Trench Warfare
Experience
Allied powers are primarily England, France, and Russia. Central powers
are Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.
It took you many months to dig and build the deep trenches that you are
now in that are sheltering you from the enemy. You are located on the
borders of France, and have been fighting your enemy in the same trenches
for months. Each trench is about 7 feet deep and 6 feet wide, and the walls
are made of wood. Just in front of your trench, there is barbed wire to
prevent the enemy from sneaking into your camp. This area between the
two trenches was called “No Man’s Land.” Take a look at the picture of a
trench on the next slide…
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history/videos/lifein-a-trench
WWI Weapons
• Chemical Warfare
• Machine Guns
– Machine guns needed 46 men to work them and
had to be on a flat
surface. They had the
fire-power of 100 guns.
– Could fire 600 rounds in
a minute.
• Chlorine gas causes a burning
sensation in the throat and
chest pains. Death is painful you suffocate! If the wind is in
the wrong direction it could
end up killing your
own troops rather than the
enemy.
• Mustard gas was the most
deadly weapon used. It was
fired into the trenches in
shells. Effects include:
blistering skin, vomiting, sore
eyes, internal and external
bleeding. Death can take up to
5 weeks.
WWI Weapons
• Planes
• Tanks
– Tanks were used for the
first time in the First World
War. They were developed
to cope with the conditions
on the Western Front. The
first tank was called 'Little
Willie' and needed a crew
of 3. Its maximum speed
was 3mph and it could not
cross trenches.
– The more modern tank
was not developed until
just before the end of the
war. It could carry 10 men,
had a revolving turret and
could reach 4mph.
– Planes were also used for
the first time. At first they
were used to deliver
bombs and for spying work
but became fighter aircraft
armed with machine guns,
bombs and some times
cannons. Fights between
two planes in the sky
became known as
'dogfights'
Lets see what happens when a soldiers steps out of
his trench to confront the enemy. Soldier Lindstrom
steps up from the Central powers. What will a
soldier from the Allied powers do in response? As
soon as sniper Bennett from the allied powers sees
the soldier, she eliminates the soldier with one shot!
Now you are forced to live in a trench for the whole
war. Each group of soldiers stays in the front line
trench for 8 days, the reserve trench (which is
behind the front line trench) for 4 days, and the
recovery area (not a trench) for four days.
Battle Scene – Trench Warfare
Just watch and think what the commanders are
asking these men to do!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N84Iq1PnE
PQ
Food in the Trenches
As a soldier, your meals are not as tasty as you would like. You love to
get meat, but as the war continues, you get less and less of it, and
more and more hard, stale bread. Be sure to keep it safe because the
rats love to eat your bread.
A total of 3 million tons of food were shipped to the front lines from
Britain along with 300,000 workers to distribute it. Troops, like you,
at the front line get 6 oz of meat each day.
It takes 8 days for bread to get to where you are. Unfortunately, the
bread became hard and stale by the time it reached you. In order to
make it decent to eat, your kitchen crew mixes it up with hot soups
which included horse meat. As you might have seen in the baggage
picture, soldiers had to carry around an emergency supply of food.
Each soldier carries a certain amount of supplies
with him. Take a look at the picture on the right
and answer questions 4-5.
Crimes
Of course as a soldier, there are many rules that you
are expected to follow. However, some rules are
considered worse than others. While in war, if you
committed any of these crimes, you would be
executed by a firing squad: Desertion (running
away), Cowardice in the face of the enemy, quitting
your post, disobeying an authority, murder, striking
a superior officer, casting away your arms, mutiny,
or sleeping at your post. Soldier Veeder is in the
process of committing the serious crime of
cowardice!!! And soldier Swan is mostly likely to fall
asleep at the post.
Dysentery
An unfortunate event has occurred. Soldier Seifert
has come down with the disease dysentery! This is
very common for soldiers in the trenches. A bacteria
has entered Seifert large intestine. First, he has
stomach pains and diarrhea, then vomiting and a
fever. It must have entered his body through some
unhealthy food. It is caused by unsanitary conditions
in the trenches. If the diarrhea continues, this soldier
will dehydrate and maybe die.
Shell Shock
A long gruesome battle just ended. Many people are
injured badly. In this battle alone, nearly 500,000 tons
of artillery were fired. Unfortunately, Soldier Page had
developed shell shock. Shell shock is a disease caused
by the firing of so many shells. Private Page has
become tired and irritable from the shell shock. Then,
Lieutenant Lipman becomes giddy, loses concentration,
and has a headache. Finally, Page begins to have a
mental breakdown and starts going crazy. The doctor
says the only cure was the leave the battle entirely.
Two percent of all British soldiers got shell shock.
Answer questions 6 and 7.
Bugs in the Trenches.
Watch out!! Next to Corporal Goldstein
is one of the biggest rats you have every
seen!! They crawl around the trenches
and multiply! One pair of rats can
produce 880 offspring in one year! Rats
spread disease and worst of all, try to
eat dead soldiers. They will start by
eating the eyes of the dead soldiers and
work their way into the rotting bodies.
This was extremely gross. You should be
careful because the rats will come right
up to you and eat the food out of your
pockets while you are sleeping!
Possibly even worse, Soldier Adams has come
down with a bad case of body lice. Soldier Billow
gets bit by the lice and it leaves an itchy red
mark. Also, the lice create a sour smell through
the trenches. There were very few ways to get
rid of the lice. Adams and her friend Billow are
trying to burn the lice, but it is difficult to make
sure you do not burn your clothes or yourself.
Lice carried a disease called trench fever, and
unfortunately, Sergeant Sweeney has contracted
the disease. Trench fever starts with shooting
pains in the leg, and continues with a high fever.
Fortunately, it is not lethal. Answer question 8.
Trench foot
The last three days have been awful. It has
rained non-stop and the trenches are full of
water up to your knees. A very sad and
gross thing has happened in the trenches.
Brigadier Briggs and Soldier DiCaro have
trench foot. This is an infection of the feet
caused by cold, wet, and unsanitary
conditions. Briggs and DiCaro feet have
swelled, rotted and he can no longer walk.
If he does not get treated for trench foot
soon, his feet will have to be amputated.
Look at the
picture of
trench foot
and answer
question 9.
Gas attacks.
The allied forces are making a move
against the central powers. Soldier
Phelps just threw a chlorine bomb into
the enemy trench. All people in the
central powers will want gas masks.
Until WWI, it was considered
ungentlemanly to use gas warfare. Not
any more. Chlorine gas would slowly kill
a person by attacking their respiratory
system. The most lethal gas was
mustard gas, which burned people skin
causing blisters, causes them to vomit,
bleed externally and internally and
eventually die. It was four to five weeks
of slow and painful death. Nearly 6000
people died from gas attacks in WWI.
No Man’s Land and an Offensive
The area between the trenches is called no man’s land. At all
times, no man’s land in being watched by many machine guns
and many snipers. The Central powers have decided to send
Scout Stradley as a scout to check out the allied trenches.
However, Stradley has been spotted by the Allied sniper
Bennett. Another perfect shot.
Sometimes, when returning from a mission, soldier could get
shot by their own sniper by mistake.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-ihistory/videos/trenchwarfare?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false
Finally, the allied forced will try an offensive. This is an attack on
the other side’s trench. Very few were successful. Attack Allied
powers! (Answer question 10)