The British Sector on the Western Front, 1914 - 1918 Flashcards
In what year was the Ypres Salient?
1914-15
In what year was the second battle of Ypres?
What was important about this battle?
1915
It was the first time the Germans used Chlorine gas
What is a ‘Salient’?
Where one side’s line pushes into the other side’s line - their territory gets surrounded by the enemy on three sides
What was ‘Hill 60’?
A hill in which the German’s held during the Ypres Salient. It gave the German’s a height advantage but British soldiers mined underneath it and blew up German defences to capture it.
In what year was ‘The Somme’?
1916
Why was the Somme significant?
1) The first use of tanks - used but not yet effective
2) Use of creeping barrage - Artillery bombardment that moved towards the German trench as the Brtish approached it.
In what year was ‘Arras’?
1917
What did the British do at Arras?
They built over 2 miles of tunnels as shelter to prepare to attack the German line.
They could shelter 25,000 men, contained accommodation, a railway, water and electrical supplies and a hospital big enough for 700 beds.
In what year was ‘Cambrai’?
1917
Why was ‘Cambrai’ significant?
It was the first large-scale attack by British tanks to attack the German front line, over 450 tanks were used
What is a parapet?
It was built in a similar way to the parados on the front side of the trench. It was meant to be bulletproof and was lined with wooden planks, netting or sandbags.
Describe the breastworks
In wet areas, trenches were built upwards using sandbags full of clay - these were called breastworks.
Describe the parados
The parados was a mound of earth or sandbags that raised the height of the back of the trench. It was designed to protect soldiers from shell explosions behind the trench.
Describe the firing step
Men could stand on here behind the bulletproof parapet and fire their rifles into no-mans land.
Describe duckboard
The floors of trenches in wet areas were often lined using wooden boards called duckboards
Describe the support trench
80m behind the frontline trench. Troops would retreat here if under attack. Soldiers spent about 10% of their time here.
Describe the communications trenches
Trenches that run between other trenches, linking them together
Describe the Frontline trench
Where attacks were made from, the most dangerous area. Only 15% of the soldiers’ time was spent here.
Describe the reserve trench
100m behind the support trench. Where troops would be mobilised to counter-attack the enemy if they captured the frontline. 30% of time spent here.
Give 3 advantages of The trench system
1) Simple to make and cheap to build
2) Easy to defend with few men using barbed wire, artillery, concrete bunkers and machine gun fire
3) Provided some shelter/protection
Give 4 disadvantages of The trench system
1) Hard to attack as had to cross no man’s land which has been destroyed by shell fire and was a mass of mud and craters.
2) Trenches were very dirty and unhygienic as there were no running water or flushing toilets.
3) In summer, sewage, dead bodies and heat led to horrific smell and disease everywhere.
4) In winter, bad weather led to flooding, frostbite (6000 cases in December 1914
State the four types of trench
1) Support trench
2) Communications trenches
3) Frontline trench
4) Reserve trench
Why was using horse-drawn carriages a mistake to treat people on the front line?
They could not cope with the number of wounded, whilst the shaky transport often made injuries worse. A lack of ambulances meant many men were left to die
When were motor ambulances implemented onto the front line?
1914
Why were motor-ambulances better than horse-drawn ambulance wagons?
They were much more efficient and gave a smoother ride than horses, although horses continued to be used due to the horrendous conditions. Sometimes up to 6 in horrendous conditions!!!
Describe train, barge and ship ambulances.
Specially designed ambulance trains were implemented from 1914.
Stretchers could fit down the side of the carriage and some contained operating theatres.
Canals were comfortable, slow, but could transport the wounded onto backs back to Britain
What was bad about train ambulances?
What replaced them?
They were criticised for damaging the war effort as trains were blocking supply routes in France and Belgium
They were replaced with Barge and Ship ambulances.
Give 5 medical problems on the Western Front
1) Trench foot
2) Trench Fever (PLO)
3) Shell Shock (PTSD)
4) New wounds
5) Gas Attacks
Describe Trench foot
Include what it is, and attempted solutions
1) It was a major problem caused by standing in waterlogged trenches for long periods of time.
2) Medical officers ordered soldiers should carry 3 pairs of socks and change them twice a day. They were also encouraged to rub whale oil onto their feet
3) Attempts were made to pump out trenches to reduce waterlogging and add duckboards, but constant bombing made this hard.
