Help I need a historian-WW1

emmyshimmy · Jul 25, 2011

Oh the irony I have a double major in history and anthropology, but I studied Asia instead of Europe

My problem is this I have a MC (British) who has marched his jolly butt all the way across France just to be ambushed by the Hun. He is wounded and crawling over his dead buddies back up the road hoping to get to ____ where he can find medical help and be sent back to England. I don't know where to send him. I know Paris was useless later in the war, but this is early enough that the Germans have gained ground and before the Yanks got involved. Can anyone help?

Snick · Jul 25, 2011

Positions were very different in the Fall of 1914 from where they were in the Summer of 1917. I believe that the British were on different parts of the front during different phases of the War. Exactly when is this set? While the lines didn't move fast, the War. Decide the time, then look up the position of the front and the positions of the British sector.

pdr · Jul 25, 2011

Sigh!

British, it's British not English.

Right, before anyone can help you we need to know the year and the month so we can tell you who was where and doing what since a lot of the war in France was fairly immobile in trenches.

Also what rank does this poor Tommy have and what regiment is he in?

There were field hospitals behind the lines and Quaker and pacifist ambulance services right at the front to take men to the field hospital.

reiver33 · Jul 25, 2011

About the only situation I can think of when the British could have been ambushed by the Germans, unless you're talking about a purely tactical affair, would be in 1914.

The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) advanced into Belgium, this being why we were there (to protect their sovereignty) and then had to conduct a fighting retreat in the face of overwhelming odds. It was more a case of us plucky Brits rapping the Hun across the knuckles and falling back to another stop-gap position, with very little in the way of counter-attacks which might place your MC in the hands of the foe.

firedrake · Jul 25, 2011

To the OP, what others have asked?

When would this incident take place? Where?

If you can provide a fixed point, then we can point you in the right direction. There's a wealth of material out there.

BigWords · Jul 26, 2011

pdr said:
British, it's British not English.

Actually, it's not even that simple. There were commonwealth forces (India, notably) engaged in WWI, so don't go thinking this was a bunch of white guys shooting at each other - the clue is in the name: World War One.

Buffysquirrel · Jul 26, 2011

BigWords said:
Actually, it's not even that simple. There were commonwealth forces (India, notably) engaged in WWI, so don't go thinking this was a bunch of white guys shooting at each other - the clue is in the name: World War One.

It wasn't the Commonwealth at that time. It was still the Empire.

/pedant

emmyshimmy · Jul 26, 2011

Thank you PDR that was very helpful.

The time is fall 1914. I want the kids marching their butts off to have enthusiasm still. The month is flexible since my Captain is about to fall threw time and end up in the present any how, but this march effects who he becomes.

waylander · Jul 26, 2011

Somewhere around Le Cateau
http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/retreatfrommons.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Retreat

Buffysquirrel · Jul 26, 2011

emmyshimmy said:
The time is fall 1914. I want the kids marching their butts off to have enthusiasm still. The month is flexible since my Captain is about to fall threw time and end up in the present any how, but this march effects who he becomes.

If they're British, it's autumn, not fall.

/pedant

BigWords · Jul 26, 2011

Buffysquirrel said:
It wasn't the Commonwealth at that time. It was still the Empire.

/pedant

Correction noted.

emmyshimmy · Jul 26, 2011

Buffysquirrel thank you for your answer.

What month would the weather have been most pleasant? August or September? I don't want to write a lot of weather details because the important part is he is wounded and left on his own. The Englishman's Daughter-a wonderful memoir if you haven't read it I recommend it-informed this bit of plot.

waylander · Jul 26, 2011

From the first link I left up above.
the weather was very hot in late August

firedrake · Jul 26, 2011

it might be worth getting your hands on a copy of Lyn MacDonald's '1914 ' It's full of first-hand accounts of the run up to the war and the first few months. She interviewed a lot of old soldiers and there are also accounts from people who lived through it in other ways.
Definitely worth looking for.

emmyshimmy · Jul 26, 2011

Thank you for the suggestion firedrake. I'll look for a copy today.

This first scene has proven to be the hardest part of the book. All the rest has been straight forward. The dialect of 1910's British slang has been fun and challenging...this battle sequence has been like giving birth.

mirandashell · Jul 26, 2011

Ermmm........ please don't take this the wrong way but.... make sure you get the details right cos if you don't, you will get blasted. Especially as you're American......

The reason being, Hollywood has stripped our history from us over time and a lot of Brits are pretty sick of it.

So yeah, we get very pedantic about this stuff. Really, really pedantic.

pdr · Jul 26, 2011

And...

So yeah, we get very pedantic about this stuff. Really, really pedantic.

rightly so. There is a mass of original documents and released govt files about WW1 all easily accessible and so no need for any author to mess up the facts Hollywood style.

And yes, BigWords as a member of the Commonwealth as it now is I do know. We Kiwis took part with our Maori Battalions.

I get very tired of Americans who say England meaning Britain. They are usually the ones who think NZ is part of Australia. Sigh!

mirandashell · Jul 26, 2011

You must get really fed up with it as Hollywood barely knows you exist!

firedrake · Jul 26, 2011

mirandashell said:
You must get really fed up with it as Hollywood barely knows you exist!

Apart from being known as the place where 'Lord of the Rings' was filmed.

mirandashell · Jul 26, 2011

Yeah... where Peter Jackson was born....

emmyshimmy · Jul 26, 2011

mirandashell said:
Ermmm........ please don't take this the wrong way but.... make sure you get the details right cos if you don't, you will get blasted. Especially as you're American......

The reason being, Hollywood has stripped our history from us over time and a lot of Brits are pretty sick of it.

So yeah, we get very pedantic about this stuff. Really, really pedantic.

That's why I am here seeking help. The scene is not that long, but I want to be as correct as possible. In America WW1 doesn't exist. We are taught-Germans pissed everyone off, some Austrian got shot, we don't care, then they sunk our boat, we storm in, we won the war-the end. It's BS. I realize as I was not there and now anyone who was has gone on, the best I can do is not offend anyone.

If anyone cares to see this scene I have a first draft I'd be willing to share for help/critical feedback. PM if interested (as I don't want to clog up the board with a first draft).

emmyshimmy · Jul 26, 2011

PS. Mirandashell, PDR, and others-I wish I was a citizen of the Empire still... can we give the colonies back, please?

mirandashell · Jul 26, 2011

Fair play to you for trying to get it right then.

Might be better to stick it up in SYW with a link to this thread. You'll get more opinions that way.

mirandashell · Jul 26, 2011

emmyshimmy said:
PS. Mirandashell, PDR, and others-I wish I was a citizen of the Empire still... can we give the colonies back, please?

Good lord no! not with your debt!

lbender · Jul 26, 2011

emmyshimmy said:
In America WW1 doesn't exist. We are taught-Germans pissed everyone off, some Austrian got shot, we don't care, then they sunk our boat, we storm in, we won the war-the end. It's BS. I realize as I was not there and now anyone who was has gone on, the best I can do is not offend anyone.

Not sure what you were taught, but I'm American and was taught, in high school, a whole lot more about what actually happened, including the fact that while we helped, we certainly didn't win it.

As far as the original question is concerned, why can't he be trying to make his way to "the field hospital"? Why does it have to be a particular town or city?

Help I need a historian-WW1

emmyshimmy

Snick

pdr

reiver33

Monolithic

firedrake

practical experience, FTW

BigWords

Geekzilla

Buffysquirrel

emmyshimmy

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

Buffysquirrel

BigWords

Geekzilla

emmyshimmy

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

firedrake

practical experience, FTW

emmyshimmy

mirandashell

pdr

mirandashell

firedrake

practical experience, FTW

mirandashell

emmyshimmy

emmyshimmy

mirandashell

mirandashell

lbender