Most trenches were deep enough for a man to stand up straight and still have their head covered. However, there were some instances of tall men being killed by enemy snipers, as they were too tall for the trench. Tall men had to be careful to duck, especially because some sections of trench could not be dug deep because of the condition of the ground.

Looking down a trench.  This shows how rough they were.  A soldier is standing on the firing step on the right with his rifle.

On the Front line trench wall, there was a parapet of sandbags and mud. This was shot at all the time and had to be repaired constantly. This parapet was used for extra cover for men who were standing on the firing step. This was a step cut into the trench wall for soldiers to stand on while firing. It was dangerous to even show your head for as second, so this was used a lot at night, when fighting or by sentries. Men also used a periscope instead.  

This is a diagram of a trench similar to the one in the photo above. You can see the duck boards, firing step (which men stood on to be able to see out into No-Man's Land), barbed wire and the parapet of sandbags.

The sides of the trenches were reinforced with anything the soldiers could find or what could be brought in. These ranged from corrugated iron, railway sleepers and sandbags to wickerwork. Trench floors could also be extremely wet and muddy from all the rain that fell, so "duck boards" were put down for the soldiers to walk on. These were planks of wood that helped spread the weight of the men so they did not sink. Sometimes they were fixed down with a space underneath for the water to drain away.

Both sides had home-made equipment to help them. Gas was a common weapon in World War One, so many dug-outs (the soldiers' shelters) had simple rubber curtains to try to keep out the gas and protect sleeping soldiers. However, these were not very effective. A wind indicator was used to detect the wind direction to see if gas could be blown towards the enemy. If the wind was the wrong direction, they were safe, but this worked two ways. If it was blowing towards you instead, then you were in danger, so this system also acted as a warning. Many trenches also had a simple bell/gong/hooter gas warning system.

From their simple beginnings, the lines of trenches soon became very long and complicated. The lines of trenches on the Western Front stretched from the North Sea Coast to the Swiss border. Belgian troops manned the trenches nearest the North Sea. The British and British Empire troops were stationed on the line between the Belgians and the River Somme in France. The French trenches stretched from the Somme to the border with Switzerland.

A Soldier's Day

The days in the trenches were always the same for the soldiers. You may think that it would be exciting, but the only excitement they got was when there was fighting, and it was not much fun knowing they could be killed. In this section I will take you through a typical day in a trench, starting at dawn.

At this time, the order "stand down" was given. This meant that the threat of a night raid was past. It also meant that the men could get on with preparing their breakfast.

Around mid-morning, most men were busy working on trench maintenance and other jobs. One very important job was to repair any damage to the trench. Trenches were damaged by the weather (heavy rain etc.), and enemy fire. They often needed deepening, widening and strengthening, and new support and communication trenches always seemed to be needed. They also filled sandbags, carried supplies, ran errands (these were done all day) and cleaned their rifles and machine guns. This was vital to stop them jamming.

There was also a medical check each day. The condition "Trench Foot" was a major problem, caused by constantly standing in water and mud. The soldiers' feet were permanently wet. Officers had to check the men dried their feet, rubbed oil in, then put on dry socks every day, but as their feet got wet again almost straight away, this wasn't much help.

Every afternoon from 2 to 4pm, the German artillery bombarded the allied trenches, but as long as the parapet was in good repair, the machine gun fire was not much of a problem. The soldiers took cover in their dug-outs.

In the evening, most men settled down to catch as much sleep as they could. Most were disturbed by the cold, rats or false alarms of attacks. Few slept for more than 3 or 4 hours. Sentries had to watch for the enemy attacking in the dark. Every life depended on them. For others, the night meant more repairs to the trench (which was dangerous in case the enemy sentries heard or saw them), or an observation patrol into No-man's Land to capture prisoners or try to overhear enemy plans. Once dawn arrived, the whole process began again.

Despite being on the front line, there were many days that the soldiers didn't have much to do, apart from their daily jobs. The days were very monotonous and passed very slowly. Boredom was a big problem. Some read to pass the time. Others smoked, played chess, and wrote letters home. These letters were heavily censored, and anything that was thought to be too risky if it got into enemy hands was scrubbed over with a thick pencil until it was unreadable. Many kept diaries, but this was against the official rules because they could give away valuable secrets if enemy raiders found them.

Food in the Trenches

Food was always the same in the trenches. There was no fixed ration amount for each soldier, but the amount they got depended on transport, the weather and enemy action. Broken up ammunition boxes were used as fuel. As you can imagine the trenches were not a nice place to eat in. This poem gives us an idea of the conditions.

"Breakfast" by Wilfred Gibson

We ate our breakfast lying on our backs

Because the shells were screeching overhead.

I bet a rasher to a loaf of bread

That Hull United would beat Halifax

When Jimmy Stainthorpe played full-back instead

Of Billy Bradford. Ginger raised his head

And cursed, and took the bet, and dropt back dead.

We ate our breakfast lying on our backs

Because the shells were screeching overhead.

There was quite a limited choice of food. Here are some examples of what could be on the daily menu: tins of "bully beef", pork, bread, beans, cheese, butter and many other things. Jam was always the same variety and many soldiers got fed up of it. A loaf of bread usually had to be shared between up to ten men. "Maconchie" was a tin of stewed meat and vegetables. The men had to share this between four of them, but many felt they could have finished one off themselves. They had a large supply of biscuits, which were extremely hard. The soldiers had to soak them in water, sometimes for a few days until they were soft enough to eat.

Getting clean water to drink was also a problem. It was brought to the front in empty petrol cans and chloride of lime was added to kill germs. This had a revolting taste and could even spoil the taste of things like tea. For water to wash in, men collected rainwater or melted snow and ice.