'The German Corpse Factory Affair' talk by Prof Stephen Badsey, orthampton Thursday 14th March

[Kate Wills]

ALL WELCOME to this Thursday's WFA presentation at Holy Sepulchre Church Rooms, Northampton, when Professor Stephen Badsey will tell the story behind the infamous 'Greman Corpse Factory Affair'. In April 1917, British newspapers claimed that, in a giant factory on the Western Front, the German Army was processing its own soldiers’ corpses for glycerine for use in artillery shells. Both during and after the war, Germany denounced this as typical British government propaganda. Where did the story come from, why was it believed, was it really a British government invention, and how does it fit with other atrocity stories?

 

Professor Badsey discusses the reality behind the myths, and how important a weapon of war propaganda became to the British, including its neglected role in several Western Front battles.

 

Educated at Cambridge University, Stephen Badsey has held positions at the Imperial War Museum in London, the BBC, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, as well as various universities in the UK and overseas. An internationally recognised expert on British military history from the mid-19th century to the present day, he is a specialist on military ideas, and on propaganda and military-media relations in wartime.

 

With refreshments, bookstall and renowned guest speakers, everyone is welcome to our meetings, WFA members and non-members alike.

[CorporalPunishment]

It sounds about as believable as the contents of Baldrick's coffee.           Pete.

[Moonraker]

A quick Google search came up with no apparent substantial content here in the GWF (to my slight surprise), but this article gives the facts.

 

[AOK4]

11 hours ago, CorporalPunishment said:

It sounds about as believable as the contents of Baldrick's coffee.           Pete.

Hm, beware, the story has been "recycled" in WW2... So it wasn't that unbelievable apparently.

Anyway, I have read Badsey's book and liked it. He also talks about other propaganda stories that were used against Germany in WW1 (some of which were very similar to some claims about the Hamas attacks on Israel). History is a strange thing and it is quite remarkable how some (half) fabricated stories seem to survive and even be re-used after some time.

Jan