Life In The Trenches

Question 1

What did inexperienced soldiers often do that got them selves killed

Answer 1

Peer over the parapet into no man’s land where a precisely aimed snipe’s bullet would kill them instantly

Question 2

How many of allied casualties were sustained in the trenches

Answer 2

One third of

Question 3

What were rats in the trenches like

Answer 3

Million of rats infested the trenches
There were two types;the brown rat and black rat
Both despised but the brown particularly feared
Gorging themselves on human remains(they liked eyes and livers) they could grow to the size of cats
A single rat couple could produce up to 900 offspring in a year, spreading infection and contaminating food

Question 4

What were lice like in the trenches

Answer 4

Lice were never ending problem that caused man to itch unceasingly
Even when clothing was periodically washed a deloused. Lice eggs remained hidden in the seems. Some men took there clothes and would run a candle down the seems and listen to the sound of all the lice eggs popping

Question 5

What disease did lice cause

Answer 5

■ Lice caused Trench Fever, a particularly painful disease that began suddenly with severe pain followed by high fever. Recovery - away from the trenches - took up to twelve weeks.

Question 6

Where were frogs often found at the trenches

Answer 6

Frogs by the score were found in shell holes covered in water; they were also found in the base of trenches.

Question 7

What did many men do to avoid nits

Answer 7

Shaved their heads

Question 8

How did the trench cycle work

Answer 8

A battalion would be expected to serve a spell in the front line(usually a week). This was them followed by a stint spent in supports and then in reserve lines.
A period of rest would follow but was often short in duration and then the cycle repeated itself

Question 9

What was trench foot

Answer 9

A fungal infection of the feet caused by cold, wet and unsanitary trench conditions. it could turn gangrenous and result in ambition

Question 10

What was stand to

Answer 10

The daily routine began with morning stand to
A hour before dawn everyone was ordered to climb up on the fire step to guard against a dawn raid by the enemy, bayonets fixed
The policy was adopted by both side and despite the Knowledge that both sides prepared itself for attacks at dawn many were actually carried out.
Both sides liked to relieve the tension of the early hours with machine gun fire, shelling and small arm fire just directed into the mist of their front, just to doubly sure of their safety at dawn
The stand to was repeated again at dusk

Question 11

What happened after stand to

Answer 11

In some areas rum was issued and then men attended to cleaning their rifle equipment . Breakfast was then served

Question 12

What was adopted by both sides surrounding breakfast

Answer 12

In essentially every area of the line at some time or other both sides had an unofficial truce while breakfasts was being served and eaten

Question 13

Why did unofficial truces rarely last long

Answer 13

a senior officer would hear of its existence and quickly stamp it out.

Question 14

What happened after breakfast

Answer 14

Man will be inspected by either the company or platoon commander after this daily chores (NCOs)were assigned to each man

Question 15

What were some daily chores

Answer 15

Daily chores included the refilling of sandbags, the repair of the duckboards on the floor of the
trench and the draining of trenches.

Question 16

What would happen in the trench after heavy rain fall

Answer 16

Particularly following heavy rainfall, trenches could quickly accumulate muddy water, making life ever more miserable for its occupants as the walls of the trench rapidly became misshapen and were prone to collapse

Question 17

Why was movement logistically restricted until nightfall and what did this mean

Answer 17

Given that each side’s front line was constantly under watch by snipers and look-outs during daylight, movement was logically restricted until night fell. Thus, once men had concluded their assigned tasks they were free to attend to more personal matters, such as the reading and writing of letters home.
■ Meals were also prepared. Sleep was snatched wherever possible - although it was seldom that men were allowed sufficient time to grab more than a few minutes rest before they were detailed to another task.

Question 18

What happened after the stand to was repeated at dusk

Answer 18

the trenches became a hive of activity. Supply and maintenance activities could be undertaken. Men would be sent to the rear lines to fetch rations and water.
■ Other men would be assigned sentry duty on the fire step.
Patrols were sent out to no man’s land

Question 19

How long was sentry duty and why

Answer 19

Generally men would be expected to provide sentry duty for up to two hours. Any longer and there was a real risk of men falling asleep on duty - for which the penalty was death by firing squad.

Question 20

Why were patrols sent out to no man’s landing

Answer 20

Some were tasked with the repairing or adding of barbed wire to the front line
Others were sent out to listening posts in hope of picking up valuable information from the enemy lines

Question 21

What happens if enemy patrols met in no man’s land

Answer 21

They were faced with the option of hurrying on their separate ways or else engaging in hand to hand fighting

Question 22

Why could men no use their handguns when they met enemy in bo man’s land while out oatrolling

Answer 22

For fear the machine gun fire the noise of the shot would inevitably attract. Which would be deadly to all member of the patrol. Enemy and themselves

Question 23

When else were men relieved of from line duty

Answer 23

Men were relieved front-line duty at night-time too. Relieving units would wind their weary way through numerous lines of communications trenches, weighed down with equipment and trench stores (such as shovels, picks, corrugated iron, duckboards, etc.).

Question 24

Why was their such a bad smell at the trenches that instantly struck visitors

Answer 24

The following sources gave the most horrendous stench to the trench;
Rotting carcasses lay in their thousands
Overflowing latrines
Men who had not been bathed in weeks or months would odour of dried sweat.
Men’s feet

Question 25

What was zero hour

Answer 25

Zero hour was the time that the battle started when soldiers were ordered over the top

Question 26

What did over the top mean

Answer 26

This meant they had to climb out of their trench and cross no man’s land information to attack the enemy trenches casualties were in their millions

Question 27

Why were casualties in their million when it came to going over the top

Answer 27

As men remained in formation, they were all in straight lines meaning they could all be shot down in rows easily by the enemy

Question 28

What was chatting

Answer 28

Man would gather in groups to de-louse themselves.
A favoured method of eradicating lice was to quickly run a candle along the seams of clothing where lice would typically live

Question 29

When was the battle of the Somme

Answer 29

The big push was on the 1st of July 1916 and was fought to help out Britain’s ally France who was under heavy attack from the Germans at Verdun

Question 30

Who took part that earned great respect for their bravery

Answer 30

The 36th ulster division

Question 31

What did general Haig believe was the secret of a successful attack and what was his plan for the big push.

Answer 31

A heavy bombardment by the artillery would destroy the German barbed wire trenches machine guns and soldiers. The bombardment would lift at Dawn. On the 1 July 1916 The British troops would cross no man’s land and occupy German trenches. zero or is the time when the battle began. heavy casualties were not expected soldiers were assured by their officers that it would be a simple matter of a stroll across no man’s land on a sunny day.

Question 32

What went wrong with general Haig’s plan

Answer 32

Despite the German trenches being bombarded for a week, the soldiers were secured in concrete bunkers 10 meters underground. As well, the shells bounced off the concrete. they also did not destroy the barbed wire but blew up in the air and it fell down again more entangled than before.

Question 33

What happened at the appointed hour

Answer 33

British infantry lifted artillery and left the trenches and headed into no man’s land as they did so German troops raced up from their bunkers and maned the machine gun to fire at the advancing troops

Question 34

What was the result of the first part of the battle of the Somme

Answer 34

Very few British troops reach the barbed wire and those that did were too weak to capture the German trenches. Britain’s suffered 60,000 casualties (20,000 dead )on the first day of the attack.

Question 35

How long did the battle of the some last

Answer 35

140 days and can be divided into eight smaller campaigns

Question 36

What were the 8 campaigns like

Answer 36

Most were British victories, but they did not lead to breakthrough. in places 10 km had been taken but it was less than 3 km in other areas. Where trenches were take the German simply moved back to much stronger trench system. The British called these trenches the Hindenburg line.

Question 37

When did the battle end and how many total casualties

Answer 37

Five months later in November 1916 the battle of the Somme ended by which time over 1 million casualties had occurred