Myths & Legends of the First World War

[Moonraker]

Though this book has been mentioned several times in the Forum it appears not to have had a specific review. It's an entertaining read, with some good source notes. It covers the early spy mania, Russians allegedly seen travelling through England, trench myths, atrocity stories and the Hidden Hand - covert,pro-German influences at work in British political, commercial and social circles - as well popular (mis-)perceptions about generals, Haig and tanks.

I hadn't realised how widespread (in dissemination and geographically) were the stories of up to 100,000 men from Russia travelling through England early in the war. (The author's theory that someone mis-heard a soldier with a "foreign" accent saying he and his comrades were from Ross-shire seems plausible enough.)

It's almost alarming to read how some of the fiction was put about - and believed - by people who should have known better, and I was prompted to reflect (not for the first time) on quite how much one should believe in contemporary accounts of the war and about what one reads today about modern events. Indeed the author notes that grossly distorted stories about, for example, German Kadaver (animal carcass) factories being used to processhuman corpses may have led to scepticism about claims in the Second World War of concentration camps.

The History Press, 2010, 202pp paperback, £8.99. (It's been reprinted several times since first published in 2002.)

By the way, many of the myths and legends have been discussed, some in great detail, in this Forum, and I suggest that this thread is not the place to re-examine them!

Moonraker

[JesseM88]

Whoa, never heard of any of those myths. I guess I'm.....fortunate?

[g6yfb]

Myths if not squashed eventually become believed and then fact, you only have to look at the story of william wallace (last night TV "the truth about" series) to understand this.

The "Wallace Sword" a huge artefact (double handed broad sword some 4 - 5 feet in length) was found on closer examination to be three separate swords welded together and dated from some 300 years after Wallaces death.

You have to blame Holliwood and the TV/Film makers for perpetuating non-fact (myths) stories that the gullible then believe to be true.

It is for this reason that it is important to "Knock" programmes/books that portray historical events that get basic facts wrong be that from laziness (not doing the research) or to Embilish the story to appeal to a larger mass audience.

films that spring to mind War horse, bird song etc...

The written word is not much better, although books don't get the same mass audience as tv/film and don't forget history is written by the victors. In the shopping scenario "Caveat emptor"

Always try to find corrobartion from a number of different sources.

That is why this forum is so important to researches of historical events and long may it continue to be so.

[OpsMajor]

Well said GJH - I agree

[Bernard_Lewis]

I've been looking at the local press coverage in 1914 recently and its wildly optimistic. Even the loss of a major Belgian city is presented as being 'as per plan' while the Germans seem to be in retreat or overextended on all fronts.

An eye opener!

Bernard

[Hedley Malloch]

It's almost alarming to read how some of the fiction was put about - and believed - by people who should have known better, and I was prompted to reflect (not for the first time) on quite how much one should believe in contemporary accounts of the war and about what one reads today about modern events. Indeed the author notes that grossly distorted stories about, for example, German Kadaver (animal carcass) factories being used to processhuman corpses may have led to scepticism about claims in the Second World War of concentration camps.

Moonraker

We shouldn't be too critical. Think of all the martial myths which have been peddled to us that we have accepted. WMD anyone? And it seems as if there are some more in the making to justify the next conflict in the Middle East.

[tipperary]

Part of the provenence of the russian troops story was that it was true because they still had snow on their boots even though it was september in Kent john

[truthergw]

As mentioned above, the Russian soldier story is especially intriguing partly because it was very widespread. I have wondered if that hinted at a bit of semi-official aid in the dissemination. Why people in the know would want that story spread widely is a question to which I have no answer. I noted with some glee, the suggestion that the soldiers came from Ross Shire. I am struggling to imagine how the information gleaned from a kilted soldier on a train with the rest of his battalion ( Seaforths or Camerons perhaps) would transmogrify into thousands of Russians with snow on their boots. Perhaps it does illustrate how keen people are to believe unsubstantiated statements.

[ianw]

The first casualty of war is truth.

[Moonraker]

"A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on."

Or just to show how seemingly everything grows in the telling:

"A lie is [all the way] round the world before the truth has got its boots on."

Moonraker

[SiegeGunner]

Part of the provenence of the russian troops story was that it was true because they still had snow on their boots even though it was september in Kent.

I seem to remember that the last time this story came up, Centurion produced an interesting yarn about a bloke who had been taking part in a propaganda film shoot and went home by train, or perhaps the underground, still wearing a Russian uniform and with fake snow on his boots.

[RobL]

The Russian snow on the boots myth is one I've first come across at a local preserved steam railway, where, 'back in the day', the mythical Russians travelled through.

Regarding the book, it is superb and very entertaining as well as educating