How were trenches used in World War One?

1. Describe the parts of a trench:

2. Explain why the trenches

were zig-zagged shaped

Key Words

Parapet Duckboards

Fire step Dugouts

As the Germans were the first to decide where to stand fast and dig, they had been able to choose the best places to build their trenches. The Allies soon realised that they could not break through this line and they also began to dig trenches.

The possession of the higher ground not only gave the Germans a tactical advantage, but it forced the British and French to live in the worst conditions.

As soon as soldiers began to dig down they would invariably find water two or three feet below the surface. Water-logged trenches were a constant problem for soldiers on the Western Front.

Who dug the 1st trench?

The front of the trench was known as the parapet. The top two or three feet of the parapet and the rear side of the trench would consist of a thick line of sandbags to absorb any bullets or shell fragments.

In a trench of this depth it was impossible to see over the top, so a two or three-foot ledge known as a fire-step, was added. Trenches were not dug in straight lines. Otherwise, if the enemy had a successive attack, and got into your trench, they could shoot straight along the line, killing everyone in their sight.

Duck-boards were also placed at the bottom of the trenches to protect soldiers from problems such as water. Soldiers also made dugouts in the side of the trenches to give them some protection from the weather and enemy fire.

The front-line trenches were also protected by barbed-wire and machine-gun posts.

Key Terms....

Find out information....You have until the end of the music to go around the room and write a sentence about each of the following features of a trench:

1) Water2) Snipers3) Latrines4) Dugouts5) No-mans land6) Night patrols

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciq9ts02ci4

1. Write an impression of no-mans land

2. You are a General and preparing for war... how would you plan out the Trenches – see Miss Driscoll for a card pack to

do this

Today’s Tasks

How were trenches designed to help soldiers on the front line overcome the

problems of war?

Home Learning

Sandbags

Duckboards

DugoutsBarbed

wire

Fire step

Design your own trench The trench

system became a complicated and

organised system. Use the pieces you have been given to

design and create your own trench system in pairs.

Trench section

Trench section

Trench section Trench section Trench section

Trench section

Trench section

Trench section

Trench section

Communication Line Communication Line Communication Line

Com

mun

icati

on L

ine

No Mans Land

Com

mun

icati

on L

ine

Trench section

Trench section Trench section

Trench section

Trench section

Trench section

Barbed Wire

Hospital

Barbed Wire

Radio RoomKitchens and

Baths Supplies store

Sniper Pot holeSniperSniper Pot

holePot hole

Pot hole

No Mans LandNo Man's Land is the term used to describe the ground between the two trenches.

If the area had seen a lot of action No Man's Land would be full of broken and abandoned military equipment. After an attack No Man's Land would also contain a large number of bodies. Advances across No Man's Land was always very difficult. Not only did the soldiers have to avoid being shot or blown-up, they also had to cope with barbed-wire and water-filled, shell-holes.

Small patrols were also sent out to obtain information about the enemy. These patrols would go out at night. They would have to crawl forward on their stomachs in an attempt to get close enough to find out what the enemy was up to. If possible, they would try and capture a sentry and bring him back for interrogation.

Small patrols of men were often sent into No Man's Land to discover information about the enemy. All men had to take turns in this very dangerous work. The patrols usually went out at night. They would cautiously inch their way forward on their stomachs and try to get within earshot of the enemy trenches.

Men on patrols considered returning to their own trenches as the most dangerous part of the operation. Nervous sentries often fired at any movement in front of them and caused many casualties. On one occasion a sentry killed two of his own men with one shot

Night Patrols

Soldiers in front-line trenches suffered from enemy snipers. These men were usually specially trained marksmen that had rifles with telescopic sights.

German snipers did not normally work from their own trenches. The main strategy was to creep out at dawn into no-man's land and remain there all day.

Wearing camouflaged clothing and using the cover of a fake tree, they waited for a British soldier to pop his head above the parapet.

A common trick was to send up a kite with English writing on it. Anyone who raised his head to read it was shot

Snipers

Dug OutsDugouts were protective holes dug out of the sides of trenches. The size of dugouts varied a great deal and sometimes could house over ten men. As the war went on

dugouts grew in size. By 1917 dugouts at Messines could hold two battalions of soldiers at a time. Large dugouts were also built into the side of communication trenches so that they were not directly in line of fire from enemy guns. These often served as the battalion headquarters and provided sleeping accommodation for the officers

The latrines was the name given to trench toilets.

Each company had two sanitary personnel whose job it was to keep the latrines in good condition.

In many units, officers gave out sanitary duty as a punishment for breaking army regulations.

Before a change-over in the trenches, the out-going unit was supposed to fill in its latrines and make a new one for the new arrivals.

Toilets / Latrines

As the Germans were the first to decide where to stand fast and dig, they had been able to choose the best places to build their trenches. The possession of the higher ground not only gave the Germans a tactical advantage, but it also forced the British to live in the worst conditions.

Along the whole line, trench life involved a never-ending struggle against water and mud. Duck-boards were placed at the bottom of the trenches to protect soldiers from problems such as trench foot.

Much of the land where the trenches were dug was either clay or sand. The water could not pass through the clay and because the sand was on top, the trenches became waterlogged when it rained. The trenches were hard to dig and kept on collapsing in the waterlogged sand. As well as trenches the shells from the guns and bombs made big craters in the ground. The rain filled up the craters and then poured into the trenches.

Water-logged