Resource created by The University of Leeds | Liddle Collection.
A Global View:
WW1: As the name suggests, the First World War (1914-1918) involved many countries across the globe. Initially, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in Eastern Europe for resisting its imperial control. The declaration prompted a domino effect as countries stepped in one after another to support their allies on each side. Eventually, this meant that countries such as Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy were at war with countries including Britain, France and Russia. As some of these had their own empires, the countries within the empires were made to fight too, supporting their rulers, or were attacked by their rulers’ enemies. For example, troops from India, Australia and New Zealand fought for Britain and the Indian army attacked German colonies in Africa. In 1917, the USA joined the war on Britain’s side. Consequently, huge portions of the world ended up entangled in the conflict.
Curriculum Links
- Arts Award: Identify and experience a range of art forms
- History KS2-3 : WW1
Learning Objectives
- Knowledge of the experiences of Harry Oldham during the Battle of Passchendaele
- Understanding of the type of experiences undergone by soldiers during the First World War
- Skills to use archival material as inspiration for a creative response
How this resource could be used
- Allison Robinson, KS2 teacher
Discussion Ideas
- Why do you think Harry Oldham wanted to write about his wartime experiences?
- What do you think of the language Harry uses when recounting his experiences?
- Does it remind you of anything?
- How is language in Harry's account of the battle different from the quote from the letter to his brother?
- What do you think Harry's watch might have meant to him during and after the battle?
- What sort of meanings might the watch have for us today?
Activity Ideas
- Research the stories of other Passchendaele veterans. Start off by listening to the stories of three men from New Zealand (see links at the bottom of this page) who took part in the battle: stretcher-bearer Sidney Stanfield; gunner Bert Stokes; and rifleman Stanley Herbert.
- Literacy:
Use the novel Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo to introduce the idea of time. The novel is structured in chapters which represent segments of time. Pupils could use this as inspiration to recount the day Harry spent in the shell hole, in blocks of time, writing in a similar first-person style.
Arts Award Ideas
- Create an illustrated clock-face:
Time is an important theme in Harry's story, as he was wearing his watch when he was rescued and would have used it while counting down until the start of the battle, and then again as he waited for help.
Create an illustrated clock face in which each segment (you could create four three-hour segments or more) shows part of Harry Oldham's experiences during the battle. - Create a collage using words from War poetry/language:
Compare the wording in Harry's account of the Battle of Passchendaele with that used in poetry about the First World War. Can you find any similar themes, words, images? Write down common words and phrases, cut them out and use them to make a collage, perhaps grouping them into themes. - Create a poem from Harry's story:
Follow these steps to make a poem or piece of writing using Harry Oldham's story for inspiration
- think of five nouns (names of objects or things related to Harry)
- think of five adjectives (words describing someone or something)
- think of words relating to each of the five senses (what could Harry see, hear, smell, touch and feel?)
- think of five similes using any of the words you have chosen (for example, 'as slippery as mud')
On an A4 sheet of paper, write five sentences that each contain one or more of the words you have chosen, then draw a decorative border around the words.