Humour as History? Soldiers Cartoons and the First World War

Professor Jane Chapman’s talk reveals a body of little known trench cartoons that have previously been neglected as a record of satirical social observation.

She will demonstrate how soldiers’ humour expressed both morale-boosting and stoicism, whilst also voicing concerns about daily life in cartoon form. These included complaints and feelings about officers, medical services, discomforts, food and drink, leave, military routines, and their expectations versus emerging reality.

Soldiers at the various fronts tended to elevate anti-heroism in their illustrative narratives, but is what these omit as significant as what they mention?