LIFE IN THE TRENCHES

HOW THEY STARTED TRENCHES BEGAN AS NOTHING MORE THAT SHALLOW HOLES DUG BY MEN WISHING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. WHEREVER SOLDIERS MET THE ENEMY, THEY WOULD BEGIN TO DIG IN. BY DIGGING IN, THE MEN PRESENTED LESS OF A TARGET TO THE ENEMY. TRENCHES WERE CONSTRUCTED REGARDLESS OF WHAT WAS IN THE WAY, EVEN IF IT INCLUDED AN OLD CEMETERY.

DESIGNING  TRENCHES TOOK MANY SHAPES, SIZES AND FORMS THROUGHOUT THE WAR.  SOME ARMIES WERE VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT HOW THE TRENCHES LOOKED AND WERE TAKEN CARE OF.  THE GERMAN ARMY HAD THE LUXURY OF PICKING WHERE THEIR TRENCHES WERE SITED BECAUSE THEY COULD RETREAT TO GOOD POSITIONS.  THEY NATURALLY SELECTED HILLS AND RIDGES THAT ALLOWED THEM A GOOD VIEW OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.

TWO PHILOSOPHIES  AS THE WAR PROGRESSED AND THE TRENCH LINES DID NOT MOVE, THE GERMAN ARMY SPENT TIME BUILDING DEEP CONCRETE BUNKERS FOR THEIR MEN.  THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ALLIES WAS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT ABOUT KEEPING THE TRENCHES PERMANENT.  THE BRITISH ARMY FOR EXAMPLE BELIEVED THAT IF THEIR MEN WERE TOO COMFORTABLE, THEY WOULD LOSE THE DESIRE TO ATTACK THE ENEMY.

TAKE THE HIGH GROUND  WHAT THE GENERALS DID NOT REALIZE WAS THAT THE GERMANS HAD TAKEN THE BEST PLACES FOR TRENCHES.  THIS MEANT THAT THE ALLIED FORCES WERE FORCED TO LIVE NEAR THE BOTTOM OF HILLS OR IN PLACE WHERE THE GERMANS COULD SEE THEIR EVERY MOVE.  AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE PROBLEM FACING THE ALLIES, THE HEAVY RAINS THAT OCCUR BEFORE WINTER IN FRANCE CAUSED TREMENDOUS SUFFERING.  THE RAIN THAT FELL UPON THE HILLS WOULD RUN DOWN AND FILL THE TRENCHES.  THIS LED TO A NUMBER OF AILMENTS FOR THE MEN FORCED TO STAND IN THE MUD AND WATER.

CREATURE COMFORTS IN GENERAL, A TRENCH WAS ABOUT EIGHT TO TEN FEET DEEP (TWO METERS) AND EIGHT TO TEN FEET WIDE (TWO METERS). THERE WERE A NUMBER OF VARIATIONS THAT MEN WOULD CREATE WITHIN THEIR OWN PIECE OF THE TRENCH. THESE INCLUDED "FUNK HOLES" AS PLACES TO SLEEP. THE MEN WOULD CARVE SHALLOW PITS INTO THE SIDE OF THE TRENCH WALL TO CREATE A HOME.

ENGINEERING  THE FRONT LINE TRENCH HAD THE VERY IMPORTANT FIRE STEP CARVED INTO THE SIDE OF THE TRENCH. THIS ALLOWED SOLDIERS TO STAND UP AND SEE OVER THE PARAPET TO SHOOT.  THERE WERE USUALLY THREE LINES OF TRENCHES ALONG THE FRONT.  THE FIRST TRENCH FACING NO MANS LAND WAS CALLED THE FRONT LINE.

STRENGTH IN DEPTH  THE FRONT LINE WOULD BE CONNECTED WITH COMMUNICATION TRENCHES TO MOVE MEN AND EQUIPMENT FORWARD WITHOUT EXPOSING THEM.  THE SECOND LINE WAS REFERRED TO AS THE SUPPORT TRENCH. THIS WOULD BE USED IF THE ENEMY SUCCESSFULLY OCCUPIED THE FRONT LINE.  THE THIRD TRENCH WAS REFERRED TO AS THE RESERVE TRENCH.

WET TRENCHES AND TRENCH FOOT  THE DAILY ROUTINE FOR THE MEN IN THE TRENCHES WAS FOR THE MOST PART MISERABLE.  IT WAS MUCH LIKE GOING CAMPING, BUT WITH NO OPPORTUNITY TO GO HOME TO CLEAN UP AND RELAX.  ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS FACING THE MEN WAS THE MUD.  MUD WAS EVERYWHERE INCLUDING CLOTHES, FOOD AND WEAPONS.

MUDDY TRENCHES – PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE  MUDDY WATER ALSO BECAME A SERIOUS ENEMY TO THE SOLDIER.  THE TRENCH, WHEN WE REACHED IT, WAS HALF FULL OF MUD AND WATER. WE SET TO WORK TO TRY AND DRAIN IT. OUR EFFORTS WERE HAMPERED BY THE FACT THAT THE FRENCH, WHO HAD FIRST OCCUPIED IT, HAD BURIED THEIR DEAD IN THE BOTTOM AND SIDES. EVERY STROKE OF THE PICK ENCOUNTERED A BODY. THE SMELL WAS AWFUL. MEMOIRS PRIVATE POLLARD  OUR TRENCHES ARE... ANKLE DEEP MUD. IN SOME PLACES TRENCHES ARE WAIST DEEP IN WATER. TIME IS SPENT DIGGING, FILLING SANDBAGS, BUILDING UP PARAPETS, FETCHING STORES, ETC. ONE DOES NOT HAVE TIME TO BE WEARY. LETTER HOME 1915 PRIVATE LIVESAY

TRENCH FOOT  MEN WERE REQUIRED TO STAND GUARD IN WATER THAT GATHERED AT THE BOTTOM OF THEIR TRENCHES AS DEEP AS THEIR KNEES OR HIGHER.  THIS LED TO MANY MEN DEVELOPING A CONDITION CALLED TRENCH FOOT.  THIS NASTY SITUATION CAUSED THE FOOT TO SWELL UP. YOU WOULD ALSO LOSE ALL FEELING IN YOUR FOOT.  THE MOST PAINFUL ASPECT OF TRENCH FOOT CAME WHEN THE SWELLING STARTED TO GO DOWN.  IF YOU HAVE NEVER HAD TRENCH FEET DESCRIBED TO YOU. I WILL TELL YOU. YOUR FEET SWELL TO TWO OR THREE TIMES THEIR NORMAL SIZE AND GO COMPLETELY DEAD. YOU COULD STICK A BAYONET INTO THEM AND NOT FEEL A THING. IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH NOT TO LOSE YOUR FEET AND THE SWELLING BEGINS TO GO DOWN. IT IS THEN THAT THE INTOLERABLE, INDESCRIBABLE AGONY BEGINS. I HAVE HEARD MEN CRY AND EVEN SCREAM WITH THE PAIN AND MANY HAD TO HAVE THEIR FEET AND LEGS AMPUTATED. POST WAR INTERVIEW SERGEANT HARRY ROBERTS

RATS  IN ADDITION TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE TRENCHES, A NUMBER OF ROOMMATES FOUND THEIR WAY INTO THE LIVES OF THE MEN.  RATS WERE A CONSTANT PROBLEM FOUND AT THE FRONT.  IN A GOOD YEAR, A PAIR OF RATS CAN PRODUCE 880 OFFSPRING.  A GOOD YEAR CAN BE DEFINED AS ONE WITH PLENTY OF FOOD AVAILABLE.

AND MORE RATS  THE SLAUGHTER OF TRENCH WARFARE WAS PRODUCING LARGE NUMBERS OF DEAD BODIES. THESE BODIES WERE PROVIDING AN EXCELLENT FOOD SOURCE FOR THE RATS.  AS THE WAR DRAGGED ON, RATS BECAME MORE NUMEROUS.  IN ADDITION TO BEING FOUND IN LARGE NUMBERS, THEY BECAME MORE AND MORE BOLDER.  THEY WOULD EVEN ATTEMPT TO STEAL FOOD FROM MEN WHO WERE NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

FOOD SUPPLY  USUALLY THEY WOULD EAT THE BODIES OF THE DEAD.  RATS WOULD START BY EATING THE EYES OF THE DEAD.  AS THEY ATE, THEY WOULD EVEN EAT THEIR WAY INSIDE THE BODY, SHAKING THE BODY AS THEY FED  WOUNDED MEN WERE VULNERABLE TO THE ATTENTIONS OF THE HUNGRY RATS.  IF A MAN WERE TO BE WOUNDED AND UNABLE TO DEFEND HIMSELF, RATS WOULD SOMETIMES ATTACK THEM.

MEMORIES  THE OUTSTANDING FEATURE OF THE TRENCHES WAS THE EXTRAORDINARY NUMBER OF RATS. THE AREA WAS INFESTED WITH THEM. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP THEM OUT OF THE DUGOUTS. THEY GREW FAT ON THE FOOD THAT THEY PILFERED FROM US, AND ANYTHING THEY COULD PICK UP IN OR AROUND THE TRENCHES; THEY WERE BLOATED AND LOATHSOME TO LOOK AT. SOME WERE NEARLY AS BIG AS CATS. WE WERE FILLED WITH AN INSTINCTIVE HATRED OF THEM, BECAUSE HOWEVER ONE TRIED TO PUT THE THOUGHT OF ONE'S MIND, ONE COULD NOT HELP FEELING THAT THEY FED ON THE DEAD. MEMOIRS STUART DOLDEN

A SOLDIER’S DIARY  I CAN'T SLEEP IN MY DUGOUT, AS IT IS OVER- RUN WITH RATS. PULLMAN SLEPT HERE ONE MORNING AND WOKE UP TO FIND ONE SITTING ON HIS FACE. I CAN'T FACE THAT, SO I SHARE NEWBERY'S DUGOUT. LETTER HOME 1917 CAPTAIN LIONEL CROUCH THE STENCH OF THE DEAD BODIES NOW IS AWFUL AS THEY HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE SUN FOR SEVERAL DAYS, MANY HAVE SWOLLEN AND BURST. THE TRENCH IS FULL OF OTHER OCCUPANTS, THINGS WITH LOTS OF LEGS, ALSO SWARMS OF RATS. DIARY 1915 SERGEANT A. VINE

THE PROBLEM OF LICE  Lice are a very small wingless insect that feeds on the blood of humans and animals.  They are usually found in hair and clothing of humans.  They lay their eggs in the seams of clothing or near the base of hair roots.  Lice will lay eggs in places where body heat will cause them to hatch such as head and armpits.  Lice are also responsible for the transmission of disease.

DAILY GROOMING  The problem of lice during the war was a major concern.  Lice emerged in massive proportions as the men were unable to wash or change clothing on a regular basis for weeks on end.  Going hunting for lice became a daily chore for the men that would take close to an hour.  Several methods were used to attempt to eliminate the creatures.  Some men would dig them out with the edge of their thumbnail.  Once rooted out they would pop the lice between their fingers splattering little bits of blood on themselves.

CANDLES  Another popular way to eliminate lice was to run a candle along the seams of your clothing.  The lice liked to lay their eggs in these areas.  The heat from the candle would pop them as you moved along the seam.  One night, as we lay in bed after doing our two hours' sentry - we did two hours on and two hours off - my friend Jock said 'damn this, I cannot stand it any longer!' He took off his tunic - we slept in these - then he took off his jersey, then his shirt. He put his shirt in the middle of the dug-out floor and put his jersey and tunic on again. As we sat up in bed watching the shirt he had taken off and put it on the floor it actually lifted; it was swarming with lice. Interview Henry Gregory

TRENCH FEVER  Lice were responsible for the outbreak of trench fever, which caused a five-day fever.  With the fever, severe headaches and pain in the legs and back occur.  It takes over a month to recover from the fever, but once you have been infected, you can easily catch the disease again.

FOOD AT THE FRONT  Food was a very important factor in the daily lives of men fighting at the front.  Unfortunately, supplying food to the men was a major problem during the war.  Soldiers in all armies received the bulk of the food a country was able to produce.  This meant that the civilians back home suffered to a larger extent and were put under rationing.  Rationing meant that each person was allowed only a certain amount of food per month.

RATIONS  In theory, the British army was to supply its men the following rations per day. The reality of the fighting and the length of time the war was fought forced these rations to never truly be met: 425g Meat (Bully beef - a type of corned beef) 563g Bread (Biscuits) 113g Bacon 14g Tea 56g Sugar 56g Jam 28g Cheese 21g Butter 340g Potatoes 28g Salt.7g Pepper 1.4g Mustard  The biscuits are so hard that you had to put them on a firm surface and smash them with a stone or something. I've held one in my hand and hit the sharp corner of a brick wall and only hurt my hand. Sometimes we soaked the smashed fragments in water for several days. Then we would heat and drain, pour condensed milk over a dishful of the stuff and get it down. Letter Home Private Pressey

COOKING IN A TRENCH  Cooking in the trenches was very difficult so most food was eaten cold.  If cooking did occur, it was done in one pot.  Usually the men would create a stew by throwing all food items into the pot then dividing up the resulting mixture equally.  Once the meal was prepared, the men would brew up their tea in the same pot.  This gave the tea the same flavor as the stew.  In training the food was just about eatable but in France we were starving.All we lived on was tea and dog biscuits. If we got meat once a week we were lucky, but imagine trying to eat standing in a trench full of water with the smell of dead bodies nearby. Memoirs Richard Beasley

SOME HAD IT BETTER  As the war dragged on, even the British were forced to reduce the amount of food each individual solder received.  By late in the war, soldiers only received meat nine out of thirty days in a month.  Officers were not treated the same as the men at the front.  In many cases the superior officers ate extremely well compared to the front line soldiers. The Colonel and Adjutant were sitting down to a meat pie when Hill arrived. Henry said: "Come to report, sir. Ourselves and about ninety men of all companies." They looked up. "So you have survived, have you?" the Colonel said. "Well all the rest are dead. I suppose Mr. Choate had better command what's left of 'A'. The bombing officer (he had not gone over, but remained at headquarters) will command what's left of 'B'. Mr. Henry goes to 'C' Company. Mr. Hill to 'D'. Let me know where to find you if you are needed. Good night." Not having being offered a piece of meat pie or a drink of whisky, they saluted and went miserably out. The Adjutant called them back, Mr. Hill, Mr. Henry." Hill said he expected a change of mind as to the propriety with which hospitality could be offered by a regular Colonel and Adjutant to a temporary second lieutenant in distress. But it was only: "Mr. Hill, Mr.Henry, I saw some men in the trench just now with their shoulder-straps unbuttoned. See that this does not occur in future."  Personal report: After the loss of bulk of the men and officers during an attack in which only three junior officers remain. Robert Graves