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rats infested the trenches, thriving off of the corpses all around

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the trenches were infested with rats - men would sleep with their overcoats over their faces so rats wouldn't run on top of their face

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when a soldier died, it was challenging to dispose of the body. often times, the body would just be buried deeper into the trench

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instead of doing daily activities during the day, often soldiers would spend their time doing stuff at night because of the lack of light making them stealthier

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men were constantly covered in mud, since all clean water was only used for drinking water

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new trenches were constantly being built, whether it be funneling water out or digging deeper. the work was backbreaking and dangerous

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sentries were assigned to keep watch over no man's land. failure to do job well resulted in harsh penalties, sometimes death.

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every morning, there was "morning hate" where each side would fire machine guns at the other for about 10-15 minutes. although usually a waste of ammunition, some men were wounded and killed.

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even through the war, it was accepted by both sides to not fire during mealtimes.

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the british ate stew through 12 gallon cans and pots of pozzy, or jam. sometimes 1 strip of bacon was given to each man.

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included with the daily rations were the biscuits, which we so hard they had to smashed against a firm surface with a rock

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when necessary, sometimes men would eat "iron rations", or a type of canned goods. experts figured out the bare minimum nutrition needed for a soldier, making them not very tasty

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water was scarce, so every man needed to make a canteen last a day.

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if the water ran out, men would collect rain water from shellholes to drink. even after being boiled, this water was still very harmful.

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the French and German had much worse food compared to the British, like kidney beans in oil and stringy +greasy meatloaf

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what men looked forward to the most was mail time. during this, men would often order food from stores in Paris or London. food was also sent by mothers and wives and shared around to everyone in what was called "dinner parties".

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since morale was recognized to be important, often times newspapers would publish names of soldiers who didn't receive mail. these "lonely soldiers" would apparently receive more mail than those will loved ones.

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since it was daytime, there was better visibility thus making it more dangerous to be on the front lines. even through this, work continued

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when they had free time, men would attempt to clean their rifles from the ever present dirt. when all else failed, some would urinate in the rifles to try to clean them.

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letters sent home often times lied about the conditions in the war. officers were required to read every letter, in case there was information that could aid the enemy.