WW1 trenches conditions Alex lawrence

Schlieffen plan ● The shlieffen plan is a plan that Germany devised that seemed like it would work but they wildly underestimated Russia's speed of assembling there troops. ● The idea was that they would invade France through Belgium and take out the head by invading pairs but there was too much resistance and the Russians started attacking to soon for the plan to succeed.

Trench warfare ● Fighting in the trenches first began due to the schlieffen plan failing and the germans digging into the ground on the western front. ● The enemy according to the front line was about metres away with snipers posted along the enemy lines. ● The enemy had artillery shells and gas attacks and the snipers could find you if you pop your head up in seconds.

conditions ● The conditions were brutal and unhygienic with lots of disease, Mutilated limbs, lice, maggots, insects and rat-infested trenches and damp, muddy conditions in the winter and in summer the mud gets very warm and dry. ● The single toilet in the trenches was a pit dug and often filled with rain and mud that caved in with less waste than the mud and water. Often the lavatory would overflow and people would be in there own faecal matter.

Mental issues ● Often when in the war soldiers would experience shell-shock due to the artillery strikes constantly bombarding and shaking the ground, they would usually have been shot for cowardice. ● The soldiers were usually bored out of they're skull in the trenches and would do anything for a bit of fun and sometimes they would be getting carried away in a conversation and have a lapse of judgement for a split second and pop their head up above the line and get a bullet through they're head.

Routine - food ● In the heat of battle it would be impossible to have a set meal time for the fighting soldiers, but if there was a lull in the fighting hot meals were able to be delivered from the field kitchens to the front line trenches. When soldiers were at stand-down, food was easier to acquire and both British and German troops could expect certain food to be available with a degree of regularity.The soldiers in the trenches ate quite well, and the food was considered to be luxurious, compared to what their families back at home were eating.

food ● British rations ● 20 ounces of bread or 16 ounces of flour or 4 ounces of oatmeal instead of bread, 3 ounces of cheese, 5/8 ounces of tea, 4 ounces of jam or 4 ounces of dried fruit,½ ounce of salt, 1/36 ounce of pepper, 1/20 ounce of mustard, 8 ounces of fresh vegetables or 1/10 gill lime if vegetables not issued, ½ gill of rum or 1 pint of porter, 20 ounces of tobacco, 1/3 ounces of chocolate - optional, 4 ounces of butter/margarine and 2 ounces of dried vegetables.

food ● German rations ● 26 ½ ounces of bread or 17 ½ of field biscuits or 14 ounces of egg biscuit, 53 ounces of potatoes, 4 ½ ounces vegetables and 2 ounces dried vegetables. ● There was meat available for both The British and German Soldiers in the trenches, but only when a lull in the battle allowed it to be delivered from the field kitchens

● Soldiers would hate rats since they ate the remains of their dead friends and often the cold parts of the sleeping. Lice were also a huge nuisance since they would itch like crazy which is why they used to burn them off in social groups of people. ●