After joining the army, soldiers began to realize that life in the trenches wasn’t as glorious and exciting as they had thought it would be. The conditions were filthy and unhygienic – not at all the clean shelter they had been expecting. Within weeks, the previously well-dressed soldiers were replaced by grimy and soiled men with dirty uniforms. Also, there was no roof over the trenches, so the soldiers were exposed to the elements of the weather, eg. rain, snow, etc. At night, many soldiers had a hard time sleeping because of the constant rain or rush of wind that prevented them from resting.
In addition, there were rats in the millions infesting the trenches, as well as frogs, lice, slugs, and many other creatures inhabiting the trenches along with the soldiers. Rats were a constant source of fear, because they fed on human remains, eg. gouging out the eyes and the inner organs. They carried diseases around, and crawled all over the place. Lice were another never-ending problem, because they bred constantly in the seams of filthy clothing. Even after delousing clothing, lice eggs remained hidden in the seams; within hours, body heat from the wearer would hatch the eggs, and cause the dilemma all over again. Terror of the animals at night prevented numerous soldiers from being able to get enough sleep. Countless soldiers stayed up all night, trying futilely to rid the trenches of the rats and other creatures.
There were many sicknesses and diseases that spread throughout the trenches, eg. trench foot, shellshock, etc. Trench foot was a condition in which the feet grew a fungal infection and was caused by cold, wet, and unsanitary trench conditions. Eventually, it turned gangrenous, which meant that the cells in the foot would start dying, and would possibly result in amputation. Shellshock, also known as combat stress reaction, is used to categorize a range of behaviors resulting from the stress of battle.
Soldiers were affected by the squalor of trench conditions via many reasons. For example, when it rained, the trenches became low-level marshes filled with several inches of dirty water. This made the soldiers susceptible to infections and diseases such as trench foot and trench mouth, and therefore, the soldiers would be unable to fight properly. Lack of rest caused by pests - rats, lice, etc. - tired the soldiers and prevented them from fighting energetically. Also, the foulness of the conditions lowered the morale of the soldiers, because they would feel melancholic and forlorn, which would make the soldiers not fight wholeheartedly.
In my opinion, I think that out of all the negativities of living in the trenches, the worst thing of all were the diseases and sicknesses that spread throughout the camp. Not only did the diseases affect the soldiers in the way that they weren’t able to fight, but they also reduced the confidence in the soldiers. One common disease was trench foot, and it affected the soldiers by means of their feet swelling up and causing them to be unable to walk properly. Many soldiers that developed trench foot had to have their feet amputated after the war. This is why I think that the diseases and sicknesses were the worst aspects of living in the trenches.
In conclusion, trench conditions during World War One were filthy and unhygienic. They were unfit for the soldiers to live in, and infested with rats, lice, frogs, and many other creatures. The soldiers were affected by the conditions in many harmful situations, such as the diseases and sicknesses. I think that if the conditions in the trenches had been better, then not as many soldiers would have died, because more soldiers died living in the trenches than out on the battlefield.
