Window Cleaners Among WWI Bravest

Window cleaners 'among WWI bravest'

Window cleaners 'among WWI bravest'- Teachers, window cleaners and cotton workers have been identified as among the "bravest" professions during the First World War, according to a study. Online history website Ancestry.co.uk said an analysis of 2.8 million service records from 1914-20 highlighted how ordinary workers with barely any military training risked their lives on the front line. Most medal winners were miners or agricultural labourers, but professions such as teaching and window cleaning featured strongly, said the report.

Fishermen, doctors, barbers and policemen were also named among the top 10 professions for medal winners, said Ancestry. Content manager Miriam Silverman said: "While teachers, doctors or policemen may have had skills or leadership qualities that could have prepared them better for the front line, what this data really tells us is that it was the ordinary men with everyday professions that made some of the most extraordinary heroes."

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Window cleaners, cotton mill workers and fishermen also ranked in the top 10 for the bravest professions, according to family history website Ancestry, which studied 2.8 million services records to compile the list. Ancestry tallied the number of Military Cross, Distinguished Conduct Medal, Victoria Cross and Meritorious Service Medal winners against the number of people in work in 1911.

Ancestry's Miriam Silverman said: "While teachers, doctors and policemen may have had the skills or leadership qualities that could have prepared them better for the frontline, what this data really tells us is that it was the ordinary men with everyday professions that made some of the most extraordinary heroes." While teachers today might be used to battling students sat at the back row, they were at their most formidable and bravest on the front line during World War One.

Top 10 bravest professions:

1. Teacher 2. Window cleaner 3. Cotton mill worker 4. Fisherman 5. Doctor

6. Servant 7. Barber 8. Merchant 9. Police officer 10. Banker

Window cleaners and teachers - the 'bravest' professions of WW1 - Window cleaners and teachers were more likely than those of any other profession serving in the British armed forces in the First World War to be decorated for bravery, research finds.