Zusammenfassung der Ressource
TRENCH WARFARE ON
WESTERN FRONT
- BRITISH WEAPONS
- Grenades & Shells
- Initial shortage of grenades and bigger
shells called howitzer By 1916 - 17 they
were widely available
- Stokes Mortar
- Could fire 22 shells per min
- Lewis Gun
- light & effective in
trench warfare.
Initially Germans had
nothing similar
- Vickers Machine Gun
- Range 3000 yards
- Could fire 450-550 rounds per min
- Lee Enfield Rifle
- Very efficient gun issued to infantry soldiers
- TACTICS OF TRENCH WARFARE
- The Germans were occupying Belgium & French
territory. It was British & French who had to
launch attacks and try and dislodge the Germans
- Going over the top through no mans land
- Bombarding opposing forces with shells
- Germans began to use poisonous
gases eg mustard gas from 1915
- By the end of the war tanks were being used
by British as a method of breaking thru enemy
lines
- Another tactic used by British at Messines Ridge
near Ypres was to dig towards towards German
linesand detonate mines underneath them
- Creeping Barrage where advancing infantry would
be protected by an arc of artilary fire landing infront
of them
- CONDITIONS IN THE TRENCHES
- Trench foot, rats & lice causing trench fever
- 31% of those served in the army were wounded compared to 3/4%
of those in Navy/airforce
- Days spent knee deep in water/mud - trench foot
- Lack of food & sleep
- BUILDING OF TRENCHES -
built wherever the enemy was
found no matter what was in the way
- Usually 2m deep & 2m wide
- dug in a zig zag so blast from an exploding shell
would be confined to small section of trench
- Normally 3 lines of trenches on each side of
no mans land - divided enemy armies
- On Front line trenches built with
firing steps/elbow rests to help
shooting over the top
- Behind front line trenches were SUPPORT trenches and
behind support trenches were RESERVE trenches
- Connecting 3 lines of trenches were
communication trenches
- BLIND ALLEYS - to confuse the enemy
- SAPS - shallow trenches leading
to look out posts/machine gun
nests