Nighttime in the trenches was both the busiest and the most dangerous. ... Here, work parties repaired barbed wire or dug new trenches. More aggressive operations involved patrolling for enemy activity or conducting raids to kill or capture enemy troops or to gather intelligence.
Was trench warfare dangerous?
Trenches provided protection from bullets and shells, but they did carry their own risks. Trench foot, trench fever, dysentery, and cholera could inflict casualties as readily as any enemy . Rats, flies, and lice were also commonplace.
What was a typical day in the trenches?
A typical day in the trenches
Soldiers only got to sleep in the afternoon during daylight and at night for an hour at a time . During rest time they wrote letters and played card games. Soldiers sleeping and writing letters. Watch our video to learn more about life in the trenches.
What was it like at night in the trenches?
At night, the trenches often became hives of activity . Despite the continued risk of night bombardment or trench raids, the cover of darkness allowed troops to attend to vital supply and maintenance tasks.
Did trench warfare happen at night?
The evolving nature of trench warfare led to new patterns of fighting. The area between the trench lines, known as ‘no man’s land’, was the key ground, especially at night , for fierce combat between opposing front line troops, as patrols were sent out to gather information about their enemy’s defences.
How did soldiers use dead bodies in the trenches?
Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where they fell . If a trench subsided, or new trenches or dugouts were needed, large numbers of decomposing bodies would be found just below the surface. These corpses, as well as the food scraps that littered the trenches, attracted rats.
Did soldiers sleep in the trenches?
Most activity in front line trenches took place at night under cover of darkness. During daytime soldiers would try to get some rest, but were usually only able to sleep for a few hours at a time .
Why did they build trenches in ww1?
World War I was a war of trenches. After the early war of movement in the late summer of 1914, artillery and machine guns forced the armies on the Western Front to dig trenches to protect themselves . Fighting ground to a stalemate. ... British soldiers standing in water in a trench.
Why are the trenches so disgusting?
They were actually quite disgusting. There were all sorts of pests living in the trenches including rats, lice, and frogs. ... The weather also contributed to rough conditions in the trenches. Rain caused the trenches to flood and get muddy .
Did they eat rats in ww1?
Millions of tins were thus available for all the rats in France and Belgium in hundreds of miles of trenches. ... They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn’t defend himself.” These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men.
How did they dig the trenches in ww1?
The WWI trenches were built as a system, in a zigzag pattern with many different levels along the lines. ... Sometimes the soldiers would simply dig the trenches straight into the ground – a method known as entrenching . Entrenching was fast, but the soldiers were open to enemy fire while they dug.
What did the trenches smell like what caused that smell?
Some men disappeared into the mud because it was so thick. The trenches had a horrible smell. This was because of the lack of bathing, the dead bodies, and the overflowing toilets. ... They could smell cordite , the lingering odour of poison gas, rotting sandbags, stagnant mud, cigarette smoke, and cooking food.
What did soldiers eat in the trenches?
The bulk of their diet in the trenches was bully beef (caned corned beef), bread and biscuits . By the winter of 1916 flour was in such short supply that bread was being made with dried ground turnips. The main food was now a pea-soup with a few lumps of horsemeat.
Are the trenches from ww1 still there?
A few of these places are private or public sites with original or reconstructed trenches preserved as a museum or memorial. Nevertheless, there are still remains of trenches to be found in remote parts of the battlefields such as the woods of the Argonne, Verdun and the mountains of the Vosges.
Who has the best trenches in ww1?
Indeed the Germans had the best trenches. In the Somme offensive the Brits fired millions of shells on the trenches. Then the artillery stopped and the infantry advanced.
How long were soldiers in the trenches in ww1?
Soldiers rotated into and out of the front lines to provide a break from the stress of combat. They spent four to six days in the front trenches before moving back and spending an equal number of days in the secondary and, finally, the reserve trenches.
