Trenches in World War I
During trench warfare, opposing armies conduct battle, at relatively close range, from a series of ditches dug into the ground. Trench warfare becomes necessary when two armies face a stalemate, with neither side able to advance and overtake the other. Although trench warfare has been employed since ancient times, it was used on an unprecedented scale on the Western Front during World War I. Why Trench Warfare in WWI? In the early weeks of the First World War (late in the summer of 1914), both German and French commanders anticipated a war that would involve a large amount of troop movement, as each side sought to gain -- or defend -- territory. During the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, however, the Germans were pushed back by Allied forces. By October 1914, neither army could advance its position, mainly because war was being waged in a very different way than it had been in the nineteenth century. Construction and Design of Trenches Daily Routine in the Trenches Shell Shock
Te Ara - New Zealand
Origins The First World War was caused by the destabilisation of the balance of power in Europe due to the rise of Germany. The war began in 1914 when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia because of the assassination of an archduke. Countries had made alliances with each other, and soon most of Europe was at war. New Zealand was part of the British Empire, and when Britain declared war on Germany, in August 1914, that meant New Zealand was at war too. The two sides were called the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary) and the Allies, which included the British Empire, Russia and France. New Zealand enters the war New Zealand decided to send soldiers to fight in the war for a number of reasons, including New Zealand’s strong ties to Britain and its concern with keeping trade routes open so it could continue to export to Britain. Within a month New Zealand troops had occupied Western Samoa, which was a German territory. Gallipoli Turkey had entered the war on the Central Powers side.
Anzac History World War I Letters from the trenches of WWI Gallipoli France
Letters written by Bert Smythe and published in the Jerilderie Herald and Urana Advertiser on 30 June and 7 July 1916. Corporal Bert Smythe, an old Jerilderie boy, writes an interesting narrative concerning trench warfare in Gallipoli in which campaign he participated. At time of writing the soldier was an inmate of a London Hospital. He says:- “It is about 6 o’clock in the morning, and we are in the rest trenches due to go into the firing line for four hours (approx.) sometime during the morning. “What the __ __ is the __ __ matter?” Jones sits up and considers things, and finally Smith and he go grumblingly to the cook house under the shelter (?) It’s your platoon’s turn for cookhouse fatigue so you again refer to your roster. Word is received that we relieve the 5th at 9.30 a.m. and in the meantime the trench must be tidied up. “Stop shovin', you __ __.” “Where’d she settle?” We were so afraid of instantaneous combustion. He then retired back to his job, spitting disgustedly.
WW1 TRENCH SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS,WORLD WAR 1 TRENCH SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS,WHERE TO SLEEP IN A WW1 TRENCH,WW1 TRENCH SHELTER INFO,WW1 TRENCH SHELTER DRAWING,1917 TRENCH SHELTER ILLUSTRATION,DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO CONSTRUCT A WW1 TRENCH SHELTER,ARMY REGULATIO
Attached you will find a 1917 illustration making clear as to how the great many soldiers of W.W. I were expected to sleep within the dank, muddy labyrinthine trench system. It was the preferred plan on both sides that their troops sleep in fields and forests as they briskly march forward to the terror-struck cities of their timid and surrendering foes - but other sleeping arrangements had to made after it was decided that trenches were necessary. Officers in forward trenches would sleep in shifts within muddy little rooms called "dugouts" and the rankers would get something worse - misleadingly they were dubbed, "shelters" and they were simply rectangular caves carved into the walls of the trench. "It should be raised at least a foot above the floor level in the trench to prevent water from the trench floor from coming in..."
Trench Foot
Many soldiers fighting in the First World War suffered from trench foot. This was an infection of the feet caused by cold, wet and insanitary conditions. In the trenches men stood for hours on end in waterlogged trenches without being able to remove wet socks or boots. The feet would gradually go numb and the skin would turn red or blue. If untreated, trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in amputation. Trench foot was a particular problem in the early stages of the war. Arthur Savage pointed out that trench foot had serious consequences: "My memories are of sheer terror and the horror of seeing men sobbing because they had trench foot that had turned gangrenous. The only remedy for trench foot was for the soldiers to dry their feet and change their socks several times a day.
Revetment
Asphalt and sandbag revetment with a geotextile filter In stream restoration, river engineering or coastal management, revetments are sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs in such a way as to absorb the energy of incoming water. In military engineering they are structures, again sloped, formed to secure an area from artillery, bombing, or stored explosives. Freshwater revetments[edit] Wooden revetments Rock armour revetments Many revetments are used to line the banks of freshwater rivers, lakes, and man-made reservoirs, especially to prevent damage during periods of floods or heavy seasonal rains (see riprap). Revetments as coastal defence[edit] Tetrapods[edit] Tetrapod revetment along the waterfront at Mumbai Fortifications[edit] World War I: British diagram for the construction of reveted trenches - the revetment here is the part forward of the standing soldier. According to the U.S. See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit] Fortifications[edit] River and Levee Management[edit]
WWI Battlefields
