Soldiers’ Conditions during the war

Vicky Chan

Trench Foot 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.

Rat Infestation• Black and brown rats • Brown rats Gorging themselves on human

remains (grotesquely disfiguring them by eating their eyes and liver)

• grow to the size of a cat• Which would even scamper across their faces in the dark

Lice• Lice breed in the seams of filthy clothing and

causing men to itch unceasingly.• Even when clothing was periodically washed and

deloused, lice eggs invariably remained hidden in the seams

• within a few hours of the clothes being re-worn the body heat generated would cause the eggs to hatch.

Frog Frogs by the score were found in shell holes

covered in water; they were also found in the base of trenches. Slugs and horned beetles crowded the sides of the trench.

Many men chose to shave their heads entirely to avoid another prevalent scourge: nits.

Smell• Overfl owing latrines would similarly give off a

most off ensive stench. Men who had not been aff orded the luxury of a bath in weeks or months would off er the pervading odour of dried sweat.

• The feet were generally accepted to give off the worst odour.

• Trenches would also smell of creosol or chloride of lime, used to stave off the constant threat of disease and infecti on.

Soldiers food in the trenches20 ounces of bread 1/10 gill lime if vegetables not issued

16 ounces of flour instead of above ½ gill of rum3 ounces of cheese maximum of 20 ounces of tobacco5/8 ounces of tea 1/3 chocolate – optional4 ounces of jam 4 ounces of oatmeal instead of bread½ ounce of salt 1 pint of porter instead of rum

1/36 ounce of pepper 4 ounces of dried fruit instead of jam1/20 ounce of mustard 4 ounces of butter/margarine

8 ounces of fresh vegetables or 2 ounces of dried vegetables

Life in a Trench Many soldiers simply killed or wounded

themselves so they could be excused from fighting and enduring the terrible trench conditions. This was called self-inflicted wounds. Some people even climbed out of the trenches and allowed enemy soldiers to kill them.

References• http://

www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm

• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/soldiers_food_in_the_trenches.htm

• http://www.freewebs.com/trenchbattle/lifeinthetrenches.htm