MacDonald. He fought at Passchendaele, and survived the war.

What is it? What is it made from?Think about what this object might tell us about this man, and his war.

Some things to think about:

TrenchesAlcohol

ForgettingOff duty

Friends and comrades

Reading artefacts from WW1

Class Review of the ArtefactsFour tables, four objects, four groups

One object on each table 3 minutes then move on!

These are real objects from WW1 – be careful with them!

Things to think about . . .

• Do you know what it is?• What is it made of?

• What can you see? Draw it!• What do you think it’s for?

• What information does it contain?

Object 1

- What are they made from?

WHY??

- Why are there two?

Why are they different colours?

- What are they for?

• Identity tags started to be used by Britain in 1907

• Originally soldiers had just one tag

• They received two from September 1916

• Why?• Originally made of

aluminium• Asbestos was cheaper - and

could survive fire

Reading the details• P Yeomans• 2740738• CoE• The tags indicate

some or all of these:

• Number• Rank• Name• Regiment Religion

Object 2- What is it made

of?- Tell me about the pictures on

it… What do they mean?

- What words are included?

- What might it have meant to the soldiers?

Who might she be?M is for…

Imperium Britannicum?

These are the names of countries – why might these names be here?

Christmas – what do we most like about Christmas?

• Princess Mary Tin• 17 year-old Princess Mary

(daughter of King George V) created the ‘Sailors and Soldiers fund’

• Donations from the public to send soldiers on the Front a parcel on Christmas day 1914

• Items in the tin included chocolate, pipes, cigarettes, tobacco, pencils, sweets.

• In each corner are the names of the allies, with France and Russia named either side

• 355,000 were successfully delivered by Christmas

That’s me!

Object 3- What was it for? - What can you see?

- Why do you think it

was important?

• This is a Sweetheart Brooch• Like a wedding ring, it marked a

person out as being connected to someone who was away

• A symbol of national pride and patriotism

• A way of connecting the people on the home front and on the front line

• In this case the dagger represents the bayonet that a soldier would have attached to the end of his gun

• The name ? • The trench area where he was

fighting (Dixmude)

Dixmude

• The ‘trenches of death’

• Held by the Belgians for four years – the battle of the Yser

Object 4• What is it made of?

• What would it be used for?

- Who made it?

The decoration here was made using repousse technique: the maker has used a small tool (perhaps a nail or the needle from his sewing kit) to punch little dents in some parts of the shell, leaving a central image to stand out.

Trench Art

Soldiers had a lot of spare time between fighting and to entertain themselves would often create their own souvenirs by recycling objects that were readily available for them: wire, used cartridges and bomb shells

Which bit of the shell was used for

our example?

Reading the details• 37-85 = • 37mm howitzer shell. • (18)85 = • the year this shell was introduced• PDPs = • Pinchart Denys, Paris• 362 = • Manufacturing lot number• 9.17= • September 1917

Artillery shells were often used to make flower vases: their size and shape was just right for this

But there are other reasons too

Think: why did poppies become the symbol of WW1?

• Holly is symbolic of immortality• Evergreen• Lilies (or is it a thistle?)

symbolise purity and innocence – and also death

• The Cross of Lorraine is a heraldic (coat of arms) symbol of the Lorraine region of France. This is where some of the worst trench warfare occurred

• It’s a symbol associated with the Catholic church

A soldier’s possessions

Artefacts (human-made objects) are historical sources – information about the past doesn’t just come from

written sources!