Life in the TrenchesLife in the Trenches

1914-19181914-1918

When war was declared in 1914 Canadian were excited.

Thousands of men volunteered eagerly while proclaiming

“Home for Christmas”.

Outside the Toronto Star building midnight August 4, 1914. Many were excited at the prospect of being a hero, having a chance to visit Europe and not have to worry about unemployment.

Volunteers were first sent for training at the new facility of Valcartier in

Quebec.

From Valcartier the troops took a train to Halifax and

then a ship to Britain.

Upon arrival in Europe many of the soldiers were

transported to the battlefields and trenches of

France.

Trenches were usually about seven feet deep and six feet

wide and often included underground dugouts to house

reserve soldiers.

The Germans were the first to decide that the trench system was necessary and therefore were able to choose the better, higher ground

on which to build their trenches.

Many of the Allies were forced to build their trenches in areas that

were only a few feet above sea level. As a result most of the trenches usually a foot or two of water in

them.

As a result issues such as “trench foot” were common in the early months of the war.

Soon it became mandatory for soldiers to change their socks every day, rub their feet with whale oil and receive regular

foot inspections.

Other conditions of the trenches include lice, rats, and dysentery.

Often when a soldier was killed in the trench their bodies remained

where they fell. Eventually bodies at various stages of decay would surround the trenches attracting

rats and resulting in disease.

Body lice also spread quickly throughout the trenches. This left the soldiers with itchy red bites on

their bodies and sometimes resulted in the spread of disease which became known as trench

fever.

Trying to rid clothing of lice.

Both the quality and quantity of food was also quite poor. Bully

beef and biscuits was most common and many found the food bland and monotonous.

The rotation in the trenches was on a 16 day timetable. Soldiers would spend 8 days in the front line, four in the reserve trench and four in a

rest camp away from the front.

Sometimes quite active Sometimes quite idle

Bodies of fallen soldiers were everywhere. Sometimes when new trenches or dugouts were needed dead bodies would be found just below the surface.

Trenches were protected by thick barbed-wire. Usually it

was placed far enough from the trench to prevent the enemy

from lobbing grenades into the trench.

No Man’s Land was the ground between two opposing trenches. It varied in size but was often about 200-250 meters wide.

Heavy artillery was often used to penetrate through the barbed wire protection. This type of

weapon would also account for 7 out of 10 deaths on the Western

Front.

British Howitzers used at the Battle of the Somme

Poison gas also became a threat to both sides. In all approximately 91,000 men were killed as a result of

poison gas.

A rare aerial view of a gas attack.

Shell shock (today known as PTSD) was first noticed

by doctors treading soldiers in 1914.

By the end of war more than 908,000 soldiers of the British

Empire were killed and 2,000,000 were seriously

wounded.

In all more than 9 million were dead and 20 million wounded.