Laugh or Cry: The British Soldier on the Western Front, 1914-1918

'Awakened by great shouted oaths below. Peeped over the side of the manger and saw a Belgian lass milking and addressing a cow with a comprehensive luridness that left no doubt in my mind that British soldiers had been billeted here before.' — Private Norman Ellison, 1/6th King’s Liverpool Regiment

Humor helped the British soldier survive the terrible experiences they faced in the trenches of the Western Front during the Great War. Human beings are complicated, and there is no set pattern as...