The way that the film portrays Trench conditions can be supported by several of the sources, the sources suggest that the British trenches were comfortable and the Photographs show that the soldiers were enjoying themselves. For example the source gathered from Photographs shows us that the troops were happy, comfortable and importantly enjoying themselves. Some sources also imply that soldiers were having more happy times in the trenches than elsewhere. However, other sources challenge the images put forward in the film. Many sources hint that the conditions were very poor for instance the Cartoons show that the trenches were very wet, muddy and that the place was generally very deafening due to the fact that howitzers and other forms of guns were being fired constantly. In addition some sources imply that there were several dead bodies hanging around and that they hadn’t been removed and buried this is shown from the source collection about Photographs and Diaries, Memoirs and Interviews. Overall I believe that the evidence indicates that the film provides an unrealistic picture of how good the trench conditions actually were. This is because the diaries were not filtered and read by servants of the government before they reached the members of family around the world, so they are more likely to tell the truth.
The way that the film portrays Tactics used by the British can be supported by several of the sources, the sources suggest that the British tactics worked rather well as they managed to break the line of the German defence. Some sources also imply that the British tactics worked well because in the information gathered from Newspapers it shows that many parts of the German trenches were destroyed by heavy gunners. However, other sources challenge the images put forward in the film. Many sources imply that the tactics used by the Brits were useless because they killed their own men, for example many British soldiers and civilians were killed when the gas attack on the Germans went wrong, they didn’t plan for the the wind direction changing. In addition some sources state that many soldiers were killed because gunners had made the wire in front of the trenches even worse by firing the wrong type of shells, this shows bad leadership and using very poor tactics, thus the troops couldn’t get over the barbed wire into the trenches. Overall I believe that the evidence indicates that the film provides an unrealistic picture of how well the British tactics worked. This is mainly due to the fact that several sources mention that the British tactics didn’t work and that many men were slaughtered by the Germans. However these sources may not have been reliable as they could have only given the view of one person.
The way that the film portrays Soldiers attitudes to War can be supported by several of the sources, the sources suggest that the British soldiers attitudes to War were rather positive, for example they seemed to be happy and smiling in the Photographs source collection, they are also very happy in the Newspapers source collection. Some sources also imply that the soldiers fought gallantly and were brave and didn’t give up when the going got tough, this can be seen in the source collection about Diaries, Memoirs and Interviews as it states that they were excited about going straight into battle. However, other sources challenge the images put forward in the film. Some sources imply that the soldiers were downbeat after the first excitement of the War and also the soldiers were apparently angry with their leaders and tacticians. In addition some sources state that many soldiers gave up themselves and surrendered to the Germans. Overall I believe that the evidence indicates that the film provides a realistic picture of what the British soldiers attitudes to War were like. This is because the main information about the soldiers’ attitudes to War was found in the Diaries source collection. These diaries didn’t get audited or read through by the time they were sent as they were private to the soldier.
The way that the film portrays Soldiers attitudes to the Germans can be supported by several of the sources, the sources suggest that the British soldiers attitudes to the Germans were rather mixed for example some shared cigarettes and played together and made each other welcome. Some sources also imply that the soldiers were happy with the German soldiers as they treated them with respect and dignity this is shown in the Letters and Photographs source collection. However, other sources challenge the images put forward in the film. A few sources imply that the soldiers were horrible and didn’t like the Germans, they were also stated to have said that they were killing the German soldiers for fun. In addition some sources state that many soldiers hated them and loved the sight of a dead German soldier. When the German soldiers surrendered they were supposed to have been treated poorly. Overall I believe that the evidence indicates that the film provides a realistic picture of what the British soldiers attitudes to the Germans were like. This is because the main information about the soldiers’ attitudes to War was found in the Diaries source collection. These diaries didn’t get audited or read through by the time they were sent as they were private to the soldier.
I believe that the film isn’t totally realistic as some of the information gathered from our sources doesn’t correspond to what has been said in the film. The majority however does correspond with the film and it seems to me that the British forces had plenty of supplies and weapons although they did start to run out of food towards the end of the War. They seem to be very friendly to the Germans and they also seemed to be very excited about the prospect of going to War. The tactics generally worked although many British soldiers died, generally everything ran smoothly. Some of the sources I don’t feel are totally trustworthy such as the information that is given by Newspapers and Photographs as these were both sets of information that the government controlled, they gave information to the Newspapers so that they could write their articles, however the government may have not given all the information to the Newspaper companies. The Newspapers also would write anything to make the paper sell to the public. Many of the Photographs look like they may have been staged or set up, so these two sources are rather unreliable. Life in the trenches appears to be pretty gruesome because there are dead bodies lying around and massive War going on outside, there is the fear that you will never see your family and friends again.
Historians have been arguing for years over whether or not the film ‘The Battle of the Somme’ is a realistic view of what actually happened in World War I. There has been no outright decision to whether it is a realistic view or not, and historians will continue to debate over whether or not it is a reliable source to show what life was like for the British soldiers in the trenches.
