Trench Warfare Poison Gas A New Kind of War Gassed by John Singer Sargent Trench Warfare Poison Gas

TRENCH WARFARE a form of combat in which soldiers dug trenches, or deep ditches, to seek protection from enemy fire & to defend their positions

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Trenches_WW1_Diagram.gif This is a diagram of trenches. There were more than two opposing lines of trenches. Notice how letters A, B, & C all show different “lines” of trenches for one side. The opposing side would obviously have more than one “line” as well. Trench warfare was not a new concept. Soldiers had been hiding behind mounds of earth and other objects for shelter for years, but this was the biggest scale trenches had ever been used.

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LIFE IN THE TRENCHES lived very close to other soldiers not much room

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cheshire_Regiment_trench_Somme_1916.jpg This photograph is a good example of life in a trench. What do you see in this photograph? man at the ready men sleeping not much room barbed wire

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Trenches_WW1.jpg This trench looks smaller than the trench on the previous slide. It is not as tall/high as the other one Doesn’t have wood or any structures to help hold it up Could it possibly be a temporary/impromptu trench? The other trench definitely looked like it was there to stay for some time.

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES trenches could be miserable sometimes rainstorms “trench foot” sanitation lice & rats How could rainstorms make living in trenches miserable? trenches are dug out areas in the earth rain + earth = mud/puddles Trench foot was something that happened often to soldiers. You know how you get wrinkly after you’re in the bath or swimming for a long time? Basically, that is trench foot. When your feet get wet and stay wet for such a long time. Soldiers would need to change their socks multiple times a day—some troops were even issued three pairs of socks. http://www.harris-academy.com/departments/history/Trenches/KatieS/katie2.htm

http://www. harris-academy http://www.harris-academy.com/departments/history/Trenches/KatieS/katie2.htm

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POISON GAS a new weapon used in the war different types limited value blind choke burn limited value wind gas masks There were different kinds of gas that could be used. Some kinds would blind  bromacetone, 1916, used by both sides Some would choke you when you breathed it in  chlorine, 1915, used by both sides Some would burn or blister your skin  mustard gas, used by both sides The value of gas as a weapon was limited. Some countries were able to produce gas masks that would help soldiers through a gas attack. The use of gas rests solely on the wind—if the wind, for instance, changed direction, the gas could blow back to your own side. It was good, however, in that it could creep across no man’s land and, since it is slightly heavier than air, it would sink down into the trenches.

This photo includes, supposedly, a man who, while charging through no man’s land who got caught with no protection from a gas attack. The other men appear to have some sort of covering over their faces—might not be a gas mask, but better than nothing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/38177080@N05/3662352085/

Men wearing gas masks during a gas attack http://www.flickr.com/photos/38177080@N05/3663154512/