Images from the trenches and tunnels in WW1
What did trench warfare involve?
Trench warfare became very complicated as the war progressed and
it was busiest at night with the fetching of supplies and collecting of corpses.
Soldiers took turns of the front line, usually eight men fighting and four
resting. Two per cent of the men serving in the trenches in 1914-1918, were the
victims of Shell Shock around eighty thousand of the men who fought in the war.
The early symptoms of Shell Shock included constant tiredness, irritability,
dizziness, headaches and a lack of concentration. Eventually these men would
suffer from a full mental breakdown making it impossible for them to remain on
the front line. The constant barrage of shell fire from both sides it was
concluded was to blame because they said that an exploding shell created a
vacuum in the head and when the air rushed into that vacuum it disturbs the
cerebral-spinal fluid upsetting the workings of the
brain.
How did they die?
Trench warfare meant a slow long drawn out war, a stalemate; Men
would be shot down in their thousands as they tried to go over the top into the
enemy trenches, most before they could even get 50 yards out of their own
trenches, this made it almost impossible for either side to gain ground from
the other. Holes in the ground were home to millions of soldiers throughout the
war years and although many men died in battle just as many were killed by
disease or infection brought on by the inhuman unsanitary conditions of life in
the trenches.
The diggers and the soldier’s
year.
Soldiers had to dig trenches in extremely difficult conditions,
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps were referred to as “diggers”because it is
said that they were especially good at digging tunnels between their trenches
and the enemies. ANZAC soldiers considered it a great honour because it meant
that they were good at a very difficult job as not only were the tunnels and
trenches under harsh conditions, but there was a risk the their tunnels could
meet the enemies along the way and result in dangerous combat. A typical
soldier's year could be divided as
follows:
Population changes after the
war.
At the time of the First World War, Australia’s population was
only at five million. 416,809 men enlisted in the Australian Army, many men lied
about their age and boys as young as fourteen became soldiers. 60,000 of those
Australian men alone died in combat alongside each other. The turmoil of war
would leave no time for these men to have a proper burial and many were buried
under mud and rocks.
At the appointed hour, officers would blow their whistles, and
the men would file quietly forwards. Progress was slow; as the men were heavily
laden men would carry 250 rounds of ammunition, Mills bombs in a bandoleer, and
a shovel, as well as webbing, rifle and bayonet. Once they were clear of the
trenches, the men would hold formation around their officers, and keep extended
line, whilst walking steadily towards the enemy. In practice, no man's land was
an inferno of noise and smoke, with machine-gun bullets, shellfire and screams.
Few men could concentrate on the task in hand, and Will Wells's experience was
to remain with him for the rest of his life, he
wrote:
'We got into no man's
land, and I followed the first line into the smoke. Everything seemed unreal -
the noise was so great that it just became a constant sound, and I could see men
dropping, like puppets with no strings. I wondered why they didn't keep up. I
didn't recognise it then as a sign they had been shot dead. I kept close to old
Charlie, and soon we were up to the wire. We were told not to bunch up, but men
did which made them easier targets. A group of men were running along, trying to
find a way through the wire, and just folded up as a machine-gun caught them.
Charlie jumped into a shell hole and I followed. When the fire slackened I asked
him if we should go back, but he was dead, hit in the head by a bullet. At dusk
I crawled back to our lines. It all seemed like a bad dream, but I didn't
realise until next day how close I had been to dying.'
Trench warfare became very complicated as the war progressed and
it was busiest at night with the fetching of supplies and collecting of corpses.
Soldiers took turns of the front line, usually eight men fighting and four
resting. Two per cent of the men serving in the trenches in 1914-1918, were the
victims of Shell Shock around eighty thousand of the men who fought in the war.
The early symptoms of Shell Shock included constant tiredness, irritability,
dizziness, headaches and a lack of concentration. Eventually these men would
suffer from a full mental breakdown making it impossible for them to remain on
the front line. The constant barrage of shell fire from both sides it was
concluded was to blame because they said that an exploding shell created a
vacuum in the head and when the air rushed into that vacuum it disturbs the
cerebral-spinal fluid upsetting the workings of the
brain.
How did they die?
Trench warfare meant a slow long drawn out war, a stalemate; Men
would be shot down in their thousands as they tried to go over the top into the
enemy trenches, most before they could even get 50 yards out of their own
trenches, this made it almost impossible for either side to gain ground from
the other. Holes in the ground were home to millions of soldiers throughout the
war years and although many men died in battle just as many were killed by
disease or infection brought on by the inhuman unsanitary conditions of life in
the trenches.
The diggers and the soldier’s
year.
Soldiers had to dig trenches in extremely difficult conditions,
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps were referred to as “diggers”because it is
said that they were especially good at digging tunnels between their trenches
and the enemies. ANZAC soldiers considered it a great honour because it meant
that they were good at a very difficult job as not only were the tunnels and
trenches under harsh conditions, but there was a risk the their tunnels could
meet the enemies along the way and result in dangerous combat. A typical
soldier's year could be divided as
follows:
- 15% front line
- 10% support line
- 30% reserve line
- 20% rest
- 25% other (hospital, travelling, leave, training courses, etc.)
Population changes after the
war.
At the time of the First World War, Australia’s population was
only at five million. 416,809 men enlisted in the Australian Army, many men lied
about their age and boys as young as fourteen became soldiers. 60,000 of those
Australian men alone died in combat alongside each other. The turmoil of war
would leave no time for these men to have a proper burial and many were buried
under mud and rocks.
At the appointed hour, officers would blow their whistles, and
the men would file quietly forwards. Progress was slow; as the men were heavily
laden men would carry 250 rounds of ammunition, Mills bombs in a bandoleer, and
a shovel, as well as webbing, rifle and bayonet. Once they were clear of the
trenches, the men would hold formation around their officers, and keep extended
line, whilst walking steadily towards the enemy. In practice, no man's land was
an inferno of noise and smoke, with machine-gun bullets, shellfire and screams.
Few men could concentrate on the task in hand, and Will Wells's experience was
to remain with him for the rest of his life, he
wrote:
'We got into no man's
land, and I followed the first line into the smoke. Everything seemed unreal -
the noise was so great that it just became a constant sound, and I could see men
dropping, like puppets with no strings. I wondered why they didn't keep up. I
didn't recognise it then as a sign they had been shot dead. I kept close to old
Charlie, and soon we were up to the wire. We were told not to bunch up, but men
did which made them easier targets. A group of men were running along, trying to
find a way through the wire, and just folded up as a machine-gun caught them.
Charlie jumped into a shell hole and I followed. When the fire slackened I asked
him if we should go back, but he was dead, hit in the head by a bullet. At dusk
I crawled back to our lines. It all seemed like a bad dream, but I didn't
realise until next day how close I had been to dying.'