UNderstanding tHE TRENCHES!
![Picture](/uploads/1/7/9/0/17904395/7172425.jpg?290)
What Were The Trenches?
Although most of us think primarily of the Great War in terms of
life and death in the trenches, only a relatively small proportion of
the army actually served there. The trenches were the front lines,
the most dangerous places. But behind them was a mass of supply
lines, training establishments, stores, workshops, headquarters and
all the other elements of the 1914-1918 system of war, in which the
majority of troops were employed. The trenches were the domain of the
infantry, with the supporting arms of the mortars and machine-guns,
the engineers and the forward positions of the artillery observers.
Why Were The Trenches There?
The idea of digging into the ground to give some protection from
powerful enemy artillery and small arms fire was not a new idea or
unique to the Great War. It had been widely practiced in the US Civil
War, the Russian-Japanese war and other fairly recent wars. Trench
warfare can be said to have begun in September 1914 and ended when the
Allies made a breakthrough attack in August 1918. Before and after
those dates were wars of movement: in between it was a war of
entrenchment. The massive armies of 1914 initially fought a war of
movement, and any trenches dug were only for temporary cover. But from
the Battle of the Aisne onwards, both sides dug in to take cover
and hold their ground. The successive movements to outflank (get around
the outside of) the enemy trenches came to an end by November 1914. By
then there was a continuous line of trenches covering some 400 miles
from Switzerland to the North Sea. There was no way round.
What Were The Trenches Like?
The type and nature of the trench positions varied a lot, depending
on the local conditions. For example, in the area of the River Somme on
the Western Front, the ground is chalky and is easily dug. The trench
sides will crumble easily after rain, so would be built up ('revetted')
with wood, sandbags or any other suitable material. At Ypres, the
ground is naturally boggy and the water table very high, so trenches
were not really dug, more built up using sandbags and wood (these were
called 'breastworks'). In parts of Italy, trenches were dug in rock; in
Palestine in sand. In France the trenches ran through towns and
villages, through industrial works, coalmines, brickyards, across
railway tracks, through farms, fields and woods, across rivers, canals
and streams. Each feature presented its own set of challenges for the
men who had to dig in and defend. In the major offensives of 1915,
1916 and 1917 many trench positions were only held for a few days
at a time before the next advance moved them on into what had been
no man's land or the enemy position. These trenches were scratch
affairs, created as the advancing troops dug in, and were sometimes
little more than 18 inches deep. The enemy had a very similar system of trenches. The distance between
the two lines varied from as little as 30 yards (just under 30m) to
several hundred yards. The space between the two opposing lines was
called no man's land. It was difficult to consolidate a captured enemy trench - in effect
it had to be turned round as you now needed to have a protected
front at what had been the unprotected rear when the enemy held
it.
Although most of us think primarily of the Great War in terms of
life and death in the trenches, only a relatively small proportion of
the army actually served there. The trenches were the front lines,
the most dangerous places. But behind them was a mass of supply
lines, training establishments, stores, workshops, headquarters and
all the other elements of the 1914-1918 system of war, in which the
majority of troops were employed. The trenches were the domain of the
infantry, with the supporting arms of the mortars and machine-guns,
the engineers and the forward positions of the artillery observers.
Why Were The Trenches There?
The idea of digging into the ground to give some protection from
powerful enemy artillery and small arms fire was not a new idea or
unique to the Great War. It had been widely practiced in the US Civil
War, the Russian-Japanese war and other fairly recent wars. Trench
warfare can be said to have begun in September 1914 and ended when the
Allies made a breakthrough attack in August 1918. Before and after
those dates were wars of movement: in between it was a war of
entrenchment. The massive armies of 1914 initially fought a war of
movement, and any trenches dug were only for temporary cover. But from
the Battle of the Aisne onwards, both sides dug in to take cover
and hold their ground. The successive movements to outflank (get around
the outside of) the enemy trenches came to an end by November 1914. By
then there was a continuous line of trenches covering some 400 miles
from Switzerland to the North Sea. There was no way round.
What Were The Trenches Like?
The type and nature of the trench positions varied a lot, depending
on the local conditions. For example, in the area of the River Somme on
the Western Front, the ground is chalky and is easily dug. The trench
sides will crumble easily after rain, so would be built up ('revetted')
with wood, sandbags or any other suitable material. At Ypres, the
ground is naturally boggy and the water table very high, so trenches
were not really dug, more built up using sandbags and wood (these were
called 'breastworks'). In parts of Italy, trenches were dug in rock; in
Palestine in sand. In France the trenches ran through towns and
villages, through industrial works, coalmines, brickyards, across
railway tracks, through farms, fields and woods, across rivers, canals
and streams. Each feature presented its own set of challenges for the
men who had to dig in and defend. In the major offensives of 1915,
1916 and 1917 many trench positions were only held for a few days
at a time before the next advance moved them on into what had been
no man's land or the enemy position. These trenches were scratch
affairs, created as the advancing troops dug in, and were sometimes
little more than 18 inches deep. The enemy had a very similar system of trenches. The distance between
the two lines varied from as little as 30 yards (just under 30m) to
several hundred yards. The space between the two opposing lines was
called no man's land. It was difficult to consolidate a captured enemy trench - in effect
it had to be turned round as you now needed to have a protected
front at what had been the unprotected rear when the enemy held
it.