The Trenches
The trenches for the troops was hell on earth. Trench warfare is warfare in the ground and was invented to protect the soldiers from small arms fire, machine guns and other lethal resorts of tactics. Trenches were originally founded and established to hide troops and to still be able to have mobility to transport goods and military arms to affected or in need areas. Trenches were dug up ditches which were roughly two meters deep and two metres wide. The walls were held up with bags to prevent cave-ins or had ledges to allow soldiers to climb “over the top”. "Over The Top" was a name given when the soldiers were attacking and had to climb out of the trenches and over the top of the barbed wire to run at the enemy. (Robert Darlington, History Alive 9, 2012)
(Image Above)http://ieper.wikispaces.com/file/view/Cross_section_of_Trench_Anne
_McCullum.jpg/170043207/800x384/Cross_section_of_Trench_Anne_McCullum.jpg
There were many parts to how trenches were set up and the components that allowed the troops to move in and out as well, especially how they attacked and defended their line. The Trench wasn't very wide, making it hard for troops to quickly get from place to place. Terminology used in the trenches was "ground floor" which is the area soldiers could pass each other or rest. The "firestep" or "firing step" was a higher ledge that was made to allow the soldiers to look above the trench and fire their weapons at the enemy. The in-between area of the both sides front-line trenches was called "no-man's land". It was only filled with barbed wire fencing and dead corpses. The trenches were established in a zig zag shape for several reasons; first they helped to contain an explosion if there was an attack on a certain part of the trench line so that it would not affect other parts of the line. Secondly if the enemy was able to capture or puncture through one of the trenches on the front line, the zig zag shape of the trenches would make it easier to defend against the enemy because every corner you were able to defend. (Why where the trenches there?, 2010)(Robert Darlington, History Alive 9, 2012)
(Image Above)http://ieper.wikispaces.com/file/view/Cross_section_of_Trench_Anne
_McCullum.jpg/170043207/800x384/Cross_section_of_Trench_Anne_McCullum.jpg
There were many parts to how trenches were set up and the components that allowed the troops to move in and out as well, especially how they attacked and defended their line. The Trench wasn't very wide, making it hard for troops to quickly get from place to place. Terminology used in the trenches was "ground floor" which is the area soldiers could pass each other or rest. The "firestep" or "firing step" was a higher ledge that was made to allow the soldiers to look above the trench and fire their weapons at the enemy. The in-between area of the both sides front-line trenches was called "no-man's land". It was only filled with barbed wire fencing and dead corpses. The trenches were established in a zig zag shape for several reasons; first they helped to contain an explosion if there was an attack on a certain part of the trench line so that it would not affect other parts of the line. Secondly if the enemy was able to capture or puncture through one of the trenches on the front line, the zig zag shape of the trenches would make it easier to defend against the enemy because every corner you were able to defend. (Why where the trenches there?, 2010)(Robert Darlington, History Alive 9, 2012)
The troops faced horrible conditions when fighting in the trenches. Primarily they were prone being killed by a stray bullet or a round from a mortar but more often than not food sometimes became scarce, so the troops would end up catching rats and any other small animals so they could survive. Unfortunately due to the rats being extremely unhygienic, the troops caught terrible diseases and would be incapacitated and would have to be pulled from service for a long period of time. Other problems that the soldiers faced were “Trench Foot”, “Trench nephritis (Kidney swelling) and “Trench Fever”. In the most serious of cases if the troop’s feet had become gang green, the foot would have to be amputated and he would be pulled from service. (Australian War Memorial. (2012)(Robert Darlington, History Alive 9, 2012)
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Image(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/OcF0PmxxpMs/URUHz2opWpI/AAAAAAAAKw/ADbjlt5jvbU/s640/rats+in+trenches+1917.jpg)