Tactics of Trench Warfare

Trenches were a lot easier to defend than attack, as to attack a trench the soldiers had to come out "over the top" of their trench and walk across No-man's Land, with the enemy shooting at them from the relative safety of their trench. This was the reason why in an attack, the casualties were a lot higher on the attacking side.

The first stage of most attacks was a huge artillery bombardment (with heavy field guns) of the enemy trenches. In theory, this was supposed to break up the barbed wire, seriously damage (if not destroy) trenches and kill the men in them. Then the soldiers would be able to march across No-man's Land and meet almost no resistance at all.

The reality was very different from this plan. First of all, the artillery tangled up the barbed wire even more than it had been already, making it even more difficult to get through. The trenches were damaged, but the men were often safe underground. As soon as the heavy guns stopped firing, they came out of their shelters and attacked the advancing enemy troops with machine guns. These guns were not aimed and fired, they were simply swung in an arc from side to side while constantly firing. Considering the advancing troops were moving forward at walking pace, you can imagine just how many of them were killed.

One problem for the attacking side was the barbed wire. If it made it difficult to get into the trench, it made it even more difficult to get out. Attacks were planned in advance, and during the night men removed lots of the barbed wire from in front of their own trench. The heavy guns started firing, and once they had stopped, the soldiers who were going "over the top" lined up, waiting for the order to go. When it was given they clambered up and out on to No-man's Land, often into machine gun fire. They walked across in lines with equal distances in between. The problem with this was that when they reached the enemy barbed wire, they slowed down to find a way through, so the lines behind caught up.

Barbed wire could be deadly. In the Battle of the Somme, the Germans left a gap in their barbed wire. This acted as a funnel and as the British soldiers came through it they were in a concentrated mass. This meant a large number of them were killed when the Germans started firing their machine guns. However, if enough men made it through the wire, they went down into the enemy trench, killing the soldiers. Hand grenades were thrown are dug-outs to kill any soldiers hiding in them. A second wave of troops would soon be sent across. Then they would try to create a firing-step on the rear side of the trench, to shoot at the reserve trench where the rest of the troops would be. Captured trenches were very often reclaimed by the original owners quite soon after the attack.

The most dangerous periods for attacks from a defence point of view were dawn and dusk. This was because it would be light enough for an attacker to see to move forward, but it was difficult for defending sentries to see them. About half an hour before dawn, the order "Stand to" was given. The whole of the Allied Front became alert. Sentries gazed out into No-man's Land, while other soldiers woke up. When dawn (or dusk) came, the order Stand down" was given. This meant the tension could slacken a bit, but all the time sentries and snipers were posted to keep a look out. Highland gamekeepers were useful as snipers because they could take down a deer at 400 yards.

Dawn attacks were better for the British side who had a greater chance of success because as the sun rose, they had the light behind them. This meant the German sentries couldn't see them so clearly. Of course, it was the other way round at sunset. Then the Germans had the sun at their backs.

WW1 was the first time Britain had sent its army to Europe since the Battle of Waterloo (June 1815), which Britain and her allies won under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and tactics had not changed much since then. They believed that an artillery bombardment would reduce the enemy to defenceless and an advance in lines would then meet little resistance. In reality, the Germans hid in their shelters, waited for the often inaccurate and ineffective bombardment to stop, then came out and set up their machine guns... and then the slaughter began.

New Weapons in World War 1

There were many new and deadly weapons invented in the run up to and during World War One. In this section I will take a look at each of them separately, and explain why they were the cause of so many casualties.

The weaponry on both sides although not identical, was similar. It had developed to be much more effective if you were defending rather than attacking, and because of this casualties were often heavier on the attacking side. Many weapons were not new inventions, like the heavy field gun, but as the war went on they became more and more powerful.

Machine Guns

These were another type of weapon that was not new to the war. They became more efficient, and were a main cause of casualties.

The British had two standard machine guns - the Vickers and Lewis guns. The British generals ignored the fact that the Germans would also have machine guns, so the army had far too few of these weapons at the start of the war. The British were confident in their ability to manufacture these guns and were surprised that they could be out-gunned. However, once they realised, the production rate speeded up rapidly.

These guns usually had a team of 2 to 3 men. They were very accurate and powerful and were not aimed, but used to "spray" the advancing enemy, swung from one side to another in an arc.