Myths and Legends of the First World War by James Hayward

Author:James Hayward [Hayward, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2011-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

5

Trench Myths

The principal trench and battlefield myths examined in this chapter are those of the Crucified Canadian in 1915, and the German corpse conversion plant, which first gained widespread currency two years later. However, a number of less celebrated legends are worthy of mention in passing.

The first, from August 1914, was that the BEF had suffered extinction-level casualties in France. The story spread almost as soon as British troops started to disembark in France on the 8th, and rapidly gained currency on the Home Front to include fearful losses and packed hospital ships, as well as German victories and insurrection in Paris. On August 14th, London diarist Michael McDonagh noted that ‘the most disquieting stories’ had been circulating for several days, including the secret nocturnal return of ‘thousands’ of British casualties to hospitals in London, where the staff had been sworn to ‘keep their mouths shut’. Also current were stories of a great naval battle off the coast of Holland, said by some to have resulted in catastrophic losses for the Royal Navy and the death of Admiral Jellicoe. The dockyards at Portsmouth and Chatham were said to be crowded with disabled war vessels. None of this was true, but on August 15th the Press Bureau felt obliged to circulate a statement:

The public are warned against placing the slightest reliance on the many rumours that are current daily regarding alleged victories and defeats, and the arrival of wounded men or disabled ships in this country. They are without exception baseless.

But still the rumours grew. The Reverend Andrew Clark recorded a variant at the end of the month:

August 31st: The morning postman recorded a great scare in Chelmsford on Sunday. An Ichabod telegram had been received there (founded on the reports with which The Times Sunday issue had been hoaxed, as I judged) telling that the British army had perished and that France was beaten. The ‘wire’ was so full of despair that Chelmsford people could not take their tea.

On September 1st the Daily News reported on a ‘riot of rumours’ from France, including ‘weird’ reports from a returning British holiday-maker named Angell:

Among the English troops there were rumours just as weird. A very widespread one was that the defence of the Liège forts was not made by Belgians at all, but by English soldiers dressed in Belgian uniforms who had been sent over some months ago.

Some rumours were witty, such as that which held that the British Government paid rent to the French for the use of their trenches, and that the men of the Machine Gun Corps routinely fired off belts of ammunition to boil water in the cooling jacket of the Vickers gun for making tea. The Reverend Clark notes another unlikely tale in 1914, this time regarding glistening silk ties worn by officers:

November 9th: The Colonel told Mrs Gale that the reason why so many officers were picked off by the Germans is because of their silk ties. These officers, to prevent them being conspicuous objects, were forbidden to wear belts in action.

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