1. Chapter 1: What was a trench?
In this section of the homework project we will be finding out what trenches were, what trench warfare was like and the type of weapons and tactics used by the major powers fighting in WWI.
What is a trench?
Activity: Complete the four questions by writing the answers in each box.
Why were trenches used in the First World War?
What was trench warfare?
Which countries fought in WWI using trench warfare?
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2. Chapter 1: The Trench System
The trenches were built by soldiers to protect troops from attack. Below is an image of a cross-section of the trench.
Activity: Label each feature of the trench using the bullet points below
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VVV VV VV
No man’s land
Dug-out
Sandbags
Elbow rest
Ammunition shelf
Barbed wire
Fire step
Duck boards
Drainage ditch

3. Chapter 1: Trench warfare
The trench wasn’t just one continuous ditch in the ground offering protection from enemy bullets. It was part of a complex series of interlinking tunnels and other trenches that provided three lines of defence. Trench warfare was very much a defensive war.
Activity: Highlight and label all the numbered different features of the trenches that would make it difficult to attack and easier to defend.
Example:
The barbed wire made it difficult to attack and provided a barrier between the trenches. Soldiers would get tangled when trying to cross the wire. 2 3 1
Bonus 4 4
Trenches were made up of a front-line, support trench and reserve trench. Can you explain why?
Bonus
Trenches were zig-zag in design. Can you explain why?

4. Chapter 1: Why did Generals have to learn new ways of fighting in WWI?
Extension: Complete the three boxes to explain why WWI transformed the traditional methods of fighting.
WW1 was fought at sea, on land and in the air. The western and eastern front lines were hundreds of miles long. The Western Front stretched from the Belgium to Switzerland.
Wars were usually fought in a small area by soldiers charging at each other.
Wars were based on moving soldiers attacking the enemy.
Battles were short, with a clear winner by the end of it
Battles dragged on for months, and both sides suffered so much it was hard to decide who’d won
Armies were usually professional soldiers
Dogs and carrier pigeons were the main ways of delivering messages.
Over 40,000 war dogs died serving Britain in WW1
Although dogs were faster than a human runner, couldn’t be seen as easily by the enemy, and could travel over any terrain, wireless technology was the only way of communicating instantly over huge distances, to coordinate all types of soldier and weapon.
Cavalry (soldiers on horseback) were most effective type of soldier.
8 million horses died in WW1, showing how the Generals kept relying on them.