Crazy Facts About Trench Warfare

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World War I is something that fascinates a lot of people. However, most people tend to only think of the fighting that was happening during this time, or they will think about the weapons that are involved in the war. The living conditions of the soldiers had a great affect on them, just like the actual fighting did. There were many things that affected them in this like food quality, rats, privacy, and trench foot. These things could have almost the same impact on them as the fighting itself. Trench warfare is the method of digging trenches in the battlefield for protection and a way to defend oneself. This was very popular in World War I. There were about 2,490 kilometers of trenches all over western Europe. They were not huge. They would …show more content…
These holes were fairly shallow. As they became more popular, the trenches became deeper and more complicated. This is when the trenches started to become long and zigzagged. These trenches were not just dirt that had been dug out of the ground. They often included sleeping quarters, a medical center, and a place for the officers (“10 Crazy Facts About Trench Warfare”). The trenches were made in zigzag patterns. This is so that if an enemy were to get into a trench, they would not be able to shoot in a straight line to kill their enemies. The trenches often had wood panels installed to be the floor (“World War I Trench Facts”). Sometimes these wooden floors would be raised so that some of the water from storms or melted snow could drain to the bottom and not force the soldiers to walk in water (“10 Crazy Facts About Trench …show more content…
The awful smells were so thick that it would be hard to get a breath of fresh air. There were multiple causes for the bad smells. Some of the causes would be dead carcasses, whether they be rats or humans. Trench foot also had a horrible smell because it was literally rotting flesh that could get infected (“10 Crazy Facts About Trench Warfare”). Since there was not a regular bathing pattern for the soldiers, they would smell bad. There was also the fact that many soldiers smoked. If they smoked in the huts inside the trenches, there was nowhere for the smoke and it’s smell to go. There was also the smell of rotting sandbags. They did get refilled with fresh sand, but it got drenched with water often enough that they would not stay fresh for long. These smells would all mix with the smell of leftover poison gas from the earlier attacks (“World War I: Life in the

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