WW1 sense of humour

Even the grim reality of war couldn't suppress the British sense of humour. Cartoonists used the conflict to raise a few smiles and to suggest that our troops could take things on the chin and not be diverted from taking everything in their stride, whether under fire, performing tasks in the trenches, or even wounded.

Luton's recently-launched Saturday Telegraph, a sister paper of The Luton News, began to carry a weekly series of cartoons from the popular London Opinions magazine. Here are a few examples of World War 1 humour from March and April 1915, together with the captions that accompanied them.

Lady visitor: "That's a bad case - what are you going to do with him?"

Orderly: "Oh, e's goin' back again to the front."

Lady visitor: "Good heavens - whatever for?"

Orderly: " 'E thinks 'e knows who done it."


"Call this soldiering, Bill. I call it market gardening."


Father to son, new recruit and late bank clerk: "Well, how do you like it so far?"

Son: "Top hole, dad - heaps better than working."


The victim: "Look 'ere, that's done it. That's the second time you've copped my 'and in ten minutes."

The villain: "Well, wot of it? I'm gettin' better. It might be a hour before I 'it you again."


"Hold 'em for another minute, Bill - an' we'll have plenty of milk in our tea."