World War I soldiers spent less than half their time on the front line, according to researchers.
A study led by Goldsmiths, University of London, found British army infantry troops spent less than 47% of their time on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918.
While there, they spent one in five days fighting directly with their enemy, researchers found.
They added trenches as shown in the BBC sitcom Blackadder were "just not correct".
Around 27,000 volunteers helped contribute to the research.
WW1 soldiers spent 'half their time' on the front line
BBC News
19 February 2016
British soldiers lined up in a narrow trench during World War I
World War I soldiers spent less than half their time on the front line, according to researchers.
A study led by Goldsmiths, University of London, found British army infantry troops spent less than 47% of their time on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918.
While there, they spent one in five days fighting directly with their enemy, researchers found.
They added trenches as shown in the BBC sitcom Blackadder were "just not correct".
Around 27,000 volunteers helped contribute to the research.
The cavalry spent 20% of their time at the front or fighting, according to information collected by war diaries posted online
Information was collected from war diaries posted online, via the Operation War Diary, and logged details such as place names and activities carried out, which Goldsmiths then analysed.
Goldsmiths University says it is 'just not the case' soldiers spent most of their time on the front line
Artillery soldiers spent 62% of their time either at the front or fighting on the Western Front, in France and Belgium, while the cavalry spent 20% of their time at the front or fighting, the study found.
Professor of 20th Century history at Goldsmiths Richard Grayson, who led the research, said a lot of the soldiers' time at the front was "quite quiet".
Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) is set in 1917 on the Western Front
He added: "In terms of the popular perception, people imagine that soldiers spent most of their time at the front and that is just not the case.
"I'm a big fan of the BBC programme Blackadder and it does portray a lot of things accurately, but the idea that people were living in trenches all the time is just not correct."
Prof Grayson said the project was a "radical departure" from traditional methods where an academic sifts through documents without help - allowing data to be produced far more quickly.
The project was carried out with the help of the National Archives and the Imperial War Museum.
WW1 soldiers spent 'half their time' on the front line - BBC News
A study led by Goldsmiths, University of London, found British army infantry troops spent less than 47% of their time on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918.
While there, they spent one in five days fighting directly with their enemy, researchers found.
They added trenches as shown in the BBC sitcom Blackadder were "just not correct".
Around 27,000 volunteers helped contribute to the research.
WW1 soldiers spent 'half their time' on the front line
BBC News
19 February 2016
British soldiers lined up in a narrow trench during World War I
World War I soldiers spent less than half their time on the front line, according to researchers.
A study led by Goldsmiths, University of London, found British army infantry troops spent less than 47% of their time on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918.
While there, they spent one in five days fighting directly with their enemy, researchers found.
They added trenches as shown in the BBC sitcom Blackadder were "just not correct".
Around 27,000 volunteers helped contribute to the research.
The cavalry spent 20% of their time at the front or fighting, according to information collected by war diaries posted online
Information was collected from war diaries posted online, via the Operation War Diary, and logged details such as place names and activities carried out, which Goldsmiths then analysed.
Goldsmiths University says it is 'just not the case' soldiers spent most of their time on the front line
Artillery soldiers spent 62% of their time either at the front or fighting on the Western Front, in France and Belgium, while the cavalry spent 20% of their time at the front or fighting, the study found.
Professor of 20th Century history at Goldsmiths Richard Grayson, who led the research, said a lot of the soldiers' time at the front was "quite quiet".
Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) is set in 1917 on the Western Front
He added: "In terms of the popular perception, people imagine that soldiers spent most of their time at the front and that is just not the case.
"I'm a big fan of the BBC programme Blackadder and it does portray a lot of things accurately, but the idea that people were living in trenches all the time is just not correct."
Prof Grayson said the project was a "radical departure" from traditional methods where an academic sifts through documents without help - allowing data to be produced far more quickly.
The project was carried out with the help of the National Archives and the Imperial War Museum.
WW1 soldiers spent 'half their time' on the front line - BBC News
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