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(32) Page 49 - Ten little soldier boys

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(32) Page 49 - Ten little soldier boys

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Blighty and Sea Pie > Blighty > Christmas, 1917 > (32) Page 49 - Ten little soldier boys
(32) Page 49 - Ten little soldier boys
Permanent URLhttps://digital.nls.uk/74465511
DescriptionThis cartoon, by Able Seaman J.S. Sharp, Howe Battalion, Royal Naval Division, is a play on traditional songs, like 'Ten green bottles standing on a wall'. As the narrative progresses a soldier is lost each time, with the text on the left matching the picture on the right and vice versa. The incidents which befall each soldier range from the light-hearted, getting drunk, to the much more serious, being hit by a German shell. Despite this they are all treated in the same fashion, and most aspects of the ordinary soldiers' war experience are covered. The piece ends with a soldier fainting on seeing a billboard announcing that the war is over. The comments, however, do go a little deeper. The number of soldiers here, are continually being reduced, without any signs of replacements. Another aspect of this is the group of ten. Characteristically, friends, families and villages, tended to sign on together and so were placed together. As a result, when tragedies happened, whole communities were wiped out at once.
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Christmas, 1917
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Blighty
DescriptionA humorous weekly magazine issued free to the troops in the First World War; contained short stories, poems, cartoons, paintings and drawings, with contributions from men on active service. Distributed by the War Office, the Admiralty and the Red Cross, and subsidised through donations and sales to the general public.
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Blighty and Sea Pie
DescriptionEditions of 'Blighty' (1917, 1918) and 'Sea Pie' (1917-1919), First World War magazines with pictures, stories, poems and humour. 'Blighty' was sent free to the men at the front and in the fleet. Profits from sales of 'Sea Pie' went to help sailors and their families.