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TRENCH WARFAREA Manual or Ofcers & Men

J.S. Smith



TRENCH WARFARE



T R E N C H

W A R F A R EA MANUAL FOR OFFICERS AND MEN

BY

J. S. SMITH"IIIlOOlfD LIJDllTII:NANT W l T I I TRII II81'1'IIIJI

1I:XP&D1TIONAllY I'OBCJI

. . . . 4 ' . . . . . . .

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NEW YORK

E . P. DUTTON & CO.

881 FIFTH AVENUE



COPYRIGHT,1917,

By E. P. DUTTON . . CO.

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...~ . ~... - .. ,

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TO

THE AMERICAN OFFICERS AND MEN

WHO SERVED AND

ARE SERVING T H E m COUNTRY

UNDER ALIEN FLAGS

365594



INTRODUCTION

I t is a safe bet that when the German army

started for Paris they had plans for use in theevent of disaster. The disaster occurred, anda new type of warfare requiring the highestcourage, skill and endurance was born. I saybom because although trench warfare wasknown before, i t died in birth compared to this

war, for the amount of science, energy andvariety of weapons used.More earth has been removed by a combina-

tion of man, pick and shovel in making thesetrenches than was excavated to make the Pan-ama Canal possible, and in less time.

I t is my object in this book to give a faintidea and knowledge of the trenches, and to ap-proximately explain the way warfare is carriedon, and I offer the information contained hereinas a basic foundation on which to use thefurther knowledge you will gain as an officer,

and which, for obvious reasons, I will not andcannot give here.The notes are all taken from different courses

vii



viii INTRODUCTION

of instruction, and observations made during

thirty-one months of service, fifteen of whichwas spent on the Belgian and French fronts,both as private. and officer in the infantryservice.

I do not lay down my information as expertand final by any means, but as trench warfare

changes from day to day, improvements aremade, old ideas discarded, new ones tried, i t

. can be soon that nothing can be laid down asa cut and dried rule, but the principles of trenchbuilding, generally speaking, remain the same.This I have endeavored to give, along with afew other notes which will give an idea of themany and varied tasks that a second lieutenantmust know before he is :fit to take hold of menin a place such as the Western Front, where .there is very seldom a chance to rectify mistakes, or· to experiment more than once.

When the British a.n:d French armies startedtheir retreat from Mons, as far as the Britisharmy was concerned they were hampered bytheir want of knowledge of t r e n ~warfare 8J!

used in the South African war. The men retired day by day, hardly staying in one placelong enough to dig themselves in. At that timefor digging a trench system, one valuable lesson was learned, and that was, that the hole



INTRODUCTION ix

such as they had been taught to make in justsuob. circumstances as they were up against thenwas no good, as it · offered them no protectionfrom overhead. shrapnel, and at the best oftimes Liade a very poor shelter. This hole usedto be dug a little more than the width of a manand straight back his full length, he naturallythrowing the dirt in front of him and thus making a little parapet.

When the battle of the Marne commenced andthe British and the French drove forward,this valuable lesson and many others had. beenlearned, so that when the armies had reachedthe limits of their endurance, instead. of diggingthemselves in in the old style, a new system wasused, greatly assisted by shell fire. .

A round hole was dug by each man to fit hisindividual size and made to suit himself. Herehe squatted and fought, if necessary, and gotwhat rest was possible during that day, withthe enemies' line at distances varying from 100

to 500 yards from him. During the night, thesemen when not fighting or bothered by counterattacks, or trying to obtain rations, water andthe many necessaries that a-fighting man requires, deepened their shelters and joined themtogether by little narrow ditches. During thenext day there might be bitter fighting, so it



x . INTRODUCTION

would be even possible that other troops wouldcome up and relieve during the early dusk. Therelieved troops would retire a short distanceand dig themselves another row of little holeswhere they might act as supports in case thetemporary front line gave. During that nightthe holes on the front line would be enlargeduntil they finally joined and gradually without·deliberate intention the trench became a per·manent feature. Then the line slightly in the

· r e ~became connected with the front line sys·tem by what were then nothing more or lessthan ditches and this was the birth of the pres·ent system which now stretches from the sea toSwitzerland.

The trench systems now generally consist .of

three complete lines or systems of trenches,each system being self-supporting and independent of the other. The second and thirdsystems are generally laid with due consideration to protection, fields of fire, and all theother tactical requirements that are necessary tosuch a system; it being impossible in the majority of cases to keep these points in mind duringthe building of the first or original line. Thesesystems generally run to a depth of six to eightmiles from the front firing line. They are soconstructed that when a firing line has been



INTRODUCTION :xi

broken through to any great extent, what wasformerly 8 communication trench at onoo be-·

comes a fire trench, and serves to bring a heavyenfilade fire on the troops occupying the cap-tured area.

I t must be remembered that the considera-tions, arguments, and notes laid down in thisbook cannot, under stress of circumstances, al-ways be acted on. I t will be found, however,that a certain amount of training and of studyas to the conditions governing the sighting, .building, an<lliving in these trenches, will causea man, even under.great stress of excitement, tolook for and try to obtain the ideal as a matterof habit and without giving much time andthought to the question.

The Art of War is "the greatest amount ofcommon sense used in the shortest possibletime."

J. S. S.



EDITOR'S NOTE

Mr. J . S. Smith, the author of this book, is an

American, bom in Philadelphia, who enlistedin the 29th Vancouver Battalion in the fall of

1914.He

saw service alongthe

Belgian front,and in August 1916 was given a commission in

the British Army. He is now (June, 1917)serving with the British Expeditionary Forceon the French front.



CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

LocATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF TRENCHES

DuGOUTS •

REsISTANCE OF R o o F I N G M AT E B I A L 8

DUMPS

LATRINES

REVlIlTKENTS •

Sand BagsCorrugated IronFire Platforms

TBAVEBSE8

LIsTENING POSTS

OBSEBVATION POSTS

Loopholes for firingSUPPORT TRENCHES AND SUPPORT DuGOUTS

SUPPORT POINT8

REsERVE DuGOUTS •SECOND L I N E

COIDIVNIQATION TRENCHES

mi

. ~ .

vii

11924

25

Z1

2829

32

3436

38.43

43

4546

4747

48



XlV CONTENTS

PAG.

S U T C H OF TRENCH SYSTEM 56S e c t i o n I 56S e c t i o n I I 58

S e c t i o n I I I 63S e c t i o n I V 67

TELEPHONE LINES 68

RECESSES 69NOTICE B O A R D s . 70

TRENCH DRAINAGE 72

FLOORBOARDS 77

BRUSHWOOD AND STRAW 79

WORKING PARTIES 80RELIEFS 81

TRAVERSED F I R E TRENCHES 83

OBSTACLES AND ENTANGLEMENTS • 84

Low W I R E ENTANGLEMENTS 85HIGH W I R E

ENTANGLEMENTS86

ABATIS 88

BARRICADES . 88

INUNDATIONS • 89

FOUGASSES 89

ORGANIZATION OF BOMBING SQUADS • 90TRAINING 91

ExPLOSIVES 101



CONTENTS

BoMBS

PEBcuSSION BoMBS

Hand Grenade N o . 1 . .Hand Grenade N o . 2 . .Rifte Grenade N o . 3 .

IGNITION BOMBS

Hand Grenade Nos. 6 and 7 .Hand Grenade Nos. 8 and 9 .Pitcher Hand GrenadeOval Hand GrenadeBall Hand Grenade

Jam-pot BombsMECHANICAL BOMBS

xv

PAGE

• 103

103• 105

105

107108

108

110

110

110

Hand Grenade No.5 or Mills' Grenade. 111

. GA S WARFARE • • • • •

Tear Shells . . . • . . .GAS MAs K S OR REsPIBATOBS. • •

D u T I E S 011' A PLATOON COMMANDER AT THE

113

116

119

FRONT • • • • • 121G o I N G I N T O T B E TRENCHES • 122I N · THE FIRING LINE 123

OBsERVATION. • • • 125Inspection • • • • • . • • 126

SIINTBIES. • • • • • • . ' . 127



xvi CONTENTS

RIFLES

PREPARATORY TO ENTERING TRENCHES •

TAKING OVER TRENCHES

SNIPING

PATROLS

DUTI ES OF AN OFFICER

128130131

• 131

132134

How TO F I R E A M A C m N E G U N IN CASE OF

EMERGENCY •

LewisGun .

140

141

Vicker's Automatic 141

Stoppages 142

PREVENTION OF FROST BITES AND TRENCH F E E T 142



TRENCH WARFARE

LOCATION AIm CONSTRUCTION OJ-TRENCHES

In locating the site for a defensive firing line,i t must be divided into three sections :-firingline, immediate support and reserves. In doingthis several opposing factors should be taken

into consideration and their relative importancejudged according to the special circumstancesand objects in view, keeping in mind the probable lines and manner of defense of the enemy,and whether the trenches are for permanent orfor temporary use.

This may be summarized under two heads:f i r s t ~with the object of attaining the greatestfield that can be covered by defensive :(ire; and,second, the greatest security from offensive fire.

I t will even be found that these two constructions will be in conflict. Trenches placed be

hind the crest of a hill, say fifty to one hundredand fifty yards from the top, will hamper theaccuracy of the enemy's artillery fire. Shoot-

1



LOCATION OF TRENCHES 3

Protection from and localization of artillery:fire must be provided by the internal construction of the trench rather than by a positionthat protects but also restricts the :field of :fire.

There are frequently found in front of a :firingline small areas of ground which are not cov-

ered by direct :fire from your trench. A flank

ing :fire frequently can cover these areas, but inspite of this, they must be watched constantlyby means of listening posts or concealed observation posts, which may be hidden by the banksof rivers, hedges, ruined houses, or whatevernatural existing concealment renders observation possible.

At night, it is a safe principle to support listening posts by automatic rifles, trip wires withnoise making arrangements attached to themas common sense under the circumstances dictates. Great care and caution must always be

taken to prevent the discovery of these listening posts by the enemy, and when discovered,alternative posts should be made or greatercare taken for the protection of the men occupying these posts, such as overhead protection bymesh wire against bombing, and the upkeepof a small supply of bombs and close-rangeweapons in the post. The important trencheson the front having been located with a view



4 TRENCH WARFARE

of protecting the immediate front and with due

regard to their relation, tactically, to theother trenches already located, the connectingtrenches obviously must be subservient to themore important ones. Every endeavor must bemade to avoid enfilade fires in the flanks, to giveand to receive mutual support, and in particu-lar to support those flanks which are not pro-tected otherwise.

I t is an essential consideration in the locationof all these trenches that lateral communica-tions can be established, and that supplies, sup-ports, reserves, ammunition, etc., together withthe means of retiring if necessary be taken intoaccount. The distance from the water suppliesand the possibility of concealing approachesis a further governing factor, although in manycases an ideal condition cannot be realized.

Then there is the counter attack, in case the

fire trench should be taken, and the kind of soilwhich is so essential to its relation to badweather and water seepage-these also requirethought and study.

These things are main considerations to bekept in mind after a line has been settledon, whether during attack or whether sitingtrenches under common circumstances. I t isnot expected and is not necessary, when trying




to obtain a position during attack, to keep all

of these conditions in mind, but it is essentialthat when the attack has been finished andthings return to slightly more normal circumstances, that these things be given instant con-

sideration and proper action taken.Were such a thing as concealment possible,

it should be the first thing of importance to bekept in mind. Listening posts, machine gunpositions, reserve dugouts, company, battalionand regimental headquarters, and similarthings, at some distance behind or on fire lines,may be concealed, but fire-trenches are sure to

be observed sooner or later (mostly sooner) byaeroplane and other means of observation, andi t is best that one should admit the impracticability of concealment at once and take theproper protective measures. I f opportunity forconcealment offers itself, as it may do, accord

ing to the lay of the land, it shouldbe

takenalways. I t should always be kept in mind thatone should try to place himself in the positionof having the enemy's point of view, both fromhis trenches and his aerial observations.

Advantage should be taken and even care

given along trenches to the extensive cultivation of the weeds, grasses, etc., that may growrapidly in the excavated soil.



6 TRENCH WARFARE

I t is, and always will be, a matter of much

argument that trenches should not be dug nearhedges, ditches, roads or rows of trees, on ac-

count of easy ranging mark given to the enemyartillery. In a country where such things arescarce, the idea may have a leg to stand on, butcertainly to the. Western Front it d ~ snot ap- .

ply.I t

does not take artillery a moment to approximate by ranging shot, check by deduction or addition the range of trenches -in anyarea, even if lying along a hedge or road. Theditch or hedge in some cases will provide thestarting of a trench and offer fair amount of

cover from fire to the troops working. A ditchimmediately in front or behind the trenchgreatly helps to solve the many and varied difficulties of drainage, and when in front of atrench, can be made into a formidable obstacle,generally by throwing in varied lengths of

barbed wire. Trenches under the cover-of

ahedge are very often safe from aerial observation, and even when located, sniping and observation can be carried on from them if the contours of the ground are favorable. I t is al-ways possible to do a certain amount of repair

ing and moving of troops only when unobserved from the enemy's trenches. Ifadvan-tage is not taken of these natural protections,




such as hedges and trees, then they must be destroye<L

I t is obvious that a great deal of labor canbe lost and work thrown away if a policy is notadopted and continued. Battalions relievingone another up and down the line may wastea tremendous amount of labor unless the relieved officer's policy is explained. I f each com-manding officer of • relieving battalion is permitted to air his own theories, duplication ofwork and lack of continuity will exist. Therefore, it is essential that the officers relieving thetrench be thoroughly informed of work goingon. With this object in view some of the offi-cers of the relieving battalion should do a tourof duty (about 24 hours) before their troopstake over the trench. An Officer and N on-Commissioned Officer are detailed from each relieving company for this duty. In the trench thisofficer is instructed by the senior officer present, and the non-commissioned officer by theranking non-commissioned officer, in the policyto be continued. The commanding officer ofthe occupying company should have a sketchmap of his sector of trench which he turns overto the relieving officer. This map should showthe work under construction; proposed work;wire defenses; and if possible, the enemies rna-



8 TRENCH WARFARE

chine gun emplacements, observation posts,

snipers and work in progress. The notes ac-

companying the map should give the generalconditions concerning the work-depth to whichit is safe to dig, nature of soil, conditions regarding drainage, and all information in regardto the enemies' activities during the period of

occupancy. In addition, the relieving officer hasthe trench diary showing all the informationcovering every minute detail of the happeningsduring that company's stay in the trenches.This diary is a continuous record of that particular sector and remains with the occupyingcompany until it is relieved and then passes intothe possession of the relieving half company,and so on, forming a continuous running record of the policy applying to the upkeep andmethods employed therein. This diary, unlessit is buried to avoid falling into the hands of

the enemy, will continue until the end of thewar. So every half company inherits one fromhis predecessor in the line upon its assumingthe obligations previously assumed by its forerunner, thus preventing a duplication of workand assuring continuity of endeavor.

There are certain obvious requirements thathave to become rules. When required to fillsandbags, always look for the nearest excava-




tion being made and fill from there, if distancepermits.. As a matter of fact, in every trench there isa continuous revetting, widening of communications or control trenches, or driving of atunnel to a listening post.

Inasmuch as the time for filling sandbagsis never ending, i f work is being done and theearth is not absolutely needed for parapet orparados, the earth, if dry, should be put insandbags, and, i f necessary, stored until it isneeded. The repair work that is most necessarytakes precedent and is about as follows: Anydamage to parados or traverses should be immediately attended to. During the night anydamage to the wire entanglements must be repaired. Drainage comes next in order of im-



10 TRENCH WARFARE

portance, and this involves the digging of sumps

and deepening of the drainage bottom. Theseare the repairs, but improvements must continually be made in the dugouts and communicationtrenches.

The ultimate design of a fire-trench dependsupon its closeness to the enemy. When the

latter are within 150 yards, the traversed firetrench shown in sketch should be employed,as i t provides adequate accommodation and protection for men who may at any moment becalled upon to make use of bomb, bayonet andbullet; but i f the enemy trenches are more than150 yards distant, the ultimate. design woulddepend upon the number of machine guns andautomatic rifles available. Each of these gunshas a firing capacity of about 25 rifles. Eachgun therefore gives a reduction in the number

of men required to hold the line, and in conaequence reduces the amount of trench needed toprotect these men.

A design, known as the " T " shaped firetrench, makes an adaptable basis for entrenching under these conditions. Many lengths of

a continuous traversed trench have no greatfield of fire, and yet, having been dug, they must~ held, and unless properly held and kept in




repair, they naturally become a source of

danger.As shown in the sketch, a traversed trenchconsists of a series of fire-bays interrupted bya series of traverses. The object of these beingto localize the effect of shells or bombs landingin a fire-bay, and preventing enfilade fire down

the length of the trench, as well as localizingany entry of the enemy into your line.Dimensions vary up· and down the line.

Sometimes according to the lay of the land,sometimes according to the opinions, whims orfancies of the regiments making them, but the

following dimensions should be kept in mind,and i t will be found that they show the averageof the whole general line on the Western Front.

Fire-bays generally are from 12 to 18 feetlong (deferidable by 4 to 6 men, but accommodating 8 to 12, when necessary) plus a 2-ft. cov

ered sentry-box recessed into the traverse andgiving room for one more man; this dependingentirely on the energy and initiative of the menoccupying the section.

Every traverse averages 9' x 9' which includes a fairly liberal allowance for wear and

tear, and is the minimum allowance for stopping enfilade fire and localizing fire. As thewidth from front to rear varies, depending on



12 TRENCH WARFARE

the amount of shell fire, it should be wide

enough to allow a certain amount of lateraltraffic without interfering with those who may'be firing. Three feet may be taken as the maxi-

mum width at the bottom of the trench, that is,1%' for traffic and 1%' for those firing, with aslope to the sides of from 10 to 15 degrees from

perpendicular, thus lessening the tendency ofthe walls, whether revetted or otherwise, to

slide in.The depth of the trenches varies also, for

the same reasons that cause the width to vary.Recesses should also be dug at various and fa

vorable places for the storing of ammunitionand bombs.When digging entrenchments without re-

. gard to concealment, the excavated soil is firstof all thrown to the front or enemy's side of thetrench, thus temporary cover is obtained.

When the entrenchment has reached the properdepth the artificial raising of the ground is leveled. The artificially raised portion is knownas the parapet. On the completion of the parapet, the soil is thrown to the rear side of thetrench, thus forming the parados which gives

a protection from the rear. I t is not a good policy to excavate in front of the parapet, but toget additional height and thickness as quickly




as possible this is often done. Unless carefully watched,men will dig this dirt from placesas near the parapet as possible, resulting in theweakening or total undermining of the parapetor trench wall. The more gradual the forwardslope of the parapet, the more does i t approximate as i t should to the glacis of a fort, consequently giving less cover to an attacking enemy. Make use of the ditch or holes from whichthe dirt was obtained, as a strong obstacle im-

mediately in front of your trench, where the enemy at the last moment may be held up to gounder a very severe rifle and bombing effort.In normal circumstances, by which I mean whennot exposed to an unduly vigorouB machine gunor artillery fire, the soil should not be takenfrom in front of the trench in the manner described above, closer than 10 to 15 feet fromthe actual parapet, unless the holes are adequately protected by trip wire, as well as barbedwire. Cases have occurred when valuable information has been obtained by the enemy lyingin holes thus dug and not properly protected.

The parapet should be kept as low as possible and made to blend with its surroundings asmuch as possible. This is done by taking greatcare to cover any signs which show that freshwork has been done, even to the extent of ac-



14 TRENCH WARFARE

tually planting grasses, weeds and roots, suchas grow in the immediate neighborhood, andgiving every encouragement to those that already grow" This greatly hinders the enemy'sartillery, as it changes positions up and downthe line; interfering with and hindering theobservations and accurate ranging by their forward observing officers, checking charts turnedover by relieved batteries.

Bullet-proof nature of a parapet naturallydepends on the soil of which it is composed.Although it is not necessary to memorize theminjmum. of safety, you should keep a generalrule in your head. The parapet should not beless than five feet, regardless of the kind ofsoil. When the trench has been carefully sitedfor the actual field of fire from a ground level,this thickness is best obtained by raising theground level artificially as little as possible andgetting the necessary depth by digging, unlessprevented by moisture.

Unnecessary casualties are caus.ed by thepractice of putting a single row of sand bagsalong the top of a parapet for temporary purposes of concealment, as it gives a faulty ideato the men in the trench as to the real heightof the parapet.

The parados gives protection from the effect




of shell fire bursting behind the trench, andshould be made fire-proof as soon as possible,although i t is not necessary unless concealmentis possible to level i t down in a similar mannerto the parapet. As a matter of fact, it shouldbe at least a foot higher than the parapet, thusproviding a background for the parapet. I t hasbeen known to happen that when the occupantsof a trench have been reached by the enemythey have vacated their trench and used theparados as a parapet, much to the surprise anddisgust of the enemy. In a high and irregularparados, places could even be found which whennot used steadily provide unexpected and safeobservation and sniping posts, but care must betaken that they are not used too often.

I f a trench were used merely for firing,4% feet from bottom of trench to top of parapet would be a sufficient depth. During attack,

however, when fire from loopholes is too restricted, exposure of head and shoulders overthe parapet becomes necessary, but it is notnecessary to expose men moving along thetrench and not actually firing. I f the trenchshould be 7' or 8' deep, you must provide a plat

form at the bottom of the front wallllA,' wideand 4%' from the top of the parapet. This iscalled a fire-step. The rest of the trench can



16 TRENCH WARFARE

be deepened to any desired depth, depending on

the energy displayed. I f of an extraordinarydepth, steps must be cut to the fire platform.

In a great many different parts of the Westem Front, especially Belgium, it was found thatafter digging to a depth of one to three feetwater was encountered to such an extent that it

became impossible to dig any sort of a trenchwhich would give adequate protection to themen involved.

When these conditions are run into, breastwork parapets must be artificially built upabove ground level with soil, sods and sandbags, supported by sandbags, hurdles or closewire netting, revetment and stakes. The sameprinciples of thickness, depth, width, slopes,

andin

fact everything that applies to a dug-intrench, applies to breast works .

The "T" trench has many more advantages




than the few mentioned in the opening of this

chapter. T fire-bays may be single, doubleor

treble (that is with one, two or three bays).Fire-bays in any length up to 15 feet with 8feet traverses are for firing purposes only, andthe control trench, sometimes known as thelateral communication trench, as i ts name im-

plies, giving lateral communications, is usedfor that purpose only. Therefore, the fire-bays

and control trenches can be narrower thantrenches which have to be used for both purposes, thus lessening the amount of repair andrevetment work required. And the interveningground between these fire-bays gives the sameresult as a traverse used in a traversed trench

system, and saves the labor of digging a moreintricate system. The control trench gives anofficer or N. C. O. in 'charge of the T bays a

..



18 TRENCH WARFARE

chance to handle his men and fire in these bays

without struggling around innumerable tra-verses.and wasting time very often when a min-ute lost or gained means lives lost, or part of atrench system in the hands of the enemy.

T bays may be sited with due and carefulconsideration while facing the enemy in an ex-

isting trench system. Thus it gives you the ad-vantage of being able to take into considerationall the requirements of the field of fire, con-trol of isolated areas, and the obtaining ofmaximum results from enfilade fire. These Ttrenches may be dug out from the old system

without undue exposure of your men and ifdistance between the lines permits, and it is en-tirely possible to construct a new and gener-ally more favorable line of trenches within 100

to 200 yards of the enemy's trenches. Inter-vening ground b e t w ~ nthese T bays must be

completely controlled by entanglements and mo-bile machine guns, or automatic rifles, able tooperate from different alternating recesses inthe control trench. Fire platforms should be

placed in recesses at intervals in the controltrench from which covering fire can be given.

Artillery fire to damage a T trench, must bevery accurate. In a traversed trench a shelldestroys not only lateral communication, but



DUGOUTS 19

the defenders as well, whereas with a T shape,both fire-bays and control trench have to beranged and hit. The success of the enemy isentirely local when capturing one of these Tbays, and he may be shelled by your own artillery without any danger or risks to those defending their T-bays. Control trenches shouldbe dug first and zigzagged with the longerstretches facing the enemy. This gives you another fire-trench as well as a communicationtrench, and is also ready for use at any timeneeded before the T-bay is completed. On thecompletion of the T-bay, the corners of the zigzagged trench must be rounded off to make iteasier and quicker for the movement of troopsand carrying of stretchers.

DUGOUTS

I t is only under very exceptional circumstances that under-cutting a trench wall is allowed, and then the shelter should be cut in therear wall only. These shelters must be carefullysupervised and watched by the officer, as menare very often careless, with the result that theshelters are dug in a hurry and poorly. Then itrains, the shelter falls in, and the men are no



20 TRENCH WARFARE

more. I t should be high enough for a man tosit up straight, and long enough for him to liedown in, and deep enough for two men to lieside by side. I t should be raised at least a foot

FIRE TRENCH, SHOWING ENTRANCE TO SHELTEa

The shelter is of use only in a narrow or deep trench. Notethat the lloor is above the bottom of the trench.

above the floor level in the trench to preventwater from the trench floor coming in. A shel-ter smaller than these dimensions is useless.I t has a demoralizing effect, destroying all ac-tivity, mental and physical. These shelters can



DUGOUTS 21

only be properly made by cutting into the rear

trench wall the necessary depth and length andright to the top. Then, with any material which .is convenient, such as corrugated iron, brushwood, old rubber sheets, revet the sides andback. A corrugated iron roof is supported onposts at a depth of about a foot to a foot and

a half below the normal level of the ground.Then, when possible, cover this with rubbersheets. I f not possible to procure rubbersheets, simply cover with dirt excavated fromshelter, taking care that i t does not rise higherthan your parados.

A fire-trench, however, is not a proper placefor shelters, and they are generally better as aweather protection than a shell-proof shelter.Even this should not be favored too much, as i t

tends to cause obstruction, delay and inconvenience in the passing of troops. The real dug

outs for the accommodation of men holding aline are generally behind the fire-trenches inan immediate support line, or as in the case ofT-bays, in the control trench and communication trenches leading to and from them. Theseare large dug-outs, having a depth of 30 and 40

feet, and in some cases capable of holding 100to 250 men, generally having from 5 to 10 exitsand entrances. Here the men stay during bom-



22 TRENCH WARFARE

bardments and are generally· safe from any

caliber shell which may light on top, unless ahalf dozen should light in the same particularspot.

This work is generally of a very skilled andtechnical kind. Plans, drawings and labor aresupervised by the engineers, expert tunnelers

being used in constructing work, although theinfantry supplies working parties to dispose ofthe dirt, etc., resulting from these excavationsand to carry the materials and tools needed andrequired in the construction.

The design and general scheme of a small

dugout which can be made by the infantry un-der the supervision of an officer, without the aidof an engineer, are here given. The dugoutshould be approximately 6 feet from floor toroof and about 8 feet wide, with an approximatelength of 12 feet, thus allowing men to lie down

and yet leave room for passage through. Thewidth depends upon the number you intendto have occupy it. Each man requires 18".Depth to be dug below ground depends entirelyto what extent you may raise the roof upon theground without making an unduly exposed

hump which will at once tell the enemy a dug-out is there. The thickness of the roof shouldbe approximately 6 feet, constructed with side



DUGOUTS 23

posts, cross beams, corrugated iron, water proof

oilcloth, sandbags and soil. Sandbag revetments should be used in the strengthening ofside posts. When possible, although hardlyever so, walls should be lined with waterproof

Dimensions variable. Note the wide berms permitting the UIII!

of strong roof supports. A layer of large stones to eaulII!

early shell burst should form part of the roofing.

oilcloth and entrances so placed that they get asmuch sun as possible.

Great care and attention must be given tothese dugouts, and even though taking a littlelonger than seems necessary, care must be takento see that they are substantially constructed,otherwise they are in a constant source of danger of cave-ins during heavy shelling and bad



24 TRENCH WARFARE

weather. Not more than 10 men shou1d occupy

one of these dugouts. Then, i f accidents hap-pen, your casualties are not so great.The roof of these dugouts should be prepared

in a manner tending to withstand as high shellshock as possible, and for this purpose the fol-lowing table would be of some use, any part of

which, or a combination of all, will give someidea of what is required.

RBSISTABO:l OF ROOFING MATERIALS

(a) Shrapnel bullets-Stout planks suitablysupported and covered with corrugated iron and12" of earth or 3" of shingle.

(b) Ordinary guns of 3" caliber-Strong tim-ber supporting 4 ft. of earth with a top layerof heavy stones or broken bricks to cause early

shell burst.( c) Field howitzers (of less than 6" caliber)

-12" logs, supporting 8 ft. of earth with toplayer of heavy stones or broken brick andlightly covered over with some earth.

(d) "Jack Johnsons"-20 ft. of earth or 10ft. of cement concrete, reenforced with steel andcovered over with a covering of heavy stone orbroken brick.



DUMPS 25

I t is very often the case that there is a lineof trenches with very few dugouts. Those thatexist are mainly occupied by first aid stationswith a medical officer in charge, and officers'headquarters. When such is the case, verynarrow, deep trenches, known as retirementtrenches, are dug roughly from 20 to 50 yardsbehind the firing line, so that every one, exceptthose on sentry duty, may retire· there duringthe heavy shelling. I t is very obvious that ex-cellent communication must be kept up betweenthis trench and the firing line.

DUMPS

Sandbags, corrugated iron, floor boards, lad-ders, pails, brushes, rubber boots, periscopes,barbed wire, etc., are what are known as"trench stores." These are generally broughtup by carrying parties during the night andtaken to some convenient spot picked out bywhosoever may be commanding that particularsection of trench, ready for distribution in themorning. This place is known. as a "trenchdump." Here every morning each junior of-ficer goes to his company commander with a re-quest for his stores for the day. When this has



26 TRENCH W.A.RFARE

been handed in and approved by his company

commander, he then has a party detailed to goand collect his stores. These are again placedin his particular little sector of the lines and hereceipts for their care and proper use; all storesnot used are turned over to the relieving troopsand a receipt taken for same. These dumps

must be made in a central location, both as regards the company dump and the platoon. Thecompany dump is not a permanent home for thestores or utensils brought up, but is merelywhat might be called the distributing. center.When a company commander turns over his

trench stores and utensils to the relieving com-mander, the fact that he has all his stores andutensils in the company dump does not showmerit, but merely inefficiency, that the distribu-tion, which should have taken place, has not beencarried out, and, therefore, that some of the men

under his command probably have not the required tools to work with or the material thatis necessary to the small units to carry on theirdaily lives. Stores should not remain in theircenter dumps. But each platoon commandershould know exactly how much he has in hand,and how much he needs. I t is also plainlyevi-dent that in a scattering of dumps in this man-ner, any captured by the enemy do not consti-



LATRINES 27

tute a "knock out" as far as the trench stores

are concerned.

The cleanliness of the trenches and latrinesrequires the closest supervision of all officers

and non-commissioned officers. The bucket system of latrines is entirely unsatisfactory. Theground where the buckets are in use becomesunsanitary, and so does the ground in whichthe contents are buried. Double labor and carriage is involved, and as often as not a pol

luted soil is sooner or later to be found in theline of a proposed communication trench. Themethod used in the French armies is very goodand by far the cleanest. I t involves no unpleasant labor and is satisfactory. A pit about12 feet deep, 3 feet wide and 12 feet long is dug

in some place which is fairly easy to get at bythose who are to use it. Generally thirty toforty feet behind the fire-trenches and off oneof the communication trenches. The pit isboarded over, the boards being laid across thewidth, that is from front to rear; every other

board space being omitted. A pail of disinfectant is kept standing nearby, and the deeper thepit is, the better and longer it will remain in use,



28 TRENCH WARFARE

but should be filled in when contents are within6 feet of the top. This makes subsequent unpleasantness very unlikely. Care must be takenthat men using these places have some protection from stray shells, and are out of sight ofthe enemy.

When possible, there should be a refuse pailfor every section of men, and care should betaken to impress on the men that they mustthrow in all tea leaves, dregs, all scraps of food,and refuse in general, and shoUld be coveredover with disinfectant. I f this is not done,thousands of flies and. insects are attracted, with

the inevitable rats, and disease and unsanitaryconditions will follow. Tin cans, etc., shouldunder no circumstances be thrown over the par-apets as the same results will occur there.

REVETllElft'S

When fire trenches are to be occupied for anylength of time it is necessary to revet them.By that I mean the walls, and especially frontwalls, have to be faced or strengthened by sand

bags, boards, corrugated iron or other materialthat is needed. This work to be of any use atall must have solid foundations and be thor-



REVETMENTS 29

ough from top to bottom. Careless revetmentwork is of no use and a source of endless laborand trouble. All such work should be super-vised by officers or N. C. O.'s who have a thor-ough understanding of such things, and theywill be amply repaid if they take an active partin the work with their own hands. There areseveral forms of revetment, according to thematerials available and the conditions of thewalls to be revetted, but the usual materials arethe sandbags, corrugated iron, stakes, boards,wire netting, etc., and these can be used eitherseparately or in a combination. All these ma-terials are generally kept in engineer dumps,some little way behind the firing line. Requisi-tions are made during the day by the officercommanding the sector of trench which requiresrevetting, and at night the men are detailed in

carrying parties to go down to the engineerdumps and carry these things up for work thenext day.

SANDBAGS. Sandbags are usually availablein large quantities, but it is well to remem-ber that generally only half the number in-dented for reach the indentor. The rest gen-erally go around the men's feet and legs tokeep them warm at night, and very often areused as a sort of mattress in the dugouts. This



30 TRENCH WARFARE

should not be allowed as it creates a tremendouswastage. The sandbags should only be aboutthree-quarters filled, thus allowing for the chokeor neck end, after tied, being turned underthe back when laid in position. This also givessomething to catch hold of when laying andbrings the weight to something manageable,about sixty pounds. A bag three-quarters filledmeasures approximately 20" x 10" x 5". Laidsand bags are called headers, when laid withbottom of the bag facing the center of thetrench, and stretchers, if laid with the side facing the trench as per sketch. The neck end

, should always be tucked well in the bag in thecase of the stretcher; the side seam, which isa weak spot in the sand bag, should be keptfrom exposure, that is, should be turned fromthe center of the trench.

When the front wall of a trench is to berevetted and only sandbags are available, thewall should first be cut to a slope of from 10to 15 degrees from the perpendiculat, and theloose soil obtained, if dry, placed in the sandbags. When there is an unrevetted fire platform, this should be also cut away and put, if

dry, in the sand bags. A bed should then be dugabout 6 inches into the solid bottom of thetrench (disregarding the soft mud which for



REVETMENTS 31

foundation purposes is of no use) and slopingdown into the parapet at right angles to theslope of the fr()nt wall. Into this bed placea row of headers. On this row place a doublerow of stretchers. Joints must always be thesame manner as brick-laying; that is, care takenthat the joint where the ends of the stretchers

H e a d e r.

S t r e t c h e r a

~ __ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ H e a d e

meet does not come immediately over the jointbetween the headers and the lower row. Sandbags should now be beaten down flat, generally

with a wooden mallet provided for this purpose; then alternate rows of headers andstretchers laid; each layer being Battened outwith the mallet until the top of the parapet isreached. The top layer should always come outas headers.

Twenty-five headers or twelve stretchers, orsixteen mixed, is the average required for revetting every superficial yard of -trench.



32 TRENCH WARFARE

The slope of a front trenoh wall, even whenfrom 10 to 15 degrees from perpendicular, isapt gradually to assume the perpendicular, andthen fall in, owing to the sinking of the trenchbottom or the actual thrust of the earth in front.This can, however, be checked by using 6' to 8'

stakes driven well into the front wall foundation, and at the same angle as the front wall.Then, wiring the head of these stakes to whatis lmown as an anchor-stake driven about 10'into the ground in front of the trench.

Sandbags come in bales of 250, which areagain divided into bundles of 50 each. On acarrying party i t is an average rule that eachman carry 100 sand bagS.

CoRRUGATED b o N . Generally, when lengthsof corrugated iron and plenty of floor boardsand stakes are available, this material is usedfor revetting the lower half of a trench wall, asit removes a great many difficulties, such aslooking over substantial foundations for sandbag revetments. I t makes i t unnecessary to fillsandbags, etc., thus saving a great amount oftime and labor. In revetting with corrugatediron and stakes or hurdles, cut the slope or wallfrom 10 to 15 degrees from the perpendicular,putting the soil in the sandbags and leaving i tin some handy place for any future use. Then,

I

j



REVETMENTS 33

drive 6' to 8' stakes well into the trench foun-dation and approximately 4' apart, thus givingadequate protection to each piece of corrugated,having the stakes at an angle of 15 degrees atleast, from the perpendicular, and 6" or 8" awayfrom the trench wall. Then, slide 'the corru-gated, hurdles, or boards on their sides down

.behind the stakes, overlapping slightly the ends• and ramming them well down into the mud or

soil in the bottom, and filling in the space be-hind with soil.

The bottom t1i.ird or half of the front wall isthus substantially, easily and quickly revetted,and the upper half or remainder is generallyrevetted with the sandbags, a bed being dug sothat the first layer of headers is about half itsdepth below the top of the corrugated. H

stakes shorter than 6' or 8' have been used inthe revetting, half should be cut off to where

the sandbag revetting commences and wired toanchor stakes, driven into the parapet end ofthe bed, and not wired over the top of the para-pet, as it tends to gradually pull them upwards.Then cover this wiring with your first layer ofheaders. When hurdles or floorboards are used

instead of corrugated iron, empty sandbags orsimilar material must be hung behind them to

prevent the soil crumbling through and thus



34 TRENCH WARFARE

weakening the foundation of the sandbag re-

vetments. Corrugated should not be used forrevetting the front wall higher than 2', which isthe width of one sheet, as the supply is gener-ally limited and can be put to more valuableuse as dealt with later.

Corrugated iron comes in bundles of about 24·'

sheets to the bundle, averaging 6' by 3'.T w ~ '

. sheets is the average load for anyone man i n .

a carrying party.A front wall constructed in the manner

shown, i f prompt and immediate attention al-ways be given to repair i f damage is done, will

give very little bother.I t

is the usual cus-tom to construct your fire platform after thisrevetting work has been done.

A trench should be dug no deeper than willafford protection to the firer, a deeper passage-way necessitating a fire platform, a subsequent

work, and by first revetting the whole frontwall from bottom to top then adding the fireplatform, each gets the benefit of the foundationof the other. Until this fire platform is con-structed, emergency methods may be used andimprovised in a moment with ammunition boxes,

loose sandbags and the various other junk whichaccumulates in a trench.F I R E PLATFOBMS. Now that the front 'wall



REVETMENTS 35

has been revetted, either with corrugated or

sandbags, the construction of the fire plat-form should be at once started. To start this,short stakes should be driven well into thetrench bottom about 36" from the front wall andparallel to the slope of the front wall, averagingfrom 2' to 3' apart and generally as substantial

as the large revetment stakes, although this isnot of absolute necessity.

When brushwood is procurable, it should beused as a foundation, putting it in after theshort stakes are driven and ramming it downbehind them. This gives you as nearly as possi-

ble a dry and compact foundation for your :firstrow of headers. Then this may be covered withanother lot of brushwood, and that again by arow of headers, and from then the layer shouldbe alternate headers and stretchers. Sand bagsdo not offer a good platform after a heavy rain,as they become wet and slippery and the mate-rial quickly rots, then they break open and thetop of your fire platform is gone. To avoidthis, it is necessary to use whatever materialmay be at hand in the covering of the toplayer.

One good way of providing this top coveringwhen the material is procurable, is a wire net-ting used in a double thickness. I t should be



36 TRENCH WARFARE

placed behind and up against the stakes before

the foundation is laid. Then when the fire plat-form is built to its proper height, bend the wirefrom the top of the fire platform and fasten i tdown on the sides by whatever means arehandy. Using this double wire netting makesit possible to use brick and all sorts of generaltrash in the construction of the fire platformand gives a very good dry footing. When doingthat the face of your platform should be eithercorrugated sheets or boards.

Very often what are known as sentry-boards,or small Hoor boards about 36" square and with

additional cross pieces underneath, giving thema height of about a foot, thus raising them wellout of the mud, are used, and are very handybefore a fire platform is made, and in somecases l;1ave to be used for small men after thefire platform is made.'

All the walls of the traverses must also be

revetted, generally with the sandbags and in

exactly the same manner as the front walls of afire-bay, care being taken to keep it well sloped.This leads to a lessening of protection afforded



TRAVERSES 37

the occupants by making a greater width at the

top of the trench, but it is absolutely necessaryunless you wish your whole traverse to gradually fall in, when you are in a position of havingno protection at all. The top of the traversemay be and is often several feet higher than theparapet, if the fire-bay i t protects is exposed to

enfilade fire from the enemy trench at a higherlevel. But when this is not the case, the traverse should not be higher than the parapet orparados, and should slope down towards theenemy to give the appearance of being merelya continuation of the parapet.

The traverse should never be less than 9'wide, allowing 2' for a sentry box, although thissentry box is no longer generally in use.

What are lmown as overhead traverses aremade generally in a communication trench leading up

to the front line, and whichin

certainparts the enemy are able to look into. Theseoverhead traverses give to this particular placethe protection which -is necessary. They arequickly and easily made by placing corrugatediron, logs or strong branches, or Hoor boards,

across the top of the trench and putting sandbags on the top of these. When the trench wallsare weak, or even on general principles, the



38 TRENCH WARFARE

sides supporting this overhead traverse should

be revetted with sandbags.The sentry boxes, although not in generaluse now, are described, more for general information than anything else. They are dug orrecessed in the traverse at either end of thefire-bay and must have an observation slit in

the parapet for use by day, but no loop-holefacing the enemy, as regardless of the care andcaution used in the construction of these loopholes, they will sooner or later, generallysooner, be observed by the enemy and thesentry box made useless.

During an attack this sentry box is neverused, except for stores or the placing ofwounded, as there will always be plenty of roomfor the late occupant in the fire-bay itself.Sometimes, when energy and time permit, anenfilade fire loop-hole is made through the tra-

verse and facing the next fire-bay, but this hasas much value for making easy verbal communication from one fire-bay to another as it has tothe checking of attacking forces.

L18'1'J.:NING POSTS

As before mentioned, in the space betweenthe front lines of the opposing armies, which is



LISTENING POSTS 39

known as No Man's Land, there are sometimes

large and sometimes small areas of ground,ditches, streams, etc., which cannot be satisfactorily watched from a fire trench immediately facing them, owing to the lay of the land,hedges, old excavations, buildings, etc. This isthe case in a great many instances regardlessof the careful thought and the amount of timespent in siting a fire-trench, as the siting of alltrenches is largely subsidized by the tacticalposition of the flank trenches. Very often aline of trenches is taken up under stress of circumstances that do not permit of the obeyingof the rules and standards set for an ideal firetrench.

The control of these areas is essential to prevent small surprise attacks, cutting-out partiesand raids. During the day they are very oftenobservable from a flank trench or higher observation ground in the rear, but at night this isnot possible; so that listening or observationposts are gradually sited in front of the firetrench with due consideration to the situationin that immediate vicinity. A ruined shed,shack, cart, or any other thing of a similar character lying in No Man's Land is very useful forthese purposes if it can be reached before theenemy reach it with the same purpose in mind.



40 TRENCH WARFARE

This cannot be used very long, as its purpose is

too obvious and peace and quietness will notlast long, but it will do until a more satisfactoryarrangement can be made. '

The listening post is often dug just inside theouter fringe of your own barbed wire entanglements, and is just large enough to allow two

men to stand in unobserved. I t should bereached by a very narrow, irregular trenchrunning out from a fire-bay, where i t is fairlyeasy to secure the maximum amount of concealment necessary to give protection. The soilexcavated from these places must not be thrown

out, but placed in sand bags and taken into thetrench and used there. I t is always best andrequires very little more labor, and gives thema.ximum amount of protection to your listening post if communication to it be made througha tunnel.

These things are bound to be discoveredwithin a certain amount of time, and when youknow the position of your listening post hasbeen found by the enemy, which you will knowvery quickly, owing to the amount of bombs andrifle fire it will receive for one or two nights,until you can dig another one, i t is a safething to build up a small parapet, taking i tdown every morning before dawn. I t then 00-



42 TRENCH WARFARE

cord or wire, and a simple code of tugs is ar-

ranged, or a bell fastened to the fire trench endfor alarm in case of emergency, and here a sen-try always stands to get any signals that maycome from the listening post.

I f a listening post has not been warned that afriendly patrol is out and fires on it withoutchallenge, the L. P. is absolved from .all blame.

When a hedge or ditch, which might easilyprovide cover to the enemy, is running parallelwith the firing trench, i t must be controlled a tnight by a machine or Lewis gun which is ableto enfilade a frontal advance over open ground

leading to it. If, as is often the case, the par-allel hedge or ditch is easily approached alongeither hedges or ditches running a t right anglesto it, these angles must be protected by machineor Lewis gun firing down them.

When hedges or ditches running. a t right an-

gles from the firing"line and leading towards theenemy are in a sector of line, they should be pro-tected from dusk to dawn by one or two men,generally only armed with bombs to protectagainst surprise, and great care must be takenthat no more signs than possible are left to theoccupancy of this position over night.



OBSERVATION POSTS 43

OBSERVATION POSTS

LooPHOLES FOB F m I N G . During an attack,firing is never possible through loopholes as i tis too restricted to be of any value. All . thefiring then is done over the parapet. The diffi-

culty of constructing new observation postswhich are effectual and inconspicuous for anylength of time has resulted in their not beingmade in a parapet, where, when located by theenemy, they are as often as not a source of danger. Moreover, promiscuous firing throughloopholes by inefficient riflemen is of no value.Sniping is under the control and supervision ofa sniping officer, and loopholes should only beused by men appointed by that officer. Theyare not used at night and should be only usedduring the day for enfilade fire, and be placedin the parapet as low down as is consistent withline of site. A piece of cloth or empty sandbagshould be hung from the rear of the loophole, sothat when the hole is not obstructed by the fire,no light can. show through. No shots should befired from those loopholes, except at a definitetarget, and ranges of targets or spots wheretargets may possibly appear, should be ascertained in advance, and necessary exposed move-



44 TRENCH WARFARE

ment, such as withdrawal of rifle, must be very

slow and gradual. With care, and when onlyused by a skilled rifleman, a loophole will be ofvalue for probably two weeks and good resultsobtained, but by a careless man the value of aloophole will not last a day and very likely re-sult in casualties not only to the man shooting,

but to others as well.In the area from 20 to 100 yards behind thefire trench, there sometimes is, although veryseldom, ground much higher than the actual firetrench, so that it is safe to allow even hastilytrained men to use i t for firing over the heads

of the main front line trench, although it hashappened that men in such a position have firedinto their front line, thinking it the enemy line.This ground is generally used by building whatare known as covering fire trenches. These tobe of any value, should not be more than 20

yards behind the front line, as farther forwardthan 20 yards they become affected by artilleryfire directed at the fire trenches; and fartherback than 100 yards the covering fire, unless inthe hands of very skilled and efficient riflemen,becomes very dangerous to the men in the front

line.



SUPPORT TRENCHES AND DUGOUTS 45

1

Iy SUPPORT TUHOBBS AlID SUPPORTDUGOUTS

A support trench is usually within 30 to 300

yards of a fire trench, and may serve the pur-poses of covering fire trenches by skilled ri1le-

men or an indirect machine gun fire, but theirmain purpose' is to shelter troops from observa-tion and shell fire, and thus their main char-acteristics become the size and strength of am-ple dugouts. Troops in the support dugoutsare at hand for three purposes: Firstly, re-placing of casualties occurring in the firetrenches during normal times or a hostile at-tack. Secondly, holding the support trenchesin case the fire trenches are taken by the enemy.Thirdly, in the event of an attack on the en-emy's trenches, leading the attack by movingforward over the heads of the occupants of thefire trench, or if the latter are leading the at-tack, to occupy at once the fire trench whenvacated. For this reason it is of vast impor-tance that there are accessible and commodi-ous support dugouts and communications be-tween the immediate support trenches and frontline. I f this is so there will be less chance ofdisasters to supports and reserves coming up



SECOND LINE 47

remain a thorn in the enemy's side until the

last man of the garrison is killed.

USBRVB DUGOUTS

These dugouts protect the local reserves from

which supports are supplied and are used forpurposes similar to those for which the im-

mediate support dugouts are employed, but ona great deal larger scale. These dugouts aregenerally near battalion headquarters and from500 to 1,500 yards behind the firing line. The

chief considerations in siting the positions ofthese dugouts are three: First: facilities forrapid and easy transit to the support and firetrenches; second: concealment; third: comfort.Comfort should be secondary to the other conditions affecting the siting of the system.

SBOOND L I D

This comprises the line of fire-trenches, withcovering fire-trenches, support trenches, sup

port dugouts and reserve dugouts (in otherwords, it is an exact duplication of the frontline system), far enough behind the front line



48 TRENCH WARFARE

that in the event of the first system being taken,the second line is ready to be taken up by thetroops driven out of the front line, and receivethe support of troops lying in brigade or divi-sional reserve. The distance of the second linebehind the first is roughly a mile, and while thefirst line is held, operations of the second often

provide useful accommodation for the machineguns and' artillery, both for firing purposes,observation and shelter.

The time available for siting and construct-ing second line system, and the freedom from alldisturbances which bother the front line sys-

tem, should result in its being impregnable.I t

is an ideal system provided those responsiblefor its siting and construction are thoroughlyand practically experienced with first line con-ditions and profit by that experience and formermistakes.

OOItDlUlUOATlOlf TB.ElfOBES

When siting' communication trenches, twoconsiderations come into conflict with one an-

other; the desire for protection, and the neces-sity of rapid and easy transit. I t is obviousthat a C. T. is of vital importance to the firing



COMMUNICATION TRENCHES 51

to the result gained. The C. T. must be wide

enough for requirements. These differ accord-'ing (a) to the proximity of C. T. to the me-trenches, (b) to the number of C. T. 's available,and (c) to the ~ s efor which a C. T. is required,i. e., whether a double C. T. (for both up anddown traffic) or a single C. T. (for traffic in one

direction only).When a C. T. is close to the fire-trench, troopsmoving into it are practically themselves in thefire-trench and as each group has probably toget to a different part of that fire-trench, allnecessary traffic up and down the fire-trench

and disturbance of the men occupying it mustbe avoided. Rapid transit can advantageouslybe obtained by other means than the width ofthe C. T.; by dividing the single C. T. at somepoint from 30 to 60 yards in rear of the actualfire-trench into a number of small narrow C.

T. 's, each leading to a group of 3 to 6 fire-bays,and these may again be divided into those forup and those for down traffic.

This system requires a fair amount of thinking out and all the trenches should be plainlymarked and named. These names are placed

on notice boards at the different junctions having the proper indications and rules directingthe use of up and down traffic. This is and



52 TRENCH WARFARE

should be rigidly enforced during both quiet

and active periods, but takes on a much greaterimportance during active periods.The width of these single C. T.'s running

close to the fire-trenches should be enough toallow a man carrying full equipment, stores, orrations to pass along easily and without bump

ing the sides with his equipment or burden; approximately two feet at the bottom with ampleroom at all corners. The width of a single C. T.for down traffic only should be wide enough toallow for passage of a laden stretcher, especially at the corners, as a stretcher is a very

clumsy thing to get around these corners andoften the delay caused has very serious conse-quences. ,

As a C. T. leaving a fire-trench gets fartheraway, the width should be as soon as possiblesuch as will allow two men to pass one another

fully equipped without jostling or scraping thesides of the trench, or approximately 4 ft. at thebottom. This width with recesses describedlater allows rapid transit for troops passingeach other in quiet parties and allowing a muchgreater safety in an emergency when there is

no down traffic.The front is always referred to as "up."Another advantage to be gained in the width




of the C. T. is in the fact that it is much easierto keep dry and usable. I t permits laying ofregulation floor boards, allowing enough roomon each side of them for the purpose of drain-age, and is a means of preventing falling soilfrom covering the floor boards. Water will notdrain off or through soil which is continuallytrampled on and has become sodden or irregu-lar, and unless the floor boards are kept freefrom soil, they soon become useless, crookedand immovable. The width of these trenchesallows the wind and sun to reach the bottom ofthe trench, thus helping a great deal in keepingi t dry. There is no such thing as a communi-cation trench 18 inches wide at the bottom and24 inches wide at the top; diggings of these di-mensions are nothing more than drains which inan emergency only are struggled through whenpassing in the open is still more impossible, andthey should not be given any considerationwhatever as a C. T.

The features required in a communicationtrench, regardless of the claims of rapid transitand only c!)nsidering protection, are:

(First) Frequent traverses or turnings toavoid the effect of enfilade fire, to localize theeffect of a bursting shell or bomb, to make diffi-

cult a hostile advance down the C. T. and to



TRENCH WARFARE

enable bomb parties to resist more easily theiradvance.

(Second) A trench that is sufficiently nar-row will localize the effect of a bursting shellor bomb and minimize the effectiveness of hostile fire, which must have a high degree of accuracy to be effective. But the quicker over

the ground the shorter the period of danger,and shell fire of any degree of accuracy willsubstantially narrow one of these narrowertrenches, damaging the walls and causing casualties and other obstmctions which will renderpassage impossible with either one or two re-sults. Delay caused at a critical moment, orthe occupants trying to obtain a passage up thetrench in order to take any part in the fighting,would have to come out into the open soonerthan necessary. The shelling of the C. T.'s usually is heavier for perfectly obvious reasonsduring an attack and when rapid transitthrough them is of the utmost importance. Anarrow trench generally takes as long to digas one of the wider type, owing to the restrictedarea in which to work. .

(Third) I f invisibility be possible, i t is anexcellent feature, but in nine hundred andninety-nine cases out of a thousand it is hardlypossible. An observed C. T. indicates the posi-




tion and direction of supports, stores, reserves, dugouts, etc. This fault can be correctedto a certain extent by the careful use of thecontours, dead ground, sunken roads, and allnatural features, such as woods and hedges.Artificial cover may and does assist concealment, but sooner or later hostile aerial observation and photographs disclose the position ofmore easily concealed things than an excavatedC. T. I t is frequently the shadow at the bottomof a trench which gives its position away toaircraft, and the narrower the trench, the moreprominent is the shadow. The soil, which isgenerally a different color from -the surfaCe soil,must be thrown up on either side as time doesnot allow it being carried away. Unless in aplace of artificial cover through the length ofthe C. T., i t is usually necessary to admit theimpossibility of concealment and utilize timemore profitably by· taking protective measures.

Rapid transit to a fire-trench is of greaterimportance than rapid transit from a firetrench, and the importance of protection isgreater as the fire-trench and its dangers areapproached. Methods of construction shouldbe based on this idea and the arguments givenabove.



56 TRENCH WARFARE

SKftOH or T U N O H SYSTEM

This sketch shows a double-traffic communication trench leading (5 ft. wide) from reservesand H. Q. to a loopholed island-traverse about30 yards behind the support line. At thisisland-traverse, single-traffic C. T. branches offto various sectors of the support line; the mainC. T.leading on (from 3 to 4 feet wide) uninterrupted through the support line to loopholedisland-traverse " E , " about 30 yards behind the·firing line. At this island-traverse the mainC. T. breaks off into single-traffic C. T. 3 feetwide. Each leads to various sectors of the firing lint;;.

SEOTION I. C. T. should start behind one ofthe fire-trench traverses and not from a firebay. E'Very yard should be contestable for approximately the first 15 to 20 yards. This canbe effected, and at the same time the effectof hostile artillery and rifle fire and bombslocalized, by a series . of traverses 9 feetsquare, the trench being approximately 7 feetdeep and 2 feet wide at the bottom. Cut intothe rear of a few of these traverses is a narrowrecess through which one of the defendingbombing party may take up a position in the



58 TRENCH WARFARE

center of the traverse and fire, kneeling orstanding, through a loophole a t the advancingenemy. The recess gives him ample protection,including head cover, and is so cut that the entrance is out of alignment with the trench behind him and he will be unaffected by a bombexploding there. At the same time he maywork with, and direct, the bombers behind himwho are bombing over the traverse, and i f i tbecomes necessary, they can also take cover inthe entrance to the recess. The loophole shouldnot be placed so high that i t becomes possiblefor the enemy to come forward under it.

The most dutiable arms for the members ofthe defending bombing party detailed for thistraverse work are what are known as "close-contact weapons," generally including revolvers, bombs, trench knives, and very often abayonet carried by pushing· i t down in theputtee.

S1!lCTION II. The time and claims of rapidtransit will not allow the traverse system as employed in Section I to be continued, the narrowsingle-traffic C. T. '8, from wear and tear andshell fire, soon become wider, and as the widthwould allow rapid transit to friend and foealike, it is of the utmost importance that somemeans be adopted tQ deprive the enemy of this



M /'I10

SECTION n

SKETCH Of TRENCH SYSTEM



SKETCH OF TRENCH SYSTEM 61

" D " to the support of friends still r.ghting

there, and without obstructing the fire directedfrom the traverse at enemy advancing down"0 . "

An island-traverse S() constructed andmanned should be unp.pproachable along eithertrench " 0 " or "D," but precautions must be

4Lt9 /YQ Z ? Ay £ . e S e :

A type used to control long, straight stretches of trench.

taken to prevent the enemy· avoiding it by coming out into the open, as in active moments O.

T. 's become as mutilated as fire trenches andthe enemy may leave the O. T. before reachingthe 15-yard stretch and approach the traversefrom above or flank. In anticipation of this,the position " H " is selected slightly in rear andto flank of the traverse, and in this position oneof the automatic rifles may take up, either originally or by retirement from " E , " and deliverthe required traversing covering fire across the



62 TRENCH WARFARE

front of " E " and giving adequate protection

to the garrison manning the island-traverse.Barbed wire is also generally placed in openground such as this described, say, for instance,between " K " or " L " on either side of the 15-yard stretches to impede hostile exit and ad-vance. The overhead traverse just in front of

the island gives protection against bombsthrown down on C. T.When covering fire is not required, the posi

tion " H " will form an alternative positionshould the island-traverse be destroyed by shellfire or taken by the enemy; but the latter willbe of little use to the enemy as their progresspassed it is blocked by a loophole placed at" H " and covering the trench" M" down whichthey must advance. I t also covers a dummytrench, shown as "N," down which there is afair chance that the enemy would naturally goi f a misleading notice were placed at the junction 'of "M " and "N." The slight turn at theend, "0," will prevent premature knowledgeas to the real 1?-ature of this trench. The enemy's progress may also be blocked for a shorttime by having rolls of looped wire, sometimesknown as concertina wire, so placed in recessesin the side of the trench, and so arranged thatwhen a man retiring down a trench can catch




hold of the roll as he passes a recess, uncoils itas he runs, leaving i t in the trench in a badlytangled mass.

SECTION III. Supporting trenches'may be atany distance from 30 to 300 yards behind thefiring trenches. The C. T. in this section is con-structed on the same lines, or may be con-structed on the same lines, as Sections I and II,into whatever proportions local conditions andpractical considerations, ~ d particularly dan-gerous places, may dictate. The zigzag planshown in the sketch is generally safe to adopt,as it allows rapid transit with a certain amountof concession to the claims of protection, moreso as i t approaches the fire trenches. TheseC. T.'8 generally should be a series of straightstretches, zigzagging at acute or obtuse angles,the length and angles governed by local condi-tions, the extent and direction from which eachstretch might be enfiladed, and the gradient anddistance from danger. I t has been shown be-fore that the shorter the stretChes and the moreacute the angle at the turn, the less is the dan-ger from enfilade fire, but the C. T. with thisadvantage requires a greater length of time andlabor in digging, as well as taking a great dealmore time and effort to pass through it. Inorder to lessen these things as much as possible,



SKETOH OF TRENOH SYSTEM: 65

i t is always considered best to adopt longerstretches and more obtuse angles as soon aspossible.

The excavated soil is naturally thrown up onthe side facing the enemy, and thus forming aparapet. I t can at times be used as an actualfire trench. The parapet should fulfill the sameconditions as the parapet of a fire trench, andwhere necessary, overhead traverses should beplaced. The more of these overhead traversesused, the longer can the straight run of trenchbe. When running up-hill, facing the enemy, itis clearly obvious that acute turns and shortstretches are necessary, or, if it is not foundadvisable to use these and more time can begained by digging the straight runs, then theyshould be dug deeper and a great deal of caretaken in placing the overhead traverses.

Generally, the farther the C. T. from the enemy, the less necessity to take measures forstopping hostile advance down it, but i t is a safething when time permits to loophole the traverses facing the long straight stretches eitherin an ordinary traverse or when time permitsthe building of island-traverses, especially atjunctions. Such loopholes command thestraight stretch in front and are reached bynarrow trenches very similar to a drainage



ISLAND

SECTION 1.V

SKtTCH or TRENCH SYSTEM




trench, as indicated at "H." Here again, as

well, the loopholes for at least one or two shouldbe for kneeling fire.Hostile attacks may also be hampered here

by using the rolls of looped wire previouslymentioned, or by frames of barbed wire plaoodat the side of the trench just behind the parapet,

so that a man retiring down the trench caneasily pull them down into the trench after him.Great care must be taken that C. T.'s runningfrom firing line to support trenches do not ob-struot the fire from the supporting trenches.

SEOTION IV.· Behind the support trenches the

C. T. should be constructed on the traverse prin-ciple of Section I, so that the same defensivefeatures existing for the support trenches asshould exist for t h ~firing line. In doing this,however, i t should be kept in mind to providerapid transit for troops behind these support-

ing lines. This is best done by continuing thezigzag system right through support trenchesas shown. When necessary, this C. T. can beblocked.

I t is always a possibility that supporttrenches may be lost, but not a probability.

Therefore, undue weight should not be givenagainst the convenience of adopting as soon aspossible again the zigzag C. T. of Section II, the



68 TRENCH WARFARE

latter supplying all requirements of rapid tran-

sit and allowing the introduction of straightstretches in loophole traverses wherever required.

TBLEPHOn L I D S

I tis generally found that artillery telephonelines are laid on the north and west side of a

c. T.; infantry lines on the south and east,Lines are generally laid about two feet from thebottom of the trench, picketed inter-groovesbeing cut into the side of the trench. These

lines must be given absolutely every protectionpossible by the infantry and by anyone usingthe trenches. Far too much carelessness has attimes existed which destroyed communicationwith artillery and infantry when it was of vitalimportance that it should be open.

Infantry in the trenches depend for immediate support upon their artillery, and if, throughlack of supervision on the part of the officersin charge, these lines are destroyed or temporarily torn down by careless men not understanding their significance and importance, then

that officer or officers is guilty of a very seriouscrime.



REOESSES 69

These are usually made in C. T. to allow forthe passing of troops or bearers of stretchers,or parties passing up and down to the line carrying the many things that are necessary for theupkeep of that line.

I t is advisable that these should always beplaced in the same corresponding place in eachstretch, as shown in SECTION m, just before theturn, so that men know where they are to befound. The first man of a party coming uphaving arrived at a turn, and seen or heardothers coming down, can give necessary protection to his party, and a great deal of unnecessary and very exasperating and fatiguingmovements, and sometimes retracing of steps, isavoided. I t is also often the cause of a greatmany casualties in a trench where these recessesare not made, as parties of men coming and go-ing very often, while struggling to get past oneanother with their loads, are caught by heavyshell fire.

The recesses should be about 8 feet long andat least 2 feet wide, and the soil excavated fromthese recesses could be used for strengtheningthe parapets of the C. T.'s at these turns. Gen-



70 TRENCH WARFARE

erally, when time allows and energy permits,

close to the firing line these recesses are madelonger and deeper, oftentimes running to 12and 18 feet long by 6 and 10 feet deep, althoughi t is not advisable to crowd them too much.R e c e ~ s e sof this kind may also be heavily roofedand used as a very temporary shelter forstretcher cases, stores of bombs, ammunition,etc.

At every second or third stretch in these C.T.'s, either steps or an easy runway to the topof the trench should be made. This saves timeon a great many occasions when parties comingover the top for speed and comfort find them-selves stopped and have to take to the trenchon short notice. I t is also good when a seriousobstruction occurs, and it is necessary to leavea C. T. and enter i t again farther on.

ROTIOE BOARDS

These boards should be fixed at every en-trance and junction in a trench system, statingthe name of t h ~trench and the places to whichi t leads, and where there are trenches expresslyfor up and down traffic, these boards shouldstate it. Some people argue that such notices



NOTICE BOARDS 71

assist the enemy when they get into ourtrenches, but the argument does not hold as i t isvery often the case they do not know the namesused in the sectors, as they vary up and downthe line, and generally they have a very goodidea of the system they will find themselves in

anyway, and there is a very small chance that amajority of them will be able to read themanyway.

Care must be taken that these notice boardsare not used for what is known as "boiling up,"building fires, in braziers, etc., as the absenceof these boards causes a tremendous amount ofconfusion when new troops are coming into theline. All officers must know the shortest routesfrom their own headquarters to those of com-panies on their flanks, as well as their own bat-talion headquarters, and every officer, N. C. O.and man must know the position of his immedi-ate commander's dugout, as well as his com-pany headquarters, and every man' must knowthe name of the trench that he is in and helpingto hold, and this is not possible when thesenotice boards are destroyed.



TRENCH DRAINAGE 73

much of the difficulty of draining the trenchesthemselves. .

During the winter months a trench is neverreally drained. A mixture in the trenches whichis neither water nor good, sticky mud, but abeautiful liquid combination of water and dirt,which is thick enough not to run, is formed.Sometimes i t becomes sufficiently like water tobe pushed or assisted to run down hill withscrapers, boards, and anything else that ishandy. Sometimes it becomes sufficiently heavyenough to be shoveled over the parapet or putinto sand bags. In either of these cases i t isonly overcome by persistent labor, but when themud is in its true clayed self i t is a waste oftime and labor to attempt to move it, and theonly way, without a large amount of cursing, isto sit tight and pray for the sun to dry it.

When a valley or dip is close to the side of aC. T. a few narrow gullies through the side, ofabout 18 inches in width, should be made so thatliquid mud can be swept along the trench andon through the gulley to a natural fall. Theselittle gullies or ditches should start at a placeor places where there are dips in the level of

the trench and must be dug straight through theside, as it then becomes easier to keep clear andgives no obstruction to the flow of mud; but if



74 TRENCH WARFARE

facing the enemy, it should not be in a straightline, as it then allows rifle fire into the trenches.I f no other way is possible, then over'head.traverse or other means of protection. shouldbe taken at that point. Sometimes, whEm it isnot possible to complete these gullies, theyshould be dug out as far as circumstances willpermit and a block of soil or very large sodsbe put at the junction of the gulley to the trenchand the liquid mud dipped out of the trenchand dumped into the gulley, where it will beprevented from running into the trench againby these collections of sods. This process isvery slow, but conditions frequently make it theeasiest and most convenient way of ridding thetrenches of some of the mud. This work can be

carried on by what is sometimes known as a"trench patrol" or maintenance squad, whichis generally detailed from the company in thesupport line and which patrols the system oftrenches held by their battalion during the day.The N. C. O. in charge generally reports serious collapses to his company officer, who in turnreports it to the engineers, who immediatelytake steps to have it repaired.

The width of drainage gullies should not beless than 18 inches, thus allowing easy use ofbrushes issued. With these brushes and ade-



76 TRENCH WARFARE"

vent men falling in while traveling at n i g h t ~

The former system is far more satisfactory, andespecially so when the trench is hardly wideenough to allow the passing of traffic withouttouching the sides of the trench.

Entrances to these sump-pits must always bekept clear of all obstructions. Very often aridge of mud from a man's foot-mark is enoughto put a sump-pit out of action. They shouldbe continually emptied by pumping the contentsover the parapet, or carrying in pails to thenearest golley.

The side sump-pits must never be cut under

the wall of a trench. On very short notice theroof will take the place of the excavated soiland there will be no sump-pit.

I t is not always that pumps are available,and the few of those which are, are of no practical use for a length of time sufficient to be of

any value; in fact, they hardly repay the fatigue entailed in getting them to the trenches.For ordinary trench drainage several smallpumps are of far more use than one large one,as the range's limited by the difficulties of removing it or by the length of pipe attached.These pumps, whether large or small, must begiven a large and substantial platform, placedin some central position among a number of



TRENCH DRAINAGE 77

sump-pits. Each pump must have not only a

disoharge pipe, but a suotion pipe, the latter being movable from one pit to another in thepump's area without moving the pump. Theplaoing of these pumps must be thorough andsystematio, and those sump-pits not reached bypumps must be kept empty by means of pails.

PLOORBOAlmS

Although these are rarely available in suffi-

cient numbers to be laid continuously along the

entire length of the trench, i t is unwise to throwone down on a partioularly muddy spot in atrenoh as a remedy. The result is that when itbecomes covered with mud i t sinks out of sight,and another one is thrown down with the sameresult. Then, when an attempt to drain is

made, much to somebody's disgust they runinto a layer of floorboards, quit work, and thetrench never becomes drained. Patchy repairsto a trenoh bottom are as aggravating and asuseless as bad revetment. When only a fewfloorboards are available, then they should be

laid in one length and that length made asnearly perfeot as possible, until more may behad, then that length continued. Patching here



78 TRENCH WARFARE

and there is of no use and never leads any

where. Trench bottoms are treated in different ways up and down the l i n ~ ,depending onlocalities and materials on hand. In some placesthe trench bottom' is of concrete blocks andbricks, with a small trench ditch of about 6inches running along the side. This is not a

very happy combination, as men traveling upand down the trenches at night with heavy loadssometimes stumble, their feet go in, the trenchditch becomes full of mud and blocked up, andyour trench gradually becomes flooded upaBd down its length, unless very great care

is taken. Where time and labor are available,long lengths of trench may be put and kept ingood condition and the trench question partiallysolved i f two rows of stout 4-foot sticks aredriven well into the bottom of the trench, about3 feet apart. Wooden rails are then nailed

along the top of the stakes and crosB-bars nailedand fastened to the rails. This work must bedone thoroughly, though, or weak places willoccur and become very dangerous for men trav-eling at night with, heavy loads, ,as a fallthrough. a hole in one of these bottoms generally

means a broken ankle or some other accident.In some parts of the line it has not beennecessary to use anything for a trench floor,



BRUSHWOOD AND STRAW 79

the ground itself being sufficient, with a smalldrainage ditch dug at the side, as in the case ofthose trench bottoms covered with cement andbrick.

BRUSHWOOD AIm STRAW

Brushwood should not be placed in a trenchbottom, except under very exceptional circum-stances, and, as a matter of fact, is very seldomused, its value lying more in the manufactureof hurdles. Once brushwood has been trodden·into the mud it is absolutely impossible to re-move it, and there is no means of removing themud and properly repairing the trench bottom.Straw under no circumstances should ever beput in a trench bottom, and when put into dug-outs or shelters, should be cleared out andburned where possible (which will not be infront line) as soon as it becomes sodden or sour.The floor of the dugouts and shelters must bethoroughly cleaned of all this old straw, sandbags and bad soil before fresh straw is put in.

I t is possible in large dugouts such as are foundin reserve and support lines, to make bunks outof wire netting on the same style as the berth in

a steamer, and in a modem dugout enough ofthese bunks may be made to accommodate a



80 TRENCH WARFARE

company. In all German dugouts this is thepractice, although it is not possible in closeproximity to the front line. Advantage mustbe taken of what material is at hand.

WORKING PARTIES

The routine of a battalion which is doing, forthe sake of illustration, we will say six days inthe trenches, is roughly as follows:

Six days are spent in what is generally knownas a Brigade Reserve, which means living inthe reserve dugouts 01" billets, depending onthe closeness of a village to the firing line. Dur-ing these six days the battalion supplies work-ing parties to assist the battalion holding theline in the upkeep of its trenches. Very oftenthis necessitates continuous work night and dayfor the men, more especially so during the win-

ter months. At the end of the six days they goto the trenches and are in turn assisted by theworking parties of the battalion relieved.

These working parties may sometimes be ac-tually in the front line with the battalion thatrelieved them, or on the communication trenchesleading to the front line, or on the second linedefenses or reserve and support dugouts. Thiswork is carried on under the supervision of



WORKING PARTIES 81

engineer officers generally acting under ordersfrom their brigade and divisional commanders.A request is made daily through the battalioncommander for so many men to form the vari-ous working parties for that day and night, andthe battalion commander keeping the brigadeor division informed of his actual strength,protects his battalion from impossible allot-ments of work. These working parties are thendetailed with the officer in charge, and he isgenerally given sufficient notice that he mayhave some idea of the task ahead of him. I t

is then to that officer'S benefit, knowing theamount of men who will have to do the task and.what the task is like, for him to study out be-fore leaving for the place where the work is tobe done, just exactly what he intends to do andwhat sort of an organization i t will require todo the work with the least possible friction.

This is absolutely essential, as naturally mencoming from a six days' tour of the trenchesand being ordered on a working task, are notkeen on the job, and when an officer has notstudied beforehand what he intends doing andhow i t shall be done, i t winds up in endless con-

fusio;n, disgnsts the men more than ever, andprecious little work is done.

RELIEFS. The total time occupied in digging



82 TRENCH WARFARE

trenches is generally divided into parties calledreliefs, usually of four hours. Shorter periodsthan this means much time wasted in commenc-ing work and in delays; but, as a matter offact, the time spent on the job and going to andfrom i t will run to from 7 to 10 hours.

In digging trenches, the usual extension isto two full paces per man. Where there is littleprobability of attack the following method maybe adopted:' Halt party about four paces in

rear of the left flank of the general line oftrenches required to be dug; then form singlerank, march ahead of party to the commence-

.ment of task and indicate to the first man histask, stepping off the next two paces for the'next man, and so on until you have your partyall placed., This takes a very short time and isone of the best methods. Allow the men toremove their equipment, but do not allow themto throw i t any place they like. I t is a generalrule to place it about four paces to the rear oftheir task. Where attacks are possible, riflesmust be kept within easy reach.



TRAVERSED FIRE TRENCHES 83

TBAVEBSED pnu: TUNOBBS

The following is a method for extending mento dig by night a traversed and recessed firetrench which is not already traced:

1. Detailing a covering party to guardagainst sudden attack.2. Extension of the remainder to two paces.3. Number quietly down the line by 4s.4. Nos. 1 and 4 stop 2 paces back (these men

then become traverse men).5. Nos. 2 and 4 drive in their picks (half waybetween themselves and left-hand neigh

bors and in line with their toes).6. Front rank to mark out tasks (Nos. 2 and

3 commence from the pick between themand mark out 7% feet each way, that is,

2% pick-handles' distance).7. Rear rank mark out tasks (commencingfrom pick between Nos. 1 and 4 to endof each recess).

As soon as this is done the men commence

work, the officer going down the line at once tocheck any errors before they have gone too far.While this may sound very complicated it will



84 TRENCH W ARF ARE

be found that after a little training the men be-

come accustomed to it and it is a very simplematter. This method renders unnecessary thegiving of many orders in the dark once the menare extended, and prevents a great amount ofconfusion. There will always be a slightamount of readjustment of the work, such as

the widening of traverses, etc., but it is easilydone after the work has been started and evenafter the trench has been dug to some depth.

OBSTAOLES AIm BNTAKGLDDNTB

The purpose· of an obstacle is to obtain thecontrol of the enemies in respect to directionand speed during an attack, and to deflecttroops into areas favorable to their destructionby the defenders. They break up the unity of

action, deflect parties isolated into the bestswept fields of fire and hold them :under closefire of the defenses. An obstacle should beclose to the defender'S position, not more than80 yards away at the most. A system is now inuse on the Western Front where entanglements

in front of trenches are placed approximately20 yards from the parapet, as that has beenfound to be the distance at which the deadliest.



OBSTACLES AND ENTANGLEMENTS 85

bombing can be done. They should be shelteredor screened, when possible, from enemy artil-lery, giving no cover to the enemy and be soplaced as to surprise the enemy. They shouldnot interfere with any counter attack necessaryto be made and have occasional gaps, which maybe mined. Types of obstacles are low wireentanglements, their height depending on thecondition existing in No Man's Land; high wireentanglements, barricades, mines, inundations,etc. Wire plays the important part in most ofthe obstacles now being used on all fronts, andis generally used, first, as a trip wire stretchedjust above the ground, or fastened in loose coilsto short pickets. Flares and alarm guns andtin cans may be used in connection with this;second: a simple fence to cause delay and con-fusion to the enemy at night; third: as a con-cealed obstacle in fords and standing crops or

long grass; fourth: as a help towards makinghedges and brushwood impassable, and as awire entanglement solely.

The wire entanglements are the best ob-

stacles, as they are quickly and easily made, arevery difficult to destroy and offer no obstruc-tion to fire in view of the defenses.

Low WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS. Stout sticks, 36

inches long and 1% to 2 inches in diameter, are



86 TRENCH WARFARE.

driven into the ground on level at 6-foot intervals. These should be driven in at least threerows so arranged that the sticks in one row areopposite the centers of gaps in the. next. Theheads of the sticks are connected by strongwires crossing diagonally from 12 to 18 inchesabove the ground.

HIGH WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS. To be effective, high wire entanglements should preventthe enemy from crawling through it at or nearthe ground level, and when possible, should bescreened from enemy artillery observation.This obviously is utterly impossible as far aswire entanglements in front of the firing line isconcerned, but it is possible to a certain extentto screen these high entanglements from observation in front of support lines and second linesystems. Under conditions existing at thefront, the wire work is often and generally, forvery good reasons, of a hasty character, and i tis best, therefore, to limit the first stage to justenough to form a nucleus of the whole entanglement, in order that the required area may becovered by obstacle before serious interruptionoccurs. To do this, _the obstacle is best constructed in two zones, with a small space between. The pickets should be from 5 to 8 feetlong and average five inches in diameter, being



OBSTACLES AND ENTANGLEMENTS 87

placed at irregular distances and with varyingheights in order to make more difficult the pas-sage over them by means of hurdles and planks.The outer pickets should be very firmly drivenand stayed to prevent the enemy dragging theobstacle away. I t is also nice to drive largenails into the tops of the posts with half theirlength projecting. After the posts are drivenin, they are first joined diagonally, that is, fromhead to foot and foot to head, by winding thewire around each post and securing it by sta-ples. Each set of posts should be stayed byfour wires. There should be a trip wire 9inches from the ground, or even less, runningcontinuously round the outer posts, and anotherone foot from the top of the middle posts. Thebarbed wire can then be hung in festoons be-tween the posts on no fixed pattern and fas-tened to them. I t must also be fastened to theother wire where it crosses, by short lengths ofwire especially cut beforehand. Slack wires areof more hindrance when cut than taut wires.Tight wires help the enemy's advance by givingsupport to hurdles and other methods used toget across these entanglements. One methodonce used by the Germans was the carrying outOf mattresses and endeavoring to cover thewire obstacles in that manner, and had the



88 TRENCH WARFARE

wire been taut it would have been a success, butas it happened, i t was not.

The ground on the enemy's side and withinthe entanglement, as a matter of courtesy, isstrewn with broken glass and tangled wire. Thewhole system of entanglement should be underwell-controlled machine gun fire from specialpoints and should be widest where the fire ofthe defenders is least effective by night. Thereshould be one sentry at least to each 50 yardsof entanglement.

ABATIS. A form of obstacle made by treescut down and laid side by side as close as possible with their branches towards the enemy isused. These should be in a hollow and screenedfrom view to make it of any value. The buttsof the trees should be firmly secured by buryingthem in the earth, or by laying logs of timberacross several butts. Wire and barbed wiremust then .be interlaced between the boughs,which should also be sharpened to points on theenemy side. Some of the lower branches maybe pegged to the ground, if thought necessary,to insure the maximum resistance.

BARRICADES. These are used for the defenseof streets, roads, bridges, etc., arid are made ofany available materials, including furniture andvehicles, either overthrown or with wheels re-



90 TRENCH WARFARE

40 degrees toward the enemy horizon. A box

of powder is then placed in a recess at the bot-tom and on the box is placed a wooden platformor shield 3 to 4 inches thick,. over which stonesare piled. I

A fuse is placed in a groove cut at the backof the excavation. A line of least resistance

must be so arranged that by placing the exca-vated earth on the back edge of the fougasse,the powder will act in the direction of the axisand not vertically. A fougasse charged with80 pounds of powder may be constructed in thismanner to throw five tons of brick and stone

over asurfa.ce about 160 yards long by 120yards wide.All of the foregoing are labors of working

parties, as well as construction of dugouts,carrying of supplies, ammunition, etc., drainageand building of the trenches and the many other

jobs behind the lines. Always, no matter howsmall the job, careful forethought must be givento the planning and arrangement necessary tocarry it out.

ORGANIZATION 01' BOMBING SQUADS

Every infantry soldier must and does receiveinstruction in grenade throwing. Some men



TRAINING 91

do not possess the temperament and qualifications necessary to make efficient bombers, andfor this reason in every platoon there shouldbe a bombing squad of one N. C. O. and 8 men,with a higher degree of training and efficiencyas bomb throwers than the remainder, althoughall hope must not be given up for the remainder.

These men are available either to work withthe platoon or to provide a reserve of bombersfor any special job, such as raids, cutting-outparties, and clearing trenches just occupied.Only the very best men in each platoon shouldbe chosen, taking into conside;ration physique,courage and steadiness, although it is not always the big man physically that makes thebest bomber. The responsibility for the training of these men rests with the battalion andcompany commanders.

The first step is to overcome a man's naturalfear of the grenade itself. This is only done byexplaining how it is to be used, the method oflighting and the length of time taken for thefuse to burn. A good idea is to have some ofthe fuses of the length used lighted and the men



92 TRENCH W A.RF A.RE

told to count while the fuse burns out. Dummygrenades with fuses attached can then be in-troduced and the men taught to light them, ob-serving carefully how long it takes for the fuseto burn down to the grenade.

The second step is to develop accuracy inthrowing. Normally, the bomb should be bowledoverhand, although i t is certainly not wrong tothrow, but i t has been found in tests that a manthrowing bombs has tired a great deal quickerthan a man bowling them overhand.

Stick grenades may be thrown over short dis-tances like a dart, although this is unhandy andcan only be done by a carefully trained man.Great care must be taken while in the trenchesin throwing percussion bombs, as v ~ r yoften aman swinging his arm back to throw such abomb has exploded i t in the trench, with dis-

aster to himself and those near him.Men should be taught to throw standing,

kneeling and prone. I t should be impressedupon them from the beginning that if a grenadewith a time fuse is dropped in the act of throw-ing there is ample time to pick it up and throwi t out of the trench before i t explodes, but thismust be done immediately.

A is a diagram of a bombing field where menare trained in practice with dummy bombs. 1 is



94 TRENCH W ARF ABE

the target marked on the ground and having the

same general plan as a firing target, with Bull,Inner, Magpie, and Outer, the score counting5,4, 3, & 2 respectively, or according to the in-structor's taste. 2 is the first line, 20 yardsfrom the center of the inner ring. The menmust be trained to a high degree of accuracy

at this range. 3 is the second line, 25 yardsfrom the center of target. There are lines everyfive yards back until the 40 yard line is reached,which latter is the extreme range for bombingpractice.

At each range the men should practice stand-

ing, kneeling, and prone. At 35 and 40 yardsbombing from the kneeling and prone positionsis very difficnlt and the time spent on practicehere should not interfere with the obtaining ofgreat accuracy at the shorter ranges.

At all ranges the men should be allowed to

throw any number of dummy bombs, but shouldnot be permitted to fatigue their arms.B is a diagram showing the arrangement for

trench practice with dummy bombs. Smalltrenches are built on the surface of the groundby screens of wire mesh covered with burlap or

other similar material. 1 is the thrower's trenchand is built so high that" he cannot see overthe top. From this he throws, using a periscope



TRAINING 95

for observation. 2 represent! part of a traverse and fire-bay, the front part of which isabout 20 yards from the throwing trench. 3 isa section of straight trench ~ b o u t25 yards halfright from the thrower's front. 4 is a sectionof curved trench about 20 yards half left fromthe thrower's front.

The general custom in the practice trenchesis to give the man any desirable number ofdummy bombs, say 18; 6 for each trench. Fourout of six are required to be put in No.2, and 3out of 6 in Nos. 3 & 4. Men must not be keptat bombing practice too long at a time as itspoils both their interest and their aim.

In taking a line of trenches, i t is well to remember that the attack will take place on arelatively small front by a large number of men,and therefore when the trenches are. finallyreached, there is liable to be great overcrowdingin them. This can only be prevented by extending them along the trenches as quickly as possible, and is of the utmost importance as heavycasualties will result from allowing this overcrowding. To make this' extending possible, itis the duty of the bombing parties to work alongto both flanks of the trenches and take advantage of the temporary confusion of the enemyby obtaining as much of his trenches as possible,



TRAINING 97

tended in single file, and the attendant confu-sion which accompanies such a stand.

A system is required which will enable sup-plies of bombs to be passed up and casualtiesreplaced automatically. This system cannot belaid down on any cut and dried lines, bu.t.must

. be figured out before the attack, with due con-sideration being given to the line of trenchesto be attacked and the difficulties which will beencountered in getting supplies to that line, andit is only on the spot that such a system can beworked out.

During an attack three grenades per man are

issued to each unit detailed to open the attack,an a hese grenades are turned over to the bomb-

ers or used by the men themselves i f necessary.When out of grenades themselves, the mentake over the casualty's, and it is the duty of acasualty when he is so able to, to leave his gren-

ades and ammunition to the care of some otherman before "going down. " Small depotsshould be established at frequent intervalsalong the trenches from which the attack starts,with careful consideration given to their safetyfrom shell fire, i f at all possible. Other depotsmust be established in the support and assemblytrenches, and these will generally be supplied



100 TRENCH WARFARE

the enemy at bay a strong barracade may beput up as quickly as possible.This is generally done by placing what isknown as a demolition tube about 1% feet fromthe bottom of the trench and in each. side of thetrench. This will bring down enough of thesides of the trench to make a good enough barricade for the moment, but great care must betaken that while watching and protecting thebarricade the enemy do not come overland anddrop in behind the barricade, with disastrousresults to the garrison.

Although the main defense of a line oftrenches is infantry supported by artillery andmachine gun fire, parties of bombers should bedistributed throughout the front system oftrenches. The best position is in the supporttrenches close to the main communicationtrenches, where they can make an immediatecounter-attack should the enemy succeed ingaining a footing. A bombing trench back about20 yards in the rear from which bombs may bethrown into the front trench, is a distinct advantage.

The bombs stored in the trench should be keptready-fused and with detonators inserted.They must be distributed in a number of dry,enclosed, as nearly as bomb-proof depots as pos-



.......: ; .. : . . ~ , . ~

". . . . .

.

sible, established at frequent intervals along the

trenches. A good type of grenade depot is onebuilt in a "T" shaped trench, slightly off themain trench.

EXPLOSIVES

Relative strengths of explosives: Gunpowder 5; cordite 8; dynamite 9; guncotton 10;gelignite 10; gelatine dynamite 11; blastinggelatine 12. Guncotton is available in twoforms, wet and dry. The dry, while being utilized in making bombs, is mostly used to ex

plode the wet guncotton. For this purpose it ismade up in one-ounce primers, which are perforated in the center for a detonator. Theseprimers are packed in metal cylinders, eachcontaining ten threaded on a tape. Each casecontains six cylinders. In this state, althoughnot as powerful, dry guncotton is much moredangerous to handle than wet, being susceptibleto both shock and friction.

Wet guncotton is that which has absorbed30% of its weight in water, and is made up in15-ounce slabs 6 x a x 1% inches, and packed in

tin foil and air-tight boxes containing 16 slabseach.Whether wet or dry, guncotton, like other ex-



102 '. . : . ~ : ': mENCn-:·w..ARF ARE. ' , . : ' ' .. , ' . ' # ' , 0 •

plosives, can be exploded by one -detonato.r, so

long as the charges or slabs are in direct contact with each other.Dynamites include the following compounds :

(1) dynamite; (2) gelignite; (3) gelatine dynamite; (4) blasting gelatine. All of these arenow being used. Their advantages over gun

cotton are that, being soft and plastic, they canbe used in bombs where it would be impossibleto use guncotton slabs or primers on accountof size and shape. Dynamite and its compoundsfreeze very easily (42 0 F.), becoming hardand brittle. In this state they are exceptionally dangerous, and they should be thawed before use, but this process should not be attempted by anyone other than a competent person. Wooden implements should always beused for cutting and piercing holes for detonators in any of these explosives; and careshould be taken to protect them from damp, aswhen wet they become highly dangerous.Dynamite explosives are usually supplied inparchment cartridges weighing two ounces, andare packed in boxes of 5 or 50 pounds.

Lyddite and picric acid are both high explosives, used mostly in shells. They are easilymelted and in this way the shell is.filled. Theyare very safe and difficult to detonate.

O'git"ed by Coogle



BOMBS 103

Ammonal. A new explosive whioh is abso-lutely safe to handle, not being sensitive toshock: or even bullets. I t does not freeze andcan only be exploded by means of a detonator.I t easily absorbs moisture and should be keptdry.

Cordite. Is made in strands and is the ex-plosive used in small arms ammunition.

BOMBS

There are three kinds of bombs: (1) percus-sion; (2) ignition; and (3) mechanical. I t isnot possible to describe every bomb in use UD-

der these three headings, but the most typicalare seleoted for description, although it doesnot follow that they are all in use at the presenttime, but will give a fairly good idea of what is

required.

PERCUSSION BOMBS.

1. Hand Grenade No.1.2. Hand Grenade No.2, formerly known as

Mexican Hand Grenade.3. Rifle grenade No.3, formerly known as

Hale's Rifle Grenade.Hand, Grenade N o . 1 consists of a brass case



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BOMBS 105

screwed on to a block of wood, to which is fixeda small cane handle about half way up the case.Outside it is a cast iron ring serrated into 16

parts. The upper end is covered by a move-able cap with a striker pin in the center. On

the cap are the words "Remove," "Travel,"and "Fire" in duplicate. These are markedin red and can be made to correspond with redpointers painted on case. To prepare a bomb,turn cap so that pointer is at "Remove," takeoff cap, insert detonator in hole and tum i t tothe left until the spring on the flange is re-leased and goes into position under the pin; re-place cap and tum to "Travel," which is asafety position. When the bomb is to bethrown, tum cap to "F i re" and then removesafety pin. This bomb explodes on impact, andto insure its falling on the head, streamers areattached. Care should be taken that streamersdo not get entangled. The bomb must be thrownwell into the air.

Ha;n,d, Grenade No.2 is similar to the above,except that a special detonator is screwed infrom the head, and that the striker pin, in this

case,is at

the bottom. The detonator havingbeen inserted in the bomb is ready for throw-ing alit soon as the safety pin has been drawn.

Riff,e Grenade No.9, more commonly known



BOMBS 107

nade will cause premature explosion and much

sadness. These grenades have an accuraterange of from 250 to 350 yards.IGNITION BOMBS. The following bombs come

under this heading:Hand Grenade No. 6.-Grenade light friction

pattern. .

Hand Grenade No.7-Grenade heavy frictiQnpattern.

Hand Grenade No. ~ F o r m e r l yknown asdouble-cylinder light pattern.

Hand Grenade N o. 9 ~ - F o r m e r l yknown asdouble-cylinder heavy pattern.

Battye Hand Grenade.Pitcher Hand Grenade.Ov8.I Hand Grenade.Ball Hand Grenade.Hand Grenades Nos. 6 and 7 consist of metal

cases :filled with T.N.T and a composite explosive and are exactly alike, except that No. 7 con-tains shrapnel bullets or scrap iron, while No.

6 contains only explosive. At the top of eachcase is a place to fix the friction igniter, whichis supplied separately. When these bombs areto be used, detonator fuse and igniter are put in

and firmly fixed. Before throwing the becketon, head of igniter should be pulled smartlyoff.



108 TRENCH W ARF ARE

Hand, Grenades Nos. 8 and 9 are similar to

the above, except that the fuse is lighted by aNobel Patent Lighter. The Battye Grenade consists of a grooved cast iron cylinder filled withexplosive. The top is closed by a wooden plugpierced centrally for insertion of detonator andfire.

The Pitcher Hand Grenade is very similar tothe Battye, only different in that it is slightlyheavier and having a different patent lighter.This lighter is somewhat complicated and special instructions should be given before thegrenade is used.

The Nobel lighter consists of two cardboardtubes, one fitting over the other. Inside the topend of the outer tube there is a layer of friction composition; fixed to the top end of theinner tube is a forked brass friction head, whichis held in position by a safety pin fastenedthrough both tubes. Inside the other end of theinner tube is a small copper band, into whichthe fuse is fitted. At the joint of the two tubesthere is a narrow tape band with a loose end.

To light the fuse, pull off tape and safety pin,then press down outer tube and turn slightly.This lighter has a five-second fuse attached.



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The Oval Hand Grenade is an egg-shapedcast iron receptacle filled with ammonal. Oneegg has a steel plug and the other a flangedbrass plug bored centrally, to which a hollowcopper tube is fixed to take the detonator. Thisgrenade is set off by a Brock fuse and lighter.

The Ball Hand Grenade consists of a castiron sphere, 3 inches in diameter, filled with ammonal and closed by a screwed steel plug whichhas attached to it a covered tube to take detonator in the center of grenade. I t is alsolighted by a Brock lighter.

J A M - P O T BOMBS. In the early stages of thewar it was found necessary to make bombs onthe spot. The material used was generally ajam tin filled with shrapnel bullets, scrap iron,powdered glass and grass, etc. This was exploded by 2 one-ounce primers, two ounces

The Brock lighter consists of a match-head. and fuse combined. The head consists of asmall cardboard cup filled with friction composition and covered with waterproof paper.With this type of lighter an armlet coveredwith match composition is worn by the bomberon the left forearm. To ignite fuse, first pulloff waterproof paper and then strike headagainst armlet. Time of fuse 5 seconds.



BOMBS 111

gelignite, blastene or ammonal, and detonated

by a No. 6 or 7 detonator, to which was attached a five-second fuse. The time could beregulated by length of fuse.

MECHANICAL BOMBS. Hand Grenade NO.5,known as Mills' Hand Grenade. Mills' HandGrenade No.5 weighs about one and one-half

pounds and is in constant and steady use at thefront, being the best known of all grenades. I t

consists of an oval cast iron case, containing explosives and serrated to provide numerous missiles on detonation. In the center is a springstriking pin, kept back by a lever or handle,

which, in its turn, is held in position by a safetypin.Detonators and percussion caps connected by

a short length of fuse are supplied with thesebombs. . When the bomb is to be used the bottom is unscrewed and the combined detonator

and percussion cap is insertedin

the space provided for it, the percussion cap being placedin the boring under the striking pin. When thisis done the bottom is screwed on again as tightlyas possible, using the special spanner providedfor this in each box. Before throwing, the

safety pin is removed and the bomb held withthe lever.in the palm of the hand. When thebomb is actually thrown the lever or handle is



112 TRENCH WARFARE

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released; this releases the spring, which forcesstriker down on to the percussion cap, ignitesfuse, sets off detonator and explodes bomb.



GAS WARFARE 113

GAS WARI'ABE

The use of poisonous and asphyxiating gases,whioh was first adopted by the Germans in theYpres salient in April of 1915, is now becomingan accepted fact in the present war. I t is to

a certain extent in one shape or another, beforeone every day of his life in or near the trenches.- Every one should therefore be well acquainted

with the various ways in whioh gases are usedin an attack, as well as precautionary methodsto be taken in counteracting its effects while onthe defense.

In an attaok there are only two methods whichcan be used-emanation and shells and grenades. The emanation method can only be em-ployed under very favorable ciroumstances andin

a few cases whererather

a long ohance wastaken, it reacted very badly on the enemy. Thefirst thing to make a gas attack successful mustbe a favorable breeze of about five miles anhour, as i f the wind blows any faster it doesnot give the gas a chance to settle down into the

trenohes. The objeot of this gas is to oreatea poisonous and irritant atmosphere, and this is8COOwplished either by a gas forced through



116 TRENCH WARFARE

carried out on a stretcher to the dressing sta

tion.Tear sheZZs, which are used in great profusion during an attack, are for the moment blinding in their effect, causing smarting of the eyesand a great amount of watering. This effect isonly for a minute, and the men must be im-

pressed with the fact that if they continuemov-

ing forward instead of sitting down and rubbingtheir eyes, it will pass off almost a t once. Theseshells are also greatly used against the artilleryduring heavy bombardments. Adequate proteetlon is furnished in the shape of goggles to fit

over the eyes, as the gas has no other effectwhatever.As in other branches of military art, the best

means of learning defense is to have a thorough knowledge of attack. Thus, direction ofwind must always be noted, and i f favorable

for an enemy attack, special observers must beplaced to give warning and surprise guardedagainst in every way. Sentries are speciallyplaced in the trench, and often in listening posts,to get early warniIi.gs of an impending attack.I f a sentry at a listening post discovers that a

gas attack is being made, he at once warns thesentry at the end of his cord or wire, giving apre-arranged signal. This sentry passes the



GAS WARFARE 117

alarm. on a Strombon horn, which IS something

similar to a Klaxton, and will automaticallygive a warning which can be heard for 3 or4 miles, and which lasts about a minute.

When a hom is not in use, generally shellcases are hung in the trenches. These are beaton by the sentry who is warned and taken up

all along the line. It is then the duty of thatsentry not for the instant to put on his gas hel-met, but to proceed along the front line wakingall the occupants of dugouts, etc., who may besleeping in the area guarded by him. Everyman without exception stands to in his trench

with his helmet on and will not reenter dugoutsuntil first given permission by officer or N. C. O.

These attacks are generally carried out, whenpossible, just before dawn or during the middleof the night, and the only warning given beforethe actual gas reaches a trench, is a slight hiss-

ing sound which is made and canbe

easily heardas the gas escapes from the cylinder. Greatcare must be taken when the wind is favorablefor an attack that this sound be listened for.

Any man wounded during a gas attack mustnot be placed in a dugout or on the bottom of a

trench, and eveni f

considerable shell fire be go-ing on it is far better that he be laid out in theopen on the top of the ground, where he will



118 TRENCH W ARF ABE

have a far better chance than lying in the bot-

tom of the trench or in a dugout. After gashas passed through a trench system, and beforethe officer thinks that i t is safe to remove the

helmets, the trenches must be sprayed with amachine known as Vermeral Sprayer. A man

with this sprayer on his back and wearing his

helmet, slowly traverses the trench working thespray. This small tank on his back is chargedwith nothing more or less than "hypo" (sodiumh y p o ~ u l p h i t e ) ,about 6 pounds of which is dis-solved in a bucket of water and a handful of

ordinary washing soda added.

Garden syringes and buckets may be used i fsprayers are not available, but their effect isnot so quick.

When the officer thinks that the trench hasbeen sprayed sufficiently and all gas has gone,he may then allow the men to take off their hel-

mets, but not to reenter their. dugouts until theyhave been thoroughly cleaned.This is sometimes done by fanning the gas

out, sometimes by building a fire and smokingi t out, and by the use of the sprayer. Great caremust be taken that no one enters until every last

vestige of gas is gone, and i t is generally wellthat the medical officer should inspect infecteddugouts before allowing the men to return.



GAS MASKS OR RESPIRATORS 119

GAS lIIlASJ[S OR USPIRATORS

The Box Respirator at present in use on theWestern Front is the latest improvement, andproof against any gas that so far has been used,but should such a thing happen that a man becaught without his box respirator, any of thefollowing improvised methods are good:

1. Wet and ring out any woolen article; suchas a stocking, mufBer or cap comforter, so as toform a thick pad large enough to cover thenose and mouth, and press firmly over both.

2. Place in a scarf, stocking or handkerchief,a pad of about three handfuls of damp earth,and tie firmly over the nose and mouth.

3. A wet cap comforter will be found usefulas additional protection, especially against cer-tain gases other than chlorine.

4. A cap comforter wetted with water andsoda solution or tea, folded into eight folds andfirmly held over the nose.

5. A sock folded fourfold similarly wettedand held or tied. I f the sock or comforter hasbeen soaked in soda solution it will act efficientlywhen dry, though, if possible, it should bemoist. The spare tapes from puttees may beused for tying on the sock or cap comforter.




6. Any loose f a b r i ~such as a sock, sandbag,

woolen scarf or comforter, soaked in urine, thenwrung out sufficiently to allow of free breath-ing and tied tightly over the nose and mouth.

In the absence of any other cloths, the flannelwaistbands issued for winter use could be usedfor this purpose.

Every officer defending a trench against anenemy gas attack should endeavor to collect in .

formation whenever possible to be sent to head-quarters regarding the capture of apparatusused by the enemy either for disseminating orprotection from gas. I f a gas shell attack is

made, unexploded shells or portions of themshould be sent; the time of day, duration of at-tack, color, taste or smell of gas used, effect onthe eyes, breathing, and all other symptomsshould be noted. New gases may be used at anytime, and speedy information greatly helps the

adopting of protective measures. The area of the gas attack is very large andwill sometimes cover as far back as 12 to 15miles behind the lines, although at that pointit is not generally dangerous, but for three tofour miles the gas has a killing power, and pre.

caution should be taken anywhere within thatlength of the firing line the same as though inthe firing line.



DUTIES OF A PLATOON COMMANDER 121

Another nuisance resulting from a gas attack is the wholesale slaughter of rats and otheranimals that infest the trenches, and while avery unpleasant job, steps should at once be

taken to gather these beasts up and bury themin some place, obviously for sanitary reasons.

D ~ S OF A PLATOON O O ~ E RATTHE FRONT

GENERAL NOTES: The selection and trainingof section commanders is of the highest importance, and a commander must assure himselfthat the man selected has the confidence of themen as well as his own.

A platoon commander should know his menand all about them, and keep a record in a book

arranged in sections always kept up-to-date.This is easy to say, but harder to do, when theplatoon changes day by day. . '

He should know his drill and be capable ofmoving the platoon into any position easilyand by the shortest possible route.

He should know how to organize a task al-lotted to him, such as delivering over a working party, placing a line of sentries, arranging



122 TRENCH WARFARE

posts and reliefs, and occupying a line oftrenches.

He should be able to assume responsibilityfor all trench stores, bombs, periscopes, etc.,handed over to him.

He should know the geography of his bat-talion trenches, the position of company andbattalion headquarters, and keep trained guidesat hand who can find their way to all importantpoints by day or night.

GOIlfG nrro TlIB TOBOBBS

.Platoons generally enter by not more thantwo sections at a time, thus minimizing the dan-ger from shell fire and delay at entrance to com-munication trenches.

Before leaving billets, platoon commandersshould explain fully to sergeants and sectionscommanders the extent 'of trench to be takenover and the steps to be taken in case they arecaught by shelling or rapid fire going up tothe trenches. Arrangements should also bemade that if casualties occur among the sol-diers, relief will proceed as arranged.



124 TRENCH WARFARE

wire can best be passed, ground to be patrolled,or place where they can lie under cover; (e)any parts of trench from 'Yhich it is not safeto fire. Such positions are apt to occur in wind-ing trenches, and are not always recognizablein the dark; (f) special features of trench, re-cent improvements, work not completed, dan-

gerous points (on which enemy machine gunsare trained at night), useful loopholes for ob-

servation; (g) places from which wood and·water can be safely obtained; (h) amount ofalmnunition, number of picks, shovels andempty sandbags in that section of the line.

Information on these points cannot alwaysbe given by word of mouth. Written notes andplans should, therefore, be handed over to aplatoon commander taking over for the firsttime.

In the meantime the incoming party should:fix bayonets and all go temporarily on sentry a tposts taken over. Occasional shots should befired, so that the enemy's suspicions may notbe roused. The outgoing party then startsback, and when clear, the relieving party shouldbe numbered off and sentries posted and dug-outs allotted. When practicable sentries shouldbe taken from the dugout closest to his post.

By day the number of sentries varies, but



IN THE FIRING LINE 125

should not be less than one in six. The platoon

sergeant is responsible for changing sentries,who are generally not on duty more than onehour at a time, unless under exceptional cir-cumstances. When the maximum amount oflabor must be obtained from the battalion hold-ing the line, sentry duty is of any length that

fits in with working arrangements.Every man must see that he has a good clearposition for all directions. Section command-ers must satisfy themselves that men have donethis and reported such. When these arrange-ments are completed, word must be quietly

passed down for men not on sentry to standclear, and they are all not in that position againuntil the "Stand to" hours, generally the hournearest dusk and the hour before dawn.

Mter dark, unless the moon is bright, riflesshould be kept in a firing position on the para-

pet, and all men not on duty should keep rifleswith bayonets fixed while in the trench.OBSERVATION. Continuous survey of the ene-

my's lines through disguised steel loopholesshould be made when the trenches are beingheld for any lengthy period, and such loop-

holes must always be sideways. Sites may bechosen by day, and made and disguised bynight. Two steel loopholes about 3 yards apart



126 TRENCH WARFARE

enable a man with leveled rifle to wait by onewhile another with field glasses watches fortarget through the other.

An observer watching persistently throughglasses in complete security should make him-self so familiar with the look of the oppositetrenches as to enable him to observe any altera-tion in the enemy'8 wire entanglements, ornotice immediately if a new sap has been runout from the enemy trenches under cover ofnight. He should watch points suspected of be-ing machine gun implaooments, and especiallyat night when the flashes can be deteoted. Ob-servers should be told what marks, etc., to lookfor on men exposing themselves, and any re-suIt of these observations at once reported tothe officer or N. C. O.

INSPECTION. A platoon commander shouldmake frequent examination of trenches; at leastonce daily, go around with platoon sergeantand section commanders and decide on the nec-essary work to be done. Section commandersare responsible for carrying it out.

Before handing over a trench, a platoon com-mander should make a rigorous inspection to

seethat i t

isas

clean as possibleand that

latrines are left in a satisfactory state. Thisincludes the removal of old tins, paper, scraps



SENTRIES 127

of food, etc., which should be buried or burned,if possible. Empty cartridges should also al-ways be kept cleared out, as they get imbeddedin trench floors and hinder subsequent digging.

I f the enemy is close, sentries should be sup-plied with a small periscope to :fix on sticks orbayonets. Magazines must be kept as full aspossible. Sentries are not allowed to look overthe parapet by day, but by night they must keepa continuolJ,s lookout. Shots should be firedeven when no lights are showing, on the chanceof catching hostile patrols or working parties.The best time to watch across No Man's Landis exactly the minute that the enemy send up aVery light, as there is little danger of one beingseen, the real danger coming when the Verylight is coming down behind you. Sentriesshould not reply to bursts of rapid fire on theright or left, unless they have a definite objectto fire at.

Arrangements are usually made for com-

manders of two or three neighboring platoonsto divide the night between 10 P. M. and thetime for "Standing to" between them.



128 TRENCH WARFARE

The platoon commander on duty in each

watch should patrol the line constantly andsatisfy himself that the proper number of sen-tries are on duty and keeping a sufficient look-out; also that they have good firing positions.In each platoon the sergeant and seotion com-manders keep watch similarly in turns duringthe night, and are responsible for the relief ofsentries. They also visit sentries every hour.

I t is a rule which must be strongly enforced,that every sentry must challenge each personpassing him, as it has often happened that en-emy officers with more daring than commonsense and speaking fluent English, have comeinto the trenches and walked up and down with-out being molested, which was only made pos-sible by sentries not challenging every one pass-ing his post.

RII'LBS

Rifles should be inspected every morning inthe trenches by the platoon commander, and a tother times during the day by the sergeant or

section commander, and it should be impressedon the men that ammunition must be kept oleanor the rifles are apt to jam. .



RIFLES 129

The p r i n c i p ~ ldefects of a rifle in the trenchesare:

(a) Mud in the bolt, owing to rifle beingrested on wet parapet or dropped on wetground. To remedy this a bolt cover is used,or when not obtainable l an old sock pulled overthe bolt action gives the desired r e s u l t ~

(b) Muddy ammunition, resulting in mud inchamber. Remedy: Prohibit placing of am-munition on ground and provide proper boxesfor it.

(c) Mud in muzzle resulting from rifles be-ing pushed into the sides of the trench. Rem-edy: Careful and frequent inspection. Riflebarrels must be freed from mud before firing,or they will be injured.

(d) Sticking of cartridges owing to dirt inchamber and magazine. Remedy: The keep-

ing clean of both.( e) Rust in the lock and insufficient oiling.Remedy: Bolt and magazine tested daily.Cartridges never to be kept in the chamber.

I t is a standard rule that never from the timemen enter the trenches until they go out, re-

gardless of what they are doing, does theirequipment come off, not even to lie down tosleep. During working periods which take the



100 TRENCH WARFARE

men to the trenches, their equipment and riflesmust 'always be carried with them.

PUPARATORY TO :lBTBRIHG TRDOBBS

Things to be taken note of before entering:(a) Check periscopes, wire cutters, field

glasses, water carriers, stretchers, field dress-ings, emergency rations, smoke helmets, rifles,identity discs, sandbags, ammunition.

(b) See that water bottles are filled. .( c) Each officer to have an orderly.(d) Magazines to be charged and bayonets

fixed and unfixed beforehand to insure properworking. When taking over the trenches, thefirst thing to be done is:

(a) Ascertain position of officers' dugouts.(b) Arrange telephones.(c) Check stores, tools, and reserve ammuni-

tion, and its position.(d) Obtain rough sketch of front and number

of traverses to be manned.(e) See that entanglements in front of

trenches are absolutely intact.(f) Arrange for water and ration parties and

find out position of latrines.



SNIPING 131

TAKmG OVER TRENOHES

On arrival each sentry is to have a periscope,the whole company to stand at arms, and eaehplatoon to have i ts own ammunition reserveand all men know where this is. I t is of the

greatest importance that every detail and por-tion of trench taken over be known, and alsothe adjoining trenches as fa r as they affect thetrenches held. Accurate sketches of the trenchshould be made, and periscopes, prismatic com-

passes and ruled notebooks are required. Gen-eral scale is roughly % inch to 10 yards.Drains must be watched and every effort madeto keep trenches dry. When large trench mor-ta r batteries of the enemy are active, men mustbe told off to watch for these bombs, as they are

easily seen, and many casualties may be pre-

vented by timely warning of their coming.The fire trenches should contain as few menas possible, and work should be done at night,the men resting by day.

SNIPmG

Each company generally has specially se-lected men told off as snipers. Strict discipline



132 TRENCH WARFARE

is necessary. They are generally on duty by

day and excused from night work, and i t is therule that they are either told off to a definitepost or given what is known as a roving commission. These men must be expert in buildingloopholes of all kinds by day or night, use oftelescopic sights, periscopes, etc., the selectionand judging of good sniping positions, eitherfor use in front or behind :fire trenches; expertin judging distances, in aiming and triggerpressing, in laying fixed rifles for night firing,and in the fixing and laying of rifle batteries.

PATROLS

Patrolling both day and night is of great im-

portance, and generally during the night eachunit holding a front line sends out several smallpatrols which frequently obtain information ofgreat value and at the same time counter theenemy's efforts in this direction.

These patrols generally consist of an officerand four to six men, according to the job inview. Sometimes on highly important work,it is three officers and sufficient orderlies tocarry any valuable information obtained quicklyback to a pre-arranged headquarters.



PATROLS 133

Bombs, revolvers and trench daggers are theonly weapons of any value on these patrols.They frequently carry out small operations,such as raiding parties, cutting out parties, etc.,obtaining from prisoners taken in this way in-formation as to what enemy troops are oppos-ing them in the line.

When a patrol is out every man in the sectionof firing line concerned must be warned, as wellas the listening posts, and this cannot be donetoo carefully. I t is not a sufficient warning totell the sentry on duty at the t4ne a patrol goesout, as men cannot all be trusted to pass ()n

,instructions, and generally word is quietlypassed down the line by an N. C. O. or officer ill'person, and never passed from man to man.At the same time care must be taken to see thatall firing does not cease, as this is undesirable,obviously arousing the enemy's suspicions that

something is going on. When these patrolshave to lie out in trying conditions during win-

ter months, special dugouts should be keptready for them on their return.



136 TRENCH WARFARE

12. Do I thoroughly understand the best

method of relief and bringing up of ration andwater supplies, and do my men come up into thetrenches in absolute silence'

13. Do my men know their way about thetrenches in various routes to company and battalion headquarters'

14.Am I acquainted with the arrangementsfor access to the artillery and for asking, if

necessary, for their immediate support, Do Iknow the location of the nearest telephone'

15. Am I doing my best to collect information about the enemy, his defenses, his activi

ties and movements, and especially about hispatrols at night! What points in my front par-ticularly require patrolling!

16. Are my listening patrols properly detailed'

17. Which is my best way to get through the

parapet in order to go towards the enemy'18. Do I know the last order regarding theuse of S. O. S., gas and Zeppelin messages, anddo I know exactly what messages to send'

19. Are the arrangements in case of gas at-tack complete and known to all ranks' Do I

know the gong position, and does the sentryknow the orders as to sounding i t '

20. Have my men always got their gas hel-



DUTIES OF AN OFFICER 137

mets on their person and are they in good or

derY21. Are my parapets and traverses bulletproof everywhere'

22. Is my wire strong enough and am I doingall I can to prevent my trenches from fallinginY

23. Am I doing all I can to drain mytrenches'24. Have my men got weather-proof places

to sleep inY25. Are the trenches as clean and sanitary as

they might be' Are live ammunition and

empty shells properly collected T Have I madeall possible arrangements for the collection ofrefuse and do the men realize that it must notbe thrown over the parapets or in the sump-pitsfor sanitary reasons T

26. Where are my small ammunition and

bomb stores, and are they under cover fromweatherT27. Are all my rifles and ammunition clean

and in good order, and have all my men riflecovers T Are their magazines always charged T

28. Am I doing all I can to prevent my men

from getting trench feetT Have my mengreased their feet before entering the trenches,and have they a pair of spare dry Bocks to



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MAcmNB GUN EKPLACJ:KD'l'

A type of front liDe emplacement with which an infantry olllcer shouldconstructed by and are entirely under the control of Mach



·140 TRENCH WARFARE

change! Do my men wear gum boots when it

is not necessary' Have I made all possible ar-rangements for drying socks'29. Are the orders as to wearing equipment

carried out,30. Are my men using as firewood notice

boards or wood from the defense or from the

engineer or trench stores!31. Are my men drinking water from any butauthorized sources!

32. Do I know the name of every N. C. O. andman in my platoon, and do they know mine'

33. Do I insure that my men get sufficient

sleep!34. Have I sufficient periscopes and are theyin good order!

35. Almost always remember that I am herefor two purposes. Do as much damage to theenemy with the minimum amount of casualties

resulting from retaliation, and to hold my partof the line at all costs.

BOW TO :rnu: A IU.OIIIlfB GUN IN OASB OPDDRGENOY

As a machine gun textbook is very dry, andit is difficult for a man who is not of a moohani-



HOW TO FffiE A MACHINE GUN 141

cal turn of mind to obtain the most elementary

knowledge of the action from a book, officersshould lose no time in getting in touch with amachine gun officer and learn from actual ex-perience, how to load, fire and rectify simplestoppage.

LEwIs GUN. To load, put a full magazine on

the magazine post with the cocking handle for-ward.Pull back cocking handle to its fullest extent,

and raise tangent sight unless the target iswithin 200 yards.

To fire, press the trigger and the gon will

continue to fire as long as pressure on the trig-ger is maintained. I t will only stop when (a)the magazine is emptied; (b) stoppage is setup. To remedy this (1) take off empty mag-azine and put on full one, reload relay and fire;(2) cocking handle stops in one of three posi-

tions. To remedy this one must have a thor-ough knowledge of remedying of stoppages.VIOKER'S AUTOMATIO. To load, pass the

brass tack of belt through feed plug (right toleft), pull back crank handle and pull belt to theleft; release handle and belt; repeat this process

and the gun is loaded. Vertical adjustment forsighting is obtained by moving elevating wheelon quadrant of tripod, horizontal adjustment



142 TRENCH WARFARE

by tapping the rear cross-piece. The clamping

handle is in front of the cross-band of thetripod. To fire, raise safety catch with first orsecond finger (the safety catch is a strip ofsteel which is under the ihumb-piece or doublebutton) and press the thumb-piece. The gunwill now fire until pressure is released or until

a stoppage occurs . .STOPPAGES. There are four common stoppages, distinguished by the position of the crankhandle. Remedy: (1) Pull crank handle backand belt to the left, let go crank handle; (2)open rear cover, take out lock, remove bent

cartridge from face of lock; (3) hit crank han-• • dIe down. U it will not go, lift it a little, pullbelt and hit again; (4) raise crank handle, pull

. belt, let go of c r a n k ~H not effective, then putin the spare lock, but unload first. To disablegun, remove lock and fuse from fire belt

through the breech casing.

PREVENTION 01' PROST BITE AKD TONCH

P D T

, These conditions are generally caused bylong standing in cold water and mud, or thecontinuous wearing of wet socks, boots and put-



FROST BITES AND TRENCH FEET 143

tees, and the conditions are accelerated when

the blood cirClllationin

the feet and legs is interfered with by the use of tight puttees, oranything calculated to cause constriction of thelower limbs. They can be prevented or diminished by constant improvement of trenches andreducing the time spent in the trenches as far

as the general situation will permit by battalionarrangements; by insuring that men enteringthe trenches are waxmly clad in dry boots,socks, trousers and puttees, and that beforeentering, the men's legs and feet are thoroughlyrubbed with whale oil. Provisions are made for

the men on coming out of the trenches to getwarm shelters, hot foods and facilities for wash- •ing th,e feet and drying wet clothes, and allalong the line just behind the trenches soupkitchens are kept where the men may stop onthe way' to billet and get hot soup, etc.

The arrangements made when a battalion isgoing into the trenches are roughly as follows:The men's feet and legs are washed and dried

and then thoroughly rubbed with whale oil anddry socks put on. A second pair of dry socks iscarried by each man, and when it is possible,

battalion arrangements are made for wet socksto be brought down from the trenches one nightand dry ones exchanged, this taking place every



1 " TRENCHWABFARE

night. This is generally managed by the menchanging in the early morning, the relief partyfor that night taking down the wet socks andbringing in the dry for the next morning.

Hot water must never be used, nor the feetheld near a fire. Where necessary, and circum-stances permit, long gum boots are put on onentering the trench, while the men's feet arestill dry, and taken off as soon as they prepareto leave and handed over as trench stores.

In some parts of the line, where conditionsare very favorable, battalion rest posts areformed as close to the firing line as permissible,and men showing signs of suffering from ex-

posure are frequently attended to.

trench warfare a manual for officers and men

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