Trenches and conditions

The trench was the only place the soldiers had for protection when they got stuck in Ypres. The trenches were built in a zigzag shape to reduce the effect of bombardment from enemy fire. It was a system that consisted of quarters for different purposes.

Dugout 

This was the sleeping, socializing and eating quarters.  It was cramped most of the time and a lot of diseases were passed on. It was filled with sandbags for the protection of the soldiers.

Communication trench 

Communication trenches linked front and reserve lines. Here information was relayed to the soldiers of enemy movement, this was also where supplies, food and drugs were brought in for the soldiers. It was one of the main parts of the trenches of world war one; messengers were sent up and down this section when the telephone wires being used became ineffective due to explosions.

Fire Step

This was where the soldiers stepped up to fire at the enemy.

Duckboards 

Duckboards were placed to protect the soldiers' feet from the muddy ground, which was created by the winter weather.

Ammunition ledge

This was where spare ammunition was kept for the soldiers when they needed a quick refill. It was the difference between life and death for some soldiers.

Sandbags

These were used to reinforce the trench and protect soldiers from enemy fire. Jute was used to make these bags

No Man's Land

This was the space in between trenches. Here lay a lot of corpses - soldiers who went over the top hardly had chances of survival.

A soldier's routine

There were a lot of different types of people that had to be catered for in the trenches, consisting of engineers, infantry, artillery men etc. The food taken in the trenches wasn't in any way luxurious. It usually consisted of some bread and cheese. There was also the army plum and apple jam that didn't meet too much to the eyes of the soldiers. It was believed to be filled with turnips, potatoes and sawdust. They also had to do the gruesome job of taking tins of food off the dead corpses. Also they brewed a lot of tea, with the water heavily chlorinated distorting the taste. Food was more of a problem for German troops than the British, being far from their country. Sometimes soldiers from the British army were allowed to go into the Belgian village to refresh themselves in a bar. 

Camps were set up near Ypres to entertain the men with sports like boxing and football. After this refreshed soldiers moved up to the reserve trenches, with new supplies and shells being moved in. They all had to be ready at dawn as this was an unspoken chosen time for the beginning of attacks; the British had the advantage of the light being behind the Germans. Fatigue parties strengthened and repaired trenches, also sometimes at night they went out to repair the barbed wire against any oncoming soldier. Sentries had to keep watch and the penalty for sleeping on this job was death. Every soldier was scared of night attacks and the life expectancy was about three months.

Conditions/Diseases

Life in the trenches wasn't easy; the soldiers were prone to a lot of diseases, which they acquired from the trenches situations. The Germans built deep efficient trenches, which were well covered from enemy attacks; also some parts of their trenches were made of concrete. German trenches also provided more quarters than British or French trenches. 

The deep muddy ground was what a lot of soldiers had to keep their feet in most of the time.  This led to the notorious trench foot which made the foot change colour then swell to an abnormal size. When this happened the foot usually had to be amputated. The trenches were ridden with mice, which contaminated or ate any food that was present. 

Another much feared disadvantage of the trenches was lice, as clothes couldn't be kept clean they came in hundreds and got into the garments of soldiers. They laid their eggs in the dressing, multiplying as they went along. The lice resulted in sores that were mostly accumulated around the neck, wrists and ankles of the soldiers. This also caused epidemics of typhus and trench fever. Overall the diseases got from the trenches caused a lot of death to the soldiers than enemy fire or the war itself.