1. Trench Warfare on the Western Front Luthfi and Serena

2. Elements of a Trench System Front-line trenches – first layer of soldiers on the lookout and ready to attack approaching enemies Support trenches – second layer of soldiers, providing backup support to frontline soldiers and helping repel enemy attacks Reserve trenches – third layer of soldiers, mainly for reinforcements and resting soldiers Communication trenches – tunnels connecting the three trenches, for transport of men and supplies Fire-step – a ledge on which soldiers stand when they fire away through the parapet of sandbags No Man’s Land – dangerous area of land barred with barbed wire, filled with landmines, flying bullets and raining artilleries – very high chance of death

3. Structure of a trench (source: harris-academy.com)

4. Daily Routine of a Trench Soldier Dawn ‘Stand-To-Arms’ – soldiers stand at the firestep and watch out for dawn raids ‘Morning hate’ – soldiers randomly fire their weapons at the frontlines; to test rifles, relieve tensions or as precautions Rum supplies for cleaning rifles and general inspection of uniform and equipment by officers Breakfast and truce – calm period of truce respected between both sides… not so much by their officers Officers assign duties, e.g. delousing uniforms, repairing duckboards (boards put above water to prevent trenches from becoming swamps), refilling sandbags, digging latrines and dugouts, etc

5. German soldiers repairing their trench (source: history1900s.about.com)

6. Pastimes – catching up on sleep, playing cards, drinking, smoking tobacco, rat hunting, football, writing letters, singing, scavenging bullet cases to make ‘trench ornaments’ Dusk ‘Stand-To-Arms’ – similar to dawn protocol, normal shift is 2 hours, those caught falling asleep may get shot by their officers Snipers are on lookout posts Dark of the night – allowed repairing barbed wires at frontlines, patrolling around No Man’s Land, etc… soldiers are more likely to flee when they encounter an opponent soldier at this time Back to dawn – rinse, lather, repeat

7. Soldiers after rat-hunting (source: wereldoorlog1418.nl)

8. Trench art at Musee des Abris, Albert, Somme, 2001 (source: hellfire-corner.demon.co.uk)

9. Life of a Trench Nurse “I was a nurse serving at the Western Front during World War One, it was a cold place that front. Within a week I had become accustomed to the daily routines of fighting life and death, of seeing the horrors of pain, and the loss of lives. Every day we were to expect at least 8-9 wounded soldiers and that was only if we were lucky. Soldiers would be in the most terrible conditions, one’s that are out of one’s imaginations. There was blood everywhere, I can still smell it, still see those stains. There were always so many wounded but there was never enough space, never enough beds for these soldiers, most would be laid down on the floor. When one died, there was no sympathy given, only the quick rush to empty the bed and put someone else in there. Soldiers would come in, thinking that they were going to get better soon and soon they would go home; they felt that they escaped the war. Truth was that they were in for a bigger battle one they would have to fight; death, and death was a powerful contender almost always winning…

10. People would steal ofromother soldiers, giving the excuse that they won’t need it anymore. Everything was always taken away, everything was stolen. Sometimes we were called to go to the trenches to pick soldiers up. Often this would happen during trench attacks, we were there to save someone’s lives without assurance of the safety of our own. It was terrifying to think of those days, some of my friends lost their lives like this. We were just going to help, but then why were our lives taken as well? We were all targets! That was the story of a life with only misery, where a good deed was facing the horrors of human cruelty and dealing with the horrific images of war. I was a nurse during World War I, serving at the Western Front!” - Monologue by Serena Ansari, based on various letters and diary entries from nurses who served at the Western Front.

11. American nurses carrying gas masks in trenches (source: corbisimages.com, © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS)

12. Conditions at the Trench Dirty, damp and wet – often waterlogged to knee-height – sometimes soldiers refused to sleep within the trenches Loud, blaring noises of guns, artillery and death drove soldiers insane Filled with little creatures e.g. rats, lice, slugs, beetles Rats could be felt running over sleeping soldiers Rats grew on rations, rotten food and dead bodies Cat-sized rats stole food from soldier’s pockets and attacked the wounded

13. Soldiers standing in cold, muddy waters (source: grahamtall.co.uk)

14. Soldiers’ dugouts – the sleeping quarters (source: harris-academy.com)

15. Food supplies reached the soldiers with no problems, except during times of heavy offensives; also humid conditions meant food went bad very easily German rations included potatoes, biscuits, bread, dried vegetables, canned sausages, bacon, smoked meat and some tobacco Diseases included gastrointestinal diseases e.g. dysentery (inflammation of colon lining), and trench foot (swelling and gangrene due to prolonged submersion in cold water), which can lead to amputation Trench foot (!GRAPHIC WARNING!): http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWfoot. jpg http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWfoot. jpg

16. Injured and Fallen Soldiers Officers forbade soldiers from helping wounded comrades, but soldiers did it anyway Soldiers carried an emergency dressing so they could treat their own wounds Limited number of stretcher-men means it would take time for wounded soldiers to receive treatment Trenches were littered with dead bodies of soldiers, many of which were shot to near-instant death This became a normal sight and most of them were not able to receive proper burial

17. 1916 Battle of the Somme – note the dead soldiers lying around (source: upload.wikimedia.org)

18. Weapons and Deaths Machine guns – grim reaper of WW1, firing hundreds of rounds per minute; anyone caught within their line of fire dies instantly Artillery, mortars and bombs were dropped into trenches, causing massive damage. Artillery contained shrapnel or poison gas, both equally lethal Poison gases – very cruel weapons – easy to inhale, causes slow, agonizing death, demoralizing soldiers, highly devastating to soldiers without proper protection Mustard gas – caused severe, excruciating burns to skin and lungs, leading to death hours later Phosgene – terminates gas exchange, causing death by suffocation – effects would not appear until up to 48 hours, and by then it would be far, far too late

19. Soldiers stationed with machine guns (source: glogster.com)

20. Soldiers amidst poisonous gases (source: mysteriousuniverse.org)

21. Bibliography Information (brackets are date accessed) http://jimmythejock.hubpages.com/hub/World_war_1_A_Day_in_the_Trenches (9/10/2011) http://jimmythejock.hubpages.com/hub/World_war_1_A_Day_in_the_Trenches http://www.keystothepast.info/recordoffice/usp.nsf/pws/Durham+Record+Office+- +The+Learning+Zone+-+World+War+One+-+Leisure+-+Front+Line (9/10/2011) http://www.keystothepast.info/recordoffice/usp.nsf/pws/Durham+Record+Office+- +The+Learning+Zone+-+World+War+One+-+Leisure+-+Front+Line http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/dogs_in_world_war_one.htm (9/10/2011) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/dogs_in_world_war_one.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/memories_from_the_trenches.htm (9/10/2011) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/memories_from_the_trenches.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWrats.htm (10/10/2011) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWrats.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWwater.htm (10/10/2011) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWwater.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/soldiers_food_in_the_trenches.htm (9/10/2011) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/soldiers_food_in_the_trenches.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrenchfood.htm (10/10/2011) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrenchfood.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWfoot.htm (10/10/2011) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWfoot.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdystentry.htm (10/10/2011) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdystentry.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWstretcher.htm (10/10/2011) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWstretcher.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/machine_guns.htm (9/10/2011) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/machine_guns.htm http://www.harris-academy.com/departments/history/Trenches/John/john.3.htm (9/10/2011) http://www.harris-academy.com/departments/history/Trenches/John/john.3.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/poison_gas_and_world_war_one.htm (9/10/2011) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/poison_gas_and_world_war_one.htm