Over the Top WWI:Trench Warfare

The Western Front Germany’s plan didn’t work and France and Germany faced many months in a Stalemate. Forced to settle in for the winter, both sides built trenches.

Trench Warfare Trenches were like a maze stretching for miles. This network of trenches linked bunker, communications, and gun emplacements. In these trenches, the soldiers either burned under the sun, or froze during the winter.

Dugouts- In order to keep their feet dry soldiers dug themselves into the trench walls

Trench Rats Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where they fell. If a trench subsided, or new trenches or dugouts were needed, large numbers of decomposing bodies would be found just below the surface. These corpses, as well as the food scraps that littered the trenches, attracted rats. One pair of rats can produce 880 offspring in a year and so the trenches were soon swarming with them. Some of these rats grew extremely large. One soldier wrote: "The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself." These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men. Two or three rats would always be found on a dead body. They usually went for the eyes first and then they burrowed their way right into the corpse. One soldier described finding a group of dead bodies while on patrol: "I saw some rats running from under the dead men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat.

No Man’s Land Between the trenches of the opposing sides was No Man’s Land. An area filled with barbed wire, craters, and dead soldiers.

Often the first sign was that the soldier's breath would become extremely foul. Ulcerations on the papilla, or points between the teeth would cause them to become blunted and gaps would show between the teeth at the roots. Swallowing became painful as lymph nodes in the throat would swell. Eventually, supporting bone would deteriorate. Treatment during World War I would have consisted of warm saltwater rinses, hydrogen peroxide application or rinses, and, if possible, better food and removal of the patient from the stressful trench area.

Trench Foot After the war, Captain G. H. Impey, 7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, wrote about his experiences of trench life. The trenches were wet and cold and at this time some of them did not have duckboards and dug-outs. The battalion lived in mud and water. Altogether about 200 men were evacuated for trench feet and rheumatism. Gum boots were provided for the troops in the most exposed positions. Trench feet was still a new ailment and the provision of dry socks was vitally important. Part of the trench was reserved for men to go two at a time, at least once a day, and rub each other's feet with grease.

Poison Gas How do we get them out of the trenches? Tear – First used by the French against the Germans in Had very little effect and was not deemed a violation of the Hague Treaty. The Germans used heavy amounts of tear gas against the Russians in Dissipates quickly Chlorine – in 1915 the Germans use Chlorine gas, an irritant that causes damage to the eyes, ears, nose, and if prolonged, or untreated, could cause death. Green cloud made it easy to see. Dissipates quickly and depends on the winds Phosgene 1915 developed by French chemists. It was colorless and odorless so the enemy didn’t know it was coming. Dependent upon the winds, and dissipates quickly. Mustard 1917 developed by Germany, called the Yellow Cross. Gas disables the enemy and can stay in the soil for three weeks

WWI Soldier American doughboys Russian Soldier Machineguns The arrival of the German Maxim 08 Made warfare a bloodier affair

WWI Weapons Ground Warfare The British developed the first tank used in WWI the tank- a revolutionary tracked armored fighting vehicle, armed with guns. Renault FT used by the U.S. in WWI British 1915 prototype the Mark I called the “land ship” Meant to break the stalemate of trench warfare. Most proved ineffective with the exception of the smaller British models. They were used more in WWII.

WWI Weapons Submarines Unterseeboot = U-boat First developed in 1850 by the Germans, the U- boats were used in WWI to attack convoys bringing supplies to the allied powers British the British used a one-man prototype called the Turtle in the American Revolutionary War By WWI the British and the Germans had the largest navy equipped with submarines. South America 1837 Submarino Hipopótamo The French Their design the Nautilus was a failure. They abandoned the project in 1804 (Napoleon people) American The Americans began using submarines in the Civil War ( ). British WWI American Civil War

Shellshock term coined to describe the reaction of some soldiers in World War I to the trauma of battle. It was a reaction to the intensity of the constant bombardment and fighting that produced: Helplessness panic and being scared flight, inability to reason, sleep, walk or talk.