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| Trevor Wilson (1928–2022) |
By December 1914 the trench warfare system was fully established on the Western Front. Over time the men in the trenches—as can be seen in the examples on the right—dug deeper and improved their firing positions. Although the sites are quite comparable you can see from the hunched-over postures of the men in the 1914 trench that they are definitely in a hot zone. Compare that to the men and their officer in the improved trench, in what might be a posed photo. What did the apparent permanence of all this mean for the those men stuck in the trenches?
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| 1914 French Trench |
There is an important thing to understand about trench warfare and what it was like to be in the trenches. It was not the same people in the same trench all through the war. The army realized that even in quiet periods, being in the front line was a terribly wearing experience.
At any moment, if you put your head above the parapet, a sniper might get you; at any moment, a trench mortar or shell might land among you, killing and maiming. Consequently, people there are living in a state of great anxiety, which if continued for long, would wear them down; and they would wear down pretty rapidly to the point where they can't be used again.
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| Similar Trench, Probably 1915 |
To avoid this, the army was constantly recycling people, having them in the front line a week at a time, then moving them to reserve trenches, then moving them out of the lines altogether (giving them time to recuperate), and then bringing them back again. A soldier would usually occupy a front line trench for only a week at a time.
Historian Trevor Wilson, PBS Interview
Wilson’s description of the basic nature of trench warfare shows that the psychology of the soldier was the deciding factor on them surviving in the trenches. When soldiers are bombarded by shells all day and night the only protection is the trench. Soldiers will start to lose their minds because of fear and helplessness of the situation. Soldiers' adrenaline for survival is at its highest, where focusing to survive when everywhere else is dying around them is a test of one’s sanity. However, the battle is not over for many soldiers who live with grief and guilt where they are not in touch with their emotions causing stress and anger.
ReplyDelete“My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
ReplyDeleteTo children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
— "Dulce et Decorum Est" Wilfred Owen
The poem by Wilfred Owen describes the suffering of trench warfare.
I believe the Brits rotated troops from the frontline trenches to reserve trenches and back areas but the French did not.
ReplyDelete