As All Quiet on the Western Front continues to hoover up several prizes, including a whole batch of BAFTAs, the film also manages to convey the boredom and long stretches of inactivity spent waiting for military action in the trenches.

Although the film is from a German point of view, it illustrates that there was nothing glamorous about life at war. It would also have struck a chord with memories and experiences from the other side of the wires. Ultimately, between the fighting, men had to do something other than await their fate. From a British perspective, those hours on the battlefield in both World Wars shaped leisure time for the next 100 years because gambling became a hobby.

The Royal Navy called bingo ‘tombola’ when they were playing a version of the game on the ships. The free bingo that is played these days online with all its variations, bonuses and interactive elements was nowhere near as competitive as the military playing each other. When the two World Wars were done those ex-servicemen and women continued to play the game in the halls back on home turf. It had become as entrenched as the boots in the mud of the battlefield. It was a focus. 

As Clifford Lane of the Hertfordshire Regiment wrote: "I often wonder how we got over the boredom of it all. You just imagine – nobody can imagine – being stuck in a trench, six feet high, in the middle of winter, day after day with nothing to do at all, really, there was nothing you could do." There is a famous picture of British troops taking time off from digging the trenches to play what was then known as Housey. People at home, sheltering from air raids and under rationing, would also play to boost morale.

One only has to read the personal stories and anecdotes of soldiers that lie within war museums to see how gambling became something that was the most accessible tool for those that were under the most intense conditions. It even inspired the name of a famous series of bombing raids by the United States. The Americans bombed a number of transformer stations between Italy and Austria to slow the progress of the Germans, naming it Operation Bingo.

The cultural impact of the game of bingo from 1914, when the Great War started, still has resonance today. It was a pastime that was popular with all ranks and not just within the common boots on the ground. The elements that brought the game to the masses were then more prevalent as the decades passed with bingo being played on many a holiday in the 1960s. 

As the 21st century continues to bring artificial intelligence and the latest technological advances to all of us in our homes, it is sometimes hard to imagine a world where simple number games ruled the waves. The enduring images of bingo in its most simple form are still stitched in time and memory.

Disclaimer: Play responsibly. Players must be over 18. For help visit https://www.gamcare.org.uk/