Study sources B and C. Which one of these sources do you trust more?

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Study sources B and C. Which one of these sources do you trust more?

When judging the reliability of sources you must take into context a multiplicity of factors. Source C could be seen as reliable because Private George Coppard (the author of the source) was a soldier serving on the frontline at the Battle of the Somme. His experiences are expressed in the line “It was clear that there were no gaps in the wire at the time”. This shows that Private Coppard has first hand experience of what was happening at the battle and therefore his source should be more realistic and a better representation of the battle than perhaps that of a generals (who were not based on the frontline).

The fact that Private George Coppard served in the battle and therefore cannot be directly blamed for any bad decisions which lead to the deaths of thousands of men at the hands of the “Hun” suggests he has no reason to exaggerate or lie about the events that he witnessed. “Hundreds of dead were strung out on the barbed wire”. This quote increases the reliability of this source because from our own knowledge we know that there were approximately 20,000 deaths on the first day of the Somme and it is not unlikely that from Private Coppard’s view point that their would have been hundreds of dead. We also know that barbed wire was an important part of Germany’s frontline defence. The fact that Coppard is unlikely to lie due to his previous position and the fact that we know from our historical knowledge that Coppard’s depiction is a reasonable frontline image of the battle, we can say that Source C is pretty reliable.

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Another reason why source C could be viewed as reliable is the fact that Private Coppard is unlikely to forget something so devastating and traumatic. If the battle was as he describes in this source then such an event would be hard to forget. Therefore the source, in terms of its author, should be viewed as reliable and good representation of the average soldier at the Somme’s experiences.

However at face value source B would appear not so reliable because the extract is a report for the public. Therefore Haig could’ve used this as a way of creating ...

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