Trench Warfare

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Trench Warfare
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• Trenches were elongated pits dug 6-8 ft. into the
  earth, and stretching out over hundreds of miles.
• Trenches were only wide enough to allow two men
  to pass side-by-side.

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Trench Warfare

• Duck Boards would line the bottom of the trench,
  to serve both as a place for the men to stand on
  the avoid enemy fire, and also to raise men above
  the mud, rats, blood, and bodily wastes that
  filled the bottom of the trench.
• Parapets served as a rest for a gun, and the
  Parados protected the men from exploding shrapnel
  from behind the line.

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Trench Warfare - Diagram
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A periscope would have been used to see the
enemy, without putting a soldier in the direct
line of fire.
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• Barbed-wire was lined up in front of a trench to
  protect the men from attack.

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Trench Warfare

• Dugouts in the side of the trenches provided
  shelter for the men to live in, and protection
  from incoming artillery fire.

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The entrance to a dugout
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Trench Warfare Dugout
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Trench Warfare

• Three interlocking trench lines would be used a
  front line for attack and defense, a middle line
  of defense, and a rear line of reserves.
• An encampment of tents and hospitals would be
  located behind the third line. Men spent
  anywhere from one day to two weeks on the lines
  before given a day of rest.

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• The distance between opposing trenches was called
  no-mans land. This distance could be as short
  as 30 meters, or as wide as 1 mile.

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Trench Warfare

• On command, soldiers from a trench would charge
  across no-mans land and attempt to overrun the
  opponents trench.
• Once one of the sides overran an opposing trench,
  the defeated would either be captured, or they
  would retreat to another set of trenches miles
  away to renew the battle over a new no-mans
  land.

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Retrieving a dead soldier from no-mans
land
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• Lots of Mud!

• So keep those socks dry!

Drying his socks over a fire!
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or else!! Trench Foot
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Lice Hunting
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Corpse Rats
German soldiers after rat hunting in their
trenches
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Poison Gas
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Trench Warfare

• Weapons on the front included
• Soldiers would commonly use rifles, bayonets,
  spades, clubs, shotguns, helmets, and grenades
• Armies would use larger items such as machine
  guns, mortars, artillery, gas, barbed-wire,
  aircraft, and mines

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