The Trenches

The Trenches. . , The machine gun and massed artillery fire of World War One combat dictated an extensive development of below-grade fortifications, used by both sides, that were simply known as the "trenches." Ranging from concrete structures to simple ditches, these systems allowed for secure movement of troops and supplies as well as providing facilities to defend and launch attacks. Soldiers often spent many long days and nights in these trenches, enduring enemy fire, poison gas attacks, as well as the elements. AS you walk through the trench, see if you can identify the features that one would have found in any trench in World War One.,

The trench system that we entered had been stable since 1915, and both sides were deeply dug in, with extensive communication trenches, second-line trenches, belts of barbed-wire entangles, dugouts, and protected gun emplacements. Many of the trees had been broken by shell bursts in the past and the land was pitted with shell holes, partly eroded, and overgrown with weeds. , Mechanic Donal D. Kyler , Company G, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division