Oxford and the Great War

In the fifth of our series about Oxford and the Great War, this short video considers the attitude of serving officers and officers-to-be towards the conflict: how much has life changed for the rank and file soldier, and how much stays the same? What motivates soldiers to take the risks they do? The Oxford University Officers’ Training Corps, founded in 1642, has trained and sent officers from the university to nearly every war or conflict over the last three centuries. During WW1 nearly all undergraduates who joined up would pass through the OTC for training on their way to the front. This included Tolkien, CS Lewis, Noel Chavasse and Lawrence of Arabia. Over 2000 student officers never returned. Today the OTC provides leadership training and character building for students from Oxford and other local universities and forms an important part of the military fabric of Oxford University. For more information visit

In the fourth of our series about Oxford Research on the Great War, Dr Adrian Gregory and Dr Stuart Lee discuss the significance of the two-minute silence held to commemorate the conflict – and how our understandings of the war have been shaped by the poetry it produced. Includes sound from

Oxford and the Great War: The War at Home Professor William Whyte of St John's College and Dr Anne Manuel of Somerville College discuss the impact of the First World War on Oxford itself, as the city became a huge hospital – as well as a haven for refugees from around the world. How did the University (and those of its students who didn't go to war) change as a result of the conflict?

Dr Liz Bruton, Byrne-Bussey Marconi Fellow at the Bodleian Library, discusses science in the First World War: including the fight against poison gas and to break German codes, and ethical issues raised by the war – which still confront scientists today. Filmed at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford Based in part on work from the "Innovating in Combat" project at the University of Leeds and Museum of the History of Science

Professor Margaret MacMillan and Sir Hew Strachan speak about the public's understanding of the First World War, and the role of academics in debunking myths and misunderstandings.