Details of life on the front:
Most of the First World War was fought in trenches of two metres deep and two metres wide due to advances in long range artillery and other weapons. ANZAC battalions would rotate between three positions- spending about 25%-30% of their time on the front line, another 10%-20% on the support line (responsible for reinforcing the firing line), and 30%-40% on the reserve line, as well as about 20%-30% for a short rest, and the reminder in other nearby trenches. In some parts of the front where the fighting was concentrated, the troops would get less rest and more time on the front line, and the opposite goes for places with less fighting. The day began at 5a.m. when the troops wake up to carry out a ‘Stand to Arms’, …show more content…
Men would also be sent out to patrol No Man’s Land, fix the barbed wire that was responsible for slowing an enemy advance into the trench, carry out sentry duty (night watch for two hours) or relieve a front line (done around every four days but can take several hours). Soldiers didn’t get much sleep, only at night and in the afternoon and only for one hour at a time before being woken up to do more chores. During the day and sometimes at night men are constantly exposed to sniping, shelling, gas attacks or trench raids due to the closeness of the trenches. Artillery shells would make massive sounds that made a person’s ears ring and the ground shake. This, however, to Gallipoli veterans was an improvement, at least during early 1916 as there were army canteens selling groceries, tobacco, beer and clothing. But the winter of that very year stuck as the coldest North France had had for 36 years. With a winter that froze people’s eyelids shut and turned water rations to ice by the time it reached the troops, nearly as many casualties were caused by the cold as opposed to the war itself. The ANZACs, with only two blankets each, outside in the freezing weather had to sleep as closely to each other as possible to stay warm. Frost and snow followed, worsening the conditions. The hygiene and sanitary
Most of the First World War was fought in trenches of two metres deep and two metres wide due to advances in long range artillery and other weapons. ANZAC battalions would rotate between three positions- spending about 25%-30% of their time on the front line, another 10%-20% on the support line (responsible for reinforcing the firing line), and 30%-40% on the reserve line, as well as about 20%-30% for a short rest, and the reminder in other nearby trenches. In some parts of the front where the fighting was concentrated, the troops would get less rest and more time on the front line, and the opposite goes for places with less fighting. The day began at 5a.m. when the troops wake up to carry out a ‘Stand to Arms’, …show more content…
Men would also be sent out to patrol No Man’s Land, fix the barbed wire that was responsible for slowing an enemy advance into the trench, carry out sentry duty (night watch for two hours) or relieve a front line (done around every four days but can take several hours). Soldiers didn’t get much sleep, only at night and in the afternoon and only for one hour at a time before being woken up to do more chores. During the day and sometimes at night men are constantly exposed to sniping, shelling, gas attacks or trench raids due to the closeness of the trenches. Artillery shells would make massive sounds that made a person’s ears ring and the ground shake. This, however, to Gallipoli veterans was an improvement, at least during early 1916 as there were army canteens selling groceries, tobacco, beer and clothing. But the winter of that very year stuck as the coldest North France had had for 36 years. With a winter that froze people’s eyelids shut and turned water rations to ice by the time it reached the troops, nearly as many casualties were caused by the cold as opposed to the war itself. The ANZACs, with only two blankets each, outside in the freezing weather had to sleep as closely to each other as possible to stay warm. Frost and snow followed, worsening the conditions. The hygiene and sanitary