TRENCH WARFARE Life in the Trenches

TABLE OF CONTENTS... Creating the trenches… Dangers in the trenches… - How they looked - Inside the trench - Tools used Dangers in the trenches… What the trenches were like… the worst part of trench life etc. How the soldiers died in the trenches…snipers, hunger etc. The diseases and problems within the trenches… lice, rats etc. Days in the trenches… Time spent in the trenches Duties in the trenches Food/ Food supplies

How they Looked Trench formation

Trench Construction diagram from 1914 British Army Manual

Aerial View of Trench Systems

Inside the Trenches Fire-step Duckboards Dugouts/funk holes Latrines

Building it Entrenching tool (early spade/shovel) Song --> “O,O,O it’s a lovely war! What do we want with eggs and ham? When we have plum and apple jam Form fours, right turn How shall we spend the money we earn? O,O,O it’s a lovely war!” The Entrenching tool

Weapons of Trench Warfare

The Machine Gun The Machine Gun The Machine Gun (GATLIN GUN) = efficient warfare. It was a way of keeping the other army in their trench. Also used in combo with barbed wire to funnel soldiers Once funneled into a specific area, soldiers could be killed en masse

Barbed Wire Barbed wire was used to slow down advancing troops. The barbed wire was also used to force soldiers to charge through certain openings in the fence.

Artillery Artillery A barrage is a term used to describe extensive artillery fire against enemy positions. A light barrage = 6-7 per 10mins. A moderate barrage = 30 shells per min. A heavy barrage = 50-60 shells per min.

Poison Gas! Chlorine & Mustard Gas were used Chlorine Gas – inhaled to be deadly (at Ypres 1914) Mustard gas was the more effective weapon (1917) It was fired into the trenches in shells. Colorless; almost odorless Took 12 hours to take effect. Effects include – blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks. More severe than Chlorine Gas due to the need to cover the entire body

What the Trenches were Like… The trenches were filled with water Constant mud Duckboards Latrines Trench grounds in winter and autumn Dead bodies The amount of water and mud in the trenches

How the Soldiers Died… Falling off duckboards and into the mud Soldiers picking up bodies from No Man’s Land Falling off duckboards and into the mud Buried alive Suicide Enemy snipers Diseases Lack of food Trench walls collapsed Dead soldiers on the ground

TRENCH FOOT!!!!

Mrs. Helmer’s “Trench Foot”

The Diseases and Problems… Trench foot The pyrrexhia or trench fever Lice Rats Dysentery Soldiers sick from a diseases Soldiers sick while in their trenches

Rat Infestation Millions of rats infested trenches. The brown rat was especially feared.  Gorging themselves on human remains (grotesquely disfiguring them by eating their eyes and liver) they could grow to the size of a cat. A single rat couple could produce up to 900 offspring in a year, spreading infection and contaminating food. 

Frogs, lice and worse… Lice caused intense itching Even when washed, eggs remained everywhere Lice caused Trench Fever, a particularly painful disease that began suddenly with severe pain followed by high fever.   Many men chose to shave their heads entirely to avoid nits. Frogs by the score were found in shell holes

Time spent in the trenches… Of a 32 Day period: 8 days in a front line trench, 8 days in a reserve trench and 16 days away from the front, in a small town or village nearby. A British/Canadian soldiers year could be divided as : 15% front line, 10% support line, 30% reserve line, 20% rest, and 25% other. ( hospital, traveling, leave etc.) Everything could be changed if there’s and offensive attack. Soldiers could spend up to 6 weeks in the front line trenches before they could take a break. Time in the trenches alternated with long periods of boredom, and short periods of fear. Soldiers quiet time Soldiers during there rest period. Soldiers looking over there trench.

Soldiers switching from line to line. Duties in the Trenches Soldiers had to replace the barbed wire, repair the flooded trenches, and clean the latrines. These duties were all called “fatigues” The maintenance and expansion of the barbed wire fences and the trenches was done at dark, when it was harder to be detected. ****The work was done at night … Most of their work was done at night when patrols were sent out to observe and check out on the enemy trenches, and the repair of their own front – line and gather of create/prepare other defenses. On breaks from fighting in the trenches, the soldiers were assigned different duties such as moving supplies or helping to repair things. Soldiers switching from line to line. Soldiers working with there trenches

THE END!