Resources for 'trrrnch (smile, smile, smile)'
Resources for trrrnch (smile, smile, smile)
The reading I did for this fic was far more detailed than would have been necessary for how little historical details I actually included in the story. But once I started reading about WWI it got more and more captivating. As always I'm more interested in how people experience a particular event than in the technicalities and greater historical implications - and the resources I used reflect that, I think. So as not to waste my research here's a short list.
I concentrated on the western front in Flanders in 1917. Battle of Passchendaele and related Wikipedia articles gives a good overview over what happened when and where. I have to admit I didn't bother choosing which division Arthur and Merlin would have been in. Some of the information I gathered related to Australian or Canadian divisions, but I suspect that as far as individuals go experiences must have been comparable.
The reading I did for this fic was far more detailed than would have been necessary for how little historical details I actually included in the story. But once I started reading about WWI it got more and more captivating. As always I'm more interested in how people experience a particular event than in the technicalities and greater historical implications - and the resources I used reflect that, I think. So as not to waste my research here's a short list.
I concentrated on the western front in Flanders in 1917. Battle of Passchendaele and related Wikipedia articles gives a good overview over what happened when and where. I have to admit I didn't bother choosing which division Arthur and Merlin would have been in. Some of the information I gathered related to Australian or Canadian divisions, but I suspect that as far as individuals go experiences must have been comparable.
- firstworldwar.com has an invaluable section of letters and war diaries. I mainly used these memories of a wireless operator.
- Lads: Love Poetry of the Trenches by Martin Taylor was very helpful when trying to understand homoerotic dynamics between soldiers. (Hint: there are large sections of the book available for preview on Amazon.)
- The Long, Long Trail - The British Army of 1914-1918 - for family historians is a very rich resource. I mostly used it to get information about the daily life of soldiers in the trenches and about treatment of wounded and sick soldiers.
- WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier is a blog about the life of Harry Lamin during the first World War. It posted transcripts of the letters he sent home to his loved ones exactly 90 years after he sent them.
- The Commonwealth War Grave Commission's website is a great source for information. As far as individual battles are concerned it also gives information about the weather conditions, which I found very helpful for finding a setting for my story. (Link goes to the section on the Flanders Offensive of 1917.)
- The Times / The Sunday Times Archive offers historical newspaper articles, all neatly arranged by topic. (Link goes to the section on Passchendaele.)
- On youtube there are numerous videos available that show original footage of the trenches during battle, soldiers suffering shell shock and so on. It's - as you might expect - heartbreaking to say the least, so I'm not going to embed anything. But for those who think they can stomach it here's a link to the vid that probably impressed me the most (especially 2min34sec).