During the last last few months of the Bloody Conflict of the First World War, strange tales began to Emerge from the Soldiers in the Trenches. But these were different from the stories such has the Angel of Mons and the huge Black hounds the Germans had Bred to Kill Allied Soldiers. These New Stories told of troops from both sides who lived in No Mans Land and survived on the Dead. Tales were told of Soldiers dressed in tattered Uniforms searching for food on Dead Bodies and removing the Dead's unforms to keep out the cold, in some cases it was reported that these Wild men also resorted to Cannibalism.

But who were these men and how did the stories about them come about? After almost four years of the Endless Slaughter many Soldiers from both sides were affected by a New Mental Illness called Shell Shock, which at the time of the War was not fully understood by the Medical Profession. Soldiers with this condition would simply walk away from their position refusing to fight and when caught were Shot For Desertion. Seeing friends die, being mown down by enemy Machine Gun Fire and Death on an almost Daily Basis, is it any wonder ordinary men would succumb, to what later became known as Shell Shock? A Soldier knew that if he left his post he couldn't go back through his own lines as he would be shot, so all that was left was for him to go out into No Mans Land and Live and Survive there. These Soldiers according to accounts lived in old Bombed out Trenches no longer in use or sort refuge in Wooded areas or ruined buildings.

So how did these tales come about? Soldiers on Guard Duty at Night would hear all kinds of Strange Weird Sounds, the cries and moans of a wounded Soldier entangled on the Barb wire, then the sound of a Shot and the cries cut off. That according to the Guards were the Wild men hunting for their next meal. There were groups on both sides known as Night Raiders who's job it was, to creep up on and Enemy Trench and after a skirmish of hand to hand Combat, the Raiders would capture a couple of Enemy Troopers and take them back to their own lines to interrogate them regarding the Strength of the Enemy facing them. Another Story of how the Wild men came about, was that of a British Infantry Soldier who while assaulting a German position was wounded in the leg unable to retreat with his comrades he bound his leg in a makeshift splint and hid in some undergrowth where he went out at night foraging for food and drinking rainwater from shell holes. He did this for a month before he was found by a British Patrol and returned to the British lines. His C.O was shocked when the Soldier reported to him, as he had been posted as Missing In Action Presumed Dead.

Finally what Happened to the Wild Men of No Mans Land? There was to be No Happy Ending, they were after all classed as Deserters, and under secret orders Groups of Soldiers would go out and Hunt down the Wild Men and Kill them with Poisonous Gas Bombs. Were the Wild Men Real or just Imagined Stories told by Soldiers? That is for You to Decide.

Thanks for the info @Wheelbarrow repair man I wasn't aware of those stories but it does show that there was aot of mental illness around on both sides due to the carnage & the noise from the incessant shelling which brought on shell shock & also led to soldiers either deserting or going AWOL from their units.

306 British & Commonwealth soldiers were shot for disciplinary offenses for cowardice and desertion during WW1. Those soldiers were all given a postumous pardon in 2007 when it was recognised that the psychological affects of War did affect a lot of young soldiers at the front.

It was a War that saw old-fashioned tactics such as the mass charging of men & horse mounted cavalry facing the machine gun & mass artillery. It resulted in mass casualties of an epic level that saw casualty figures for the British of over 57,470 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme including over 19000 fatalities.

It's understandable that hundreds of Soldiers broke down as a result of the carnage & just decided they couldn't take any more. There is a British Film that was from 1964 called KING AND COUNTRY that starred Dirk Bogarde & Tom Courtney about the trial & execution of a British Soldier that went AWOL in WW1.

it gives me shudders when i think of the conditions of war built trenches but to combined that with people going out and seeking dead bodies to eat. it just takes it to that extra level or eeriness.

@liampie, considering there are accounts of rats being cooked and eaten, nothing would surprise me, but that is war for us. Much worse could have happened had it not been won, maybe less so with the first World War, but certainly with the second.