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Soldiers’ Conditions during the war Vicky Chan. Trench Foot
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Trench Foot In the trenches men stood for hours on end in waterlogged trenches without being able to remove wet socks or boots. The feet would gradually go numb and the skin would turn red or blue. If untreated, trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in amputation.
Rat Infestation • Black and brown rats • Brown rats Gorging themselves on human remains (grotesquely disfiguring them by eating their eyes and liver) • grow to the size of a cat • Which would even scamper across their faces in the dark
Lice • Lice breed in the seams of filthy clothing and causing men to itch unceasingly. • Even when clothing was periodically washed and deloused, lice eggs invariably remained hidden in the seams • within a few hours of the clothes being re-worn the body heat generated would cause the eggs to hatch.
Frog Frogs by the score were found in shell holes covered in water; they were also found in the base of trenches. Slugs and horned beetles crowded the sides of the trench. Many men chose to shave their heads entirely to avoid another prevalent scourge: nits.
Smell • Overflowing latrines would similarly give off a most offensive stench. Men who had not been afforded the luxury of a bath in weeks or months would offer the pervading odour of dried sweat. • The feet were generally accepted to give off the worst odour. • Trenches would also smell of creosol or chloride of lime, used to stave off the constant threat of disease and infection.
Life in a Trench Many soldiers simply killed or wounded themselves so they could be excused from fighting and enduring the terrible trench conditions. This was called self-inflicted wounds. Some people even climbed out of the trenches and allowed enemy soldiers to kill them.
References • http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/trenchlife.htm • http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/soldiers_food_in_the_trenches.htm • http://www.freewebs.com/trenchbattle/lifeinthetrenches.htm
