Military Tactics First World War Starter Task: 60 Second Challenge Who wants to take the 60 Second Challenge? If you can talk about ‘life in the trenches’ for 60 seconds without hesitating or repeating yourself then you will win a prize! Military tactics on the Western Front LI: To develop an understanding of the tactics used on the Western Front By the end of the lesson… Be able to describe some of the tactics used during the Great War Be able to explain the reasons why many tactics were seen as unsuccessful. Lions led by donkeys? First World War Generals – and in particular Douglas Haig – often come under a lot of criticism for the way they ran the war. Can you think how the phrase ‘Lions led by Donkeys’ might have been used after the war? Who are the lions? Who are the donkeys? Shows like Blackadder savage the decision making on the Western Front by the generals and the troops they sacrificed The Main Bit In battle after battle Scottish men were sent to the slaughter on the battlefields of Belgium and Northern France. There are many different factors that contributed to this, but two of the most significant are the lack of training and the choice of tactics. The Lack of Training The success of the army’s recruitment campaign presented many problems The army did not have enough uniforms, weapons or officers to properly train the men Many new recruits on the Western Front were not as competent, often panicked under fire and could make careless mistakes. This lack of training contributed to a high casualty rate amongst soldiers on the Western Front Use your copy of the ‘Tactical Worksheet’ to copy the three facts about each tactic Tactic: Over the Top A massed charge across no mans land towards the enemy trenches Often slow as men got bogged down in the mud or fell into craters Left soldiers exposed to the machine guns of the enemy Tactic: Artillery Bombardment Firing shells continuously at the enemy Could fire huge distances and cause a lot of damage The enemy could hide in their dugouts and would generally be fine Tactic: Creeping Barrage Shelling that moves progressively forward with men following behind Provided much improved cover to advancing troops But if the artillery men got their calculations wrong they’d shell their own men. Tactic: Mining Digging tunnels under no mans land to plant massive bombs under the enemy trenches Could be very effective and kill thousands in a single blast Took a long time to complete and incredibly dangerous for the miners * Now number your tactics 1-4 (in the white circle) in order of which you think was the most successful * Cut out your four tactics and stick them into your jotter * Write a sentence explaining your choice of no.1 tactic .