The Soldiers In The Trenches
The effects of the war on the soldiers in the trenches (Picture taken from webpage http://www.gwpda.org/photos/brit1.htm )
During the four years of the First World War, in the Trenches, millions of soldiers lived tormented in very bad conditions with hunger and cold. The trenches were infested by rats and bugs and many of the soldiers got lice which caused "Trench Fever, a particularly painful disease that began suddenly with severe pain followed by high fever. Lice were not actually identified as the culprit of Trench Fever until 1918."# Soldiers were also suffering from the bad weather, as in the summer time, the hot temperature and the horrible smell, would make the trenches unbearable, and in the winter or when it rained, the soldiers would suffer from cold and many were suffering from 'trench foot', an infection on the feet caused by standing in water for too long.
Soldiers in the trenches, would often get bored as they would stay long periods of time without fighting. In the mean time, soldiers would spend their time writing poems, letters or diaries.
In the trenches, frightened of bombardments, soldiers on both lines of the trenches dug deep holes to protect themselves and when the enemy bombed them, thousands were buried alive. "The principal strategy in trench warfare was to send troops over the top to walk across no-man's land with the objective of reaching the enemy's trenches and shooting them. The distance between front-line trenches varied from a few yards to several hundred yards or more. However, the ground between the trenches was usually flat, exposed, without cover, deep in mud, littered with bodies and body parts, remains of ordnance, shell holes and barbed wire. The enemy were equipped with machine guns, who with unimpeded vision could mow down approaching troops with small risk to themselves."#
This strategy resulted in millions of dead...
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