describe it.
2007-10-29 02:37:17 · 5 answers · asked by RaM IT INNN 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Let's say you are in a very quiet sector of the British front line. You slept very little last night in a timber-lined dugout in one wall of the trench - not much sleep as the enemy were sending over shells and mortar bombs all night.
"Stand to" well before dawn, which means taking up position on the firing step in full kit in case of an enemy attack, then try to wash, shave, then cook tea and tinned bully beef or biscuit (sometimes all at once in the same pan). Clean water is extremely scarce and rations have to be brought from the rear under constant shellfire.
Officers inspect all positions regularly to ensure discipline and personal hygeine; feet would be checked regularly for "trench foot".
If you are not detailed as a lookout (using a periscope) you might be given such jobs as repairing trenches, fitting fuses to grenades, replacing barbed wire in no-man's land, laying communications wire to the rear or going back to the support trenches for medical supplies, ammunition, mail or food.
Wounded men needed to be brought in under fire and taken to dressing stations; sometimes patrols would be sent out after dark to take enemy prisoners or bring back intelligence on enemy activity. If you live through the day, you try to sleep in the dugout again that night.
Even in a quiet sector, hundreds of men would be killed or wounded every day.
2007-10-29 02:53:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lets not forget the rats that occupied the trenches as well as the soldiers. One family member (long since dead, the victim of a British 'over the top' charge into a hail of machinegun fire) wrote my dear departed grandmother and described the rats 'as big as cats'.
Besides the human waste, putrifying corpses and garbage in the bottom of trenches you overtook.
2007-10-29 11:18:57 · answer #2 · answered by Quasimodo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shaking, waiting for incoming; frostbite; changing socks and wound dressings; smoking; hoping for a good mailcall; a few sent out reconnoitering; trying to catch a little shuteye after a noisy night.
2007-10-29 09:41:12 · answer #3 · answered by Mr. Vincent Van Jessup 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everything you've been provided with and worse.
How about claustrophic, living 300 feet below ground for weeks at a time, constant infection and death. Yeah, and don't forget the rats. Fun for all,,,
2007-10-29 12:03:19 · answer #4 · answered by Sprouts Mom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's pretty fun. Duck, Shovel, and Fire.
2007-10-29 09:40:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋