Wilfred Owen – Dulce et Decorum Est

How do you think soldiers feel when they go to war?

Create a pie chart that includes at least five different adjectives and divide them up so they add to 100%.For each adjective, explain the choice you have made. Example: Soldiers are usually quite brave because they will do things no person would ever want to do.Why was the First World War so different to other previous conflicts? How might this have affected how soldiers felt? Why?

Learning outcomes

•To describe how we perceive soldiers and how Owen presents soldiers in his poem

•To explain how Owen presents gas attacks in his poem

•To evaluate how Owen uses language techniques to amplify his ideas about warfare

Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori.

Latin for:“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”

Discuss: How far do you agree with this statement? Why?

These are the contents of a British soldier’s kit bag during the First World War.

What must life have been like for these soldiers based on these items? Why?Why might the pen and paper have been of particular importance to some soldiers?Why would a gas mask have been included? This was quite new technology at the time.

Gas maskWriting equipment

Personal photos

TobaccoGrenades

Drinking bottleMess kit

Rations (emergencies only)

Tarpaulin

Spare boots

Cleaning products

Metal helmet

British soldiers were some of the best prepared in the world by the time the First World War began.

We’ll watch this video and see just how advanced British kit was compared to other nations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjqdgGb739w

However, gas masks and metal helmets were introduced into the War in April 1916 and metal helmets in February 1916, almost two years into the fighting.

Discuss: Why were these items created and what do they tell you about the First World War?

Chemical warfare was developed during the First World War by German scientists who wanted to use the gas to make French troops panic and run away. When first used 100 French soldiers died and the German attack was not particularly successful, but the other nations quickly developed their own versions in response. After the first chlorine attack at Ypres, the war carried on for over three more years and it is believed over a million people died as a result of poison gas.

The devastation caused by poison gas led to the signing of a number of treaties since the end of the First World War and the use of chemical warfare has been banned under the Geneva Convention. It will attack any part of the body with moisture (the average human body is made up of between 2/3 and 3/4 water). There is no known cure for an attack, only treatment to ease the symptoms. Death could be very quick or incredibly slow depending on how bad the exposure to the gas is.

Mustard gas was also used during the War and caused just as awful symptoms, killing thousands and thousands of people over the course of the period.

First World War Gas Attacks