Describe the conditions that soldiers experienced on the western front in the years 1915-1917.

Question One:

The First World War was a different type of warfare in all aspects. The original idea of the war was that it would be a fast moving one lasting for a few months rather than years. However, the advances of the Allied and German forces, soon slowed to a sudden and unexpected halt. The result was both sides were forced to dig trenches to defend their positions. For many soldiers the trenches would be their homes. They would eat and sleep in them from 1915 to when the war finally ended. “There, much like animals, they would die, in the miseries and dangers of the trenches” Lyn McDonald, 1987. Trenches however were not a new type of warfare, they had already been used in the American Civil war, and proved to be a disaster, this information however, was not taken into account by the Generals of the war. One historian describes the trenches: “think about the basic requirements you need for a decent life…then take that away and add someone as little as 50 metres away trying to kill you and you’ve got a fair idea.” Trenches varied in size, but were often two metres deep and about two metres wide. It had duck boards on the floor to prevent a form of gangrene known as ‘trench foot’ and a fire step which soldiers would stand on when looking out in to no man’s land. Soldiers in the trenches had to endure the worst living conditions, they had to share the trenches with rats who thrived on the everlasting decomposing bodies. “…the trenches were alive with rats. The knowledge that the gigantic trench rats had grown fat through feeding on the dead bodies…made the soldiers hate them…” S. Case, 1976. Soldiers would have to sleep in the trenches were there was space. The smell in the trenches was a serious problem as it was constant throughout the year. Gas that was released from the German trenches left a stench in the air, and Chloride of lime, which also had a bad smell, was used to prevent the risk of infection and repel flies. Electricity in the trenches was a luxury but was extremely rare, and this meant after sun set the trenches were pitch black. “…the closer they went to the front line [trenches] the more it began to smell. Within half a mile it had become no more than a zig zagged cesspool, thigh deep in sucking mud that was diluted by the excreta of overrun latrines and thickened by the decomposing bodies in the earth beneath” Sebastian Fauks, 1994.

Due to the non-stop shelling from the enemy the trenches were a very dangerous place to live in as the soldiers had to stay in them and could not get out if a shell hit the trench. A shell at the time was capable to kill four men at the most. Casualty figures released after the war showed that a third of the troops were killed or wounded whilst inside the trenches.

The trenches would often flood due to heavy rainfall or if the trenches were dug too close to the water table beneath, as was the case in the trenches in Flanders, Belgium. Flooding of the trenches was a serious problem, and one of the soldiers daily routine was to empty out flooded trenches, which was an extremely difficult task. Flooded or muddy trenches caused a lot of physical problems to the soldiers, such as ‘trench foot.’ Trench foot was a condition that made the soldiers feet rot if they have been in water for too long. It could also eventually lead to amputation. The soldiers were given whale oil to rub on their feet to prevent ‘trench foot’ from occurring. However, many soldiers avoided rubbing whale oil on their feet, so that they could get ‘trench foot,’ and get sent to a hospital behind the front line. Or if the soldiers were lucky and the condition was extremely bad it would result in them being sent home, away from the horror of the trenches. “There was a danger of trench feet, and the men had to rub a sort of fat or whale oil on their feet to prevent it. Lots of the blighters [soldiers] avoided doing that because they knew if they got trench feet they would be sent back down the line” Sergeant J. Haddock 1983. This quote shows that soldiers were even willing to get their feet amputated, just so they could get away from the trenches.

Soldiers did not spend most of their time fighting, it was instead doing jobs such as burying the dead, cleaning out latrines, transporting supplies to the front line, building and repairing trenches, filling sand bags and for most of the time waiting for an enemy attack. “There was not long to wait before an officer appeared with details of the soldiers’ duties for the day. Weapon cleaning and inspection…would soon be followed by pick-and-shovel work…” T. Howarth 1976. A propaganda poster even shows how waiting in the trenches can be irritating; …the waiting gets on our nerves a bit…”

A soldier’s typical routine spanned over 32 days. They would spend eight days in the front line, eight days in the reserve trenches and then sixteen days doing other jobs away from the trenches.

The food was just as worse as the conditions the soldiers had to endure in the trenches. A British soldier’s meal would usually consist of bully beef and jam. The biscuits given to soldiers were sometimes so hard that soldiers would use rocks to split the biscuits into smaller manageable sizes. Soldiers would eat often eat meat once a week. Soup, tea and bread. People in Britain were told to ration their food to help the soldiers. Australian troops were supplied with rum after action to cool them down. The German soldiers had a lack of and terrible food due to British naval ships imposing blockades on the German coasts. This halved the amount of food entering Germany.

With soldiers living in such close quarters, Lice soon became a problem and soldiers were infested with them. British soldiers had to put there clothes in huge steam machines designed to remove Lice, however the soldiers had to complete the job as the steam machines did not remove the eggs and soldiers had to burn them off, using a flame or a cigarette. “I sat in a quiet corner of a barn de-lousing myself. The things lay in the seams of my trousers…A lighted candle applied where they were at their thickest made them pop like Chinese crackers.” G. Coppard, 1969.

Soldiers in the trenches had a very poor water supply. The water at the start of the war was impure and soldiers suffered many illnesses due to it. As the war was only expected to last for a few months, generals felt that the soldiers could rely just on their water bottles. However, as the war progressed and it was clear that the war would continue for a considerable amount of time, it was decided that more pure water should be supplied. Clean water was only introduced to the soldiers late in the war. Before that soldiers would use various methods of collecting water. As soldiers were expected to rely on their water bottle that was only refilled when they went back to the reserve-line, soldiers found that they had a lack of water. Collecting water from craters, rainwater and eating ice was a last resort for the soldiers but it was common practise. As the supply of water increased the cleanliness of the water could not be guaranteed. Drinking water was transported in used petrol cans. However, not all the cans were burnt off to get rid of any remaining fuel in the cans and soldiers complained that the water had a taste like petrol. Whilst soldiers faced terrible conditions, officers of higher ranks had relative luxury comparatively.

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Soldiers did try to make their stay in the trenches a bit more comfortable by creating football leagues and newspapers that were written by the soldiers. Communication was made to the enemy trenches in some cases and agreements were reached in artillery bombardment times. Sometimes in rare cases it was agreed that both sides would not bomb each other at all, based on mutual consent. “It’s the Saxon’s [region in Germany] that’s across the road. They’re quiet fellows…so there’s an understanding between us. Don’t fire at us and we’ll not fire at you.” Comments from a British soldier, 1916. ...

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Question two:

Why was there a stalemate on the western front during the much of

World War One.

War first broke between the countries, when Germany decided it was time to expand its empire to try and match the British Empire that ruled a third of the globe. Germany’s fiercest rivals France was the first target, as France had already been beaten by Germany in six weeks in the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71.

Stalemate comes from chess, it means no matter how hard you try you cannot make a significant breakthrough. That was much of the story of the First World War. The war was meant to be a fast one with every country involved anticipating victory in a matter of months, and the war would be over before Christmas 1914. That is how it began, but as the Schlieffen Plan began to go wrong because of the Allied resistance, so did the theory of the war. It began to slow down. The German war minister Count Alfred Von Schlieffen created the ‘Schlieffen Plan.’

Because France was anticipating an attack it had fortified its border with Germany by stationing thousands of troops and Artillery guns ready to defend. Because of this, the Germans sent most of its troops through Belgium and around the majority of the French forces and sent the remainder German troops to attack against the French troops on the border. The theory was designed to create a diversion to the French troops whilst the majority of the German troops took control of Paris. However, unfortunately for Germany, Britain joined the war against them to defend Belgium’s neutrality from the 1839 treaty. Britain sent the British Expeditionary Force. The German advance had also encountered unexpected strong Belgian resistance. As a result the German forces were slowed down and pushed back by the Allied forces. Both sides attempted to get to the Channel but they failed and the result produced a huge number of casualties. In December 1914 just a few months into the war both sides were forced to dig trenches to defend their positions, a complex web stretching over 800km from the North Sea to Switzerland. This is how it stayed for the rest of the war and there was very little movement. The Allied forces had to defend and had to stop the Germans gaining any more ground in France, and the German forces could not lose any ground they had gained in France. One adviser to the Kaiser said “Your Majesty, we have lost the war.” However the fighting did not stop.

Instead of the war being fast and of rapid movement it stopped and became a war of attrition because of the trenches. Attrition was now the only way that the generals felt that the stalemate would be broken. Attrition meant that your forces would attempt to wear down the enemy, until it was exhausted and could not fight. However, both sides were not short of supplies. The countries involved were not short of eager volunteers willing to fight, so troops were constantly being eliminated and fresh troops were constantly being bought to the front line in an endless cycle.

The trenches were designed in such a way that both forces found it easier to defend rather than attack. Once in the trenches the generals had no idea what to do next. Lord Kitchener said, “I don’t know what is to be done. This isn’t war.” The new weapons of the war were not very good at braking the stalemate they made it easier to defend than attack. Mud and barbed wire made the common cavalry charges and the infantry ‘going over the top’ in to no man’s land only created more casualties, as the enemy would wait with the newly developed machine guns which can fire up to eight bullets per second to shoot any charge. “…German defenders had industriously practised rushing their machine guns…This had been perfected to a three minute drill.” A. J. P Taylor, 1979. Artillery bombardment was also relatively new. It was supposed to blow trenches and cut the barbed wire. The British using their giant howitzers placed ten miles behind their own front lines fired 170 million artillery shells throughout the whole war. A significant proportion of the shells fired at enemy trenches were defective and failed to explode; “A large proportion of the heavy guns were of obsolete pattern and poor range while much of the ammunition was defective. Thus the shells could not penetrate the dug-outs in which German machine gunners were hiding [Somme].” B. H. Liddel Hart, 1972. In some rare cases the shells fired would fall on their own troops. “Later I discovered that the cap of the shell had British markings on it…” H. H. Kendall, British soldier, 1917. The artillery guns failed to make a big impact as they ended up churning the ground making it even more difficult to cross no man’s land and failed to cut barbed wire. “He said, ‘You’ll find the barbed wire in front of the German trenches blown away!’ Nothing of the sort! It was solid as anything.” Jack Cousins, 7th Bedfordshire Regiment. Gas in the form of Chlorine, Phosgene and Mustard was used by the Germans but was unpredictable, as in some cases the direction of the wind changed and the gas ended up being blown back to the Germans. Allied troops were eventually supplied with gas masks and gas related deaths were responsible for just 3,000 lives. A relatively small figure compared to the death toll throughout the war. “There was a stalemate at the war of attrition because of the tactics used and the supply of equipment” said a journalist.

When attacks were made they were often disastrous and the attacking force simply ended up retreating back to their original position with a significant amount of casualties. Preparation was poor and the objective among the troops was sometimes not clear, troops had to carry very heavy packs making it very difficult to move quickly and dodge machine gun fire. “…to reach the parapet before the enemy could reach it, was not discussed. Each man carried 66lb-over half his body weight-which made it difficult to get out of a trench, impossible to move…” B. H. Liddell Hart, 1972. Even if the attacking troops did make it to an enemy trench there would be such a small number of them that they would be taken prisoner or killed upon arrival. Or that they could not do anything due to a lack of preparation and supplies they often found themselves returning to their own trenches.

An attempt to break the stalemate was made by the Allied Forces on the Somme in 1916. The attack was disastrous due to the lack of British security surrounding the operation, and German Intelligence intercepted evidence that suggested that an attack was likely to take place; “British security surrounding the Somme offensive was by no means perfect. Among other indiscretions…a speech made by a member of the government requesting workers…not to question why the Whitsun Bank Holiday was being suspended. A German commander commented that it was ‘the surest proof that there will be a great British offensive before long…” A. J. P Taylor, 1979.

Army generals were so obsessed with previous war tactics, which was often a simple infantry and cavalry charge, that they misunderstood the significance of new weapons such as the machine gun, this was connected to the ‘big wave theory.’ Sir Douglas Haig a military commander said, “we must wear the enemy down as much as possible.” Generals thought that they could use old and traditional techniques which had been successful in previous wars such as the Boer war in South Africa, however these techniques could not be successful in a completely different type of warfare. Sir Douglas Haig misunderstood the machine gun and paid heavily with the loss of thousands of British soldiers on the first day at the battle of Somme. Haig, before the war said, “The machine gun is a much overrated weapon.”

Generals were also not in touch with what was going on at the front line, so they failed to intervene when attacking tactics were clearly not working; “…tried out all the polo ponies to see if any would play. Going, Hadness Lloyd, Pennyman, Spencer Smith & Morgan Dien, Gillian played the piano & sang and we played bridge until 1:15am.” 12th September 1916, from the diaries of General C. H. Lucas. This quote shows that generals were continuing their social life as normal despite the war entering an important phase. If attacks were failing it would be unlikely that they would be altered due to incompetent leadership.

Inventions such as the Tank were beneficial at attacking in the later stages of the war. They were first used in the battle of the Somme in 1916, but they were easy targets for the Germans who had developed armour-piercing bullets or, more likely, suffered mechanical failure. “…bullet-proof armour [for the tanks] turned out to be no such thing against the German armour-piercing bullets.” J. Terraine, 1982.

The war however did begin quickly with the trained and professional troops in combat, but as the casualty list grew the troops had to be replaced by the ‘New Army’ that was almost entirely made up of civilian volunteers. Because of the lack of experience and very poor training among the new army, the troops were not very good at attacking. Some young soldiers would find themselves in a major offensive having enlisted in the army a few days earlier; “I joined this battalion on 13th June 1916. Previous to this attack [battle of the Somme] I had only been in the trenches for two days-I am 18 years of age.” 2nd Lieutenant G. H. Ball, 1/5th South Staffordshire.

Breaking the stalemate was always going to be a difficult task. However due to the trenches defensive qualities, defensive weapons, inexperienced civilians fighting the war and naïve leadership, breaking the stalemate was going to be an almost impossible task to fulfil, and holding your position and defending appeared to be an easier option for the Allied and the German forces.

Question three:

Why did Haig decide to fight the battle of the Somme in 1916?

A new commander-in-chief was appointed on 10th December 1916 to try and break the stalemate, General Sir Douglas Haig. He was 54 years of age, he had a lot of experience and was instrumental in leading the British forces to victory in the Boer War in South Africa. He and his assistant General Sir Henry Rawlinson had great attacking qualities and believed in attrition warfare, and that is why they were appointed.

Haig was specifically told by the government that he had to

co-operate with the French military and their commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre. Joffre created a plan that would mainly involve French troops. Where the German trenches would be heavily bombarded and the French infantry would eliminate any remaining German resistance. “The Battle of Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation. The idea originally came from the French Commander-in-Chief, and was accepted by General .” Phillip Gibbs, comments in an article.

However when the German forces began an all-out attack on the town of Verdun, French forces had to be diverted and sent to defend Verdun. It was important that Verdun did not collapse as it symbolised the French resistance capabilities in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-71. It was therefore decided by Haig and Joffre that the British forces should execute the operation in the Somme. “At first Joffre intended for to use mainly French soldiers but the German attack on in February 1916 turned the Somme offensive into a large-scale British diversionary attack.” Phillip Gibbs. However Haig would have preferred to attack on a more northern point, for example, Flanders or Ostend, but was not able to as the French and the Government had recommended the Somme as the best place to attack. The idea of the attack now was to divert the German force from Verdun and relieve pressure from the exhausted French forces that were weakening. The Germans object of the attack on Verdun was that France would collapse and the British forces would be isolated and would not be able to continue because their supplies of troops would be cut off as they came via the Channel. Therefore Haig realised the importance of the attack on the Somme, not only for the benefit of the French troops but also to keep the British troops’ supply road open. It was also decided that the attack should be made a month earlier in July. This shows how important it was for the Allied forces, that the attack was to be made. Haig was confident of victory. He knew that if the Germans were to be defeated there would be a chance that they would surrender. Haig thought that victory was inevitable due to a number of reasons. His troops had outnumbered the German one’s. 27 British divisions consisting of ¾ of a million men to sixteen German divisions. He also felt that the troops were ready to fight. “The men are in splendid spirit…the commanders are full of confidence.” Haig, commenting a day before the attack. However, Haig did not visit the front line once, so he could not have been fully conscious of the state the troops where in. Haig did not have a lack of supplies from troops to ammunition, he used them to his advantage. He did not believe that the British troops would find it difficult to storm and capture German trenches. Due to the bombardment that had lasted for seven days where over 1,500,000 million pieces of artillery shells were fired into the German trenches. “Haig's strategy was for an eight-day that he believed would completely destroy the German forward defences.” Phillip Gibbs. Two huge mines were also exploded beneath the German trenches. Shock waves of the mines were felt miles away and the noise of the explosion could be heard in London. Haig was aware of the thick barbed wire and the deep German dug-outs. However, He felt that the artillery bombardment was more than capable of eliminating those obstacles. Technology was being boosted and Britain had just developed the tank that had high expectations. Tanks had not been seen by any other nation before and they were bound to cause some panic amongst the German soldiers. Haig was able to use 49 tanks in the battle He also knew he had millions of eager volunteers who were willing to fight. Already with many soldiers Haig and Rawlinson thought that their ‘wave’ theory was bound to achieve success. The wave theory meant that wave after wave of soldiers would charge until they made it to the enemy trench. Haig underestimated the machine gun, he did not think that machine guns would have been able to eliminate his forces. “The machine gun is a much overrated weapon.” Haig’s comments before the attack on the Somme. He also felt that if enough men were pushed forward they would be able to capture machine gun posts. “The way to capture machine guns is by grit and determination.” Haig’s comments before the attack. Haig’s and Rawlinson’s theory coincided with the Russian ‘steam roller’ theory that was similar to the ‘wave theory.’ The Russian ‘steam roller’ theory also proved to be a disaster as Russia were heavily defeated by German and Austrian forces in the Eastern Front.

Haig felt that it was a good idea to fight at the Somme as the German army was deteriorating and it would have to fight at Verdun and the Somme. Despite Haig feeling he did not want to fight at the Somme he had no choice due to situations arousing and the war entering a new phase. However, before the attack the figures seemed to compliment the British army and it is probably the reason why Haig decided to fight at the Somme.

Question four:

Explain why the battle of the Somme failed to achieve British objectives.

Before the attack on the Somme the British and the French forces had set high expectations of the results of the battle. The plan was carefully mapped months in advance by the French Commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre, and the general of the British Expeditionary Force Sir Douglas Haig and the governments of the two countries. Planes had been used so the Allied forces could have a vision of the German trenches and were to specifically strike. With knowledge of the German dugouts it was decided that an artillery bombardment should take place to destroy the dugouts. During the allies seven day bombardment an estimated 1,500,000 shells, and 2,000 pieces of artillery was hurled over along a 30km German front line. After the bombardment sappers had managed to plant two mines beneath the German trenches. The devastation of the mines could be heard in London. Sir Douglas Haig was so confident that the bombardment had succeeded he said, “not even a rat would be alive.” The soldiers were also told to walk across no man’s land “The British were coming-slowly” A German soldier’s account of the astonishment of seeing British soldiers advance towards them at a walking pace at the battle of Somme. The results of the attack were however surprising and reversed. 58,000 British casualties were inflicted on the first day of the infantry attack, of which over 18,000 had been killed, making it the worst day in terms of casualties in British military history. The objective was to dent the German morale, instead the British had their own morale severely dented.

The battle failed in many aspects. The British were meant to relieve pressure on Verdun and the French troops almost instantly. Sir Douglas Haig was anticipating that 16 kilometres of German trenches would be stormed and seized by the British troops on the first day of the infantry attack. However, it took five months to capture just ten kilometres of German trenches.

The attack failed terribly for several reasons. The artillery bombardment where over 1,500,000 pieces of shells where fired at the Germans was completely ineffective. Troops were told by their officers that the barbed wire would have been blown apart leaving them an open road to the German trenches. They were also told that they would encounter virtually no defence from the Germans as they assumed that they were dead. “There wouldn’t even be a rat alive…all you will find is a caretaker and his dog…it would be a stroll in the park.” An officer giving describing to his troops, on what to expect, the information however was completely inaccurate. The bombardment failed to eliminate the barbed wire. The Germans although uncomfortable were still alive in their intact concrete dug-outs, and the artillery fire churned up no-mans land making it almost impossible for the British troops to cross. As the troops discovered it was going to be more difficult than a ‘stroll in the park.’ “He said [commanding officer] ‘You’ll find the barbed wire in front of the trenches blown away.’ Blown away! Nothing of the sort! It was solid as anything. That was the whole trouble. Wrong information. Jack Cousins of the 7th Bedfordshire Regiment describing his version of events at the Somme. The failure of the artillery bombardment was due to poor supplies. Almost a third of shells fired at the German trenches were ineffective. Many shells failed to explode or did not cause an impact, and the accuracy of the artillery guns was poor. “A large proportion of the heavy guns available were of obsolete pattern and poor range, while much of the ammunition was defective. Thus the shells could not penetrate the [German] dug-outs…” B. H. Liddel Hart, 1972.

Haig was at fault in that he misunderstood the power of the machine gun and thought that wave and after wave of men could not be eliminated by machine guns. “The machine gun is a much overrated weapon,” “The way to capture machine guns is by grit and determination.” Comments made by Haig prior to the attack.

Problems with troops were a major factor in the British failing to reach their objectives and the Somme concluding as a disaster. The army almost entirely consisted of civilians. Civilians who had a very different image of war, civilians who had no experience in trench warfare or in combat and had very poor training to prepare them. Often volunteers who had conscripted to the army could find themselves in the trenches just a few days after signing up, this was the case for many young soldiers in the battle of Somme. “I joined this battalion on 13th June 1916. Previous to this attack [battle of the Somme] I had only been in the trenches for two days-I am 18 years of age.” 2nd Lieutenant G. H. Ball, 1/5th South Staffordshire. These soldiers had little or no idea on what was to be done as tactics were not discussed prior to the attack. The situation was not made easier as soldiers were expected to carry equipment that weighed over 60lbs, this made moving very difficult. “…to reach the parapet before the enemy was not discussed. Each man carried 66lbs – over half his body weight – which made it difficult to get out of a trench, impossible to move than a slow walk or to rise or lay down quickly.” B. H. Liddell Hart, 1972. The situation was not made any easier for the British infantry. When the seven-day bombardment finally came to rest, there was a significant delay of fifteen minutes in the infantry going ‘over the top’ of the trenches to the end of the bombardment. This delay was significant, as the German troops knew that an attack was likely to take place. Prior to the attack the Germans had practised rushing to their machine gun posts to no less than three minutes, their duty now was to wait for approximately twelve minutes before they could mow down the British infantry with their machine guns. “For several weeks the German defenders had industriously practised rushing their machine guns out from the dug-outs. This had been perfected to a three-minute drill.” A. J. P Taylor 1979. Haig introduced the tank to help the British reach their objectives. However, he probably made a mistake to introduce the tank in a major offensive as the Somme. The tank had just been developed and had not been tested in any other battle. Tanks in their early stages were not beneficial as they would more often suffer mechanical failure rather than to be a victim of German machine gun fire. British security surrounding the major operation was poor and German intelligence had intercepted evidence that appeared to suggest that a major offensive on the part of Britain was likely to take place. “British security surrounding the Somme offensive was by no means perfect. Among other indiscretions…a speech made by a member of the government requesting workers…not to question why the Whitsun Bank Holiday was being suspended. A German commander commented that it was ‘the surest proof that there will be a great British offensive before long…” A. J. P Taylor, 1979. This evidence intercepted was an instrumental factor in the Somme failing to reach British and allied objectives, as the Germans were prepared.

The failure of the Somme offensive was particularly highlighted in the government. “Should I have registered rather than agree to this slaughter of brave men [at the Somme]? I have always felt there are solid justifications for criticism of me in that respect. My sole justification is that Haig promised not to press the attack if it came clear that he could not obtain his objective by continuing…” Lloyd George, British Prime Minister. The quote shows that the battle was a huge morale dent in Britain as well as the front line in France. The public was also very angry when information surrounding the battle leaked out and Haig earned the title ‘Butcher of the Somme.’ Haig however was pleased with the first day of the battle, writing in his journal ‘all was well.’ Prior to the attack Haig said “The nation must be taught to bear losses…the nation must be prepared to see heavy casualty lists.” Perhaps Haig never thought that the Somme was a failure as it did eventually reach some of its objectives, and he had expected heavy British casualties even before the attack.

Despite the appalling death toll the British army did manage to reach some of its objectives. In the long term the French army and Verdun were saved as they were on the verge of total collapse. The battle had lasted for five months and the Germans had finally lost, as a result of having over 400,000 casualties. German morale was severely dented at the end of the battle. It was important that the allies won at the battle of Somme, as it was a step closer in Germany surrendering the war.