http://greecesocialstudies.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/trench-warfare-simulation-and-virtual-online-tour-serve-as-great-wwi-resources
life in the trenches was horrible the soldiers would often follow a cycle of jobs this was called ‘the trench cycle’ and consisted of a spell in the front line, a stint in the support lines, a period in reserve, and then finally a rest. the soldiers would rotate between these three lines, the time they spent in each of these lines varied on how busy they were at the time, so when the front line was busy the soldiers would have to spend a longer time than usual working in the frontline, which would mean they would get less time in there rest line. The soldiers didn’t really get much time to rest because often when they were having there breaks they would be called to do other duties that would often put them in the ‘line of fire’. However the typical trench cycle consisted of two weeks in the frontline a week in the support lines two weeks in reserve and a week at rest. (Ian R Gumm, 2009) on top of all this the trenches were full of nasty diseases. because the trenches were always under bad weather conditions like the rain and snow. the trenches would often be very muddy and wet. these conditions were perfect for bacterial diseases and infections like trench foot. men would stand in the wet trenches for hours on end not being able to change socks or boots. Soldiers would get numb feet and the skin would turn red or blue. the feet would usually need to be amputated unless treated. (Spartacus Educational, John Simkin 2013)
daily routine
The soldiers daily routine started off with a morning ‘Stand to’ this were when the soldiers were woken up about an hour before dawn by an orderly officer and sergeant. After this they got their guns ready fixing there knifes to the end of their guns also known as bayonets. Then they were ordered to take up their positions with the infantrymen at the fire step. Then they would have to embrace themselves for the dawn raid by the enemy. This ‘stand to’ happened every morning because in the mornings was when most of the enemy’s attacks were carried out. Then as the sun rose they began what was called the ‘morning hate’ this was when the enemy and our soldiers would constantly fire all arms into what was known as no man’s land into the mist. This was to relieve there tension and frustration and to make sure that any of the enemy that was in the area was dead. After was breakfast and weapon cleaning time. This was then followed by an inspection, which was carried out by the platoon officer and sergeant. The officers would inspect that there weapons and clothes were cleaned and presentable. They would also inspect there foots to check for signs of trench foot. During the day the soldiers would have to do ‘daily chores’ these chores were delegated by the platoon sergeant and corporals the chores could consist of filling sand bags, repairing the duckboards, digging latrines which was hole that the soldiers would use as a toilet, or pumping out the water from the bottom of the trenches. During the day when the soldiers were on their rest period or all their tasks and duties were completed they would often go through daily boredom this was when they had free time to write letters to home prepare their meals or clean their equipment. They would also use this time to catch up on precious sleep. Then in the afternoons they would repeat what they had done in the mornings which were called the ‘stand to’. After the stand to had taken place the soldiers would be ordered to do the nights chores of re-supplying and maintenance this was where some people would go and fetch food and water whilst others would be sent on sentry duty. this was basically being on guard looking for soldiers and signs of the enemy this was very dangerous because they would often be put out in the open so when it was raining or there was high winds there vision would become very blurred making the soldiers very vulnerable at this time. Some soldiers also took part in patrolling and listening after the day of fighting was over. Soldiers would patrol no man’s land to dominate to make sure the enemy would not set up for a raid overnight. They would send back wiring messages to the trench. As both sides patrolled no man’s land, both sides would often come into contact and have to decide whether to fight or let each other walk past like nothing ever happened. At the end of the day the soldiers in the front line were relieved of their duties and sent to rest. (R Gumm, 2009)
trench foot
Trench foot was a disease that developed on the foot of the soldiers it was a fungal infection and was caused by the wet cold and miserable weather that the soldiers had to put up with. In most cases the disease would turn gangrenous which would mean that they would have to amputate the foot. It’s believed that over 20,000 casualties suffered with this disease but thankfully the disease had faded by 1915 due to improvement of conditions.
http://rapgenius.com/Aesop-rock-1000-o-clock-lyrics#note-925551
http://rapgenius.com/Aesop-rock-1000-o-clock-lyrics#note-925551
living conditions in the trenches
As the trenches were very long soldiers would endure hours of walking through muddy ground and dead bodies. Soldiers also had a heavy kit which they had to carry everywhere which would have made the walking even harder. The trenches were also very unhygienic and were infested with millions of rats that carried lots of dreadful diseases the soldiers had tried lots of different methods to get rid of pests this included stabbing them with their bayonets and shooting them with their arms but none of these worked and the infestation of rats carried out through the whole of world war 1. Body lice and head lice was another problem that the soldiers had to deal with the lice caused the soldiers to constantly itch so most soldiers shaved their hair to control this problem. But sadly this didn’t stop the dreadful disease of trench fever. Trench fever was a very painful disease caused by lice sucking the blood out of the host. Hosts would start with a severe pain and then a high fever. It was highly contagious and as soldiers were always close together the fever spread easily. Because no mads land was highly dangerous when our soldiers were killed there was no time to bury their body’s, so they would often be left for days which would cause them to rot and leave a horrible stench, in and around the trenches which would have made it very hard for the soldiers to sleep at night. Another problem that they had with odour was the over flowing of latrines, the soldiers had tried to fix this problem by covering the holes back up with dirt but this became nuisance because they eventually ran out of space. And to add to these horrible odours was the smell of the soldiers during the war they rarely had the luxury of having showers and would have to go weeks and even months without having one so the odour of dried sweat soon filled the trenches. And lastly they had the smell of battle this was the smell of poisons and gasses but most soldiers became used to this smell.