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.