Trenches In Ww1

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Trenches in WW1 The trenches in World War One were a terrible place to be. The soldiers went through many hardships and few survived to tell the tale. Some of these terrible problems included disease, malnutrition and the dreaded shells. When soldiers arrived at the trenches they were supplied with an equipment kit of 30kg. This included a rifle, two grenades, ammunition, a steel helmet, wire cutters, a field dressing, a spade, a heavy coat, a ground sheet, a water bottle, a heavy sack, a mess tin, a towel, a shaving kit, socks and rations of preserved food. They also used gas masks while in the trenches because of the use of mustard gas and other chemical gasses. Some of which were almost odourless and could take up to 12 hours to take effect. Once there the soldiers were subjected to the cooking of the field workers who were employed by the British army. The main diet was bully beef (canned corned beef), bread and biscuits. However, the supplies often ran low and he soldiers suffered from malnutrition. This was just the beginning of their problems. There were no toilets for the British soldiers. They had to use their tins and duck behind the sheds in the trenches. Not only was this incredibly unhygienic and caused many diseases among the soldiers, but they were also dodging bullets. The enemy would shot them as they went to the toilet and because they were pre-occupied they could not defend themselves. The toilets were a grim place to be, cans of overflowing sewage, undetectable bullets and often the bodies of men who had died in the act. Another terrible problem was the rats. There were literally millions of rats running around the trenches. They fed on the dead remains of the soldiers and could grow to the size of a rat. These rats carried many diseases that killed many of the men there as well. Lice were another dilemma in the trenches. The men
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