The Western Front, 1914-18: Historical Enquiry Skills and the Historic Environment - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

15 original exam-style questions - 6 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

Download PDF Jump to mark scheme (page 7)The Western Front, 1914-18: Historical Enquiry Skills and the Historic Environment revision guide

This topic is chapter 8 of GCSE History: The Western Front, 1914-18 Practice Book.

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2.7 The Western Front, 1914-18: Historical Enquiry Skills and the Historic Environment

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · about 55 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Questions 12 and 13 refer to Source A and Source B. Write in full sentences for Questions 12, 13, 14 and 15. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.

Source A and Source B: Investigating a Preserved Medical Aid Post Site

Source A and Source B were written for Revision Library as original, representative teaching material. Source A is an account in the style of a modern heritage-site information text, written to represent the kind of description a visitor to a preserved Western Front medical site might read today; it is not the text of a real, named heritage organisation, and no genuine published document has been reproduced or quoted. Source B is an illustrative table styled on historical research into the types of source used to investigate the Western Front's medical services; its details are representative for teaching purposes, not an authentic official record.

SOURCE A: from an account written in the style of a modern heritage-site information panel, describing a preserved Advanced Dressing Station shelter on the former Western Front near Ypres.

What survives here is a low concrete shelter, built into the bank of what was once a support trench, with three connected rooms just large enough for a stretcher to be carried through. The walls, over half a metre thick in places, show the marks of the wooden shuttering used when the concrete was poured, and a section of rusted iron bedframe remains fixed to one wall. Visitors often ask how many casualties passed through a shelter this size in a single day; the physical remains alone cannot answer that, though the number of bed spaces and the width of the doorway give some clues about how it was meant to be used. Fuller answers come from combining what can be seen here with other kinds of evidence, from official unit records to the personal letters and diaries of the men who served nearby, each of which tells a different part of the story that the concrete and iron cannot tell on their own.

SOURCE B: an illustrative table showing types of source historians use to investigate the historic environment of the Western Front's medical services, and what each type can typically show.

Type of source | What it can typically show

Official unit records, e.g. RAMC war diaries and medical statistics | numbers treated, dates, organisation and official decisions, but often little personal detail

Personal testimony, e.g. diaries and letters | individual experience and feeling, but reflecting one person's view rather than the whole picture

Maps and plans | the layout and location of trenches, aid posts and dressing stations, but not what daily life or treatment there was actually like

Surviving physical remains, e.g. preserved shelters, trenches or artefacts | direct physical evidence of scale and construction, but usually no written record of how the site was actually used day to day

Note: the source types and their strengths and limits above are illustrative and general, summarising the broad pattern used in historical enquiry, not a record specific to one named site or archive.

Name one type of official record, created by army units at the time, that historians can use to investigate the medical services on the Western Front.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Give two reasons why historians need to consider the nature, origin and purpose of a source before deciding how useful it is for a particular enquiry.

(Total for Question 2 is 4 marks)

Name two types of source, other than personal diaries or letters, that could be used to investigate medical care on the Western Front.

(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)

How useful is Source A for an enquiry into how a preserved medical site on the Western Front can be investigated today? Explain your answer, using Source A and your own knowledge of the historical context.

(Total for Question 4 is 8 marks)

How could you use Source A and Source B together to plan a historical enquiry into the Western Front's medical services? Explain your answer, using Source A, Source B and your own knowledge.

(Total for Question 5 is 8 marks)

Source A suggests one possible line of enquiry into how the preserved medical site was actually used. Complete the table to explain how you could follow this up.

(a)Detail in Source A that I would follow up:(1)

(b)Question I would ask:(1)

(c)What type of source I could use:(1)

(d)How this might help answer my question:(1)

(Total for Question 6 is 4 marks)

Explain why using a range of different types of source is important when investigating the historic environment of the Western Front's medical services.

(Total for Question 7 is 8 marks)

Give one type of visual source, in addition to photographs, that can help historians investigate the layout of trenches and medical facilities on the Western Front.

(Total for Question 8 is 1 mark)

Name the type of personal written source, such as a diary or collection of letters, that can give historians first-hand evidence of an individual's experience of the medical services.

(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)

Give two limitations of using a single soldier's diary or letters as evidence for how the medical services worked across the whole Western Front.

(Total for Question 10 is 2 marks)

Name the type of statistical source, produced by the army's medical services, that records numbers of casualties, admissions or causes of wounds.

(Total for Question 11 is 1 mark)

Give two reasons why physical remains of a historic site, such as a preserved trench or medical shelter, can be useful evidence for a historical enquiry.

(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)

Name the term used for the specific historical question or topic that a piece of historical research sets out to investigate.

(Total for Question 13 is 1 mark)

Give two reasons why using more than one type of source together, for example a written account and an official statistic, can produce a stronger historical enquiry than using only one type.

(Total for Question 14 is 2 marks)

Describe two features of official RAMC records that make them a useful source for historians investigating the Western Front's medical services.

(Total for Question 15 is 4 marks)

Mark scheme · 2.7 The Western Front, 1914-18: Historical Enquiry Skills and the Historic Environment

Question 1

B1 a war diary (accept RAMC unit war diary, or medical case notes/admission and discharge registers)
Answer: A war diary (RAMC unit war diary)

Question 2

B2 the nature of a source (what type it is, for example an official record, personal diary, or physical remains) affects what kind of information it can realistically provide
B2 the origin and purpose of a source (who created it, when, and why) can affect how accurate, complete or one-sided the information in it is, so must be weighed against the specific enquiry being investigated
Answer: A source's nature determines what it can show, and its origin/purpose can affect its accuracy or bias, so both must be weighed against the specific enquiry.

Question 3

B1 official unit records (war diaries, medical statistics/returns)
B1 maps and plans, or surviving physical remains (preserved sites, artefacts)
Answer: Any two of: official unit records, maps and plans, surviving physical remains.

Question 4

Level 1 (1-2): Makes a simple comment on the content of Source A, with little or no reference to its nature, origin or purpose, or to own knowledge.
Level 2 (3-4): Describes the content of Source A and begins to comment on its value, with limited reference to its nature, origin, purpose or own knowledge.
Level 3 (5-6): Analyses the content and the nature/origin/purpose of Source A, using own knowledge to support a developing judgement about how useful it is for the given enquiry.
Level 4 (7-8): Analyses the content and the nature/origin/purpose of Source A in a well-supported and convincing way, using precise own knowledge to reach a sustained judgement about how useful it is for the given enquiry, considering its limitations.
Indicative content:
- Content: Source A describes the physical features of a preserved Advanced Dressing Station shelter, including its layout, wall thickness and a surviving bedframe, and directly discusses what physical remains alone can and cannot show.
- Content: it explicitly states that fuller answers about how the site was used come from combining physical evidence with other source types, such as official records and personal letters.
- Nature/origin/purpose: as an account written to represent a modern heritage-site information text, it reflects the kind of description a present-day visitor might read, but because it is written for this pack rather than a genuine published heritage text, it cannot be used as direct evidence for one specific, named site.
- Own knowledge: contextual knowledge of the standard categories of source used to investigate the historic environment (official records, personal testimony, maps/plans, physical remains) can be used to assess whether the source's description of the site's strengths and limits is consistent with how historians actually work.
- A full answer weighs the source's plausible, typical content, consistent with verified understanding of how historic sites are investigated, against its limitations as illustrative rather than a genuine heritage-site publication, before reaching a judgement on its usefulness for the stated enquiry.

Question 5

Level 1 (1-2): Makes a simple comment on the content of one source, with little or no reference to using the sources together or to own knowledge.
Level 2 (3-4): Describes the content of both sources and suggests, in general terms, what each could be used to find out.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains what Source A and Source B could each be used to find out, and begins to explain how they could be used together, supported by own knowledge.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains clearly and convincingly what Source A and Source B could be used to find out both separately and together, supported throughout by precise own knowledge of the historical context.
Indicative content:
- Source A shows, through one specific example, what physical remains at a preserved site can and cannot reveal, which could be used to plan what questions a visit to a real site could realistically answer.
- Source B shows the general strengths and limits of several different source types, which could be used to plan which additional sources would be needed to answer the questions physical remains alone cannot.
- Used together, Source A's example and Source B's overview could be used to build a rounded enquiry plan: starting with what the physical site itself suggests, then identifying which other source types (records, testimony, maps) would fill the gaps.
- Own knowledge could be used to check both sources against what is known about the range of evidence historians actually use for the Historic Environment component, including official RAMC records and personal accounts.
- A full answer explains what each source could be used to plan, and how using them together produces a more complete and better-targeted enquiry than either source alone, while noting that both are illustrative rather than genuine archival material.

Question 6

(a) B1 a relevant detail identified, e.g. Source A states that the physical remains alone cannot show how many casualties passed through the shelter in a single day
(a) Answer: The physical remains alone cannot show how many casualties passed through the shelter in a single day.
(b) B1 a follow-up question that clearly relates to the chosen detail, e.g. how many wounded soldiers were typically treated at this Advanced Dressing Station in a single day
(b) Answer: How many wounded soldiers were typically treated at this Advanced Dressing Station in a single day?
(c) B1 an appropriate type of source named, e.g. RAMC unit war diaries or official admission and discharge registers for the site
(c) Answer: RAMC unit war diaries or official admission and discharge registers for the site.
(d) B1 a clear explanation linking the source type to the question, e.g. admission registers would record the actual daily numbers treated, filling in the gap that the physical remains cannot answer on their own
(d) Answer: Admission registers would record the actual daily numbers treated, filling in the gap that the physical remains cannot answer on their own.

Question 7

Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two general reasons why using a range of sources matters, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one reason, supported by accurate detail.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two reasons why using a range of sources is important, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two or more reasons in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the reasons connect.
Indicative content:
- Physical remains, such as the preserved shelter in Source A, provide direct evidence of scale and construction but cannot on their own show how a site was actually used day to day, for example how many casualties passed through it.
- Official records, such as RAMC war diaries and medical statistics, can fill this gap with dates, numbers and organisational detail, but tend to give little sense of individual experience or feeling.
- Personal testimony, such as diaries and letters, can add the individual experience that official records lack, but reflects only one person's viewpoint and may not represent the wider pattern.
- Maps and plans can show the layout and location of a site clearly, but say little about what treatment or daily life there was actually like, which is why they need to be combined with written and physical evidence.
- Overall, each type of source has its own strengths and limitations, so combining several types, as Source A itself suggests, produces a much fuller and more reliable historical enquiry than relying on any single type of evidence alone.

Question 8

B1 a trench map (accept aerial photographs, or plans/diagrams of a Casualty Clearing Station or Regimental Aid Post)
Answer: A trench map

Question 9

B1 personal testimony (accept a diary, or letters)
Answer: Personal testimony (a diary or letters)

Question 10

B1 it reflects one person's individual experience at a particular time and place, so may not be typical of the wider pattern across the whole front
B1 it may be affected by personal opinion or emotion, or by restrictions on what could be written home, such as wartime censorship
Answer: It reflects one person's individual experience rather than the whole pattern, and may be shaped by personal opinion or by wartime censorship.

Question 11

B1 medical statistics/returns (accept official medical statistics)
Answer: Medical statistics (official medical returns)

Question 12

B1 they provide direct physical evidence of scale, layout and construction that written sources may not fully capture
B1 they let historians see or measure features for themselves, such as the thickness of walls or the size of a room, rather than relying only on a written description
Answer: Physical remains provide direct evidence of scale, layout and construction, and let historians see or measure features for themselves.

Question 13

B1 a historical enquiry (accept an enquiry)
Answer: A historical enquiry

Question 14

B1 different types of source can check or support each other, making a conclusion more reliable
B1 different types of source add different kinds of information, giving a fuller picture than any one source alone
Answer: Different sources can check and support each other, and together they give a fuller, more reliable picture than one source alone.

Question 15

B1 feature 1 identified, e.g. official records such as war diaries and medical returns were created at the time, close to the events they describe
B1 supporting detail for feature 1, e.g. this makes them a strong source for accurate dates, numbers and official decisions rather than accounts written or remembered much later
B1 feature 2 identified, e.g. they were compiled systematically across many units, rather than describing only one person's experience
B1 supporting detail for feature 2, e.g. this allows historians to compare figures between different stations or dates, rather than relying on a single individual's account
Answer: Any two features, e.g. official records were created at the time (giving accurate dates/numbers), and were compiled systematically across many units (allowing comparison).

The Western Front, 1914-18: Historical Enquiry Skills and the Historic Environment - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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2.7 The Western Front, 1914-18: Historical Enquiry Skills and the Historic Environment

Source A and Source B: Investigating a Preserved Medical Aid Post Site

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