Front Line Trench example essay topic

Question 1: Describe the conditions that soldiers experienced on the Western Front in the years 1915 to 1917. During the first world war both sides dug trenches. These trenches ended up stretching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, around 700 kilometres. Fighting in the trenches lasted 4 years. Soldiers on both sides were forced to daily face the dangers and conditions of life fighting in the trenches on the western front in the First World War. The trenches were laid out in certain ways for tactical reasons to defend the occupied land.

A trench system consisted of at least three lines of trenches. There was the front line trench, which was where the main fighting took place. This trench was backed up by the support trench, which was mainly used to rest troops but which also was called upon in a crisis. Behind the support trench was the reserve trench, which if the Front Line trench looked like it was being overwhelmed, then troops in the reserve trench could be used to support them. Communication trenches connected all these trenches to each other and enabled the movement of men and supplies between them. Each trench was protected by rows of barbed wire, which could be up to 30 metres deep.

The land in between the opposing side's trenches was called No Man's Land, which neither side controlled and was usually around 200 yards. As the Germans were the first to decide where to dig in they chose the best place to build their trenches, which was on higher ground. This not only gave them a tactical advantage but it forced the allied forces to dig their trenches on lower ground. This land was just a few feet above sea level so obviously when they started to dig they would reach water. Rain added to the problem and made the trenches waterlogged and full of mud. This meant along the whole line of the allied forces life involved a never-ending struggle against water and mud.

No Man's Land due to this rain also became very muddy making it even harder for troops to cross it and attack the enemy. The fighting in the trenches consisted of regular intervals of machine guns firing at the approaching enemy troops and at their trenches. Before a big offensive (attack) both sides used their artillery to shell the enemy trenches in an effort to kill enemy troops and destroy their trenches and barbed wire defences. Once this had taken place soldiers prepared to go 'over the top' across No Man's Land and attack the enemy's trench.

However first, paths had to be cut through the side's own barbed wire which was defending their trench so they could get through to attack the enemy's trench. Both sides used mines in the war. These were explosives packed at the end of a long underground tunnel. The mines were placed directly underneath the enemy's trench and then the tunnel was sealed.

This sent the force of the blast upwards which destroyed the enemy's trench above it and killed many soldiers. At the same time the troops attacked while the enemy was in confusion. Mines were just one of the many dangers that men faced in the trenches. Poisonous gas was first used by the Germans in 1915. Gas like chlorine would cause choking and victims would die by suffocation. However in 1916 gas masks were introduced to protect men from these gases but gas masks could not stop one gas called mustard gas.

It wasn't very deadly as only 2% of its victims died but it attacked the skin surface and caused intense burning, swelling of the eyes, blindness and choking. There was also constant danger from heavy shelling, which was what caused the most casualties in the war along with machine guns and snipers. There was also another kind of danger, a danger of diseases. Some diseases were even created by living in the trenches.

Trench foot was caused by standing in the waterlogged trenches for hours and not changing socks or boots. The feet would then swell inside the boot cut of circulation and rot. Toes were easily lost this way and sometimes whole feet had to be amputated. There was also trench fever caused by lice, which infested the trenches, living in the men's clothes and feeding off their blood. It was very hard to get rid of all the lice even if they were destroyed their eggs still lived ready to hatch.

Shell shock was a mental illness caused by long exposure to shelling. Many of these diseases were caused by the complete lack of hygiene, which many men despised. There was rarely a chance to wash, as there wasn't much clean water available and there weren't proper, hygienic toilet facilities. So many men were being killed that there wasn't enough men and time to bury them, all which meant that many rats were attracted to the rotting corpses and infested the trenches. They fed of the decomposing bodies and grew quite big.

All the corpses as well as un emptied latrines or toilets made the smell in the trenches at times unbearable for the soldiers. If a soldier was wounded in battle it was very hard to find him amongst the corpses and mud. It was very distressing for the men to here their friends crying out for help but unable to find them. Even if a wounded solider was found there weren't very good medical facilities by the trenches and it was sometimes a long journey to the nearest hospital. Sometimes people's injuries were so bad they were sent home. Some soldiers got things like trench foot on purpose or shot themselves in the foot so that they could get sent home.

This was called 'copping a blighty' and shows how bad conditions on the front must have been if these men were wiling to sacrifice a body part just to leave. If their superiors discovered they had purposely injured themselves they could be court marshalled. Some men also deserted the army and faced a prison sentence for doing this.