Two-thirds of UK youngsters don't know dates of World War I

The poll results also found 54 per cent of the same age range, 16-24, did not know the war began in 1914, the Daily Mail reported.

In a survey of 2,998 people, released in the run up to Remembrance Day, 12 per cent of youngsters thought that the battle of Waterloo, fought in 1815 as part of the Napoleonic Wars, was part of the Great War.

However, in the age-group of 16-14, 46 per cent could rightly answer when the World War I started and 40 per cent knew when it ended.

The survey found that teenagers in the UK seem less interested in history than previous generations, with only 48 per cent visiting their local war memorial, whereas 59 per cent of respondents across all ages had done so.

Although the survey arranged by British Future showed how ignorant the nation's youth is of history, they are not alone, the paper said.

When asked by market research agency YouGov, members of the public hazarded guesses as wildly out as 1800 and 1950 for the start of the Great War, and 1910 and 1960 for the end date.

One in three of the public could not name the year that the war started. The best informed age group were the over 60s.

"We've found that it's not just kids, but their parents too, who don't know some of the basic facts about World War I, about the thousands of troops from Kenya and India who fought for Britain, and even the year the war started," said Sunder Katwala, director of British Future.

"The centenary (of the war) is a huge opportunity for schools and museums to do more to help our kids and all ages learn more about our nation's history," Katwala said.

"That's why British Future and the Citizenship Foundation hopes to work with schools on how to use 2014 to make history matter. Remembrance helps us to learn about our shared history, and that includes people across faith and ethnic backgrounds," Katwala added.

"There's no point in having a shared history if we forget about it," Katwala said.

The poll also found that 12 per cent of 16 and 17 years olds thought that under 10,000 British and Commonwealth military personnel died during the World War I, far less than the 20,000 British deaths on just the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Overall two thirds of the public said they did not know roughly how many British and Commonwealth troops died in the World War II.

The World War I began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918.