Final Post

Interesting Facts about Trench Warfare

1.       Trench warfare began after the allied French and British forces stopped the German advance on Paris at the first battle of the Marne (5th to 12th September 1914).

2.       The trenches were made in zig-zag pattern making it difficult for soldiers to see beyond 10m along the trench. These patterns prevented enemy to open major attacks from the sides. The zig-zag pattern also made it difficult for enemy aircrafts to map the trenches.

3.       To make a 250 m trench approximately 2700 of man-hours at night were required.

4.       The wars in the trenches were so intense that 10% of the fighting soldiers were killed in the trench warfare and around 50% would get wounded.

5.       The hill to the north east of Verdun, France was called the 'homme mort' which means the dead man, and it got 2 metres higher because of the build up of dead bodies.

6.        General Haig, leader of the British forces, never went to the front line or set foot in a trench.

7.       On Christmas day 1916, soldiers from both sides, came out of their trenches and played a game of soccer.

8.       The western front saw the digging of almost 10,000 kilometres of trenches on both sides.

9.       Over 100,000 Chinese labourers were used by the British Army to dig trenches on the Western Front.

10.   Over 200,000 men died in the trenches of WW1

11.   The catering staff put the food in dixies (cooking pots), petrol cans or old jam jars and carried it up the communication trenches in straw-lined boxes. By the time the food reached the front-line it was always cold.