Capt. George Geoffrey ZieglerGeorge Geoffrey Ziegler was born in Woodchurch, Cheshire, c. 1895.He lived with his widowed mother, a cook and a servant.

Ziegler was born McNiegler and changed his name some time prior to the Great War.

Before the War Ziegler was a student at Cambridge University studying Bio-Chemistry and was only 19 when he enlisted with the 20th University and Public Schools Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

In his free time Capt. Ziegler played many sports, winning awards off the battlefield as well as on it!

‘I got second in the 100 yards Officer’s race, Major Hickley 20 yards start from scratch’ (An extract from his diary, July 19th 1917)

George Geoffrey Ziegler

Ziegler on bike at Cambridge 1914

Life as an OfficerAlthough the conditions of WWI were unbearable for many soldiers, George Geoffrey Ziegler fared better than most. Due to Ziegler’s affluence and rank (he was a Captain later in the war) he was treated with particular care, such as his higher quality billet, which he called “the Chateau”, that he resided in at particular points during the conflict.

A billet is a place, usually a civilian’s house, where soldiers are lodged temporarily. Usually soldiers and Commissioned Officers had separate lodgings. Captains were known to have servants and bathe privately.

‘I had a glorious bath in the evening’ (An extract from his diary, July 21st 1917)

In Ziegler’s case, he notes frequently in his diary, towards the end of the war, that he enjoyed numerous sporting and musical events with fellow officers such as golf, cricket and concerts. This, naturally, corresponds with a more upbeat tone in his diary at this period.

“ Open air concert in the evening. And then tug of war team practise in the orchard” (An extract from his diary, 21st July 1917)

Capt. Ziegler (far left)

Capt. Ziegler on horseback

The Battle of Passchendaele was fought from July 31st until 6th November 1917. A huge amount of mud made it incredibly difficult for Allied forces to effectively attack the German lines, which were primarily situated along the ridge to the east of Ypres.

Ziegler, after being wounded at the battle of the Somme, returned to fight at Passchendaele. During the battle of Passchendaele the primary objective was to drive a wedge between the German lines, to then secure the ridge and to dig in.

Significant losses occurred on both sides, with 250,000 British deaths and 400,000 German deaths.

Passchendaele

Officers in Battle Uniform (Ziegler on Right)

Officers discussing. (Ziegler Far Right)

Surviving the Trenches “Were gas shelled and had to use gas mask, the atmosphere was truly terrible.

We had to live down here for 6 days. What a choke!”

Capt. George Ziegler (An extract from his diary, 21st August 1917)

The first world war brought about a new era in warfare.

For the fist time in human history chemical warfare was used on a large scale with the intent to demoralise, injure and kill the enemy.

Gas was first used by the Germans at the Battle of Bolimov on the 31st of January 1915 against an entrenched Russian position but failed to have any effect as the gas froze instead of vaporising due to the cold conditions.

However, Chemical warfare was soon used by both sides and saw relatively mixed success throughout the war. By the end of the war there had been around 1,230,853 fatal and non-fatal casualties of gas 188,706 were British and Commonwealth soldiers.

Lieutenant Ziegler was promoted to temporary Captain during the Great War. He received the Military Cross for gallantry during active opposition against the enemy. He also won the more common British War Medal, Victory Medal and the 1914-1915 Star during his service.

“In other war theatres it does not go better and it has been said that our Chlorine is very effective. 140 English Officers have been killed. This is a terrible weapon...”

Major Karl Von Zingler

The desolation of the countryside