Soldiers in the trenches couldn’t have as bad time in the trenches because they had other soldiers to make friends with who would fight alongside with them. These friends would normally be in the same part of a trench so they would help each other when they have problems or injuries. Also having a good friendship between all the soldiers would help the country win the war because they are all cooperating with each other when attacking or defending.
World War I's greatest killer was disease. Sanitary conditions in the trenches were quite poor, and common infections included dysentery, typhus, and cholera. Many soldiers suffered from parasites and related infections. Poor hygiene also led to fungal conditions, such as trench mouth and trench foot. Another common killer was exposure, since the temperature within a trench in the winter could easily fall below freezing. Burial of the dead was usually a luxury that neither side could easily afford. The bodies would lie in no man's land until the front line moved, by which time the bodies were often unidentifiable. This shows that conditions in the trenches could be describes as ‘hell’.
Rats in their millions infested the trenches with frogs, lice and worse growing up to the size of cats. Rats were by no means the only source of infection and nuisance. There were lice as well which caused trench fever. This took twelve weeks to recover from which was a disadvantage for the soldiers.
Trench foot was another medical condition unusual thing for trench life. It was a fungal infection of the feet caused by cold, wet and unsanitary trench conditions. It turns the feet gangrenous and result in having it cut off. This made trenches described as ‘hell’ because if the soldier caught this disease, then he’d have his feet cut off which would be painful.
When soldiers had finished doing their duty in the day, then their time was free. They had limited choice of what they could; write a poem or story, or otherwise just relaxing in their area of the trench. This is not described as hell on earth because the soldiers are not in any situation where they are in a risk of dying as they are not fighting at that moment, because in this free time of theirs, they just relax.
British soldiers were luckier than their fellow countries in war, because every six to seven weeks they were allowed to have a leave where they go home for a week which would give them a break from hardship. In other times while in war, families of soldiers sent accessories, essentials or even luxuries such as tobacco and alcohol which they drank and smoked a lot. This shows that life in trenches could not been as bad, because they had luxuries such as this and were able to go home every six weeks.
In conclusion, I agree with this quote “Life in the trenches was hell on earth!” because soldiers suffered a lot in the trenches. They could catch various deceases such as trench foot. They also had the sufferings of rats and other small animals crawling around hampering their fighting. On the other hand, these soldiers were given luxuries such as tobacco and alcohol, and were given leave which was an advantage in comparison to Russia, Germany and France.
