What was it like in the trenches
What was it like in the trenches?
Although there had been some trench warfare in the American Civil War in 1861 - 65, and the Russian-Japanese War of 1904 - 05, it wasn't until the First World War that fixed trench warfare became the normal form of fighting. The trench system with the Western Front ran for approximately 475 mils, in an "S" shape across Europe, from the North Sea to Switzerland.
Trench warfare created a living environment for the men was harsh, dull and extremely dangerous. Not only were trenches constantly under threat of attack by shells or other weapons, but there were also health risks which turned into large-scale problems for the doctors and nurses who worked in the trenches. Apart from all the harsh weather in he winter, the trenches where mostly always waterlogged and full with mud and rats and lice.
Trench warfare was a form of war where both opposing armies have lines of armies dug into the ground, facing each other. Trench warfare arose when there was a revolution in weapons without similar advances in communications.
The trench warfare began in the First World War due to the collapse of the Schlieffen plan to end the war in 1914. Also the British sent their army sooner than expected and the Russians had retreated more quickly. Germans dug deep trenches on high ground, along the Swiss border. The allies built their own trenches facing the Germans along the area called "no-mans land". This began the war. There were many terrible conditions in the trenches and many casualties.
Frontline trenches were usually about seven feet deep and six feet wide. The front of the trenches was known as the parapets which were made out of sandbags also the rear end of the trenches was called parados. The top two or three feet would consist of thick sandbags to absorb any bullets or shell fragments.
In a trench like this it was hard to see over the top so they built a foot step called "firesteps". Trenches were built in zig -zags, otherwise if the enemy had a successive attack, and got into the trenches, they could shoot straight along the line. Each trench was dug with alternate fire-bays and traverses.
To add to the trench they made duck-boards which were placed at the bottom of the trenches to protect the soldiers from problems like trench foot. The soldiers also made dug outs to protect them from the weather and fire for ...
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In a trench like this it was hard to see over the top so they built a foot step called "firesteps". Trenches were built in zig -zags, otherwise if the enemy had a successive attack, and got into the trenches, they could shoot straight along the line. Each trench was dug with alternate fire-bays and traverses.
To add to the trench they made duck-boards which were placed at the bottom of the trenches to protect the soldiers from problems like trench foot. The soldiers also made dug outs to protect them from the weather and fire for the enemies.
The front-line trenches were also protected by barbed-wire the front and machine-gun posts. Short trenches called saps were dug from the front trench into No-Man's land.
Behind the front-line trenches, there were support and reserve trenches. The three rows of trenches covered between 200 and 500
yards of ground. Communication trenches were dug at an angle to the frontline trench, and were used to transport men, equipment and food supplies.
The common infantry soldier had four weapons to use in the trenches: the rifle, bayonet, shotgun and grenade.
The standard British rifle was 0.303-in (7.7 mm) Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE), developed as a cavalry carbine, with a maximum range (for sniping) of 1400 yards, though its effective range was more like 200 yards. British infantry training emphasised rapid rifle fire rather than accuracy.
The British solider was equipped with a 21-in, sword bayonet, which was too long and unwieldy to be particularly effective in close quarters combat. However, bayonet use was safer than firing the rifle which might strike an ally instead of an enemy. British figures recorded that only 0.3% of wounds were caused by bayonets; however, a strike from a bayonet was highly likely to result in death. A bayonet charge could be effective at including terror in an opponent, encouraging them to flee or surrender. The bayonet was used to finish off wounded enemy during an advance, saving ammunition while reducing the possibility of being attacked from behind.
Many soldiers preferred a short-handled spade or entrenched tool over a bayonet. They would sharpen the blade to a knife edge so it was just as effective as a bayonet, and the shorter length made them handier to use in the confined quarters of the trenches. These tools could then be used to "dig in" after they had taken a trench.
Since the troops were often not adequately equipped for trench warfare, improvised weapons were common in the first encounters, such as short wooden clubs and metal maces, as well as all sorts of short knives and even brass knuckles. As the war progressed, better gear was issued, and the improvised arms were discarded.
Pump shotguns were mainly used by American soldiers in the Western front. Rather than a single, high velocity bullet, a shotgun fires a larger number of metal balls, called shot. While each shot
pellet causes far less damage than a rifle round. Some British soldiers were also known to use sawn-off double barrel shotguns in trench raids, because of their portability, effectiveness at close range, and ease of use in the confines of a trench.
The grenade came to be the primary infantry weapon of trench warfare. Both sides were quick to raise specialist bombing squads. The grenade enabled a soldier to engage the enemy indirectly, and it did not require the precise accuracy of rifle fire in order to kill the enemy. The Germans and Turks were well equipped with grenades from the start of the war.
Many weapons were tried however without any success. Aeroplanes were not reliable to fly very long distances, also they were very weak and could not carry many or even any bombs, also hardly any people. Another weapon used was the gas bombs which you throw to the opposing army and the army would breathe in gas. However this never always worked as sometimes if the wind was blowing and you threw the gas bomb, the gas bomb could turn and damage your own army.
All of this made it hard to attack the enemy, and their trenches so large groups of infantry, armed with rifles, bayonets and grenades, would charge the enemy over No-man's-land.
The commanders sent all their soldiers to No-man's-land as the commanders didn't have experience on the battle field. However the commanders where not blamed for all the deaths of the soldiers.
Death was a constant companion to those serving in the line, even when no raid or attack was launched or defended against. In busy sectors the constant shellfire directed by the enemy brought random death, whether their victims were lounging in a trench or lying in the dugout.
Many men died on their first day in the trenches as a consequence of a precisely aimed sniper's trench into No Man's Land.
Soldiers got very frustrated as they thought that the commanders got to the point where they wouldn't care about the losses of life of their army. The commanders sent many soldiers to No-man's-land to fight. This was usually unsuccessful as the soldiers kept dieing.
The soldiers where in so much pain and begged to go home however the commanders where so strict on the men, and said anyone who abandoned their army they would be executed.
Once the soldiers had completed there assigned tasks they had a free day so they concentrated on the more personal things such as writing letters to their families and reading the received letters from their families.
Meals where prepared for the soldiers, and sleep was caught whenever they had the chance to, before they were assigned another task.
The conditions of the trenches were horrible. In the trenches there were duck boards where the soldiers decided to walk on, as the mud was so thick. They did this to avoid sinking in the mud. The conditions were so disgusting that the trenches attracted mice, rats and lice. The food was very little and simple. Many diseases occurred in the trenches, one of the many diseases was trench foot, this was caused by standing in the mud for to long.
Rats in their million infested the trenches. There were two specific types of rats and these were the black and brown rats. Both rats were feared however the brown rats was feared more, as it ate on the remaining's off the dead humans: for instance the eye and the liver.
Men were extremely frightened of the rats which would even crawl on their faces in the dark tried everything to get rid of these rats. They tried: gunfire and with the bayonet.
The rats could produce 900 offspring in a year, spreading infection and contaminating food.
Rats were by no means the only source of infection. Lice were a never-ending problem, breeding in the seams of filthy clothing and causing men to itch unceasingly
That was how it was like to live in the First World War.
Sachin Visavadia
History essay
Mr.Evans
9WL
