The majority of the trenches are generally 2 meters deep and 2 meters wide. The top of the trench closest to the No Man’s land was covered in rings of barbed wire to help prevent soldiers from other countries infiltrate into our trench. Sometimes, the intruding soldiers would attempt to inch their way through the barbed wire, this however made them an easy target and gave our soldier time to fire at them. The
For example on November 6th 2010 the house of the Gladiators collapsed due to general deterioration and also heavy rainfall – see source B. Much of the site is closed to tourists because of the danger of collapse. Also artefacts are damaged from the natural environment with carbonised remains from Herculaneum disintegrating in days after being exposed to the air
The bombardment was barely effective. Due to the weather, bombardiers dropped their cargo up to three miles too far inland. High seas swamped landing craft, and surviving infantry were seasick and unsteady. Over half of the amphibious tanks sank, due to heavy seas. Heavy winds and unfavorable currents blew landing craft off course, away from the protection of destroyer artillery.
Trench warfare was such a horrible and deadly thing many soldiers called it the worst time of their life. Weapons used in the trench war were only good when they were being used against the enemies. Bayonets, Rifles and grenades are what most soldiers had to defend their self. But mustard gas bombs and notched bayonets were what really hurt the enemies the most. Soldiers had burnt lungs from mustard gas, lost limbs from bombs and organs ripped out from notched bayonets.
World War I brought many new ideas and different concepts that would either benefit or cause major consequences throughout the war. This was the time of the incredibly dreadful “Trench warfare”. Roden simply placed a picture in our mind by saying “We have had another terrible week of it in the trenches.” These trenches were used as a protective barrier between their enemy and No-Mans Land. Not only did the trenches provide protection, it also brought many other deadly factors such as diseases, rodents, and unfit living conditions. Lice was a very common problem that would terrorize every soldier that would spend time in the trenches.
They lived in the trenches which were often water filled and rat infested. The smell of corpses and death was all around. Many of the doughboys were infested with lice or “cooties”, which was probably gotten from the rats. The sound of exploding artillery was heard and those who went “over the top” were often gunned down by German machine guns (The Western Front, 2010). For months these men lived in these trenches without baths, little food and knowing that death or mustard gas awaited them.
It is barbaric, awful and a terrible waste of human life. The rain is constantly flooding the trenches and turning the floor into mud, it is so bad that many of the men are getting open sores on their feet, they call it trench foot and they can hardly walk because of the pain. Life here is gruesome. Yesterday I saw my friend, Michael Phellps, die right in front of me because he had lost his gas mask and the enemy's gas was everywhere in the air. We couldn't do anything but watch him die, screaming for help.
As well as these problems in the summer one of the worst things was the stink. The smell of rotting corpses stank and became bloated. These corpses also led to the spread of disease throughout the Allied trenches causing losses. When autumn came many soldiers thought it was a blessing to be free of the heat but as it got colder they were faced with the problems such as flooding, wind gusts and frostbite. The conditions overall in the trenches of Gallipoli were pretty horrible as were the many of trenches of World War
They were given no water, no food, and no place to use the restroom. The cars were sealed, and usually didn’t move for at least a half a day. “People got sick, died, and some went insane. It was an absolute, indescribable hell” Witnesses of the Holocaust (10). When finally they arrived at their destination and the doors were opened, the light hurt their eyes because they were no longer used to something so bright.
Many animals also died from lack of care when the owners left or died of the disease, sheep and cattle roamed about, wandering in fields and through the growing harvest, and there was no one to drive them off or collect them; but in ditches and thickets they die in innumerable quantities in every part, for lack of guardians; for so great a dearth of servants and labourers existed that no one knew what to do. As there was no one to remove the sick or dead animals from the herd, diseases would have run rampant killing as much as the plague killed humans (Gasquet, 1908, pp. 163). Both of these things together, the loss of crops and cattle, eventually led to an increase in malnutrition and starvation on a large scale. Starvation is not where it stops though.