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Surviving the Deluge: British Servicemen in World War I

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Listed:
  • Roy E. Bailey
  • Timothy J. Hatton
  • Kris Inwood

Abstract

We estimate the correlates of death and injury in action during the First World War for a sample of 2,400 non-officer British servicemen who were born in the 1890s. Among these 13.1 percent were killed in action and another 23.5 percent were wounded. But for a serviceman who enlisted in the infantry at the beginning of the war and remained in the army, the probability of being killed in action was 29 percent and the probability of being either killed or wounded in action was 64 percent. We examine, for ordinary soldiers, the hypothesis that death and injury was more likely for those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds as is suggested in the literature on the ‘lost generation’. While this applies when comparing officers with other ranks it does not apply among the ordinary soldiers who comprised 95 percent of the army.

Suggested Citation

  • Roy E. Bailey & Timothy J. Hatton & Kris Inwood, 2022. "Surviving the Deluge: British Servicemen in World War I," CEH Discussion Papers 04, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:hpaper:103
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    File URL: https://cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEH/WP202204.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2007. "Surviving Andersonville: The Benefits of Social Networks in POW Camps," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1467-1487, September.
    2. Olivier Guillot & Antoine Parent, 2018. "“Farewell Life, Farewell Love”: Analysis of Survival Inequalities Among Soldiers Who “Died for France” During World War I," Post-Print halshs-02125439, HAL.
    3. Roy E. Bailey & Timothy J. Hatton & Kris Inwood, 2016. "Health, height, and the household at the turn of the twentieth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(1), pages 35-53, February.
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/743lugucjm9h5aev6ttnkdni6d is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Bailey, Roy E. & Hatton, Timothy J. & Inwood, Kris, 2018. "Atmospheric Pollution, Health, and Height in Late Nineteenth Century Britain," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(4), pages 1210-1247, December.
    6. Alessio Fornasin & Marco Breschi & Matteo Manfredini, 2019. "Deaths and survivors in war: The Italian soldiers in WWI," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(22), pages 599-626.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Guillot, 2023. "Serving and dying: A study of factors associated with combat exposure and mortality among French WW1 soldiers," Working Papers of BETA 2023-39, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    First World War; British servicemen; Death or injury in action;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J47 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Coercive Labor Markets
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-

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