Trench Warfare in WWI U.S. History Soldiers are Dreamers
Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin They think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives. I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats, And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain, Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats, And mocked by hopeless longing to regain Bank-holidays and picture shows, and spats, And going to the office in the train. Siegfried Sassoon, British poet and soldier [1] Siegfried Sassoon, Dreamers. in Modern British Poetry byLouis Untermeyer. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920); Bartleby.com, [November 15, 2005]. Enfilading fire Enfilading fire rakes the enemy with gunfire in a lengthwise direction, just above the lip of a trench.Being shot at is terrifying enough, but can a person ever get used to constant, deadly fire just above ones head?Enfilading fire was just one danger facing the soldiers during the war. Trench Conditions Miles and miles of trenches snaked through the landscape of Western Europe from 1914 to 1918, often only a few miles apart.Hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought and died in trenches, some only a few feet deep.Rain flooded the trench, rodents and insects infested the men, and the dead were a constant reminder to the living for what may lie ahead. Comforts of the Trench? Despite its squalid nature, many men came to recognize the comfort of the trench.Whether they used the sides of the walls as shelter from the rain, laid low during the enfilading fire, or appreciated the twists of the line during a nasty shelling attack, the trench came to be home for many men. Trench warfare was not a new idea.
The British experienced digging trenches in Africa during the Boer War Germans faced intense opposition from the Japanese in the trenches during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Trench warfare was even used at times during the American Civil War. Trench warfare as an all-encompassing strategy had never been seen. WWI put trench warfare in the vocabulary of every man and woman across the continents. [1] Rotem Kowner, Becoming an Honorary Civilized Nation: Remaking Japans Military Image during the Russo-Japanese War, The Historian 64:1 (Fall 2001): This background on the idea of trench warfare was also briefly discussed in John Keegans, The First World War (New York: Random House, 1998) on page 179. [2] John Keegan, The First World War (New York: Random House, 1998), 136. Germans made the initial decision to dig into the earth.
Use the trenches to help troops take a defensive position and help transfer troops to other areas of battle. Trenches made a successful offensive extremely difficult, as the opposition had the landscape to its advantage. Wished to fortify the front in a strength sufficient to assure that it could be held with small numbers against attack by superior forces for a long time. While this strategy gave commanders much more flexibility to move troops to where they were needed, it brought the war to a standstill. [1] Hew Strachan, The First World War (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), According to John Keegan, Moltke also gave the entrench and hold order to troops after the retreat at the Marne.(Keegan 179) [2] Ben Cassidy, Machiavelli and the Ideology of the Offensive: Gunpowder Weapons in the Art of War. The Journal of Military History 67:2 (April 2003): 381. [3] Keegan, 179. Trench Strategy Advantage constantly changed from one side to the other Quote from John Keegans The First World War No-mans land The terrain between enemy trenches
Originally used in 1320 as a dumping ground for refuse Often littered with tangled barbed wire, holes from shells, dead bodies, communication wire An area of death and decay; often infested with rats who ate the flesh of the dead soldiers Nightly Suicide Raid was intended to foster the offensive spirit of the troops Going over the top involved an offensive against the opposing troops Had to fight through no-mans land Nightly Suicide was Common
To many commanders, a trench was merely a place to assemble until your army climbed out of it to resume the offensive again. Artillery Artillery was an important weapon in WWI.
Either wait for the enemy to come out of the ground, force the enemy into the battle with an offensive, or unload on the enemy with heavy artillery. Commanders in WWI frequently pounded the enemy with endless artillery barrages. Artillery was used to soften up an enemys position in order to prepare for a infantry offensive. [1] The United States military in the First Persian Gulf War used their air supremacy to bomb targets in Baghdad in order to defeat the Iraqi prior to sending in the infantry.This was also common in Bosnia and the current Iraqi War. Problems with Artillery
Firing on ones own army. When firing artillery during an infantry attack, it was extremely important to maintain communication with the assault.The big guns had to keep up with the advancing army; otherwise, the guns would be firing on their own troops. Technology Unfortunately for the common soldier, no strategy could offset the technology of warfare at the time predisposed the armies for slaughter.The new weapons and technology which could have prevented the carnage would not be available for another generation [1] Ibid., 294. Break down the trench One of the advantages of an artillery attack was the wear on the trench itself.Sustained bombings and direct hits could collapse a trench wall or parapet.Therefore, soldiers had to continually rebuild the trench as they were being attacked.As a trench was dug out, the excess dirt and soil was heaped in between the soldier and the enemy position.An enemy; however, could consistently shoot at a trench wall to lower its height.After a day of being shot at, a soldier would spend the night digging out the bottom again to put more earth in between themselves and the enemy. [1] Horne, 176. A Working Party He pushed another bag along the top,
Craning his body outward; then a flare Gave one white glimpse of No Mans Land and wire; And as he dropped his head the instant split His startled life with lead, and all went out. (ln 45-49) [1] Siegfried Sassoon, The Working Party, ed. Jon Silken, The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry (New York: Penguin Books, 1996), lines 45-49, p124.Sassoon was a British soldier during WWI.He is probably the most famous war poet from the time due to his vivid description of the situation of war. Catch-22 Soldiers were often caught in a deadly Catch-22: either rebuild the parapet and be on the watch for snipers or risk being killed due to inefficient defense.The better the defenses, the safer many soldiers felt in the trench. Rats They scurried across the faces of men asleep, gnawing food from their packs, and gorged themselves on the flesh of the unburied. There are five families of rats in the roof of my dugout, which is two feet above my head, and the little rats practice back somersaults continuously through the night, for they have discovered that my face is a soft landing when the fall. [1] Horne, 61. [2] Stratchan, 163. Lice Ninety-five percent of British soldiers coming out of the line were infested.Lice spread from man to man, living in the seams of his clothing and irritating his skin. Lice were a constant distraction for the soldiers.The lice fed up to twelve times a day and laid five eggs a day.The persistent itching drove many men crazy and their only relief came in the delousing van, which steamed the lice from the clothes.Invariably, the men had to return to the front and the lice. One soldier, as a memento of his misery, pulled a lice from his undershirt, dropped it on the letter he was writing home, and dripped candle wax over it. [1] Stratchan, 163. [2] Persico, One soldier, as a memento of his misery, pulled a lice from his undershirt, dropped it on the letter he was writing home, and dripped candle wax over it. Latrines When the Germans shelled a latrine, they were counting on help from a source in the sky.The weather was a major factor in many of the dangers of the trench during WWI. The Germans often aimed their artillery at the latrines of the French and British, knowing a direct hit would affect the conditions in the camp.[1] [1] Persico, 96. Trench foot Trenches were not waterproof; therefore, the rain was a constant nuisance.Rain collected in the soft bottom of the trench, causing muddy walkways and trench foot A simple pleasure of trench life was digging a hole into the side of a trench to stay out of the rain, despite the risk of being buried alive. [1] Horne, 61. [1] Ibid., Trench foot was a condition similar to frostbite, and was caused by not allowing boots time to dry. Mass Death The terrible strategy of gaining ground by throwing men at the trenches caused death to be a common occurrence to the common soldier. GAS! Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And floundring like a man in fire or lime Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. - from Dulce et Decorum est(lines 9-16) Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum est, ed. Jon Silken, The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry (New York: Penguin Books, 1996), lines 9-16, p192.Owen, like Sassoon, was a British soldier during WWI.Unlike Sassoon, he died during the conflict. GAS! Gas was an important tool in the war, as it forced soldiers into clumsy gas masks in order to save their lives.It was a horrible, painful death, as most gas burned the lungs for a sustained period of time.A soldier in the trench was more prone to death than a soldier in the open, as the gas tended to stay in the dugout earth for a longer amount of time than above ground.Therefore, a soldier in the trench had to keep his mask on longer, as the gas stayed in a hole longer. Constant Death Due to the danger of being outside the trench, many dead and wounded were left on the battlefield. Mortar blasts often messily buried the dead on the battlefield and in the trench. A soldier found the dead embedded in the walls of the trenches; head, legs, and half-bodies, just as they had been shoveled out of the way by the picks and shovels of the working party. [1] Horne, 176. Defense of Trench Since death was only an enemy attack away, soldiers defended their trenches with whatever material they could find. Sandbags lined the lips of the trench, barbed wire served as a barrier against foot invasion, and trenches were designed in a snake-like pattern to decrease the damage done by a shelling. the deeper the trench, the better defense a trench would provide. Conclusion WWI was a frightening war for a soldier.Holed in the ground, wearing light clothing against many different enemies from men to weather, and conditions sufficient only for rats, men fought against their environment and their enemy.The ground was a safe haven, yet a dangerous grave for many soldiers. However, without the trenches, the war would have been far more horrific.Flesh and blood were protected from the machine guns, artillery, and grenades which would have decimated soldiers out in the open. In the end, the soldiers of WWI were much more protected by the trench than hindered by it. Soldiers may have preferred the comfort of home to the war; but if they had to fight, they would have preferred to be defended in the ground than a target in the open. [1] Strachan, 163. Your Task/Homework Write a letter home from the trench.
Letter must describe what is occurring, what you are facing, what has happenedwhat are the conditions like? Letter must be written right now, with only a sheet of paper and a pen. Must be at least a page in length, single spaced. Finally, write a reflection on the trench activity.What did you learn?This should be on a different sheet of paper than the letter Extra Pictures