During World War 1 the Men Signed up to Fight to Honour the King, Their Country and Do

WI ForresAcademy John Ross

During World War One the men signed up to fight to honour the king, their country and do their duty. A sergeant would come to their town and tell the men they could be heroes and all the girls would like them, and they would also not tell them about the negative side of the war. Many of the men then believed that going to war was easy, a bit of a holiday, but when the men arrived at the trenches they soon found out the reality of it. The war was very different to what they were told as many were severely wounded, suffered from shellshock, died, went crazy or deserted. The total number of British troops mobilized was 5,397,000, but 1,663,000 were wounded and 703,000 were killed. The men also had to live in unhygienic places and were living with a constant fear of being shot or catching a deadly disease.

For a soldier in the trenches each day was the same as the day before unless there was a battle so nothing really changed. The day would begin with a sergeant bellowing at them to get up for the daily morning 'stand to'. An hour before dawn the soldiers were ordered up onto the fire step to guard against a dawn raid by the enemy. Next it would be breakfast while both sides had an unofficial truce while it was served and eaten. Breakfast usually consisted of, if not bacon, at least a cup of tea. Cooking was done on small fires made of scraps of wood found in the local ruins. The usual selection was tinned 'bully beef', a loaf of bread to share between ten men and jam which was usually Tickler's plum and apple flavour, which the soldiers soon got fed up with. In case of any emergencies there ware hard biscuits on standby which were like cement and caused problems to the men with false teeth, and so they had to soak them in water first. By mid morning most men were at work, the day to day tasks consisted of repairing trenches; filling sandbags; carrying supplies and running errands. The most common task was cleaning the weapons so they didn't jam at a vital moment. At the onset of dusk the soldiers were once again ordered onto the fire step to guard from a surprise attack as the daylight fell.

The front line was directly facing the enemy and was usually 200-800 metres away. The space in between both sides' front line was known as ' no mans land,' which featured barbed wire to protect the front line, and was normally put up during the night. Behind the front line there were the 'reserve trenches,’ which were the second line of defence and were used if the front line was captured by the enemy. There was sometimes a third line of defence known as 'communication trenches', which ran over 1km to safety. All provisions going up the line such as fresh troops, food, water, mail and ammunition had to use these lines. 'Communication trenches' were also used for transporting the wounded soldiers to the hospital. Almost all the trenches were deep enough for a man to stand up straight without being seen by the enemy. In the parts that weren't deep enough men had to crouch down, crawl all day or risk having the enemy blast their head off. The trenches were formed in zig zags as opposed to straight lines, and the mud that was dug up was piled in front to form a parapet to protect from bullets. This was to prevent attackers from capturing the trench; barbed wire doors were also common as they slowed down the enemy as well. When open the doors would fit into a hole in the side of the trench, but when shut they were lethal. The trenches would also have flat planks of wood, called duckboards, nailed together on the floor because of wet weather, which caused the mud to go all slimy; it also caused men's feet to sink when walking or standing.

Living conditions for soldiers in trenches were very basic and unhygienic, as the men slept in tiny holes cut out of the sides of the trenches. These holes were known as 'dug outs' and weren't very safe as the roofs could cave in on them. Planks of wood and sandbags were used to support the roof and a blanket would hang over the gap to give the soldier some kind of privacy, but it wouldn't protect them from shells and bullets.

Living conditions were also very wet for soldiers as they often had to stand with water up to their ankles or in some cases it was up to their knees. The water caused many soldiers to catch trench foot which was a fungal infection caused by cold, wet and unsanitary trench conditions; trench foot could also turn gangrenous and result in amputation.

While serving in the trenches the soldiers had to follow a trench cycle. A soldier was expected to serve a spell in the front line, which could last up to seventy days out of a year. After the front line they would spend another thirty days in the nearby support trenches, with one hundred and twenty days in the reserve lines. A period of rest would then follow, generally short in time before the cycle started again. The time of leave varied but was generally only two weeks in the whole year, but some soldiers spent much longer in the front line than normal, usually in the 'more busy' sectors. This would upset the men and make them angry as it was the front line and they were directly facing the enemy, which meant there would be more chance of them dying.

Parasites and rodents were a significant problem in the trenches and due to the cramped conditions many parasites thrived; lice were one of the worst as they were hard to get rid of and bred in the seams of uniforms. The lice caused soldiers to itch and could cause trench fever, which was a blood borne infection caused by bacterium known as Bartonella Quintana. The consequence of this disease was a high temperature and subsequent death due to heart failure. For men living in this condition it would be uncomfortable knowing you could die if you caught the disease.

Frogs also made their way to the trenches and were normally found in shell holes filled with water. Frogs caused many slips and falls, slugs and horned beetles also invaded the sides of the trenches, but rodents were the worst. Millions of brown and black rats gorged themselves on human remains, both in and out of the trenches. There have also been reports on rats being as big as domestic cats, and this would have made the soldiers scared and uncomfortable knowing there were rats running about the place. Again these rats would spread severe diseases which could cause death so the men would be in constant fear. One soldier described finding a group of dead bodies on patrol:

'I saw some rats running from under the dead men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My heart pounded as we edged closer towards one of the bodies, his helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the yawning mouth leapt a rat.'

This illustrates that living in the trenches was unhygienic as dead bodies just lay there.It also shows that rats were a big problem as they where everywhere and were eating human flesh. The soldiers would probably feel sick if they saw human flesh and the guts lying there on the ground and rats eating on it, as they would know it could be them when they die.

In some areas when 'stand to' was over rum might have been giving out to the soldiers. The food for soldiers in the trenches was considered at times a luxury, as receiving decent hot food from the field kitchens to the front line trenches could be impossible at times, when a battle was either imminent or in full flow. When soldiers were at stand-down, food was easier to acquire and both British and German troops could expect certain food to be available with a degree of frequency.

Life in the trenches during world war one was horrific for all the men who suffered. Many lost their lives, sanity and had to fight to defend their country. I now know what these men had to go through so we could have freedom and peace today.

The websites I used for this essay were:

life.htm

lifeinthetrenches.htm