Starter- what do you remember
about historical fiction?

“The Germans in basements were pitiable, surely, but at least they had a chance. That basement was
not a washroom. They were not sent there for a shower. For those people, life was still achievable.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

A famous historical character or event

Setting clearly in a previous era or epoch 

Political drama or strife

A combination of historical fact
and historical fiction (the
author has changed parts of
history’s events to suit their
story)

Language might be more archaic

Romances

What do you know about WWI?

Trench warfare , 18 million deaths, 23 million casualties, Chemical warfare, 12 million letters were
delivered to the front every
week. , Women built weapons in
factories.

Authors of historical fiction spend a lot of time researching the periods
of time they want to write about.
They investigate historical evidence, primary sources and interview
experts, survivors, family relatives etc.

Charles Hudson, letter to his sister (undated, 1915)
We are now 150yd from Fritz and the moon is bright, so we bend and walk quietly onto the road running diagonally across the front into the Bosche line. There is a stream the far side of this – boards have been put across it at intervals but must have fallen in – about 20yd down we can cross. We stop and listen – swish – and down we plop (for a flare lights everything up) it goes out with a hiss and over the board we
trundle on hands and knees. Still. Apparently no one has seen so we proceed to crawl through a line of “French” wire.
Now for 100yd dead flat weed-land with here and there a shell hole or old webbing equipment lying in little heaps! These we avoid. This means a slow, slow crawl head down, propelling ourselves by toes and forearm, body and legs flat on the ground, like it snake.
A working party of Huns are in their lair. We can just see dark shadows and hear the Sergeant, who is sitting down. He’s got a bad cold! We must wait a bit, the moon’s getting low but it’s too bright now 5 a.m. They will stop soon and if we go on we may meet a covering party lying low. 5.10. 5.15. 5.25. 5.30. And the moon’s gone. “Cot the bombs, Sergeant?”
“‘No. Sir, I forgot them!”
“Huns” and the last crawl starts.
The Bosch is moving and we crawl quickly on to the wire – past two huge shell holes to the first row. A potent row of standards are the first with a nut at the top and strand upon strand of barbed wire. The nut holds the two iron pieces at the top and the ends are driven into the ground 3ft apart. Evidently this line is made behind the parapet and
brought out, the legs of the standard falling together. All the joins where the strands cross are neatly done with a separate piece of plain wire. Out comes the wire cutter. I hold the strands to prevent them jumping apart when cut and Stafford cuts. Twentyfive strands are cut and the standard pulled out. Two or three tins are cut off as we go.
(These tins are hung on to give warning and one must beware of them.) Next a space 4ft then low wire entanglements as we cut on through to a line of iron spikes and thick, heavy barbed wire.

Highlight all the terminology that relates to warfare
e.g. “flares”. Then, make a list of these in your books.

What time of day is it?

What do the British call the Germans?

How common was sickness amongst soldiers? How do
you know?

A sentry of the 10th Gordons at the junction of
two trenches. Gourlay Trench and Gordon Alley.
Martinpuich, 28 August.
Trenches came into widespread use in 1914 as a
way for soldiers to protect themselves against
the firepower of modern weaponry. Over time,
they developed into huge networks. As shown
here, trenches were given names to help identify
them. Sometimes these names related to familiar
places from home

Colonel Philip R Robertson returning from a
tour of his unit’s positions in waterlogged
trenches at Bois Grenier 1915.
Water and mud could be a problem in the
trenches, particularly in the autumn and
winter months. Wooden ‘duckboards’ were
used to line the bottom of trenches and the
sides were reinforced with sandbags.

Men of the 2nd Australian
Division in a front-line trench
cooking a meal, Crois du Bac,
near Armentieres.
Hot food was not supplied to
front line soldiers until late 1915
and even then it wasn’t always a
regular occurrence. Troops in
the front line had a repetitive
diet of tinned food, sometimes
served cold.

Soldiers of ‘A’ Company, 11th
Battalion, the Cheshire Regiment,
occupy a captured German trench.
This photograph shows an
infantryman on sentry duty, whilst
some of his comrades snatch a few
moments of sleep behind him. They
are in what was previously a German
trench at Ovillers-la-Boisselle on the
Somme, July 1916.

Men resting in sleeping
shelters dug into the side of a
trench near Contalmaison.
When able to rest, soldiers in
front line trenches would try
and shelter from the elements
in dugouts. These varied from
deep underground shelters to
small hollows in the side of
trenches – as shown here.

Four Canadian soldiers, sleeping and
writing letters in the trenches near
Willerval.
Most activity in front line trenches
took place at night under cover of
darkness. During daytime soldiers
would try to get some rest, but were
usually only able to sleep for a few
hours at a time.

Men of the 10th Brigade who had
been in the front line trenches for
several days have a foot inspection
at Dragon Farm.
Soldiers in wet and muddy trenches
were at risk from trench foot,
caused by continually wearing tight,
cold and wet boots. If untreated,
trench foot could lead to gangrene,
but it could be prevented by regular
changes of socks and foot
inspections – as shown here

All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts
Neues, ‘In the West Nothing New’) is a novel by Erich Maria
Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes
the German soldiers’ extreme physical and mental stress during
the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of
these soldiers upon returning home from the front.
The book is narrated by Paul Bäumer, a young man of nineteen who
fights in the German army on the French front in World War I.
Paul and several of his friends from school joined the army
voluntarily after listening to the stirring patriotic speeches of
their teacher, Kantorek. But after experiencing ten weeks of
brutal training at the hands of the petty, cruel Corporal
Himmelstoss and the unimaginable brutality of life on the front,
Paul and his friends have realized that the ideals of nationalism and
patriotism for which they enlisted are simply empty clichés. They
no longer believe that war is glorious or honourable, and they live in
constant physical terror.

There are 12 chapters in the novel. Read
through these snippets from various
chapters.
Create a mind-map that brainstorms
answers to the question:
How are the experiences of war
represented in All Quiet on the Western
Front?

Now use that mind-map to write an introduction and 2-3 paragraphs answering:
How are the experiences of war represented in All Quiet on the Western Front

Sentence starters and key words
In chapter one, Baumer reflects on…..
The technique that shows….
Horrors
Innocence/youth
Baumer’s view of war changes, as in chapter…
Nature symbolises…
…..is personified because….