THEY’VE FORGOTTEN...

Survey reveals young’s ignorance of WW1

THE year the First World War began is a complete mystery to many of Britain’s “snowflake” generation.

According to a survey, 44 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds do not know the Great War took place from 1914 to 1918.

And a quarter of those aged 24 and over also struggled to provide the correct date.

Of 2,000 Britons polled by ancestry.co.uk, 27 per cent could not name any of Britain’s wartime allies – France, Russia, Italy and the USA.

Some thought Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire were on the Allied side.

When it came to naming the Prime Minister of the time, 51 per cent had no idea it was David Lloyd George – with 21 per cent going for Winston Churchill.

And a third of those polled admitted they did not even know if anyone in their family was involved in the Great War, which claimed the lives of more than nine million soldiers and seven million civilians.

“Generation snowflake” refers to young adults, suggesting they are more prone to taking offence and less resilient than previous generations.

Fought

After a similar poll for UK armed forces charity SSAFA earlier this year, its director Justine Baynes said: “Millennials are the first generation who may not have known a family member who fought in the First World War, so it’s not surprising that there may be a lack of knowledge about the war.”

An ancestry.co.uk spokesman said yesterday: “With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War approaching, our research has revealed that a quarter of the adult population does not know when the Great War took place.

“To this day the poppy and the phrase ‘Lest We Forget’ are prominent reminders of the First World War. Yet a study of British adults reveals 25 per cent couldn’t identify the war as taking place from 1914-18.”

Russell James, from the family history website, added: “This report suggests that many people are in danger of forgetting the war’s significance.

“We hope that by starting with the discovery of how grandparents and great-grandparents were affected, people will be reminded of the facts of the Great War and of remembering why we remember.”

To help Britons find out if members of their family were involved in the First World War, ancestry.co.uk is allowing free access to its site until tomorrow to allow visitors to search all UK and Ireland military records.