War in the Trenches The war was fought by men on foot, in a flat open country that gave no shelter from enemy fire. Facing armies dug trences as fortifications from which to defend their position or attack the enemy. When the Germans turned onto the Allies, they dug trenches on the River Aisne, as a line of defence. By mid-October, two lines of trenches faced each other from the Swiss border to the Channel coast. These single lines were soon to become a elaborate networks of defence. The trenches were fronted with masses of barbed wire and with strategically placed machine gun posts. These trench systems were everything except a let down. There were different sectors dividing up the trenches. There was a “cushy sector”, where the men could just relax and take a rest, these had little fighting where as “active sectors”, there was lots of it. On “cushy sectors” the men agreed to an un-official truce to “let sleeping dogs lie”. There were ways of arranging this without the generals knowing. Gunners would fire there guns at a specific time, to let the other side get out of the way. No one shot at each others toilets, in case the others did the same back. Since most soldiers in the sectors wanted to stay alive, they were left to themselves. If the men on the other trench weren’t trying to kill them ,why should they kill them? The phrase “live and let live” was first used in the summer of 1915. “Live and let live” drove the generals crazy, but there was so much that they could do about it. What was life like in the trenches? Life in the trenches was a nightmare on its own. When it rained, and it often did, the trench... ... middle of paper ... ...England and enlist. Owen was injured in March 1917 and sent home; he was fit for duty in August, 1918, and returned to the front. November 4, just seven days before the Armistice, he was caught in a German machine gun attack and killed. He was twenty-five when he died. Below is one of his poems: - Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds, -1 Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved - still warm, - too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? - O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?
"Feature Articles - Life in the Trenches." Firstworldwar.com. First World War, n.d. Web. 05 Apr.
was useful for firing over the top as you could rest your gun on it.
The First World War saw a new form of warfare known as Trench warfare which involved trenches which were deep long dugouts made by the soldiers that lived in these trenches. The trenches proved useful as they protected the soldiers from artillery and bomb fire and were most likely situated in the eastern and western fronts of Europe. However the conditions of the trenches were far from exuberant but were in fact severely terrible. There was bad hygiene throughout the trenches, for example soldiers bathed probably only once a month and as such were prone to diseases such as trenches fever (which were due to the lice attracted by the bad hygiene). The weather was no exception as well, in the summer it would be too hot and in the winter it would be too cold and due to the nature of the trenches, when it rained the trenches would be filled with water, and due to such conditions welcomed the disease known as trench foot which was due to prolonged exposure to water and claimed the foots of many soldiers. There was also the constant danger of bomb fire and snipers would always be on the lookout for any movement. Latrines, which were toilets used in the trenches also sprouted fear as the enemy could see them in this area of the trenches and therefore were in constant danger of death. Soldiers also had to follow a strict code of conduct which was known as trench etiquette which ordered them to respect higher officers and they would have to be punished if the trench etiquette was ignored.
Trench Warfare World War 1 is perhaps best known for being a war fought in trenches, ditches dug out of the ground to give troops protection from enemy artillery and machine-gun fire. The trenches spread from the East to the West. By the end of 1914, trenches stretched all along the 475 mile front between the Swiss border and the Channel coast. The trench system on the Western Front consisted of front-line, support and reserve trenches. Three rows of trenches covered between 200 and 500 yards of ground.
Soldiers' Account of Trench Life Life in the trenches was horrific; the frontline soldiers dreaded having to return to them. During their tour of duty there, they lived in considerable tension. The trenches were far from safe; possibly one third of all casualties on the Weston front were killed or wounded in the trenches, mostly from artillery fire. In this essay I will be discussing and comparing the accuracy and differences between the soldiers' accounts of the trenches and official accounts composed by the government.
It is evident that WW1 soldiers were deeply impacted by the war. Historians have found numerous journals and diaries that tells personal experiences from soldiers. Especially since this was a war that had a lot of new inventions, these soldiers had a lot to write about. Trench warfare changed the war entirely. Generals had to come up with better fighting tactics to make advances during the war. Prior to WW1 battles were fought out in the open and with less protection. There was no barb wire or sandbags to protect these soldiers. Life in the trenches were rough with constant firing occurring every few seconds. This made it very difficult for them to rest. In the trench soldiers are active all day and have to be ready for combat at all times. The daily journal of Pvt. Donald Fraser gives great detail of what actually took place on the battlefield.
The Great War, fueled by the excessive pride of each country, devastated the world. Each side felt superior to the other and would not stop until it emerged as the victor. These countries altered the style of fighting from a primitive face-to-face combat to systematic style of battle through trenches. To adapt to this style, countries developed new weapons and tactics to prevail over their enemies. But, the war simply remained a draw. Trench warfare prolonged World War I by a causing a bloody stalemate where millions died from modern weapons and horrid living conditions.
Trench warfare was going on the whole of WWI, yet the the bigger battles only occurred at specific times. In the book, Trench Warfare 1914-1918, Ashworth focuses on trench warfare since he believes that it is “the larger part of the total war experience” (p. 2).
The factors and themes of trench warfare during the twentieth century led to a mass communication failure. During the time of technical development of steel and communication, which had extended the Western Front stalemate of 1914-1918----. As the situation began to exacerbate, miscommunication based on trench warfare paved the way as a form of rite of passage which led to battlefield failures in all degrees. Although new methods of communication expanded exponential growth during the war years, the recognition of communication holistically failed to reach full potential. Especially on the Western Front as it only achieved interminable stalemate of causalities.
In September of 1914, the British and French troops met the German troops at the Marne River. The German troops had been advancing toward Paris. The British and French troops were victorious in this battle and they crushed the hopes of Germany who wanted a quick takeover of the Western Front. After this battle, both sides dug trenches to maintain their positions. Both sides entered into a stalemate over the next four years. Each side battled from trenches making very little progress in their efforts to defeat each other. The trench warfare that took place over a few hundred yards of territory and cost both sides enormous casualties. Trench warfare proved to be a failure for both sides.
Experiences of War World War I was a time of despair, rivalry, and hatred between a number of countries for not one, but many reasons. The experiences people had during World War I were gruesome and not something they would ever want to happen again. Unfortunately, the event of a Second World War broke out after the first one ended. Every soldier’s nightmare was to fight this battle for a second time.
taken a shower so once again they had to put up with it. When it
In the time era of world war 1, technology was beginning to advance. The soldiers in the war were deprived of these extensive resources, causing them complications while serving their countries. At nineteen, protagonist Robert Ross experiences trench warfare. As technology advances the soldiers begin to feel the physical, mental and spiritual impact of the insufficient resources. IN The Wars, Findley ultimately shows these detrimental affects, disfiguring Roberts overall well being as a Canadian solider.
Infantries could spend months in a disease ridden, rodent infested trench. With watching your fellow soldiers die of disease, have their limbs rot off, and bombed many soldiers that survived ended up developing post traumatic stress disorder, which would not have been treated or diagnosed for many years following the war. Survivors would most likely have many health problems to try to fix after the war ended in 1918. Trench warfare was created to help protect soldiers, but with disease and the harsh conditions of the trenches it may have harmed the soldiers more than helping
The First World War introduced a new type of warfare. New weapons were combined with old strategies and tactics. Needless to say, the results were horrific. However, a new type of warfare was introduced: trench warfare. In the movie War Horse, the character that owned the horse originally while he worked on his farm, Albert Narracott, finally was old enough to join the army. His first sight of battle was the Battle of Somme which took place in France near the Somme River. During this battle, the British troops start out in trenches, which were pretty much tunnels dug strategically to avoid gunfire. The soldiers would wait until they were told to advance, and they would run from one trench to the next. Trenches and the area between trenches were muddy and the trenches themselves were poorly conditioned (http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/chapters/ch1_trench.html). Many of the soldiers who fought in trenches succumbed to a foot disease called trench foot and if not treated immediately, gangrene could infect the foot and an amputation would be necessary for survival. Commanding officers ordered one or t...