Life Away from the Front

Even in wartime, soldiers did not spend all of their time in the heat of battle. Often there were weeks or even months of waiting before they were sent into action and, fortunately, there were periods of rest and relaxation between engagements. The case studies presented here show how some soldiers spent their time away from the front, British soldiers in Germany during the final months of the First World War mounting very sophisticated theatrical productions, Otto Hartmann, a German soldier who, for a time, stayed quite close to home in the same conflict, and the Canadian McDaniel brothers, posted to a surprisingly peaceful part of England during World War II.

Case Study: Time Off during War: The Saarlouis Theatrical Productions

Photograph, 1918

This album shows a lighter side of war; it meticulously documents the highly professional theatrical entertainments mounted by British soldiers in south-west Germany during the final months of the First World War.

Case Study: Letters of a German Soldier in the First World War: Otto Hartmann

Map, October 1916

One of McMaster’s few holdings of German archival material, the letters of Otto and Ada Hartmann extend over a period of less than a year, between the spring and fall of 1915. Despite the relatively small size of the collection, amounting to some two dozen letters, it nevertheless provides valuable insight into military operations and attitudes in the German rearguard and into the daily life of a German soldier’s wife during this important first full year of international warfare.

Case Study: Young Canadian Brothers in England: “Even here it is hard to realize there is a war on”

Photograph, [ca. 1943-1944]

The letters of the McDaniel brothers, RCAF ground crewmen stationed in northern England during the Second World War, are filled with the war-time experiences, momentous and mundane, of two young men, offering a glimpse into the often overlooked lives of ground unit personnel.