Strengthening the trenches (repairing duckboards, refiling sandbags and pumping out the water that flooded the trenches). Life for soldiers in World War I followed a specific routine that involved waking up at around 5 a.m., performing military drills when not engaged in direct combat, eating breakfast, having an early dinner, sleeping briefly, performing more military exercises and … Two of the more dangerous activities were patrolling âNo Manâs Landâ and sentry duty. This was especially true in the British Army, whose citizen-soldiers were eager to acquire mementos of what was, for most, a once in a lifetime adventure. Image copyright and courtesy of The Imperial War Museum – The East Yorkshire Regiment during the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917. A WW1 soldier's step-grandson unearthed a diary from the trenches. Trophies captured directly from the enemy were the most sought-after. 1917. They could also visit canteens run by organisations such as the YMCA, or the local Estaminets. An hour before dawn everyone was roused from slumber by the company orderly officer and sergeant and ordered to climb up on the fire step to guard against a … The soldiers made the first trenches quickly, so it came as no surprise when they flooded and collapsed due to … 5/6LN … Tobacco was also central to the lives of most European soldiers. Life in the Trenches. Your email address will not be published. Traning to be a Soldier. Daily routines in the trenches For all the soldiers in the trenches, life was extremely difficult and they had a lot of chores that they had to do. It was quickly realised how unhygienic and uninhabitable the trenches were, with limited access to running water, no access to facilities and lying amongst rodents â soldiers endured all of this while sheltering from the indiscriminate and relentless gunfire that surrounded them. When not engaged in battle soldiers were often assigned manual labour roles. Even when supposedly at ‘rest’ soldiers could find themselves engaged in exhausting work. In reality, the presence of vast numbers of men behind the lines supported a flourishing sex industry on most fronts. World War I in its aftermath is often remembered for the horrible life of the soldiers in the trenches. 1. Here are 14 objects from life at the front. Though trench warfare was not a new development, the Great War saw it being used on an unprecedented scale on the Western Front. Some diseases were influenza, typhoid, trench foot, and trench fever. World War I, more than any other war had a strong association with poetry; the âwar poetsâ put on to paper what many others thought, truly describing the sheer scale, horror and futility of the First World War. On July 31st 1917 British and French troops advanced onto German lines near the village of Passchendaele, heavy casualties were suffered by both the Germans and the British. During this time, soldiers would take the opportunity to write home to their loved ones. In addition to dealing with general military bureaucracy, they were expected to master an ever-growing body of tactical and technical instructions, and to attend residential training courses. The scale of this correspondence is shown by the fact that the British Army Postal Service alone despatched two billion letters and 114 million parcels over four years. administrator British soldiers had plenty of grumbles about the monotony (if not the quantity) of their food but, like other men fighting on the Western Front, they were able to supplement their rations with food sent from home, or bought locally. Some soldiers even found an opportunity for creativity – re-working battlefield debris into what we now know as ‘trench art’. From mid-1915, every trench had some form of warning of ... A soldier’s life in the British Army. Even more important to soldiers was the food that they ate. Many more, however, remained tucked away in cupboard drawers for years, unpublished and. Rest in the Trenches. The NCOs had to inspect the men’s rifles twice daily and otherwise ensure that fighting equipment and ammunition was present and in good order. But the frontline troops themselves were rotated to ensure that time spent facing the enemy was balanced by periods of rest and, occasionally, home-leave. Your views could help shape our site for the future. They had to deal with hunger, bad weather, poor clothing, and even boredom between battles. 1916. The daily life of a Soldier. Some were published after the war and have become celebrated. The daily life of a Soldier For the soldiers of ww1 fighting was an exceptional circumstances, rather than the normal. Stand To and the Morning Hate. They turned shell cases into flower vases or tobacco jars. The troops would commonly eat Anzac Biscuits. Germany and Austria-Hungary – with food supplies hit by the Allied naval blockade – made immense efforts to keep their soldiers fed; even if this increased the hunger being felt by their citizens at home.