World War 1 Trenches Essay

The use of trenches in World War 1 was very popular, they helped protect against artillery, machine gun fire and enemy troops. A system of trenches meant that it was almost impossible for the army using the system to lose ground. They were dug to protect from enemy fire and hold ground. They were so effective because frontal attack would mean heavy casualties for the opposition and the length of the trenches meant that flanking was almost impossible. Battles where both sides used trenches usually went for a long time and ground was rarely gained by either side. Trenches were dug with walls about 10 feet high that were often reinforced with sandbags or planks of wood. Barbwire was placed out the front of the trenches to prevent a frontal assault

Some rats in the trenches could grow to the size of small cats. Rats were such a big problem because of the constant supply of dead bodies to feast on, and once the rats came, they spread like wildfire with one rat being able to produce up to 900 offspring per year. There was two types of rats, the black rat and the brown rat, the black rat was feared more however because it can carry the black plague through lice. Lice were almost impossible to get rid of, the only way soldiers could get rid of lice was to burn them, and whether they burned just the lice with a candle, or the whole uniform and got new clothes, burning was the only way to truly get rid of them. Lice caused trench fever, which can result in high temperatures and severe headaches and takes up to 12 weeks to recover. There was constant bombardment from enemy artillery, the only time it would stop was at late at night when both sides have gone to sleep. Trench foot was a problem towards the start of the war, but conditions improved throughout the war, planks of wood on the floor were introduced so that mud wouldn’t cause trench foot. Soldiers almost never got a proper rest, there were some reported cases of soldiers only getting 2 weeks of break in a whole