Life in the Trenches by Abigail Iacona

Hard Labor

15003381 — 2025-03-18 02:37:36 UTC

Backbreaking work with new duckboards and other repairs constantly created hard work and damaged the soldier's bodies.

Drinking Water

15003381 — 2025-03-18 02:39:20 UTC

Due to the small amounts of clean water, any available water would be used by the soldiers to drink.

No Showering

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:02:38 UTC

Due to the minimal water, there was no showering or cleaning of the soldiers.

Horrid Smells

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:06:33 UTC

Due to the amount of mud and little cleaning of the soldiers, this mud would slowly rot their flesh, creating a disgusting smell.

Narrow Spaces

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:09:00 UTC

Almost all of the trenches were extremely narrow, causing uncomfortable, single-file lines to be used when walking anywhere.

Crowded

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:10:35 UTC

Due to the small, narrow spaces, and amount of soldiers in each trench, there was much traffic and little room for walking or traveling anywhere in the trenches.

Resting

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:12:32 UTC

The crowds, little space, and long shifts all added to these soldiers' little rest, especially with the constant gunshots.

Friend or Foe

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:13:42 UTC

In the single-file lines, all the soldiers could see was the back of the soilder in front of them, causing them to be unaware if this was friend or foe.

Warfare

15003381 — 2025-03-18 03:14:58 UTC

Even when attempting to rest, the warfare was neverending. Many developed PTSD and wondered when the war would ever stop.

Movement in Dark

15003381 — 2025-03-18 10:06:10 UTC

No matter what, there were always snipers on the lookout, so all men would most likely move the most in the dark to avoid being killed.

Communication Trenches

15003381 — 2025-03-18 10:07:22 UTC

Many men also used the communication trenches to carry food to, once again, avoid detection from snipers.

Mud Everywhere

15003381 — 2025-03-18 10:08:48 UTC

To avoid being killed, the men needed to crouch in the mud, this caused mud to get everywhere on their bodies, they slept, fought, and worked in mud.

Rats

15003381 — 2025-03-18 10:10:03 UTC

Almost all men put overcoats over their faces at night to avoid rats crawling over them.

Artillery

15003381 — 2025-03-18 11:21:34 UTC

The artillery constantly kept the regular food supply out, making it difficult to gather good food.

Bad Food

15003381 — 2025-03-18 11:22:56 UTC

Almost all food was hard or expired, for example, some biscuits were so hard they needed to be slammed against rock to break open to eat.

Limited Supplies

1500727_ — 2025-03-18 11:34:56 UTC

When men were cutoff from supplies, they were had no choice but to drink from pools of rain,

Poisonous Water

1500727_ — 2025-03-18 11:36:04 UTC

Most rain water was poisonous even if boiled.

Snipers

1500727_ — 2025-03-18 11:38:35 UTC

It was very dangerous for the men to move at all. If they exited their trench at all or even just stuck their heads out, snipers were to be fired immediately.

Artillery Shells

1500727_ — 2025-03-18 11:40:12 UTC

Artillery shells were constantly breaking up communication on radios or phones making it impossible to communicate.

Food

1500727_ — 2025-03-18 11:41:40 UTC

The men would eat anything they could find at lunch due to the amount of strain this work was putting on their bodies.