Life in the European trenches and its effects on the diggers Life in the European trenches and trench warfare is strongly associated with World War 1, when it was employed on the Western Front from September 1914 until the last weeks of the war. By the end of October 1914 the whole front in Belgium and France had solidified into lines of trenches. Trench warfare occurred when a revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility, resulting in a grueling form of warfare in which the defender held the advantage. In World War I, both sides constructed elaborate trench and dugout systems opposing each other along a front, protected from assault by barbed wire. The area between opposing trench lines, known as "no man's land”
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Men could not wash themselves in the trenches, they had limited access to running water and often did not have time to think about hygiene. Toilets were usually large buckets in a side trench or the latrine, a deep hole in the ground over which was mounted a plank to sit on. This rough form of sanitation was often a target for enemy snipers and shellfire. Some soldiers would opt to relieve themselves where they were. The general dirt of living half underground combined with scraps of discarded food, empty tins and other waste, the nearby presence of the latrine created conditions of severe health risk. Vermin like giant rats and mice were always present and gorged themselves on human and animal remains. The rats would nibble at the soldiers themselves as they slept or if they were wounded. Lice/parasites were another terrible pest of the trenches and were very hard to irradiate, breeding in uniforms and causing the soldiers to itch. Although this was not known until 1918, lice were also the cause of the dreaded Trench Fever which caused severe pain and high fever. Other pests included maggots, flies, frogs, slugs and horned beetles; disease was spread by all of …show more content…
When the United States entered the war in 1917, the army didn’t have any established medical forces. Soldiers suffered and witnessed horrific injuries ranging from four kinds of cases which were gas injuries, shell shock, diseases and wounds. When an organized medical system was finally established, it replicated the French and English medical system arranging military medical staff in a practical manner. Stretch-bearers first came into contact with the wounded and moved them from trenches to waiting ambulances. The first aid treatment these medics gave often saved lives. Lieutenant Andrew Green, who fought in WW1 stated in praising correspondence “The stretch- bearers carried me over one mile through enemy shellfire after I was wounded in the leg.” “The stretch bearers had to step on dead soldiers to keep from going into the water and mud so deep and throwing the wounded off the stretcher,” Private Clarence C. Moore was quoted. Doctors and nurses could do little to help soldiers with influenza and intestinal flu, these sicknesses killed more men than machine gun bullets. There was only salt water to rinse wounds and there was no medication to stop infection once it had started. Thousands of men lost arms and legs due to infection or gangrene. Women as well as men cared for the injured and ill. Thousands of women volunteered as nurses working at least fourteen hour days in the hospitals that may only be
Men could not wash themselves in the trenches, they had limited access to running water and often did not have time to think about hygiene. Toilets were usually large buckets in a side trench or the latrine, a deep hole in the ground over which was mounted a plank to sit on. This rough form of sanitation was often a target for enemy snipers and shellfire. Some soldiers would opt to relieve themselves where they were. The general dirt of living half underground combined with scraps of discarded food, empty tins and other waste, the nearby presence of the latrine created conditions of severe health risk. Vermin like giant rats and mice were always present and gorged themselves on human and animal remains. The rats would nibble at the soldiers themselves as they slept or if they were wounded. Lice/parasites were another terrible pest of the trenches and were very hard to irradiate, breeding in uniforms and causing the soldiers to itch. Although this was not known until 1918, lice were also the cause of the dreaded Trench Fever which caused severe pain and high fever. Other pests included maggots, flies, frogs, slugs and horned beetles; disease was spread by all of …show more content…
When the United States entered the war in 1917, the army didn’t have any established medical forces. Soldiers suffered and witnessed horrific injuries ranging from four kinds of cases which were gas injuries, shell shock, diseases and wounds. When an organized medical system was finally established, it replicated the French and English medical system arranging military medical staff in a practical manner. Stretch-bearers first came into contact with the wounded and moved them from trenches to waiting ambulances. The first aid treatment these medics gave often saved lives. Lieutenant Andrew Green, who fought in WW1 stated in praising correspondence “The stretch- bearers carried me over one mile through enemy shellfire after I was wounded in the leg.” “The stretch bearers had to step on dead soldiers to keep from going into the water and mud so deep and throwing the wounded off the stretcher,” Private Clarence C. Moore was quoted. Doctors and nurses could do little to help soldiers with influenza and intestinal flu, these sicknesses killed more men than machine gun bullets. There was only salt water to rinse wounds and there was no medication to stop infection once it had started. Thousands of men lost arms and legs due to infection or gangrene. Women as well as men cared for the injured and ill. Thousands of women volunteered as nurses working at least fourteen hour days in the hospitals that may only be