ABSTRACT

The image of British troops advancing into battle kicking a football is part of Britain’s First World War collective memory. However, research suggests that this happened only twice, with the better-known event being on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme when ‘B’ Company of the 8 Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment kicked two footballs ahead of them. The East Surreys were one of the few battalions to reach their objective. However on this bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, the football charge is but a footnote to military historians despite becoming a national ‘micro-level’ myth. This paper, researched in an antiquarian spirit, is concerned with the recovery of the empirical detail of the event motivated by a desire to discover the objective reality of the collective memory and explore the underlying rationale of this football charge.

摘要

英国军队上阵踢足球的形象是英国第一次世界大战集体记忆的一部分。然而，研究表明这种情况只发生过两次，最著名的事件是在索姆河战役的开幕日，当时东萨里团第 8 营的“B”连在他们前面踢了两个足球。东萨里是少数几个达到他们目标的营之一。然而，在英国军队历史上这个最血腥的一天，尽管足球指控成为了国家“微观层面”的神话，但对军事历史学家来说，这只是一个注脚。这篇论文，以古董精神进行研究，