THE TERRIBLE STORY OF U.S. SOLDIER HOLDING HIS COMRADE WEARING A GERMAN PICKELHAUBE AT GUNPOINT.

U.S. soldier holding his comrade wearing a German Pickelhaube at gunpoint with a German flare gun, 1918.


As one can probably imagine, this scene is just an accident waiting to happen. There were several ways soldiers were wounded and killed in the First World War, but one of the often overlooked ways is through accidents.

One study in Australia from 2014 concluded that upwards of 1000 Australian soldiers died as a result of accidents during the First World War. Further research suggests up to 200,000 men in the British Army became casualties to various accidents.

At first thought one may not realize just how many different accidents could lead to death. So, today I shall list some of the largest contributors to accident casualties in the First World War:

Planes - as many as 2,200 British and 153 Australian pilots died as a results of accidents in training, such as crashes and just the primitive nature of aircraft at the time.

Horses - falling off, being kicked by them, runaway horses towing the cavalryman, etc.

Shooting accidents - accidentally pulling the trigger while cleaning the gun, during firing practice, soldiers on the frontlines at nighttime confusing friends with enemies.

Bomb accidents - soldiers blown up by disarming bombs, setting up camp fires on top of buried shells, picking up active "duds", not throwing a bomb in time, or the bomb just prematurely exploding due to a manufacture error.

Drowning - sailors hurled off ships due to storms, going for a swim in strong waters, attempts at saving other drowning people, even soldiers drowning in the muddy shell-holes on the front.

Train and other vehicle accidents - train crashes, falling out of moving trains, prematurely jumping off a moving train, other motor vehicle accidents such as cars, lorries and motorcycles.

Drunkenness - soldiers fracturing their skulls and spines by falling while drunk, and other accidents while under influence of alcohol.

Thanks for reading, leave your thought in the comment section below. 

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