The soldiers on the Front line needed ammunition, food, barbed wire, shells, timber, and sandbags, which were supplied to deposits behind the trenches by train. Getting the supplies to the trenches was difficult, but they eventually found that railway with Lorries with special wheels worked best.
The first complaint was ‘trench foot’. This was when the feet turn red or blue, go numb, severe chilblains and get gangrene. It’s caused by exposing the feet to cold water for too long. Amputation of the toes or foot was sometimes necessary. The cause of this disease was stopped by daily foot inspections, dry socks, and rubbing whale oil into their feet to act as waterproofing.
Another common problem was lice. As the men had to live so close together, they had limited washing facilities, and they wore the same clothes for days on end, it wasn’t surprising that lice spread quickly. To help stop the epidemic, bath houses were set up behind the front line, this was where the soldiers coming out of the trenches could have a hot bath and a change of clothes. The lice caused itching and discomfort, but they also caused a more serious problem, ‘trench fever’.
Trench Fever was much like flu and typhoid. Its main symptom was lice as it was directly caused by getting bitten by a louse with a disease called ‘Rickettsia Quintana’. Although it was a psychological condition, it was potentially fatal. It took all the strength out of the soldiers and many had to be taken away from the trench system to recover. Trench Fever would give the victim a high temperature that would stay for about 2weeks, and then suddenly drop. Death would usually occur via heart failure, and would be about 14days after contamination. At the end of the war, it virtually disappeared.
The British also had to put up with the stench from the sewage, dead bodies, and rats. They had poor protection from the weather; this made the chance of disease greater, as they were more exposed to the elements.
The soldiers were in constant danger of death. There were artillery bombardments, and at night they had to cross into no mans land to repair barbed wire, bring in wounded soldiers, and capture Germans for questioning. This was particularly dangerous as anyone that heard anything would send flares up. They also had to fight, and attempt to capture enemy trenches, this made it harder for them to concentrate, sleep and do their duty effectively.
In conclusion, the fighting and living conditions were bad for the British for many reasons. Their trenches weren’t very well built; it took them sometime to find decent ways of transporting materials to the front line; they were more open to threatening diseases and deadly circumstances; and they spent long periods of time on the front line.
So, the British soldiers had many factors that affected their living and fighting conditions, and in most cases, the conditions they had to live in were worse than the Germans.