The western front

Question 1

The trench system

Answer 1

-3 lines of trenches either side
—>front line, support and reserve trenches
-area in between the 2 front lines was no man’s land
-dig in a zig-zag pattern

Question 2

German vs British trench design

Answer 2

German:
-deeper
-better built
—>thought the war would last a long time

British
-not as deep
-weaker
-thought the trenches were temporary

Question 3

Trench life
Daily routine:
Monthly routine:
Letters home:
Trench humour:
Health and hygiene:
Food:

Answer 3

Daily routine:
-carried out duties eg. Guarding, repairing
-passed time by playing cards, writing letters
-were called to “stand to” at dawn
—>ready for a possible attack

Monthly routine:
-4 days in front line
-4 days in support trench
-8 days in reserve trenches
-before a break

Letters home:
-12million letters and parcels sent weekly
-strict censorship just in case of interception

Trench humour:
-uses to keep up moral
-unofficial newspapers were used
—>eg. Wipers times

Health and hygiene:
-keeping clean was almost impossible
-infested with lice
-rat infested trenches
-disease
-water logged trenches caused trench foot
-many suffered from shell shock

Food:
-basic
-stew, bread, biscuits
-bacon, cheese, jam and rum were treats