Exploding the Myths of Sport and the Great War: A First Salvo

This article examines the connection between sport and the First World War. It challenges the conventional wisdom that the athleticism associated with a public school education made a significant contribution to the British war effort. Additionally it argues that athleticism had a negligible influence on elementary school pupils who comprised the bulk of the military forces. It also suggests that while army authorities eventually accepted that sport had a positive role to play and made it a compulsory element of military training, it also existed as an escape from hostilities rather than just preparation for them.