The First World War 03

This KS3 History quiz asks questions about the First World War. On the Western Front, the First World War was fought from trenches. These trenches stretched from the English Channel right the way across France to Switzerland. That was a distance of 400 miles. Conditions in the trenches was not pleasant for the soldiers. They were often cold and wet, moving around in mud, pestered by rats and fighting disease as well as the enemy. In some places, the trenches were a few tens of metres apart and it was possible to hear the enemy talking and smell what they were cooking!

Legend has it that on Christmas Day 1914 British and German soldiers left their trenches for a friendly game of football - a truce that was very short-lived. No-one can be sure that match ever took place but there were several sections of the Front where the fighting stopped for a few hours and the two opposing sides sang Christmas carols. In other places, the fighting continued. During the rest of the war, the British Generals prohibited their soldiers from showing any friendliness towards the Germans. The Pope had already suggested there should be a Christmas truce but that was officially rejected by military commanders.