The First World War Boys and Girls! War Savings Stamps Poster by James Montgomery Flagg

WWI In the Trenches 2

Objective: To examine the horrors of trench warfare.

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare – type of fighting during World War I in which both sides dug trenches protected by mines and barbed wire Trench Warfare Cross-section of a front-line trench

British trench, France, July 1916 (during the Battle of the Somme)

French soldiers firing over their own dead

Trench Coat 8

Helmets 9

Daily Life in the Trenches Morning Hate – An hour before dawn, the troops were woken to guard against a dawn raid by the enemy. Next is breakfast time when each side would have an unofficial truce allowing breakfast to be eaten. Would also allow wagons of food supplies to be delivered. Patrols would be sent into No Man’s Land to repair barbed wire and to try to listen and pick up information from the enemy. 10

Daily Death in the Trenches Death was a constant companion to those serving in the trenches. Novices were cautioned against their natural inclination to peer over the trench into No Man’s Land. Many men died their first day in the trenches as a consequence of a sniper’s bullet. 11

Rat Infestation Rats in the millions infested trenches. There were two main types, the brown and the black rat. Both were despised but the brown rat was especially feared. Gorging themselves on human remains, (eating their eyes and liver), they would grow to the size of cats. Men, exasperated and afraid of these rats, which would scamper across their faces in the dark, would attempt to rid the trenches of them by various methods: gunfire, bayonet and clubbing them to death. In one year, a rat couple could produce up to 900 offspring, spreading infection and contaminating food. 12

Trench Rats "The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself." "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." Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where they fell. These corpses, as well as the food scraps that littered the trenches, attracted rats. Quotes from soldiers fighting in the trenches:

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And the Smell No overview of trench life can avoid the appalling reek given of by many sources. Rotting carcasses lay around in the thousands. Overflowing latrines Men who had not bathed in months. The feet gave off the worst odor. 15

Trench Foot Many soldiers fighting in WWI suffered from Trench foot, a fungal infection of the feet caused by cold, wet and unsanitary conditions. Men stood for hours in waterlogged trenches without being able to remove wet socks or boots. First feet would go numb, turn red or blue and if untreated feet would become gangrenous and result in amputation. 16

Officers walking through a flooded communication trench.

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The Christmas Truce 22

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