Trench warfare on the Western Front

Conditions in the trenches
1. There were a number of problems associated with trench warfare.
2. Trench foot, rats and lice causing trench fever.
3. 31% of those who served in the army were wounded compared to 3 or 4% of those in the navy or air force.
The tactics of trench warfare
1. The Germans were occupying Belgium and French territory, it was the British and the French who had to launch attacks and try to dislodge the Germans
2. Going over the top through no mans land
3. bombarding opposing forces with shells
4. Creeping barrage where advancing infantry would be protected by an arc of artillery fire landing in front of them.
5. Another tactic used by the British at Messines Ridge near Ypres was to dig towards German lines and detonate mines underneath them
6. By the end of the war tanks were being used by the British as a method of breaking through enemy lines.
7. Germans began to use poisonous gases, for example mustard gas from 1915
British weapons
1. Lee Enfield rifle
  1. Very efficient gun, issued to infantry soldiers
2. Vickers machine gun
  1. could fire 450-550 rounds per min.
  2. range of 3000 yards
3. Lewis gun
  1. light and highly effective in trench warfare. Initially the Germans had nothing similar.
4. Stokes mortar
  1. could fire 22 shells per min.
5. Grenades and shells.
  1. Initial shortage of grenades and bigger shells such as the howitzer. By 1916-17 they were widely available.

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