BLURBS

DURING the First World War, a rich crop of legends sprouted from the battlefields and grew with such ferocity that many still manage to excite controversy today. This book is the first of its kind to examine the roots of those stories, look at the reasons behind their creation and reveal the real truth..

Myths such as the Angel of Mons and the Comrade in White were essentially innocent creations. With no radio or television and with newspapers heavily censored, rumours of mysterious happenings were rife, and the supposed appearance of mystical guardian spirits sent to help weary soldiers gave hope to those left at home in hard times. Other stories, such as the so-called Crucified Canadian, and the existence of a German corpse rendering factory, were more sinister. In an age of new and startling technologies such as poison gas, aerial and submarine warfare and the development of tanks, for many people such tales were believable. In 1914, an acute spy mania gripped the British public, who thought that the country was brimming with German spies. Xenophobia, denouncements and even attacks on Dachshunds were rampant. Amazingly, there was also talk of enemy aircraft dropping poisoned sweets in an attempt to kill British children.

Most atrocity propaganda was discredited and forgotten soon after the war, but many myths had long-lasting effects and some remain well-known. Did an entire battalion of the Norfolk Regiment vanish without trace at Gallipoli? Did thousands of Russian troops really pass through England with snow on their boots?

Using a wide range of contemporary sources, James Hayward retells the story of each myth and examines the likely explanations. Supported by a selection of rare photographs and illustrations, the result is a refreshingly different perspective on the common 'mud and trenches' view of the First World War, shedding new light on many curious and unexplained legends.

JAMES HAYWARD is the author of The Bodies on the Beach, a study of myth and propaganda in 1940, and has also compiled two volumes of 1914-18 recordings released on CD as Oh! Its a Lovely War. He is a solicitor by profession and has an active interest in twentieth-century military history. James lives near Dereham, Norfolk.