Trenches

British troops on the

western front.

Goal of Today

• Today we will be looking at what life was like in the trenches. We will be looking at the methods of fighting and the conditions of living in the trenches.

• Terms To Know

• “Going Over the Top”

• No Mans Land

• Trench Foot

• War of Attrition

A Multi-Front WarA Multi-Front War

• War of Attrition- a conflict in which each side tries to win by wearing down the other.

The Western FrontThe Western Front

• Trenches dug from English Channel to Switzerland

• 6,250 miles• 6 to 8 feet deep• Immobilized both sides

for 4 years

Eastern Front

• No Man’s Land- This is the term used to describe the area between the two trenches.

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

The Assault • An offensive would start with a huge onslaught of

artillery fire and then a gas attack on the enemy line. This was designed to break down barbed wire defenses, blow gaps in the opposing trenches and kill enemy soldiers.

• On the commanding officer's whistle soldiers in the front line climbed 'over-the-top' and with bayonets at the ready they advanced into no-man's land, facing a heavy barrage of shells and machine gun fire as they went. Few made it across

‘Going Over the Top’- This was the term used in describing the men leaving their trench to attack the other trench.

John Nash "Over the Top"

• "...I could hear these shells coming over I really began to know what fear was..."Quiren M. Groessl's story

First Hand Account• '...the Order comes down, 'Cigarettes Out and no

noise' and then you know you have not many minutes to go before the terrible clang starts to assist you in that terrible task you have before you and behold it is hard! Every man for himself, and not one must shirk his duty, but no never a man thinks of doing such a thing as that. He knows what he has to do and leave it to him, he will do it with all his heart. And would you think for one minute that there is a smile on his face? "Yes, there is," and the words come from his mouth, "Best of luck to you old mate, let's hope you will make a good job of it."'

• Pte G Ward, 1916

What Happened After the Soldiers Went Over the Top?

• Military commanders were unprepared for the first major war fought with the new mechanized weapons produced by an industrialized Europe. The machine gun was most responsible for turning the new war into a defensive stalemate.

• Even massive offensives found it nearly impossible to break through the defensive trenches. An infantry assault against protected machine guns usually resulted in many dead infantry and little or no gain in territory.

The Experience

• ‘If I ever wanted to be about the size of an ant, it was when I crawled through that hell of shellfire and slid over onto that sunken road.” James Nelson Platt

• Men might have different experiences of life on the Western Front depending on their rank and role. For example, it was the job of the Officer to lead night patrols, to organize the men and to relay orders from High Command.

• Officers were treated better than ordinary soldiers as they had small 'dug-outs' in trenches where they would eat and sleep, better food and might be more readily excused from front line duty if they were wounded or ill.

A typical British officer dugout,

How the uniform and equipment changed after just three weeks in the

trenches…

No smiling and relaxed faces…

No clean uniforms…

Their equipment is scattered everywhere…

Boredom and sleep are obvious…

• In the winter, the ground was frozen and hard, in autumn rainfall turned the battlefields and low-lying trenches into mud baths. In some parts the water reached waist height. This could cause 'trench foot' where the feet would swell and in some cases turn gangrenous and need amputating.

Belgian trenches in flooded land

Other Problems

• Conditions were no better in the spring and summer months when lice, rats and flies thrived. The rats could grow to the size of cats feeding off men's rations and the plentiful supply of rotting corpses that were littered around no-man's land. Lice were not only a source of irritation and discomfort but also carried the threat of trench fever. To make matters even worse there was an ever-present stench caused by the open latrines, rotting bodies and the chloride of lime used to combat the threat of disease.

First Hand Account of Life In Trenches

• Captain Ulick Burke MC, wrote:

• 'The conditions were terrible. You can imagine the agony of a fellow standing for twenty four hours sometimes to his waist in mud, trying with a couple of bully beef tins to get the water out of a shell hole that had been converted to a trench with a few sandbags. And he had to stay there all day and all night for about six days. That was his existence.'

What do you think was the worst part of trench life?

• The boredom and grind of the daily routine was endured in appalling living conditions. For example, apart from the constant threat of enemy snipers, poison gas, shells and machine-gun fire there was the difficulty of getting hot food to the front lines, so men had to rely mainly on basic food rations. These rations consisted of bully beef, tea, hard biscuits and bread, which was often stale by the time it reached them.

• In your off time you pick your lice, treat your trench foot, and repair your uniform. With stuff like this:

Getting Food Through the Trenches

• How to build trenches under fire

Trench Game

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/trenchwarfare.shtml