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Surviving the Deluge: British servicemen in World War I

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  • Bailey, Roy E.
  • Hatton, Timothy J.
  • Inwood, Kris

Abstract

We estimate the correlates of death and injury in action during the First World War for a sample of 2400 non-officer British servicemen who were born in the 1890s. Among these 13.1% were killed in action and another 23.5% were wounded. Not surprisingly we find that the probability of death or wounding increases with time in the army and was higher among infantrymen. For a serviceman who enlisted in the infantry at the beginning of the war and continued in service, the probability of being killed in action was 29% and the probability of being either killed or wounded in action was 64%. 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 such selectivity applies when comparing officers with other ranks it does not apply among the ordinary soldiers who comprised 95% of the army.

Suggested Citation

  • Bailey, Roy E. & Hatton, Timothy J. & Inwood, Kris, 2023. "Surviving the Deluge: British servicemen in World War I," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:49:y:2023:i:c:s1570677x22001125
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101216
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    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. Gay, Victor & Grosjean, Pauline, 2023. "Morts Pour la France: A database of French fatalities of the Great War," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. 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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