"They Were Only Playin' Leapfrog!": The Infantryman and the Staff Officer in the British Army in the Great War

Authors

Benjamin M. Roy, Gettysburg CollegeFollow

Class Year

2021

Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date of Creation

Spring 2020

Department 1

Civil War Era Studies

Abstract

The British Infantryman of the First World War hated Staff Officers more than any other supporting or service branch in the BEF. This essay explores this attitude, its motivations, and the ways complaining helped British Infantrymen endure the Great War. It argues that the British Infantryman felt separate from the Staff Officers because of his intimate understanding of combat and killing and manifested his frustration with the helpless circumstances of war by hating Staff Officers, but ultimately understood the Staff Officer's role and the necessity of their service. By reconsidering the hackneyed views of the 'Poor Bloody Infantry' a new source of endurance is identified.

Comments

Written for CWES 215: Introduction to War Studies.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Roy, Benjamin M., ""They Were Only Playin' Leapfrog!": The Infantryman and the Staff Officer in the British Army in the Great War" (2020). Student Publications. 796.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/796