What do you see in the photo? What is happening, when do you think it was taken, what are they doing?
The photo shows a recruitment drive in Trafalgar Square, London, 1914.
What are they recruiting people to do?
They are recruiting men to enlist in the army to fight in World War One. In August 1914 the government realised Britain needed more soldiers.
Why did they need so many soldiers, how was the war fought in 1914?
How do you think soldiers were recruited?
54 million posters were put up, 8 million letters were sent, 12,000 meetings were held, 20,000 speeches were given by military personnel.
In the first weekend of the war, a huge number of men signed up. Can you guess how many?
In the first weekend, 100 men an hour, 3000 a day signed up to join the armed forces. By the end of the year, 1,186,337 men had joined up.
Why do you think so many joined to fight the war?
The legal age to enlist was aged 18-41. Some jobs were "reserved occupations" which meant that men had to stay at home: these were men who worked on farms, coal mines, ship yards, munitions factories.
Why were these reserved?
Many younger teenagers tried to join before they were 18. They lied about their age to get in the army; some aged as young as 13 or 14 joined the war.
Why do you think boys did that?
Some joined the army because they wanted to fight for their country, some wanted to be treated like men and some were excited to join a war.
What do you think they thought war would be like?
Do you think they were right?
Did all men enlist?
Some men refused to fight on religious or moral grounds. They were conscientious objectors.
Can you understand why someone might refuse to join the army?
What are the arguments for and against being a conscientious objector?
Some conscientious objectors were allowed to carry stretchers on the battlefields, some went o work on farms. Some were sent to prison.
Often white feathers were given to men in the street if they were not in uniform to try and shame them and make them join the army. A group called the order of the white feather did this.
What do you think about this?
By the end of the war, almost a quarter of all the men in the UK had been in the armed forces and millions had died or were injured. The government needed to replace these soldiers so recruitment carried on thought the war.
Today we remember all those who gave their lives. Every year on 11th November at 11:00 we hold a 2 minute silence to remember those soldiers. This is because World War One ended at 11:00 on that date in 1918.
Both men are supported by Sight Scotland Veterans to join the march. James Sibbet is 95 years old and says, "To me remembrance is about honouring a group of people who dedicated themselves to the safety and wellbeing of their country and everyone in it. These are individuals who made the choice to serve. Those of us who did share a deep sense of connection and understanding."
What does he mean?
"I never thought I would be able to do this, especially after losing my sight."
Ian Baker says, "I've lost many good friends and family in different conflicts and this is my chance to pay tribute to them. I never imagined I's get to be past of something like this, especially after losing my sight. It means more to be than I can put in to words."
Why do you think this means so much to James and Ian?
Both men say losing their sight made them think they would never ne able to join; what do you think about this?
Ian says, "As the old saying goes, for our tomorrows they gave their todays. I can't thank these people enough for the sacrifices they made and the freedoms we have today."
What does "For our tomorrows they gave their todays" mean?
What can we learn from Ian and James?
Why is this about No Outsiders?
Which British value is this about?
Do you want this assembly as a power point? To join the free mailing list and receive these assemblies as power points every week, email me on a.moffat@excelsiormat.org (please note, I will not be able to send this out to people in time for Remembrance day after mid day Monday 10th)
No Outsiders: We belong here by Andrew Moffat (scheme of work for primary schools)
Register to be a No Outsiders school (get access to members page with additional resources)
Watch CPD films showing schools teaching belonging
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