Abstract

The First World War, also commonly called “The Great War”, was a war of attrition in which fighting took place between soldiers occupying opposing lines in the form of trenches, with the area between — “No Man's Land” — fully exposed to explosive munitions and small arms fire from both sides. It was also a symmetrical war in which both sides employed the same military hardware and tactics. Details of the horrific traumatic injuries that were sustained on the battlefield are preserved in various documentary sources, such as eye-witness accounts kept by the Red Cross and casualty lists detailed in army service records. However, very limited information exists on how this is reflected in the osteological record.