Trench Project

Introduction
World War 1 is one of the greatest, yet tragic, historical events that has ever taken place. It involved many of the world’s strongest and greatest countries joining together to form alliances against one another.
WW1 started on the 28th July 1914. It then continued for another 4 years and finally ended on the 11th November 1918. This tragic event took the lives of 16.5 million people, which includes civilians and over 4 million people were wounded.
There were two alliances; the triple alliance and the triple entente. The triple alliance was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy whereas the triple entente was made up of Russia, England and France.
Many of the soldiers were lured into joining the army by adverts that were normally lies and propaganda however, the soldiers soon learned that the conditions were terrible as you will read about on the next page.

Life in the trenches
Can any of us imagine what life for soldiers in the First World War was really like? All we have are pictures and books to help us imagine but none of us can really feel the pain they went through. Can you imagine the terrible conditions and revolting, slimy mud that was under their feet? The noise, the bullets, the flies, the corpses, the mud that acted like quick sand and drowned so many. Life in the trenches was an unimaginable test of strength and endurance. The trenches were often quiet terrible which led to many diseases such as trench foot, trench fever, frost bite, pneumonia, body lice and many other diseases which could kill many of the soldiers. As it rained the majority of the time, the trenches were filled with watery mud which was a danger of warfare; they could get trapped in a trench.
The food they ate was very basic. They had rations and had food like corn beef and biscuits. The food would be made far away from the front line to prevent any diseases getting to the food so by the time the food reached the front line, it was often soggy and cold.
To keep themselves entertained, they played cards, sung and told stories. They also wrote letters/poems to their loved ones and listened to music via a gramophone.

The Somme
Between the months of July and November, 1916, Britain’s new volunteer army had a leading role in a battle on the western front for the first time. The battle was called The Somme.
A possible cause of the Somme could have been because the battle was intended to take pressure off the French army, which had been under heavy attack at Verdun since February, and was close to cracking. It was hoped that a major British offensive on the Somme would force the Germans to withdraw troops from Verdun. A lot of preparation went into this war such as getting soldiers to fight and buying their kit.
In this battle, over a million men became casualties. 125,000 of the British casualties died and many French and German soldiers were injured terribly and many of them too, died. Sixty per cent of all officers involved were killed on the first day. A German staff officer described the Somme as ‘the muddy grave of the German field army’. Some of the casualties include people from countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, France, Germany and Great Britain. A result of this, many people died and Germany suffered the greatest number of casualties with 465,000 injured.
The American Civil War
In spring, 1861, decades of simmering tensions between the northern and southern United States, over various different issues, exploded into the American Civil War. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865. The election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as president, in 1860, caused seven southern states to secede from the Union to form the confederate states of American; four more joined them after the first shots of the civil war were fired. Four years of brutal conflict were marked by historic battles at Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Vicksburg and among others too. The War Between the States, as the civil war was known, pitted neighbour against neighbour and in some cases, brother against brother. By the time it ended in 1865, the civil war proved to be the costliest war ever fought on American land, with some 620,000 soldiers killed and millions more injured.

Weapons Technology
There were many diverse weapons used in the First World War such as guns, tanks and planes. Here is a small selection of some weapons and a brief summary about them.

The rifle – This was a very common gun used in the war. It very was quick as it fired 15 rounds per minute and was well adapted to be used for rapid fire which would come in handy for the war. The Germans used a different type of rifle to the British. They used the Mauser rifle and unlike the British rifle, it was very slow yet accurate and reliable.

Tanks – Tanks may seem like a very reliable weapon however, it isn’t as great as it may seem. They were designed for easier travel but the highest speed they could do was 4mph which isn’t very useful during a war. The tanks were introduced by the British at the battle of Somme.
Fighter Planes – Fighter Planes were planes that were attached with machine guns. These guns shot at the opposing army making sure the propellers of the plane weren’t in the way. Fighter Planes quickly developed into planes that dropped bombs instead of firing guns and fighter planes are still used in the 21st century.
Weapons Technology
Machine Guns – Machine guns used the same type of bullets the rifles did however, the machine gun was much more highly advanced. Having the ability to fire 500 rounds per minute, it killed people instantly. There was one small disadvantage about this gun though; it had to be used by 4 to 6 men at a time.

Warships – Warships were submarines that shot torpedoes. They were very large and heavily armed. They had a range of 2,000 miles, a surface speed of 11 knots and submerged at a speed of 9 knots.

Gas - There were two main types of gases used; chlorine gas and mustard gas. They were first used by the Germans in 1915. Chlorine gas gave you a terrible burning sensation in your throat and unbearable chest pains until you couldn’t breathe. The mustard gas gave you blistering skin, sore eyes, made you vomit and gave you internal and external bleeding. As you can tell, the mustard gas was must more effective in taking down the enemy.

Top tips!
Do you want to find out if your relative fought in the war for our country? Well you can! On this page, you will find a lot of information about where your relatives could be buried and useful resources to help you.
At the Commonwealth War Graves Common Website (CWGC), you can find out if your family fought in the war and where they were buried if they did. You can find a cemetery to see if your relatives were buried there and to find out more information about them. If you’re interested in finding out more, head to http://www.cwgc.org/ now! (See photo below)

If you’re from abroad and still want to find out whether your great uncle fought for Britain, or possibly another country, head over to http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/ where you can find out who fought in the war, who got injured and much much more! You never know, you may surprise yourself!

How do we remember WW1?
In the modern era, we remember World War One in a different variety of ways. The most common way we remember it is by wearing poppies. This is because the scarlet poppies grew naturally through the disturbed earth on the battle field. Now annually, we wear poppies as a significance of the soldiers who died and fought for us.
On Remembrance Day, a two minute silence is often kept at 11 o’clock. This is because on the 7th November 1919, the King proclaimed that “all locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead”. Some people, for example adults, may not be able to keep the two minute silence as they have work or may have important things to do.
A few other things people do to remember WW1 is gather around local memorials. A large memorial, called the Cenotaph in London, is annually crowded by many people showing their respect for the soldiers.

How I think we should remember WW1
If it was up to me, I would remember world war 1 by making all schools close and adults not have to go to work (unless their job is vital). There is reason behind this. I would also make a special programme on BBC 1, every year that starts at exactly 11 o’clock and finishes at 2 o’clock to commemorate the soldiers who fought for us in the war. I think this is a good idea as it would give us more time to think about the war in more depth and to spend time with our families and appreciate how easy we have life at the moment.