1. World War One Practice Exam Questions
Trench Warfare

2. Hints and clues to answering exam questions
Read through all the questions.
If the question asks you to use Source and Recall, write SR, (Source and Recall), next to it.
If the question asks you how useful, or how reliable the source is, write WWWW, (Who, What, When, Why), next to it.
This gives you a clue about how to answer the question.
Start answering the questions:
Always read through the source, and then the question.
Go back and read through the source again, and underline any bits you think would be useful to use as a quote in your answer.
Think carefully about what sort of answer is expected. Is it SR or WWWW?

3. Source A is a photograph taken in 1917 on the Western Front
How useful is Source A as evidence of the conditions in which men fought in the First World War?

4. If the question is a WWWW question:
Your answer MUST be structured, (written out), in the proper way:
Introduction sentence
First paragraph about the Origin of the source, (who wrote the source, when it was written, and what the source is),
Second paragraph about the Purpose of the source, (why it was written),
Third paragraph to include quotes from the Source to back up what you have said about why it was written.
v. Conclusion where you directly answer the question about how useful/reliable the Source is, (do not say it is not useful).
You must include relevant quotes from the Source.
You must include relevant information from Recall, (your own memory).

5. [write the topic you have been asked about]
e.g. Source A is of value as evidence of the conditions in which men fought in the First World War,
Source ____ is of value in____________________________________________________
Origin
[say who wrote the source, when, and what the source is]
If it is a primary source ADD “The author had the benefit of being there at the time”
If it is a secondary source, the writer has the benefit of hindsight, so you should ADD something like: “As a historian he has more evidence from which to draw conclusions”
because it is an extract from ________________________________ .
e.g. because it is a photograph taken in 1917 on the Western Front. As an original photograph taken at the time it is a primary source, so may be a picture showing what conditions were like.

6. e.g. This source was produced possibly to keep a record of what conditions on the Western Front were like, or maybe to show people at the time how horrific it was.
e.g. The source shows wet, muddy conditions, with wounded or dead soldiers laying on ladders being used as stretchers. Soldiers are using the ladders to cross large craters of muddy water, and others are queuing up with further ladders, possibly in order to collect more bodies. The photo possibly shows the aftermath of a battle, and the clearing up exercise.
This source was possibly written to ___________________________ .
The source shows ________________________________________ .
Purpose
[write why you think the source was written e.g. to place the blame] Always write “possibly”.
Content
quote from the source OR give a detailed description of the picture
Your quotes from the source should back up why the source was written.
You can add additional information to explain what has been said/shown in the source.

7. Recall
Add additional information from your own memory
e.g. Conditions on the Western Front were terrible, and this photograph shows it clearly. Many men got trench foot from living in the wet, muddy conditions. Bomb craters filled with water and soldiers drowned. The source shows how horrific the work after a battle was, clearing the bodies of your comrades.

8. e.g. In conclusion this source is very useful as evidence of the conditions in which men fought in the First World war as it is an original photograph taken at the time. Some photographs were taken as propaganda, and these could be staged, but this photo looks as if it was taken to show what actual conditions were like.
In conclusion this source is very useful as evidence of ___________as it is a _______________ by ________________. He uses the ________ to show ___________________________________.
Answer the question:
Summarise what you have already written into one sentence.
Try to include WHO, and WHY.

9. In Source A George Coppard describes his experiences of the First World War
The Battalion moved up the communication trench to the front line trench at a snail’s pace, suffering heavy casualties from shrapnel fire. We passed stretcher bearers with the wounded and groups of tired troops going to the rear. We would soon be in the attack on the German front line.
1. What methods of fighting were used on the Western Front in the First World War?

10. SR question Source Trench warfare Machine guns causing shrapnel Recall
System of trenches
Weapons

11. Source B is about conditions on the Western Front
The trenches stretched from the Swiss Alps to the English Channel. In these trenches, soldiers were often knee-deep in mud. Many were drowned when they slipped into flooded shell holes. When the temperature dropped they suffered from frost-bite.
2. Describe conditions for soldiers in the trenches on the Western Front.

12. SR question Source Trenches Mud Drowning in shell holes
Cold – frost-bite
Recall
Living in trenches
Trenchfoot
Wet, sleeping in trench or dugouts
Tinned food
Rats
Using limbs as hooks