Pisan students on Wilfred Owen

The poem by Wilfred Owen highlights all the five senses. It appeals to the reader's sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. It is at the same time very personal, expressing the poetic voice's own war experience and “European”, because it reflects on a historical event involving most of the countries participating in this project.

Some students have analyzed the poem and its message; others have focused on war propaganda, life in the trenches and soldiers' uniforms and weapons.

BASIC UNIFORM & EQUIPMENT 1916-18 The basic uniform and equipment worn by the British soldier during the 1916-18 period differed little from the Infantryman of 1914-15. Service Dress and 1908 webbing equipment were commonplace, although the large pack was normally only worn on the march, and rarely in the trenches themselves. It was never worn in battle, or carried into an attack. The Service Dress peaked cap was still worn, and since the Winter of 1914/15 the internal stiffener had been taken out and it was usually worn 'floppy'. CHANGES IN UNIFORM & EQUIPMENT 1916-18 While the basic uniform and equipment had not changed, many new pieces of equipment had been introduced and were commonplace by 1916. In the early period of the war, it proved impossible to keep up the production of the 1908 webbing equipment, and so the War Office produced a set of leather equipment, known as the 1914 Pattern. This differed substantially in design to the webbing, and had two cartridge pouches, instead of smaller web ones. It had a narrow leather belt with a brass, 'snake' buckle, left and right braces, a water bottle carrier, bayonet frog with entrenching tool handle attachment, and entrenching tool blade in a leather cover. The backsack and large pack were in khaki material, but with leather fittings. This kind of equipment remained in use in the field right up until the end of the war. However, it was unpopular with soldiers, as it did not distribute the weight correctly. The 1902 Service Dress tunic and trousers remained in widespread use, but from 1914 a 'Utility Tunic' was produced, which was a simplified version of the original; both cheaper and easier to produce in large numbers. It differed in that the breast pockets were much larger and had no pleats. The arrival of gas on the battlefield, following the Second Battle of Ypres (April-May 1915), saw the introduction of Gas Masks. The first ones were very primitive designs, often a face mask with goggles. By the time of the Battle of Loos (September-October 1915) the PH Helmet was in widespread use, which was a large cloth hood with two eye pieces and a filter through which the soldier breathed. It was uncomfortable and difficult to use, the eye pieces normally misted up, but it stayed in use well into 1917. At the close of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 the Box Respirator, the first proper gas mask issued to British troops, appeared and all soldiers had one by the Spring of 1917. However, many continued to carry the older PH Helmet as a back-up. While it was first introduced in late 1915, the Steel Helmet, or Shrapnel Helmet, was only in widespread use from the Spring of 1916. Indeed, the Battle of St Eloi (April 1916) was the first time that it had been worn in battle. The 'soup-bowl' design had a leather liner, with a leather chin-strap. More than 7.5 million were made by 1918, and as it was constructed of tough steel, it offered greater protection that other designs. Some soldiers welded their regimental badges to the front of the helmet, but this was found to weaken the steel and German snipers often used them as an aiming point! It was more common to find a regimental design painted on, as well as a battalion, brigade or divisional battle flash. Some soldiers wore khaki covers on the helmets, to stop them reflecting the light. Many new weapons appeared in this period, including hand grenades, light machine guns, flare pistols, trench weapons, and trench mortars.