Lesson Plan for LESLIE ARTHUR HOGG Why were the trenches such a shock?

Transcription

1 Lesson Plan for LESLIE ARTHUR HOGG Why were the trenches such a shock? Date: Lesson Number: Number of Boys: Number of Girls: Additional information: KS3 Topic/KS4 Module: Set/Mixed: SEN information: This lesson is expected to follow Why did Leslie Join up?, in order to provide sufficient contrast between expectation and reality. Lesson Objectives What I intend to teach Why was the reality of war such a shock? Learning Outcomes What pupils are expected to learn Students will be able to explain the contrast between the implied promises made to soldiers through different types of propaganda, and the reality. Assessment/differentiation opportunities Strategies for obtaining evidence to show progress and challenge for all pupils Starter: (approx 5 mins) Activities to immediately engage the pupils in the learning process Recap of why men joined up to fight. Influence of propaganda. Main Activities Timeline: Activities which support and enable the learning Answering the big question: Why was Leslie Hogg so surprised by what he found when he got to war? OR Providing a jumping-off point for further research on conditions in the trenches OR Writing a newspaper article which details the reality of life in the trenches OR Creating a poster contrasting the propaganda with the reality Plenary: (approx 5 mins) Activities which allow pupils to reflect on and share their learning Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 1 of 15

2 Notes for Teachers Leslie Arthur Hogg, Private, 15 th Battalion, London Regiment Leslie was the elder son of Emma (née Wheeler) and William Hogg. Emma was a widow with four young children of her own when she married William, an accountant, in Leslie was born in Folkestone on 27 th March 1899, but the family home was a Victorian villa in Islington, London. His brother Stanley was born four years later, by which time the family had moved to Brondesbury in North West London. Like his elder half-brother Albert, Leslie was educated at Framlingham College, in Suffolk, where he represented the school at football and cricket. The family had a second home in Selsey called The Clibbs, to the west of the Marine Hotel, and Leslie would have enjoyed holidays here with his brothers and sisters. When war broke out Albert, now a farmer, was keen to enlist, having spent five years in the Framlingham College Cadet Corps. He joined the 16th (Public Schools) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment in September Although Leslie was only 15 at this time, he was very keen to join up too and by the end of January 1915 he had lied about his age and enlisted with the 15 th Battalion of the London Regiment. After training for six months Leslie arrived in France on the 17 th August 1915, joining the battalion while they were training at Labeuvrière, just west of Bethune. Nine days later he had an exhausting afternoon march of about nine miles to the trenches, although an hour s break for tea was allowed, as the day was exceptionally hot. Fortunately Leslie s first week in the front line was fairly quiet, except for the aerial torpedoes, which the Germans sent over most days, and when the battalion was relieved the men were transported behind the lines by motor bus. During September the battalion, part of the 47 th Division, took part in preparations for the battle of Loos, referred to at the time as The Big Push. This was an attempt to drive the Germans out of France and also take pressure off the Eastern Front. Thirteen divisions were involved, attacking about 22 miles of frontline. By the night of 24 th the battalion was in Brigade reserve, in very wet trenches near North Maroc church to the west of Loos, ready for the attack to begin at 5.50am the following day. This was the first battle where the British used gas and the 15 th Battalion were responsible for carrying the Chlorine gas cylinders to their positions in the trenches prior to the attack. According to the Battalion diary it was not very successful in their sector: The gas seemed to do no actual damage and not a single dead German killed by gas was found opposite us, though without doubt it frightened many. The prisoners who were brought in certainly did not appear to be in any way affected and except for a very few oxygen respirators the only thing they had was a wad of cotton wool. On the day of the attack, they moved up to the old frontline trenches, behind the 6 th and 7 th London Battalions, who had made a successful advance. The fighting continued for several days, but it was a struggle to consolidate the initial gains, although the 47 th Division did better Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 2 of 15

3 than some of the other sectors. On the 29 th the Battalion war diary records: the nights are busy with wiring and burying dead, the former seemed the most important and we badly required help for the latter work. On the 30 th the Battalion was relieved by the French, leaving a large number of dead still to be buried and rifles to be salvaged. It is estimated that the British incurred nearly 50,000 casualties on the main Loos front, between 25 th September and 16 th October; of these nearly 8,000 men died. The next challenge was to hold the central section of the Loos advance, but as it had been raining almost continuously since the end of September many trenches, such as there were, had over a foot of water in the bottom. Everything including the food supplies got wet. The newly occupied ground was rather open and provided little shelter, so numerous working parties were deployed at night constructing new defensive positions. By the middle of November the Division was due a month in reserve and so the Battalion returned to the Lillers area. After two days rest there were parades and drill each day and various training courses such as bombing, rifles, trench mortars and machine guns. The beginning of December saw a two-day trek covering about 34 miles, beginning at 4am on a very dark wet and cold morning! On their return it was back to drills and training for another fortnight. On 19 th December the Battalion returned to the trenches once more, near the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The legacy of the battle of Loos made the area almost uninhabitable with half buried bodies and a general atmosphere of mortality. There were various skirmishes with the Germans and the battalion s first Christmas overseas would be mainly remembered for the liquid, penetrating mud and the resulting trench foot. With occasional respite, when baths could be taken and clothes and equipment cleaned, they remained in the trenches through January and into February, relieving the French Army by moving south to the Loos sector they had taken from the enemy the previous September. This period consisted primarily of intermittent clashes with the enemy, resulting in a few casualties, and large working parties repairing and improving trenches and roads. By the end of January the Battalion diary records several men suffering from shell shock. Just a few days before the Battalion were due a spell behind the lines, Leslie Hogg was wounded in action and died on 11 th February He was only 16 when he died and is buried in Noeux-Les-Mines Communal Cemetery, France. His mother had the words Life s race well run, life s work well done, then comes rest engraved at the base of his headstone. He was awarded the 1915 Star, the British War medal and the Victory Medal. A few months later, after campaigning by Liberal MP Sir Arthur Markham, a report in The Times of 27 th June 1916, stated that Underage soldiers serving with the Expeditionary Force will, if under 18 years of age, be sent home, if willing, and posted to a Reserve unit. If over 18 but under 19 years of age, they will be posted to a training or other unit behind the firing line. Before any action is taken in these cases the real age of the soldier will be verified by reference to his birth certificate. Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 3 of 15

4 Attached are: Page Reconstructed birth certificate, with correct information 5 Photograph of Leslie as a child with his mother 6 Two photographs of soldiers coping with mud 7 Fictitious letter from the trenches 8 Two more pictures of mud 9 Two photographs of soldiers with shell shock 10 Photograph of trench foot (a problem suffered by soldiers after standing for a long time in water or damp boots. The skin and then the flesh became infected and eventually gangrenous, necessitating in the removal of a toe, foot or leg. 11 Photographs: of men dealing with lice and men in snowy trench 12 Poem: Break of Day in the Trenches by Isaac Rosenberg 13 Photograph of Leslie in a locket and Leslie s death notice in the Times 14 Photograph Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery, Pas-de- Calais and Leslie s grave 15 Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 4 of 15

5 Leslie Arthur Hogg 27 th March 99 3 rd April 99 S. L. Evans Folkestone Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 5 of 15

6 Leslie with his mother Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 6 of 15

7 Working Party of British Troops in mud IWM (Q 1616) Pushing an ambulance through mud Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 7 of 15

8 Fictitious letter from the Front to illustrate what life was like that they would take one look at us and run howling back to Germany. is no flat ground. I am filthy and cold. Shells whistle overhead and the lice that seem to infest every part of my clothing. So is Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 8 of 15

9 British troops manhandling a field gun through the mud Photos.com/Thinkstock A reserve switch trench in December 1916 IWM (E(AUS) 575) Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 9 of 15

10 Shell-shock taken by Alastair Hobbs Shell-shocked British soldier IWM (Q 79508) Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 10 of 15

11 Australian soldiers having their feet inspected for trench foot IWM (E (AUS) 1120) Case of trench feet suffered by unidentified soldier 1917 Source: Library and Archives Canada/PA Ref: By LAC/BAC [CC BY 2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 11 of 15

12 Australian troops in a support line trench. Two of the men appear to be searching their shirts for lice. IWM (Q 582) Troops coming out of a communication trench outside Arras IWM (Q 4695) Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 12 of 15

13 BREAK OF DAY IN THE TRENCHES The darkness crumbles away It is the same old druid Time as ever, Only a live thing leaps my hand, A queer sardonic rat, As I pull the parapet's poppy To stick behind my ear. Droll rat, they would shoot you if they knew Your cosmopolitan sympathies, Now you have touched this English hand You will do the same to a German Soon, no doubt, if it be your pleasure To cross the sleeping green between. It seems you inwardly grin as you pass Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes, Less chanced than you for life, Bonds to the whims of murder, Sprawled in the bowels of the earth, The torn fields of France. What do you see in our eyes At the shrieking iron and flame Hurled through still heavens? What quaver -what heart aghast? Poppies whose roots are in men's veins Drop, and are ever dropping; But mine in my ear is safe, Just a little white with the dust. Isaac Rosenberg ( ) Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 13 of 15

14 Leslie Arthur Hogg THE TIMES Friday February 18 th 1916 KILLED IN ACTION HOGG.- Killed in action in France on Friday 11 th Feb., LESLIE ARTHUR HOGG, Private, 15th County of London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles), elder and much-beloved son of Mr and Mrs William S Hogg, of 10, Chatsworth Road, Brondesbury and Selsey, Sussex. Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 14 of 15

15 Noeux-Les-Mines Cemetery, France Lesson Plan for Leslie Hogg why were the trenches such a shock? for educational use 15 of 15