Ww1 Trench Life

Soldiers in WWI
Life in the trenches was extremely difficult for thousands of people in WWI. The living conditions were terrible which added to the difficulty of life of a soldier on the frontline during WWI. The trenches, along with the rest of the war, were filled with the fear of going head on into battle. Soldiers faced death along with infestation, incoming artillery and lack of supplies. WWI began as the result of a Serbian Nationalist assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. (www.history.com) “The assassination set off a chain of events that would lead to the start of World War I barely one month later.” (www.history.com) The war began in 1914 and lasted until 1918. The Allies included Britain,
Soon after, the French did the same and dug trenches to take cover from German fire. Soldiers lived in the trenches for years on end and life was not easy. Mud in the trenches could reach over two feet deep and sometimes even drowned wounded men. The mud also caused trench foot, an infection caused by prolonged exposure to cold, wet and unsanitary conditions that sometimes led to amputation. The trenches were dug in a zigzag pattern to keep any sort of shell fire or explosions from spreading too far down the line, minimizing injury and or loss of life. Trenches were doug in sets of three main lines with sets of communication lines connecting them. The trench line furthest from the front was used for reserve troops. The next line was for travel and is where the majority of combat happened. The trench line closest to the front was referred to as the “Stand to”. This “Stand to” trench line was mostly used at sunrise and sunset. Many trenches started out as simply dirt, but as time went by soldiers had to adapt to making them their short term home. Trenches evolved with wooden walls, medical quarters, office quarters, some including beds, furniture, and even some electric amenities. Even with these WWI was a long and terrible war with extreme losses of life. Soldiers lived in the trenches of Europe for years on end and life wasn’t easy for any of them. They
A rifle and a pistol were the main two weapons. The standard issue rifle for British infantry was a Lee Enfield and the standard issue pistol was the Webley Mk IV revolver. The soldiers normally had a bayonet attached to the end of their rifle and a grenade. The most common grenade was the Mills bomb which had grooves cut into it so that when it exploded it blew metal fragments in all directions, this was good for clearing trenches. The British used canvas buckets to carry these grenades so that they could have more. Soldiers always had a gas mask on hand to defend themselves against gas attacks which became common in WWI. Soldiers also carried a shovel and wire cutters. The shovel was important if there was not enough cover in the trench or if you needed to expand the trench. Wire cutters were used to repair or take down barbed wire. You wouldn't think of a kite as a war tool or weapon however, with a sniper ready a kite could be used to distract the enemy and lure them into lifting their head to look at the distraction. Once this movement was spotted it gave opportunity to the sniper on your