What can the second and third battle of Ypres tell us about the difficulties of trench warfare?

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1)     What can the second and third battle of Ypres tell us about the difficulties of trench warfare

When we look at the second and third battle of Ypres it is split into three different parts ,  Personal and General difficulties and Fighting. The following aspects are some of the difficulties exerienced in trench warfare . They are listed in the general headings mentioned above .

  • 1)   The first difficulty is Personal this happened to most men during the war . there was a lack of food and drink most men found it hard to keep healthy due to the lack of sanitation . Every day soldiers had the fear of being killed .

The hygiene was dreadful . Soldiers suffered from “trench foot” this is when your feet get so wet and infected that there foot would start to rot away . Soldiers’ wounds would get infected , most trenches where infested with rats . The trenches already infected with rats were not very big , this made them very cramped and uncomfortable .

  • 2)   Second difficulty was general difficulties in the war , one major factor was the weather , The battle of Passendale was known to be one of the wettest battles . That summer was record as one of the wettest summers in history . Soldiers that were wounded would drown in the water as it was so muddy , the weather was not helpful which made it allot harder for the soldiers .
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  • 3)   The final difficulty was the fighting , the conditions where terrible . In the second battle of Ypres chlorine gas was used by the Germans , This was very dangerous when soldiers inhaled it , it was so devastating that it opened up holes in the British front line, the only problem is that the Germans didn’t know how devastating it was . The was constant cannon fire , this would up turn the earth and leave bits of shrapnel flying everywhere . Another problem was that new weapons that the armies had were better for defence ...

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