LIFE IN THE TRENCHES
Life in the Trenches
The enduring image of the First World War is one of the soldier spending all of their time in a trench. However in actual fact, even for those regiments that fought all through the war, it is likely that only a relatively small proportion of their time would have been spent in a frontline trench and more time was spent in reserve trenches, on leave or even training.
The first trenches were quite simple but as the war progressed they became more elaborate with duckboards used on the base to reduce the impact of mud and pooled water; sandbags and barbed wire on the parapets to protect the structure from artillery fire and with men sheltering on ledges within the trench or in more formal dug-outs.
The German trenches tended to be more sophisticated than Allied ones. They were deeper and better constructed and more appropriately equipped and protected. Allied trenches seemed to be of a more temporary nature, often less deep and less well constructed – perhaps reflecting that the Germans were the occupier and the Allies the attacking force. These differences are shown in the cross-sections and images below.
German Trench System
British Trench System
A typical soldiers’ day-in-the-life in a trench is set out below:
5am - 'Stand-to' (short for 'Stand-to-Arms', meaning to be on high-alert for enemy attack) half an hour before daylight
5.30am - Rum ration
6am - Stand-to half an hour after daylight
7am - Breakfast (usually bacon and tea)
After 8am - Clean themselves, clean weapons, tidy trench
Noon - Dinner
After dinner - Sleep and downtime (one man per ten on duty)
5pm – Tea
6pm - Stand-to half an hour before dusk
6.30pm - Stand-down half an hour after dusk
6.30pm onwards - Work all night with some time for rest (patrols, digging trenches, putting up barbed wire, getting stores, replacement of unit of soldiers every five days)
Below is footage showing how soldiers lived and worked in the trenches.