Western Front Flashcards
Date and describe ‘the battle of mons’
.August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) crossed the English Channel to intercept the German army in Belgium, this was known as ‘The Battle of Mons’
.The English were outnumbered at roughly 3:1, they managed to delay the Germans long enough to make a quick victory far less likely, by September 1914 the British and French managed to make the Germans to retreat at the River Marne
.Eventually both sides reached the North Sea coast of Belgium, at a stale mate
Name 3 defensive features of a trench
trenches defended by artillery, machine guns and barbed wire
Where was the britis army situated and which battles did they take part in?
The British Army was largely stationed north of River Somme, in Flanders in Northern France. They took part in battles in Ypres Salient, Arras, Cambrai and the Somme Region
What happened to the trench systems as the war went on?
They got more complex and defensive
Describe the front line trench
.The nearest trench to the enemy is the ‘front line’, which faced no man’s land and was between 30m and 200m away from the enemy
Describe tthe support trench
The support trench was behind the front line and could be accessed by communication trenches
Describe no man’s land
.No man’s land was incredibly dangerous, prime targets for artillery shells and bullets from machine guns and rifles
.Those that survived the defensive onslaught were still met with dozens of feet of barbed wire before meeting the opponents trench system
How did soldiers bypass the defensive trench features?
Tunneling underneath no man’s land
Who tunneled underneath no mas lan?
sappers
Who were sappers
men that worked on mines when they were not at the western front
Where were explosives usually placed and with what intention
Explosives were often placed below enemy positions with the intention of blowing up their defence systems
Describe the battle of messines ridge
.Battle of the Messines Ridge, near Ypres in 1917, over 450,000 kg of explosives were detonated on the 7th of June beneath hill 60, one of the largest explosions in the history of warfare and obliterated most of the area. It killed 10,000 German soldiers and helped the British to capture objectives
What was underground arras?
.In Arras the underground structure was so great that it was like a mini city, it stretched 12 miles and could house 25,000 allied soldier,
What happened 1917 in Arras?
April 9th 1917 they burst out of these underground trenches to take the Germans by surprise, this allowed them to advance further than in any previous major battles, pushing the Germans back by 11Km
Why was the terrain bad for medics?
Difficult to get across and life threatening (dangerous)
What did the thick mud do full of manure?
The thick mud full of manure highly increased the chances of becoming infected, this made the difficult job of fixing mutilated bodies even more difficult
What did stretcher bearers do?
.Stretcher bearers collected and carries injured soldiers from dangerous areas, where they would also be under heavy fire,
.After the stretcher bearers had gotten away from the enemy fire they made their way through busy communications trenches to aid posts near the front line
Why was the land difficult to get across?
, the land itself was uneven and difficult to get across due to the shell holes full of rain fall
Apart from the fighting why was life dangerous for the soldiers?
.The trenches exposed the soldiers to extreme weather in different seasons, for example snow and rainfall
.Soldiers could also be plagued by insects, vermin and parasites
Trench foot, cause symptoms and cure
.If it rained the trench would become water logged which means the soldiers would have to stand with the feet submerged in deep, wet and cold mud – this would cause their feet to become numb, swollen and blistered, if left too long they could turn blue and turn into an infection called ‘trench foot’. If this was left too long it could turn gangrenous and would have to be amputated
Trench foot response
.To combat trench foot the army asked soldiers to change their socks 3 times a day, and to insure their feet were kept dry, they were also told to cover their feet in wale oil at least once a day – due to these problems trench foot became much less of a problem after 1915
Lice, where found? Spread what? Symptoms?
.Soldiers called lice ‘chat’, they lived in the seams of clothing and in their bedding, the close conditions of the trenches was ideal for the parasites to breed and spread, they spread an illness called ‘pyrexia’, more commonly known as trench fever, men who caught it suffered headaches, rashes, swollen eyes and pain in legs for about a week, it was not uncommon for severe sufferers to be hospitalised for up to a month
Lice response
Although not life threatening, it took a lot of men out of the war, which meant the army high command had to address it, the connection to lice wasn’t proven till 1918 but there was growing suspicion that they were the cause, clothing was disinfected when they left the front line and soldiers had to visit the bath houses where they would wash in hot water
What was the main threat to soldiers and why?
.Main threat although was always enemy fire power, including rifles, machine guns and artillery shells, all of these could cause devastating and potentially fatal wounds to soldiers, artillery shells had the power to rip limbs from bodies, disfigure faces or completely obliterate a human body, rifles and machine guns could smash bones or damage important organs
Shrapnel, describe
Shrapnel was intended to explode in mid-air, sending their little pieces in all directions, most effective against troops in no-man’s land as the shrapnel would cause casualties in all directions
What did the army do to combat shrapnel? Were these effective?
the use of shrapnel shells led to the army wearing steel helmets from the autumn of 1915 rather than the cloth ones worn at the start of the year, even though these were effective against shrapnel more than 60,000 men still suffered head injuries which included the loss of noses, eyes and jaws
If you didn’t die straight away from artillery shells could you still die?
.Even if you didn’t die straight away from artillery shells you would from blood loss, shock or infection during the week after
What is shell shock?
.Shellshock (which is now seen as an acute stress disorder) caused psychological damage and trauma to men exposed to warfare for too long, sufferers often had panic attacks and the inability to talk, sleep or control their bodies
How was gas gangrene contracted? How would medics limit the damage?
The bacteria from fertiliser caused gas gangrene and could cause wounds to become infected, often resulting in amputation for the wounded soldier, to limit the damage the medics would cut away the infected tissue and soak the wound with iodine
