First world war diaries reveal 'sports' played in the trenches

Pillow fights, wheelbarrow races, and wrestling on mules were among entertainments arranged by officers to maintain morale among British troops in the trenches during the first world war, according to a sports day programme dated 31 October 1914 – among more than 700 digitised war diaries made available online by the National Archives.

Other "company sports" designed to take minds off the battles included blindfold squad drill, blindfold driving, tug of war, a boat race, and a high jump.

Daily training programmes regularly included sports and football after routine exercises which included gas drill, gun drill, squad drill, and pack saddlery.

One diary includes a detailed pencil drawing of British and German trenches just a field apart. The position of dead horses, pigs and dogs, and of a "dead Frenchman" are neatly indicated.

Photographs show how trenches should and should not, be laid. The papers include a meticulous scale drawing of a trench tramway. Inventories include numbers of picks, pairs of gloves, barbed wire, wirecutters, and shovels available.

Among the documents is an account of the first day of the battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916 by Brigadier W R Ludlow of the 8th Battalion The Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

Printed on Ludlow's account of the battle is "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" (How sweet and honourable it is to die for one's country), which became the title of a Wilfred Owen poem, perhaps his best known work.

"There was not a vestige of cover between the German trenches and our own," Ludlow wrote. "On looking at the position to be attacked from our first line of trenches marked with a board, 'Old British Line' it seemed an impossibility for any troops to attack successfully, and well might the officers say as they strung over the top: 'We are in for it this time, by Jove!'".

He added: "The distance between the successive waves of the advance was 100 yards, and eye-witnesses have described it as being just like an advance on an Aldershot field day".

A German counter-offensive led to the battalion suffering 90% casualties. Ludlow concluded: "Well may Warwickshire and the City of Birmingham be proud of their fine discipline and glorious sacrifice, which have added another immortal page in the history of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment."William Spencer, military records specialist at The National Archives said: "Now that this latest batch of unit war diaries is online, people all around the world can read the official army accounts to discover more about the troops on the Western Front".

The diaries include accounts of more successful battles, such as 46th (North Midland) Division breaking the Hindenburg Line, in September 1918 as well as failures and casualties in key battles, notably those on the Somme in 1916.

The online catalogue can be accessed here using the ticket number 246810.