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.
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.
I see men begging to have their feet removed, the flesh on their feet rotting away because of the chronic wet conditions in the trenches. I see the dozens of dead bodies of my fallen brethren accumulating in the trenches because it is too dangerous most times to give them a proper burial. I close my eyes today and still cannot escape the sounds of war–the constant gunfire, tank blasts, and the screams of men. I still see enemy soldiers overtaken by mustard gasses, blood streaming from their eyes and mouths and their desperate gasps for air. I remain inspired by my brothers, for we soldiers are able to keep our spirits high despite these conditions.
Controlled Assessment Task Part (A) The First World War is associated strongly with Trench Warfare. How useful and reliable are these sources in explaining what conditions in the trenches were like? The public’s imagination of the Great War has been closely associated with Trench Warfare. Within the beginning period of the war August-September 1914 both armies expected a rapid war of movement, however the advances upon firing technology resulted in the complex trench systems being developed. The traditional interpretation was that soldiers spent all of their time in horrific conditions which they constantly experienced and they feared the factor of being sent ‘Over the top’ and that trenches were full of rats, lice and disease.
I have now been in front line for just over a week. The smell out here in these trenches is so bad it has made our toughest men sick. The smell is so vile I can’t even describe it over a letter. To give you a an idea of what the men out here have to contend with, there is raw sewage from an open cesspit; body odour from men who haven’t washed in ages; dead bodies decaying in shallow graves, also they are out in the open in no man’s land. The smell of dead rotten bodies attracts rats.
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
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.
Contractors frequently exploited and abused them, to the point where there were abundant violent riots, giving the Irish their fighting reputation. A notable case of tragedy occurred in 1832 at a location called Duffy’s Cut in Malvern, PA. Fifty seven workers caught cholera in August and were refused help by the community. They had no choice but to suffer alone without medication, and were quickly buried along the tracks as they died. This event may have sparked the adage that there was an Irishman buried for every sleeper (railroad tie) on the tracks. The men labored from sunrise to sunset in very dangerous conditions, clearing ground, trees, stumps, rocks, and cutting or blasting through boulders, hills, and mountains, digging irrigation channels and building supports
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.
They slept on the hard ground at night, and had to be ready for war at all times. Soldiers often starved because of their limitation on food. Soldiers became sick because of the rat investment environment they were in. Overall, the American troops made a great impact on World War one, the Second Battle of the