Source A
Photograph of bunks within the Arras tunnels 1917 |
Background information
The battle of Arras was fought in 1917, but what was remarkable was what happened before the battle began. Soldiers from New Zealand and some are from the north of England dug a network of tunnels in the ground underneath arras. The chalky ground made tunnelling easy and new tunnels joined up to the ancient tunnels and quarries under the city, quarried out 100 years before. Rooms were created off the tunnels and were fitted with running water, electricity supplies this created accommodations for soldiers to live and sleep in, and there was a hospital large enough for 700 beds and operating theatres. The tunnels were used also as shelters against artillery fire to convey troops to the front in secrecy and safety. |
1 Describe key features of the conditions at the Battle of Arras.
One key feature of conditions and fighting at Arras was that the ground was very chalky which affected how the land was used and made the experience there unique. It made tunnelling easy; new tunnels joined up to the ancient tunnels and quarries under the city, quarried out 100 years before. Rooms were created off the tunnels and were fitted with running water, electricity supplies this created accommodation for soldiers to live and sleep in.
A second key feature of conditions and fighting at Arras was the available medical conditions, within the 800m of tunnels a fully operating hospital was created, but due to being so close to the front line it was used more as a dressing station which was called Thompson’s cave, which soldier would then go through as they travelled along the chain evacuation Inside there was awaiting rooms for the injured, operating theatres to do surgery and a mortuary for the dead. Unfortunately it was abandoned in 1917.
2a Utility: How useful is Source A for an enquiry into the impact of the terrain for soldiers on the Western Front?
Source A is useful because it provides evidence about where and what the conditions were like for soldiers within the terrain of Arras. It includes a depiction of the atypical conditions where soldiers rested when they were wounded. In this case it is very chalky conditions for the beds and somewhat hygienic and dry rest space for soldiers. This is accurate because it is a photo indicating the reality of a specific time and place in the war. It appears to be a personal rather than official image, given its informality, suggesting it is unlikely to be exaggerated or set up, and not been constructed to manipulate the attitudes of a particular audience, eg the British Public, as some official images were.
However, it does not provide a typical picture of this issue across the War, because the conditions at Arras were so unique; Arras was atypical and its chalky conditions were rare. Furthermore, the image only reveals one very small part of the context even as Arras, it shows the impact on living conditions when the soldiers rested, but not on the fighting or the implications for those wounded there, which we know was significant, given the underground hospital.
Overall, Source A is fairly limited as evidence of the impact of terrain, as what it depicts is so atypical of the Western Front. That said, it is important in illustrating the diversity of terrain experienced by soldiers there.