• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer, Legal and Media Kit
  • Blog
  • Contact me

A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

  • Art
  • Blogging Helps
  • Faith
  • Homeschooling
  • Poetry
  • Recipes
  • Reviews
  • Writing

World War

Trench Warfare in WW1

December 14, 2018 By Annette1 4 Comments

Dry feet, new socks, dealing with gas, different trench designs, lice, rats, rain and misery.  This is what made up the soldier’s life fighting in the trenches of World War One.  A tough life for soldiers.

Trenches were 10 feet high with sandbags stacked around. Dug not only in dirt (like I thought) but also through rock, in sand etc. They went through coal mines, railroad tracks, streams and more.

Soldiers rotated through being in the front line to being in the support lines.   Different counties had their own routine… anywhere from five days to one month.

They had a daily routine of protect the trench (stand to), hate, breakfast, weapon and foot inspection, daily chores, and a lot of boredom and at night “stand to” (protect the trench).

Life in the Trenches

Together we discovered this interactive website that taught more about life in the trenches.

Duckboard and Poetry

Duckboard was a new word to us and so we learned that it is a board consisting of a number of wooden slats joined together, placed so as to form a path over muddy ground or in a trench.

We read the poem Break of Day in the Trenches by Isaac Rosenberg.

Break of day in the trenches by Isaac Rosenberg

We learned about the life of a Canadian Soldier in the trenches.  It wasn’t an easy time for man or beast. A fair bit of time was spent examining the different parts to this section.   

We saw photos of life in the trenches.  Listening to people talk about their duties, adds realism, you know?

This video was very helpful in teaching us the terminology of the trenches.

This video taught us more about the support lines, and how the trenches were made.  Explained where they were placed as well.

This video demonstrated why trench warfare was so very difficult.  The armies, basically in a stalemate.  Both sides got their positions and simply held them.   Sometimes losing, but getting them back.  Back and forth, back and forth.  Not really going anywhere.

Of course battling in the trenches met fighting off pests like rats and lice (with could cause trench fever), and trench foot.  We learned more about combating trench foot here.

Hands-On

We took a couple of approaches to our hands-on work for Trenches.

First we made models of trenches.

We have plans to make sample trenches of the German trenches as well.   You can see what they look like on this page.

I thought it was important to truly understand what trench foot was like and how quickly it could hit the men.   We took some pigs feet, one we left just in a sock, another was washed and dried with a change of socks twice a day, and another was washed, dried and had Vaseline applied twice a day.  I will be writing up a post to tell you more about trench foot and our experiment. 

Resources to further understanding

We made use of a couple of resources as well. Click on image to go to resource.



SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a section on World War 1 as well.   It would be worth your time to check it out. 

Other World War Posts

  • Belgium
  • Animals in World War One
  • Soldiers in Training
  • Assassination
  • Pre_war Alliances
  • War Starts

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: child-led learning, history, World War

Christmas 1914

December 11, 2018 By Annette1 6 Comments

In the middle of November, my son, host son and myself took in Christmas 1914 at Fanshawe Village.  We had a fantastic time and learned ever so much.  As it drawing nearer to Christmas I thought I would tell you all about it!  🙂

Our visit started with a reenactment of the Christmas Truce of 1914.   First they walked us through a trench with men telling us about their experiences, the cold, the hunger, the muck and the constant threat surrounding them.   

I mentioned to one fellow that it was cold.  He said “yes, it is truly miserable”.   This portion of the program wasn’t very long but it gave us a glimpse into what it would have been like for these soldiers.  Living within all that and then learning to trust the men in the other trenches, at least enough on Christmas to greet each other. A tough call.

Christmas 1914 re-enactment,

After we saw the re-enactment we were able to go around and visit the various buildings which reflected different aspects of World War 1. 

Our first stop was at the church were we listened to a girl choir.  Some aspects were not period (like the Santa hats and the organ) but that wasn’t completely the point.  🙂  The point was music was still part of that time period and we got to listen to songs about the time period as well. 

Church

We sat through part of the program, but the boys were feeling antsy so we headed out to get some hot chocolate and have an impromptu snow ball fight.  It was good to see the boys having fun together (until they ganged up on me).  I ran quickly into the building with the hot chocolate.  🙂

The lady working this house helped us to understand how the French boys and the boys from other countries were treated.   

Once done here we headed back to finish listening to the girls choir.  They did an excellent job.  I wish I had the recording from Christmas in the Trenches.  The one young lady did an excellent job singing an excellent alto. 

Red Cross Booth

We also stopped at the Red Cross booth.  Here we learned about how the soldiers received care packages.  There we could light a candle to remember those who had gone on before. It was great to write a Christmas card to a Canadian soldier currently serving. 

Christmas 1914 re-enactment, writing letter to a soldier

Period House

We spent some time at a home set up for the 1900’s.  We saw a pamphlet to help people adjust to living during the war.  It was full of practical advice. 

Christmas 1914 re-enactment,

In this house we were walked through how people would have lived, and the story of one family.  We learned the best way to string popcorn and saw period Christmas decorations. 

Guard house

Our last stop was the guard house.  Each of us got a period Christmas card, much like the boys would have received in the war.  We learned abit about how injured soldiers were cared for.  I have to admit, the fire was cozy warm.   The men inside the building also educated the boys are terminology use, and many other items. Other than the hot chocolate I probably enjoyed this station the most. 

Artifacts

Not to be forgotten was the artifact set up in the main building. This was a treasure trove of information.  From the lady who had a display of period Christmas Cards, and an obvious love of communicating what was special about them. I never knew one could learn so much from an old card!

The boys were most interested in checking out the equipment the soldiers used and the weapons they carried.  The person manning the both was very knowledgeable and from him we learned that most of the soldiers that participated in the 1914 truce died as a result of their actions.  Their commanding officers for the most part transferred them to areas with active fighting. Their actions were firmly frowned upon, and thereafter in the war, some of the heaviest fighting was on Christmas day.

We learned a lot about gas masks, how they progressed over the years.  What the gas did. Some gas dissipated easily, other gas settled in down lying areas and just stayed there. The lad tried on a gas mask and said “it’s hard to breathe’.  Our instructor said “Now try running with that, carrying all your gear, in the mud”.  My son’s face when he took off the mask said it all.  Imagine how hard that would have been.  The soldiers needed to carry them at all times.

This was an incredibly informative evening and I highly recommend if you have a chance to go, that you do so. 

Want to Know More?

Some songs were written about this series of events. 

  • 20th Century Song Book. 
  • Dimensions.

Articles about it

  • CBC Silent Night. 
  • The Telegraph.
  • History.com.

Some books to check out.

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: field trips, history, World War

Il Tamburino (little drummer boy)

December 9, 2018 By Annette1 4 Comments

Germany, and Poland have been part of our Christmas celebration so far.  Today we move on to Italy.    Imagine my delight when I discovered Il Tamburino!  Also known as the Little Drummer Boy!

Il Tamburino (little drummer boy)

 

I found the three tenors singing it in Italian and English!  Oh… my heart is just smiling!  🙂

And here in Polish only.

And of course… from my favourite Christmas show.

Lyrics:

Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born king to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the king
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum
So to honor him
Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come
Pum pum pum pum
Pa rum pum pum
Pum pum pum pum
Pa rum pum pum
Pum pum pum pum
Pa rum pum pum
Pum pum pum pum pa rum
Little baby
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our king
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum pum
Pa rum pum pum
Pum pum pum pum
Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for him
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum
Then he smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born king to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
Me and my drum
Me and my drum
Me and my drum
Rum pum pum pum

Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: Hymn, Music, World War

Bóg się rodzi (God is Born)

December 2, 2018 By Annette1 1 Comment

Having done German last week, this week we move on to Poland. 

Bóg się rodzi (God is Born) Polish Christmas song

Bóg się rodzi was written by Franciszek Karpinski in 1792.  He was known as a sentimental Polish poet and song writer. An author of  three books of poetry.  He worked as a tutor and later became a member of the Society of Friends of Science. 

Sung in Polish with English lyrics overlaid

Lyrics:

Power weakens as God is born,
Is born for us on this dark world
Fire is frozen and time undone
As God thro’ Mary gives His Son.

Poverty surrounds Him there
For His crib a manger,
Shepherds kneel in the hay before Him,
Worshiping in stable bare.

Son of God, lift your hand up high
And grant your dearest blessing on us,
Give us your gift of wisdom
That we may bring to earth your kingdom in the sky.

Riches, honour, lose their worth, 
Eternity is circumscrib’d
As God’s true Word is born on earth 
And dwells with love us beside
And dwells amongst us in His love.

Suffering is granted Him 
For His short mortal hour with us
God’s true Word is born on earth 
And dwells with love us beside
And dwells amongst us in His love.

May we grow into that love
Which nursing Mary shows you now
For God’s true Word is born on earth 
And dwells with love us beside
And dwells amongst us in His love.

A different version in polish only

 

Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: Hymn, Music, World War

Animals in World War One

December 1, 2018 By Annette1 1 Comment

Over the past two weeks my lad and I have been learning about animals in the war.  Camels, horses, dogs, donkeys, mules, cats, dogs, elephants and pigeons.  I also heard about a monkey and a turtle that were morale boosters during the war.   All these animals helped people in the war effort.

Animals in World War 1

What Animals Served?

The imperial war museum tells of 15 animals that went to war.  Bbc talks of some of the unusual animals like Winnie the Pooh!  🙂

Horses, donkeys, mules and camels carried food, water, ammunition and medical supplies to men at the front.   Dogs served sentry, medical, messaging, and scout work, as well as raising morale.   They also killed vermin.  Pigeons carried messages very swiftly to high command.   Canaries detected poisonous gas.

Great war animals in the world war. Elephants, dogs, pigeons and horses.

Camels

Camels were part of the war effort.  The Imperial Camel troops that served in the Middle East. There were many good reasons to use camels in battle, but also some dangers as you can learn about at this site.

Horses:

Horses were used for a variety of tasks in the war. Pulling weapons, carrying officers, bringing in supplies and more.  I knew gas was used during the war, but never thought of the need for horses to have gas masks.

Some of the pictures in this videos were hard to view.  It was SO hard for the horses.  They suffered terribly right alongside the men they served with.  The soldiers did the best they could for the horses, but conditions were absolutely horrible.

Cats

Cats that were part of the war effort. Mostly as vermin control and morale officers, but some cats were trained to detect gas. Learn more about these amazing felines here.

Dogs:

Then of course we have the dogs of the war.  Sentries, scouts, companions, mascots, medical dogs, message runners and more.  Dogs were SO very useful in the war. 

Stubby the dog “Sgt stubby an American dog”  There is a cartoon version which the lad and I watched.  It was pretty good.  The full movie can be found on youtube. 

We learned about a dog trainer in Scotland named Major Edwin Richardson.  His name was mentioned in one of the videos so we looked him up.   He started the first British War Dog School.  Learn more here.

We also learned about other famous dogs of World War 1.

Elephants!

I have to admit I was shocked to hear about elephants in the war.  It seemed that most of them were used for publicity stunts.  None the less, elephants were definitely used in world war 1 by both sides. 

Pigeons

Pigeon training, homing pigeons. The lad was curious about how you train a pigeon to race home or carry a message.

Pigeons in world war 1.  In 1915, as stalemate and trench warfare set in, communication became very important.  Pigeons became important to the war efforts and homing pigeons were used to carrying message to High Command.  More than 100,000 pigeons were used.  Some of them received medals. They overcame cut telegraph wires and other communication difficulties, though they did face their own challenges of hawks, shell-fire and more.   Learn about some pigeon heroes’ on this page.  A Story about a brave pigeon that may or may not be true can be located on this site.   Some stories and pictures here.

We even ran across this innovative idea for gathering information.

In case you couldn’t guess, my son did his research paper on pigeons and how they were used in the war.   He’s not quite done, but he’s been fighting a nasty cold this week and having a hard time managing his time. 

Before I Go

This information was so cool to learn!  Look at this:  EVEN SLUGS were used!!!!!

Slugs
By the time soldiers noticed the presence of mustard gas on the battlefield, it was often too late. Dr. Paul Bartsch of the Division of Mollusks ……discovered that slugs could detect mustard gas well before humans could. The slugs would visibly indicate their discomfort by closing their breathing pores and compressing their bodies, and soldiers in the trenches would quickly put on their gas masks to protect themselves from harmful levels of gas. The “slug brigade” ended up saving many lives.   Source.

It’s been a great couple of weeks learning about Animals in the war.  I was surprised more often than I care to admit, but it was great.

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: child-led learning, history, World War

World War 1: Soldiers in Training

November 17, 2018 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Over the past week we’ve been studying soldiers in training.  Getting ready for the battle field, and being fit to fight is an important part in the life of a soldier.

Soldiers in Training, world war 1

It was actually harder than we thought to research this topic.  We couldn’t find a site that actually told us the training that soldiers had to undergo beyond the basics of physical fitness and drills.  We still managed to learn a bit, some of this based on what my lad is learning in army cadets this year.

Videos:

This video reminded my son of a reenactment he attended, where he had to practice running in a straight line carrying a gun.  I asked him, how would we practice this skill in real life.  He thought a while and then brought up the air rifles we have.  I suppose we too, can practice some of the skills to be soldiers in training. 

Surprise!  Horse training

One of the videos that popped us surprised us.  Army horse training.   In retrospect it makes sense, we just never really thought about how soldiers might need to be trained as well as the horses themselves.  First train the men, then train the horses. 

Gas Warfare

I never thought to think about soldiers in training having to focus on gas warfare, how to deploy it as well as how to protect themselves from it.   Last night we attended Christmas 1914 at Fanshawe Village and there was a fellow who talked with us a great length about gases used and the products used to protect the men from it.  It was hard and brutal and the knowledge gained was a big reason why it wasn’t used in World War 2.  world war 1 gas mask

My son said when it was on you couldn’t see anything and it was harder to breathe.  Can you imagine trying to run and fight and carry a full load while wearing one?   Just a hard job for those soldiers.  Helps us better understand the struggles they went through.  The video below shows German troops. While watching I wondered aloud how many times they would kill themselves. Apparently this was something my son had wondered about earlier and researched and the answer was YES, lots of times.  

Being Canadian, we appreciated this video and we found ourselves talking through it, sharing knowledge we learned from our individual research.  Did you know that Canadian soldiers were known for their ferocity during the First World War?

Modern day training!   My lad is inspired.

We learned that training is there to increase skill levels and physical fitness but also to help the soldiers bond as they work together.  This was part of the advantage of having “Pals” units as you had some of that cohesiveness already built in. I see this in my lad with the Army Cadet unit he is part of.  The more the boys do things together, talking, working, exercising, the more the unit is coming together as a unit.  Neat to observe.  🙂

Websites too!

Lest you think we only watched videos, we also took in a few websites.

Learning about the Canadians training at Valcartiers.  We admittedly spent a fair bit of time at this site exploring images, delving into other topics etc.

We learned about the Kitchener blue uniforms of the british.

Studied a PDF of the American training program that gave us excellent ideas for our own training program.  It’s LONG and we only looked the ww1.

Learned about elderly training officers in Britain and some of the problems that created.

Talked our way through the 8 steps to becoming a soldier in WW1.  Which led to hearing some of the training done in the WW1.   The lad was surprised to learn what PAL units in the war were all about.

We learned why soldiers drop and crawl when they are on an infantry line.  Makes sense once you stop and think about it.   See if you can discover why HERE. 

We also looked back at our day for the World War 1.  This was an excellent day for the lad with learning about order, disciplines, different aspects of the wars and so forth.  He still talks about it. 

Hands-on aspects:

We’ll be starting a training regime… physical fitness anyone?

My son and I were talking today about some of the things he wants to do.  He wants it to be something that we do together.  So starting next week he’ll be running around the block (I will walk as quickly as I can) and he’ll eventually catch up to me again.  We’ll do (for me some modification) sit ups, planks, push ups, leg lifts and squats.  Hopefully we can get dad involved as well.   How to fit it all in will be a lovely challenge for us.  🙂

I am going to get him (hopefully tomorrow sometime) to put together a spreadsheet for us to use.  Need to see if we are improving our abilities as that’s something that soldiers do as well.

Follow our studies:

  • Assassination
  • Pre-war Alliances
  • War Starts!
  • Belgium

 

 

Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: child-led learning, history, World War

Burden

November 9, 2018 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

As soon as I saw the word burden I thought of this song.

I suppose this song pops immediately into my head due to the war study we are doing in our homeschooling journey, and the fact that Remembrance Day is just around the corner. 

War is a burden that no country or people should have to bear. The sorrow, loss and hardship makes it a difficult thing for a nation and people to work through.  No winners or losers, truly in the end. Time has taught us that.

burden

Flash, boom
thunder rolls

Flying missiles
Targets find

Weeping, Wailing
Mourning arise.

For after mourning,
the dawn will come.

Win or lose
And end is in sight.

So for the time
remember,

Weep, mourn
but also … HOPE

Filed Under: Faith, Poetry Tagged With: history, Poem, World War

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

ABOUT ME

I am centered by the love of God and family. Smiles are brought about being a Writer, Poet, Hiker and reader. Growth occurs as I educate my son, raise him up in the fear of the Lord, love up on my critters and live as a pastor’s wife.

Want to Stay Informed?

Subscribe and I’ll shoot you an email once a week.


Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.



Recent Posts

  • Bear Meets Bear
  • Learning and Reading in the Winter
  • O Jesus I Have Promised
  • You are a Beautiful Beginning
  • Fresh Perspective

Recent Comments

  • Sandra K Stein on Fresh Perspective
  • Cindy Wilkins on Fresh Perspective
  • Annette1 on O Jesus I Have Promised
  • Annette1 on Learning and Reading in the Winter
  • Annette1 on You are a Beautiful Beginning

Archives

Categories

  • Art
  • Art Books
  • Blogging Helps
  • Faith
  • Homeschooling
  • Poetry
  • Recipes
  • Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing

Footer

Amazon Affiliate information

A Net in Time is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Tinker Crate Affiliate

Copyright © 2021 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time · Lifestyle Pro - Child Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in