Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare
The Canadian government
wanted to encourage men to
enlist for war.
They said the war would be
safe, hardly any fighting, a
good lark and over by
Christmas.
They used advertising posters
to encourage this idea!
A picture of soldiers going
‘Over the Top’
Trench Warfare
Posters always showed men
ready and willing to fight.
They never showed the
boredom of the trenches or
actual fighting taking place.
The reality of ‘going over the top’ was very different!
How the uniform and equipment changed after just three
weeks in the trenches…
Trench Warfare
The Failed Schlieffen Plan…
• World War I officially began
with the German army
storming through Belgium,
into France.
• At the First Battle of the
Marne, Germany attacks
and then retreats
• A stalemate occurs
Trench Warfare
• Trench Warfare is battle in
which both sides have dug
trenches to stand their
ground
• Artillery fire (cannon) was
used to keep the enemy offguard
Trench Warfare
• Trenches were generally
holes, dug about six feet
deep
• Trenches were a lot like a
maze on both sides, with
bunkers used for
communications and storing
ammunition
Key
1.Communication
Trench
2.Machine Gun
Nest
3.Underground
Bunker
4.Traverse
5.Wire Break
6.Listening Post
+ Trench Block
Conditions in the Trenches
No smiling and relaxed faces…
No clean uniforms…
Their equipment is scattered
everywhere…Boredom and sleep are
obvious…
Conditions in the Trenches
• In the busier front-line
sectors:
– constant machine gun
and artillery fire
– Don’t peer over the edge
of the trench
• Estimated 1/3rd of the
deaths for the Allied Powers
were in the trenches.
Conditions in the Trenches
Shell fire
• Germans used mortar fire
(large shells that explode on
impact) against the allies
• These shell attacks were
more deadly than gunfire
Conditions in the Trenches
• Rats, which numbered in
the millions infested the
trenches
• These rats gorged
themselves on human
remains
– As a result, some were
as big as cats.
Rats continued…
• A single rat could produce
900 offspring, so it was
impossible to get rid of
them
• What do you think rats
contributed to the
trenches?
Conditions in the Trenches
Conditions in the Trenches
• Lice, another problem with the
trenches
– Caused never-ending itching
– Clothes that were “deloused” almost always still
had lice eggs on them
• Condition called Trench Fever
– Caused by lice
– Horrible fever/severe pain
Conditions in the Trenches
• Trench foot: a fungal
infection caused by standing
in water for long periods of
time
• Especially bad at the
beginning of the war
– Conditions improved in
1915
Conditions in the Trenches
Poison Gas
• In 1915, the Germans began
to use poisonous chlorine
gas in some shell attacks
• The poisonous gas caused
violent choking spells
Conditions in the Trenches
The Stench
• Chlorine gas from the gas attacks still lingered in many places
• Rotting carcasses lay around in their thousands.
– For example, approximately 200,000 men were killed on
the Somme battlefields, many of which lay in shallow
graves
Pics