Aims: Identify the preparation necessary before a ‘big push’. Examine the dangers faced by soldiers after they had gone ‘over the top’.

Before a planned attack there were months of careful planning. Who ever attacked first knew that they were likely to lose thousands of men. Can you think why?

Both sides believed that the only way to achieve a victory was to carry out a ‘War of Attrition’. They would keep attacking the enemy and inflict such heavy casualties that they would eventually ‘wear them down’ and win the war. Generals planned major attacks on the enemy’s trenches in order to achieve this. This was known as ‘a big push’.

Months of careful planning went into a major battle. Intelligence would be used to decide where the best place to attack was. This information came from reconnaissance missions and the interrogation of prisoners. Each side would try to pick a weak spot in the enemy lines and use their most experienced soldiers to attack A reconnaissance camera used during WW1 to gain information on the enemy.

Following investigation of the best place to stage the battle, the men were prepared. Some were sent to rest or on leave. Others were marched to secret locations to be trained. Slowly, thousands of men were gathered to the area where the battle was to take place. As well as this, ammunition and supplies for the battle would also be gathered. Practicing hand to hand combat.

Rifle Practice for French troops.

Next, the enemy trenches would be bombarded. This was to kill as many men as possible before the battle started and to destroy communication trenches to stop reinforcements arriving. It was also hoped that enemy barbed wire would be destroyed but this was not often the case. Usually, it simply became more tangled due to the bombardment. This bombardment may go one for days, even up to a week, denying the opposition time to relax or prepare as they would have to take shelter in their dug outs.

Heavy Artillery

The night before the attack took place men would crawl into No Man’s Land to prepare the battlefield. Barbed wire would be cut to allow the men to pass through unhindered. Troops would be crammed into the front line trenches ready for the attack.

At dawn or ‘zero hour’ an officer’s whistle would blow and that was the signal for the men to ‘go over the top’. Ladders were placed against the parapet for men to climb out. Many would not even make it out of their trench as they would be shot down by enemy machine gunners.

Over the Top

Field dressing stations behind the front line patched up small wounds. Mobile field hospitals dealt with more serious cases. Those badly injured were sent to base hospitals for treatment or perhaps back home to ‘Blighty’. The end result was usually ‘stalemate’. Neither side making any significant gains but suffering huge losses of men.

Planning Troop Preparation Artillery Bombardment The Night Before the Attack Going Over the Top