Trench Construction

When thinking about trenches, many do not actually think about the construction and preparation of the trench. This part of trenches is one of the toughest times for the soldiers. Not only was much of their power drained from them, they also were at great risk to the enemy’s firepower which meant that they had to continue digging for most of their nights. In fact, 2700 man-hours at night time were needed to complete the construction of the trenches.

The process of the construction began with a short trench being dug. Side by side a large group of soldiers would dig about ten whole feet deep, this being called entrenching. The next process was called sapping, which only needed two or three diggers. This was when the trench was  extended at the sides. Soldiers dug with their hands; only lucky ones were given a shovel. These processes would be repeated many times.

Sand-bagging was then done. In order to prevent water from rising too high, sand bags were lain across the ground to soak up all of the water and the then-produced mud. Sand bags were also accompanied by wooden frames and wire mesh and sometimes even wooden boards on the sides of the trenches. 

Trenches were always in a zig zag shape which meant that if an enemy was ever to enter the trench, they could not see past 10m or so. Also, if a bomb was to land inside the trench, it would only blow up the minority of the trench which could easily be constructed once more. It was also difficult for the enemy to map the trench if it was in such a shape.

The term used to describe the side of the trench facing the enemy was ‘parapet’. The rear side was known as ‘parados’. When an army would capture a trench, they would then change the parados to the parapet.

Living in trenches was a horrific experience. Yet, constructing them was just as bad.

Trenches: Weaponry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEaHnD0DIgc

This clip was a scene from the 1979 version of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ . The clip portrays the hardship of trench warfare, many people would die unexpectedly and others could only watch in horror, one of the soldiers in the clip dies suddenly when he tries to save his comrade.

The weapons they use in the clip include Rifles, which could fire 15 rounds in a minute; Machine Guns which was a long range weapon that could deliver devastating blows. Other things they used during the war included Gas, Zeppelins or Blimps, Tanks, Planes and Torpedoes.

Diary: Harrison, the Trenches.

Dear Diary,

It is the 9^th of June and I am writing to you to today in fear that I will go insane. I have seen things, smelt things, and many of my comrades have died, and yet, despite all this, the thing I fear the most are the trenches. The hygiene of this place I have forced to call home is absolutely horrid. The horrific stench nauseates me. The murky waters disgust me. I have seen many people succumb to the terrifying disease known as ‘trench foot’. We haven’t changed our shoes and socks for days; we were soaked through and through.  My subordinates have told me that the first indication of trench foot is numbness, and then, after a while, their feet became red and toes start falling off.

Another thing I fear is lice, every time I woke up, I would find red marks on my body, a sign that pointed at lice infestation. My clothes were contaminated and on some days, we had to hot iron some of our clothes to get rid of some of the disgusting parasites, and on even rarer days, we washed out clothes in chlorine.

Rats also dominate the trenches, there were two types, black and brown, the black rats were the diseased rats and the brown rats would eat the corpses. They were big, bigger than usual, I have seen many rats the size of fully grown cats.

Every day I find myself treading on those who have been brutally murdered, taken by the enemy or disease. Their faces are still contorted in pain and their arms move limply as I step heavily onto them. I wince every time I do this- how can I survive a war when I cannot bear the sight of a corpse?

Well, I have very little time left to finish this off and I don’t know when I can write in here again.

But, I will fight for the good of the nation.

Farewell.

Yours sincerely, Harrison.

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES

So, what is a trench?

Well, according to thefreedictionary.com, a trench is a deep furrow, or ditch.

In other words, it was a hole...literally. Trenches were thin holes in the ground that would go on for miles on end. What makes the trenches of World War One so interesting was that, the trenches, for lack of a better word, were a living hell to all. 

Trench warfare began when the Schlieffen Plan failed. Both sides reached a stalemate and they both decided to start making trenches. The idea of the trenches was not unique, for they were used during the US Civil War and the Russian-Japanese war. The Germans had three lines of trenches, used for retreating when things got difficult. The trenches were the frontlines of the war, the most dangerous places. They were made during late 1914 and the allies made a breakthrough in 1918.

Trenches were a horrific place to be living in. Not only were they confined spaces, trenches would accumulate much muddy water when it rained heavily, leaving men to stand inside it. Random deaths were common due to the unexpected shell-firing by the enemy or even a sniper. And the smell? Disgusting. We might take off our socks and grimace, but in trenches, the smell was absolutely putrid, emanating from the months-worth of dried sweat. This was not to mention the many deceased beings laying in the trenches, the odour of poisonous gas, rotting sandbags, mud and smoke that added to this smell.

When it comes to anything normal in a trench, only two things could be picked at. Breakfast was a time of an unofficial truce between both sides so one could literally eat their breakfast in peace. Yet, when a senior officer was to discover this truce, it was stamped upon at once. Also in order to try and keep some sense of normality in them, men attempted to write letters to their families.

Trenches were a place of death. Life in a trench was a miserable life.

 Here's some additional information on trenches :)

World War One: The beginning.

World War One.

World War One: a time of misery and bloodshed.

So, the trigger event? Mr. Princip, part of a terrifying terrorist group who brought terror, THE BLACK HAND murdered the archduke Franz Ferdinand.  Austria-Hungary saw this as a direct attack and then sent Serbia an ultimatum, in which Serbia declined, then BAM! They declared war on Serbia.

Many reasons for the war had to do with the Alliance System, militarism, nationalism and imperialism.

Austria-Hungary, with the help of Germany, Italy and Turkey (Central Powers) fought many wars with Russia, America, Britain and France (Allied Powers).

Australia, being part of the commonwealth, had to fight in the war. Being Australian, and not British, the Australians and New Zealanders were treated badly and sent to the front line.

Italy then eventually pulled out.

Blood was shed everywhere. Eleven million people died extremely violent deaths...shocking. The total amount of casualties in Australia alone was 215,585. This meant that the total percentage of Australians which were involved in such casualties was 64.58%!

In the end, Germany had to sign a treaty stating that they had lost the war. The closing of a horrific war had finally arrived.

By: Lisa Pham and Tharusha Dadallage