| Mellagar |
11-13-2002 11:00 PM |
Well I know quite a bit about WWI. From trench warfare to air combat...more about air combat. You could discuss the types of fighter planes from the Eindecker to the Dreidecker.....combat tactics of Boelecke's Dicta which is still used today 83 years later.
As for trench warfare I personally don't think there is too much you can say as far as American involvement, since America entered late in the war, but were indeed involved heavily at the end. You could speak of how the British improvised on the battlefield as far as weapons go, such as the jam and bully beef bomb. But if you want to try something new show the human side of the soldiers instead of just factual material such as battles and weapons. For example, German and British soldiers in a region of the western front would sneak out into no-man's land at night and leave behind chocolates, cigarettes, newspapers and what not. The Germans feared the Irish and Scottish, the British feared the Hungarians beacause of their different mentalities on the battlefield. The Germans would create life size dummies and stick them out in the open and cheer on the British snipers when they would make a hit.
A good book to read is Over The Top or is it No-Man's Land...I can't remember. It was written by Arthur Emphay who was an American soldier in the trenches. I read an early copy dated 1918, and it was an excellent book. Escadrille Lafeyette (spelling is all wrong but I don't speak French) was another good book written by an American pilot. Also Death's Men is another good read.
I've done several research papers on WWI and there are several battles and campaigns to get information on, but remember that in WWI soldiers spent 90% of the time just roughing it out in the trenches and 10% actual fighting. One word however sums up trenches in WWI.........mud.
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