The earthwork patterns of practice trenches, Beacon Hill, Wiltshire, during the war the countryside became increasingly militarised as land was acquired for training areas, camps, airfields, and factories.
Practice trenches, Beacon Hill, Wiltshire, during the war the countryside became increasingly militarised as land was acquired for training areas, camps, airfields, and factories. © Historic England 24863-047
Practice trenches, Beacon Hill, Wiltshire, during the war the countryside became increasingly militarised as land was acquired for training areas, camps, airfields, and factories. © Historic England 24863-047

First World War: Land

One of the features of industrialised, mechanised, 20th-century warfare was its hunger for land. In the First World War land was needed for camps to house the New Armies and for training areas for thousands of troops. These demands expanded as ranges were required to train tank crews and airmen. Camps were also required to house thousands of captured German troops.

One of the greatest changes brought by the war was the use of airpower. This created its own demand for airfields and brought new threats from aerial bombardment. At the beginning of the conflict there were just seven military airfields, rising to 301 by 1918.

To equip the New Armies, air force, and navy, the conflict became a war of production. Existing factories were extended and huge new ones created. In towns and cities many buildings assumed new roles, as headquarters for refugee charities, meeting places for knitting and sewing circles to provide comforts for the troops, rest cafes for soldiers and sailors, and many other uses. Every building built before 1918 will have a story to tell about its inhabitants’ wartime experiences.

As German U-boats attacked merchant shipping, threatening starvation on the population, the countryside was worked more intensively to produce food, as well as timber. Country houses were offered up for war service as military hospitals and convalescent homes. Later the deaths in service of many landowners and their heirs in the war led to the break up of many large country estates.

The following pages explore how the whole country was mobilised for war. Find out where Historic England is conducting new investigations to increase understanding and working to improve the protection of key sites and where volunteers have helped to record First World War remains.

In this section

Our research covered the following aspects of land-based activities related to the First World War:

You can also find out how to look after war memorials and share information about them.

Other traces of the First World War

  • First World War: Sea

    At the outbreak of the First World War Great Britain was the world’s greatest naval power.

  • First World War: Air

    Historic England has identified the most significant airfields and airfield buildings of the First World War.

Also of interest

First World War: Sea
First World War: Air