Objectives of the men in the trenches

The soldiers jobs were very simple:

• Fire weapons on incoming enemies coming from no mans land
• When given the order they were obliged to climb over the trench into no mans land. In no mans land they would be greeted with bullets from enemy forces.
• The soldiers would also have to fight hand to hand if enemy forces got into the trenches

Living Conditions in Trenches

Death in the trenches

Death was the constant companion of the troops who were serving in trench warfare. The constant random shellfire by the enemy forces lead to several random death amongst the soldiers. The main problem of being in trenches was that their were not many places to hide from shellfire brought down by the enemies. Weather soldiers were crouching, standing or lying in the trenches, the threat from above was always probable.

It had been estimated that more than one third of allied casualties were sustained while the troops were in the trenches. Of course aside from enemy injuries, disease brought the death tole high up.

Psychological Health of Soldiers

Their are several sources left behind from the soldiers lucky enough to have survived the trenches conditions that indicate that the long periods soldiers had to undergo were not only difficult on them physically but also emotionally.

The soldiers were forced to continuing walking as they saw the rotting corpses of their fellow colleagues being eaten by rats. The soldiers had to cope with being far away from their loved one without even being able to tell their loved one they were safe.

Theses and other emotional obstacles lead to various soldiers suffering both physically and psychologically. These factors and others lead to the death of many soldiers.

Soldiers Health

Due to the terrible conditions soliders encountred while they were in the trenches, many diseases were spread. Here are a few:

1. Trench Foot (fungal infection where foot could fall)


2. Warts and Blisters


3. Typhoid


4. Flu/Cold


5. Hypothermia

Conditions in Trenches

Trench warfare was a form of warfare in which opposing sides occupied fortified fighting lines consisting largly of trenches. Trench warefare had already been around since several wars however it was mainly associated to WW1. By the end of October 1914 the whole front of Belgium and France had solidified into lines of trenches. Both sides would dig Trenches as deep as they could to protect their soliders. The initial idea was that the Trenches would be an easy way to advance through a certain area and still remain safe from enemy gunfire. However, in practice it was not as efficient as initially planned.

Most of the troops were killed by either gun fire or other battle related however, the conditions of the trenches lead to the death of many troops. Many soldiers were died due to lack of nutrition, the cold, damp conditions of the trenches, disease, rats and even lack of sleep. We need to look into the condition of the trenches to truely figure out how so many troops died not due to the opposing forces but due to the conditions they had to frequent.