WW1 Coursework

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Character Profile

My character’s name is called Albert William Lavender. He was born on 26/January/1894, at Hillingdon Heath, Middlesex. At the start of World War 1 he was at the age of 20. Before the war he was a butcher, he didn’t have a very good lifestyle with his family. His dad died before just after he left for war, and because of Hannah (mum) not working they were a very poor family. He had no brothers or sisters, which made him very lonely and jealous of other families. He believed very strongly in God and went to church every Sunday.

Joining Up

Many people and Albert joined up because of peer pressure from friends. Also to persuade him the propaganda posters around town gave him inspiration to fight and kill for king and country, the Lord Kitchner poster made men feel insecure as he was pointing directly at you, and some people felt like an individual as if he only wants you. [See Appendix 1 Lord Kitchner Poster]. When he decided to not join up with his friends, they all called him a homosexual. So he joined up from threats of girls not going to like him. He saw many people be cheered by women and getting attention from the whole town. As he was jealous of other families he wanted attention. Also because of family encouragement. First of all his mum did not appreciate him joining up, but after seeing his dad’s reaction of a very big smile and calling him a brave lad he decided to join up. Within modern warfare men do not get called gay or a wimp for not joining, but they are sometimes noticed as crazy or stupid. More women are now joining the battle front.

Effects

When people joined including Albert, were physically and mentally changed, by simply being hit by gunfire, or by getting shell shock. When he first entered his battle station, he thought he could cope with the lifestyle in the trenches, but after a few days, he realised that the trenches where a cramped, muddy, wet, rat infested habitat.

Physical Effects

Albert and his comrades were mostly under fire all day by German soldiers. Albert was extremely lucky to not have been hit by gun fire once. He saw a lot of soldiers being gassed or hit by shells. Albert came under heavy fire of machine guns during the Battle of the Somme. He survived with no wounds to the arms and legs, which made his confidence increase greatly. After the Somme he was promoted to a Corporal. He suffered from an explosive from a shell and died just before the end of the war. Unlike Albert, many people had been gassed losing their sight. Also at least a half of his battalion lost their hearing due to explosion from shells. Physically many people became stronger and tougher to cope with these harsh conditions. Many people caught the disease trench foot. They picked up trench foot because of the wet and muddy conditions of the trench. This disease caused soldier’s toes to fall off and make their feet rot [See Appendix 2 - Trench Foot]. Albert also suffered from barbed wire cuts, these massive rolls of twisted metal where spread for miles across the battlefields. Many people attempted to blow up the wire, but this method was no good as it would just scatter the wire further around the battlefield. Albert managed to cross barbed wire a few times. Some people would only get a few minor cuts; others could lose a toe or a finger, even very deep severe cuts. Which could keep a person fingerless or not as mobile for the rest of their life.

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Mental Effects

Luckily he only suffered from mental effects once. Approximately 80,000 British soldiers suffered from shell shock [See Appendix 3]. Shell shock consisted of lose of hearing, being unable to speak and became disoriented. To try and leave the war, many people tried to fake an illness, but doctors treated them until they gave in. Doctors would do this as they wanted as many soldiers as they could have on the battle front. If someone were potentially ill they sometimes just torture him or her, until their body would either, die or the body would have to ...

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