WAR OFFICE OFFICIAL TOPICAL BUDGET 330-2 [Main Title]

The outbreak of war in 1914 brought many new rules and regulations to Britain. The most important of these was the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA), passed on 8 August 1914 ‘for securing public safety’. 

Aviation was one of the most romanticised elements of the First World War. 'Air aces' in particular achieved celebrity status both during and after the war and their photographs regularly appeared in newspapers. Of the eight aces listed here, seven were killed in action between 1916 and 1918 or died in flying accidents during or after the war.

During the First World War, British soldiers used language in inventive and often humorous ways. The words and phrases they used reflected everything from the dull routines of service to the traumas of front line action, often tinged with characteristic black humour and irony.