TRENCH WARFARE

In your own words … Describe the previous pictures. What did a WW1 trench look like? Comfortable? Clean?

TRENCH WARFARE. The war on the western front was a new kind of warfare. No one had experienced war like it before. The generals had not allowed it. Everyone had to adapt. There were several main changes in techniques.

Change 1: trench warfare. Most obvious change was the system of warfare War had changed from MOVEMENT to STATIC (stationary) Trenches had begun as simple shelters but developed into complex defensive systems

Change 2: artillery became more powerful. For much of the war, all day, every day, artillery would pound the enemy trench with hundreds of shells. Artillery bombardments caused more casualties than any other weapons. At the beginning of the war the guns were not very accurate. By the end artillery was bigger, tactics more sophisticated & a key weapon.

Change 3: Cavalry became less important. WW1 saw the end of the cavalry as a weapon of the modern army. In 1914 all sides thought the speed and mobility of the cavalry would be decisive Once in the trench though – the cavalry became too vulnerable (only 3 of 400 horses survived)

Change 4: infantry became more important. The infantryman or foot soldier was the backbone of the army. However, the steel helmets which gave some protection against shrapnel were only issued in The infantry was originally to be used to follow the cavalry charge – however that changed with the infantry charge.

Over the Top The machine gun was devastatingly effective against the infantry charge (8 bullets a second). The machine gun made it inevitable that any charge would cost many lives. New theory – send more troops – cant kill them all!! Those who survived could capture the trench. The infantry was the only attacking strategy the generals had. Eventually = new weapons, techniques, camouflage, gas & tanks.

Day to Day tasks The soldiers did not spend all their time charging the enemy – far from it. Infantry works was more routine: dug new trenches, repairing old ones, carted equipment & supplies. Long hours on sentry duty or on listening posts. Sappers – dug under enemy & placed huge mines there

Change 5: poison gas. First attack in April 1915 – German released Chlorine = mass panic After, it became a regular feature of the war. Aim = to disable enemy troops so infantry could charge. Gases inc: mustard – which burned/blinded/slowly killed troops. Fear of gas reduced with issue of the gas mask.

Change 6: Tanks. British invention. First used at the Battle of the Somme in Caused huge alarm amongst Germans & raised morale among the British. First machines = slow & unreliable 1918 – Germans invented armour piercing machine gun bullets

Life in the Trenches. Range of experiences – extreme boredom to appalling stress Trenches – usually 8 days in – 4 days out. Part of those days would be in support, rather than front line trenches.

Millions of men & thousands of horses lived together. Smells of raw sewage, unwashed soldiers & rotting corpses. Soldiers infested with lice. Up to their knees in water = trench foot (frostbite in winter). Infested by rats.

FOODFOOD Hot food was difficult to prepare near the front line. Water was often short and dirty. Standard rations were corned beef (bully) and hard biscuits. A soldier remembered- ‘Many times we only had one slice of bread for breakfast and biscuits for tea. These were so hard you had to smash them with a stone.’

‘There are millions! Some are huge fellows nearly as big as cats. Several of our men were awakened to find a rat snuggling down under the blanket alongside them.’ A British Officer RATSRATS

SHELL SHOCK The noise of the constant shells made many men go mad. Living in a permanent state of tension caused limbs to tremble continuously and stammering to occur. Many men with shell shock who were unable to fight were shot by their officers for refusing to fight.

TRENCH FOOT

G A S Lance Sergeant Cotton 1915 ‘Propped up against the wall was a dozen men – all gassed. Their colours were black, green and blue, their tongues hanging out and eyes staring…some were coughing up green froth from their lungs,

Amputations.

Waterlogged Trenches.

Casualties.

No Man’s Land.

Anything good? 1.A sense of comradeship 1.A sense of comradeship & even achievement (many soldiers achieved more than they thought they could). 2.Patriotism 2.Patriotism – fighting for home & country. 3.Quality & quantity of food rations 3.Quality & quantity of food rations for British were generally ok 4.Rest 4.Rest – 60% of time spent behind lines on light duty 5.Respect for leaders 5.Respect for leaders - despite myths – generals were often close to front line in danger of losing lives.

THE VIEW FROM HOME. Difficult to know what life in trenches like due to censorship. No photos – no dead bodies allowed in paintings – newspaper reports heavily censored. As war continued the realities of war began to sink in. Men in trenches – knew of inaccurate reporting but didn’t want to upset families