Trench Warfare Why was war fought from trenches? Weapons of war had been developed that were so deadly need to have cover. Questions/Answers from The Trenches handout: Review Trench Diagrams
Purpose of trench features 2. a) What links the frontline and support trenches? Communication Trench b)What is the purpose of trench blocks? Slow down the enemy if they get into your trench system c) Why are machine guns placed just behind the front line? Why are they so close to the bunkers (underground shelter and storage)?
Machine gun nests are placed above/behind the front line trench to have aim at the enemy (and if an enemy enters their trench system, the machine guns can take aim). Bunkers need to be close by to provide ammo Why is the barbed wire angled to the front trench? d) Again, barbed wire entanglements slow down the enemy if they get into the trench system.
You want to protect machine gunners at all cost. e) Its angled to funnel the enemy right in front of the machine gun nests. 3 a) If you were standing on a firing step (or trench board), what would prevent you from getting shot in the chest? Sandbags (parapet facing the front of the trench/facing the enemy) b) What is the purpose of the sump? And what is placed over it? Drain/collect water in the bottom of the trench system.
And a duckboard or trench grating was placed over the sump to keep soldiers feet dry. c) To slow the enemy down once they get passed the angled wires. Machine guns can reach that distance to pick-off the enemy. There are also wire breaks that our side would use to go over the top (and into No Mans Land) Extra Questions: Where is the parapet? Front/facing the enemy If you were instructed to go over the top, what must you do? Get out of the Frontline
Trench (parapet) and charge into No Mans Land If you were ordered to stand down, what must you do? Dont do anything. What is the area between opposing trenches called? No Mans Land What are wire breaks? Maze of breaks in the barbed wire entanglement that let us through. TRENCH WARFARE WEAPONS Machine Gun
Machine guns of all armies were largely of the heavy variety and decidedly ill-suited to portability for use by rapidly advancing infantry troops. The 1914 machine gun, usually positioned on a flat tripod, would require a gun crew of four to six operators. Could fire 400-600 smallcalibre rounds per minute a figure that was to more than double by the war's end, with rounds fed via a
fabric belt or a metal strip. http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/machineguns.htm Ross Rifle The Ross had many faults in trench warfare, and after numerous complaints the replacement of all Ross rifles in the three Canadian Divisions by the Lee Enfield was ordered. With its ten-cartridge magazine, the
Lee Enfield was well suited to rapid fire; a suitably trained soldier could expect to fire twelve well-aimed shots a minute. The Lee-Enfield proved so sturdy and reliable that its use continued into World War Two. Chlorine Gas The debut of the first poison Soldiers were also advised gas came on 22 April 1915,
that holding a urine at the start of the Second drenched cloth over their Battle of Ypres. face would serve in an emergency to protect against The types of protection the effects of chlorine. initially handed out to the troops around Ypres following the first use of
chlorine in April 1915 were primitive in the extreme. 100,000 wads of cotton pads were quickly manufactured and made available. These were dipped in a solution of bicarbonate of soda and held over the face. Tanks Tightly fitting 3 men inside, conditions for the tank crews were
also far from ideal. The heat generated inside the tank was tremendous and fumes often nearly choked the men inside. This first tank was given the nickname 'Little Willie' (soon followed by 'Big Willie') and, as with its predecessors, possessed a Daimler engine. Weighing some 14 tons and bearing 12 feet long track frames. Top speed was three miles per hour on level ground, two miles per hour on rough terrain They often broke down and became ditched - i.e. stuck in a muddy trench - more often than anticipated
(ex. Passchendaele Battle) Flamethrowers The basic idea of a flamethrower is to spread fire by launching burning fuel (such as coal or sulphur). Artillery calibre guns) (11) There
were many(large different kinds of artillery in WWI. For example, the German howitzer Big Bertha could shoot 2,200lbs shells over 9 miles! She took a crew of 200 men over 6 hours to assemble and disassemble her.
Trench Mortar A mortar is essentially a short, stumpy tube designed to fire a projectile at a steep angle (by definition higher than 45 degrees) so that it falls straight down on the enemy. Lighter more mobile than large artillery. The Stokes mortar could fire as many as 22 bombs per minute and had a maximum range of 1,200 yards.
