Paper 2 Prelim Study How far – Issue 3 Economy: Economy during the war How fully – Issue 1 Western Front How Useful – Issue 2: Rent Strikes Comparison: Issue 4: Red Clydeside

How Useful Practice P & N – Q1 (Western Front) 2011 Q1 (Western Front) 2012 Q2 (Women)

Remember! In reaching a conclusion you should refer to: The origin and possible purpose of the source The content of the source Recalled knowledge O.P.C.R

P & N Q1 Source A is partly useful as evidence of the experience of Scots on the Western Front, however it has its limitations. The source is taken from a diary entry by Lance Corporal George Ramage in This is useful as it is a primary source written by an eye-witness who experienced fighting on the Western Front himself. The purpose of the source was for the soldier to record experiences on the Western Front to look back upon in later years and perhaps to inform future generations about the horror of the trenches. Sources such as this may be prone to exaggeration but this seems to be an accurate account which contains information consistent with other testimonies from the trenches.

P & N Q1 The source gives some accurate information about trench warfare. The source mentions that pipe and brass bands were present in the trenches. It was commonplace for Scottish regiments such as the Gordon Highlanders to be accompanied by pipers. The source also correctly points out that the conditions in the trenches were horrible with huge craters left by shells filled with water. As soldiers were constantly subjected to enemy bombardments the ground around them was torn to pieces and heavy rain caused the craters to flood with water. Finally, the source correctly points out that many soldiers died not when fighting but when sleeping, cooking food and other non-combat duties. Snipers on both sides were always looking for opportunities to kill enemy soldiers and many Scottish soldiers on the Western Front died as a result.

P & N Q1 The source is limited however. It misses out key details. For example, although he source mentions the craters left, it says nothing about the conditions inside the trenches. The trenches often flooded leaving water at the bottom which led to diseases such as trench foot. In addition, the poor conditions led to infestations of lice and “corpse rats”. Furthermore, the source fails to mention details on the fighting on the Western Front. Scottish soldiers would have been under machine gun fire after going over the top and would have experienced gas attacks, the effects of shrapnel among other things. The source also fails to mention the rotation system that Scottish regiments used whereby soldiers would be at the front for one week and then fall back for one week to rest.

P & N Q1 In conclusion, the source is fairly useful as evidence of the experience of Scots on the Western Front. It mentions the poor conditions and the use of pipe bands as well as the fact that many soldiers died when not fighting. However, it is only one soldier’s experience from a diary and misses out key details about the everyday experience of Scots soldiers such as the prevalence of trench foot and infestations and the constant attacks from the enemy, as well as the rotation system used by Scottish regiments.