Category Archives: Web Resources

The National Archives: Prisoner of war interview reports 1914-1918

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The National Archive records, in series WO 161, are reports on over 3,000 British and Commonwealth prisoners of war captured during the First World War.

The reports were made by the Committee on the Treatment of British Prisoners of War before the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918. The Committee appointed examiners who conducted interviews with repatriated, escaped or interned prisoners of war to ask about how they had been treated. The examiners then wrote up the reports.

The reports include:

officers
medical officers
other ranks
merchant seamen and civilians (in a minority of cases)

Although the reports contain valuable information, they represent only a tiny percentage of the estimated 192,000 British and Commonwealth captives. They do not include the many prisoners of war who were liberated after the Armistice.

Remembering World War I: A Research and Learning Collection

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A range of resources relating to the First World War are available from Taylor and Francis Online. Please see here for links to interviews, articles and books.

Advertising and the First World War

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BBC News – WW1: How firms cashed in on the war

In an age before TV bombarded consumers with commercials, newspapers and magazines such as Punch and the Illustrated London News were the battleground for firms desperate to see off their rivals.

But just how did they pitch their wares to the public and the men enlisted in the armed forces?

For further information, see here.

One of our research clusters is The Global-Imperial Dimension. If you are interesting in carrying out research in this area, then see here. We have a number of academics who are working on the mobilization of culture, ideas and information: propaganda; and the role of the press, including Prof. James Belich, Dr. John Darwin and Dr. Jan-Georg Deutsch. Please contact them directly to discuss your research interests and see here for more information on applying to the University of Oxford with your doctoral proposal.

BBC News: Six unexpected WW1 battlegrounds

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Not all crucial battles in World War One took place on the muddy fields of Europe. Some significant fights took place in little-known places much further afield. For further information, see here.

One of our research clusters is The Global-Imperial Dimension. If you are interesting in carrying out research in this area, then see here. We have a number of academics who are working on the mobilization of culture, ideas and information: propaganda; and the role of the press, including Prof. James Belich, Dr. John Darwin and Dr. Jan-Georg Deutsch. Please contact them directly to discuss your research interests and see here for more information on applying to the University of Oxford with your doctoral proposal.

Story of Vera Brittain, Shirley Williams’ mother, forms part of Somerville College war roadshow memorabilia

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As a follow up to the Somerville College Great War Roadshow that took place on 15 November 2014 (see here for more information), here is a link to an article about the day in The Oxford Times.

BBC News – Viewpoint: The WW1 film over 20 million people went to see

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With 24-hour news people are able to see what is happening in conflicts around the world, whenever they want. But this appetite for the reality of war is nothing new, says Dr Vincent Trott.

See here for more information.

One of our research clusters is The Global-Imperial Dimension. If you are interesting in carrying out research in this area, then see here. We have a number of academics who are working on the mobilization of culture, ideas and information: propaganda; and the role of the press, including Prof. James Belich, Dr. John Darwin and Dr. Jan-Georg Deutsch. Please contact them directly to discuss your research interests and see here for more information on applying to the University of Oxford with your doctoral proposal.

Digitised WW1 diaries highlight battle confusion

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A web article that links to the projects being undertaken by IT Services on the Great War highlights how digitised diaries from World War One have shown how the early days of war were full of confusion about who fired its first shots. The inconsistency is just one of the insights being gained from Operation War Diary – a tie-up between The National Archives, the Imperial War Museum and online research website Zooniverse. You can find more information here, and see here for the different projects that IT Services are working on.