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Trench Warfare - Life in the Trenches

 

            Trenches are long, narrow ditches that are used in war by the soldiers to attack and defend against their enemies. There are trenches on the two sides and no man's land with a barbwire in the middle. Most of us think of the World War 1 in terms of life and death in the trenches but only a relatively small proportion of the army actually served there. The trenches were the front lines, the most dangerous places. However behind them was a mass of supply lines, training establishments, stores, workshops, headquarters and all the other elements of the 1914-1918 system of war, in which the most of troops were employed. The trenches were the zone of the infantry, with the associate arms of the guns and machine-guns, the engineers and the forward positions of the artillery observers.
             Deaths Everyday.
             Deaths were a common in the trenches. Without any attacks, there were random deaths due to the shellfire engaged by the enemy. Many men experienced death on the first day it self in trenches by the sniper's bullet. .
             Pests.
             There were millions of rats in the trenches. They were of two main types: the black rat & the brown rat. Both of them were detested but the brown rat was feared the most. The rats used to eat the human remain especially eyes and lungs. They grow up to the size of a cat. Men were furious and afraid by the rats. The soldiers had to be ready & attentive to be safe from the rats while they are asleep. They were killed by different methods like gunfire, with the bayonet and even clubbing to death. However the rats used to signal the soldiers about the shellfire from the enemy by running away from the trenches and hiding.
             Rats weren't the only pests. Lice were an endless problem. They used to reproduce in the joints of dirty clothing. They also used to trigger men to itch constantly. Even when the clothing was regularly washed and deloused, their eggs always remained hidden in the joints of the cloths.


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