Eye-Deep In Hell: Trench Warfare In World War I (1989) - John Ellis
When it comes to wars that are an exercise of futility, nothing good can come out of them. Although all wars can be considered an exercise of futility, this is particularly true of the First World War. Although World War I was not the first time that trench warfare has been employed but trenches were certainly a prominent part of World War I. Undoubtedly, the thousands of eager soldiers who signed up for World War I in August 1914 had no clue of what was to come but they soon realized how futile the war really was. Trench warfare in World War I had very negative effects. Over 6 million lost their lives in the war. They had to worry about body lice, catching diseases, rats, and shellfire. Towards the end of the war, food supply had almost run out. Soldiers who were injured had to wait for long periods of time to be treated and severe injuries had to be amputated. During World War I, life in trenches took its toll on the soldiers in many forms. In his masterpiece of a book, “Eye-Deep In Hell: Trench Warfare In World War I” John Ellis explores the endless cycle of life of the millions of men who spent day and night in trenches, dreadful and unsanitary conditions, during World War I.
The Book and its Ingenious Title
John Ellis, a military historian, has quite ingeniously titled his book “Eye-Deep In Hell” alluding to the hellish nature of the trench warfare during World War I. In fact, Ellis has taken the title of his book from Ezra Pound’s poem “Hugh Selwyn Mauberly,” which is an epitaph for the soldiers who died on the battlefields and the ones who survived. The true nature of trench warfare during brutal war is adequately reflected by the title of Ellis’s book. World War I was truly attrition warfare on an enormous scale, in which millions were killed on both sides.
The title of John Ellis’s book is an accurate allusion to the life in the trenches that many soldiers described as “hell on earth” and fighting in those trenches was certainly not pleasant work. Judging from the title, it becomes apparent that Ellis wrote this book to explain the everyday routines of the men who fought in World War I. Ellis’s book sets out to depict the reality of the Western Front’s life in the trenches. The book accomplishes this aim quite successfully, and has therefore sometimes been dubbed as a bible for any Great War re-enactor.
Theme of the Book
John Ellis’s book explores the harsh conditions of the trenches that were in no way easy on the soldiers. They did not have any garbage disposal or latrine. They could only sleep by hunching up against the walls of the trenches and could not escape their filthy confines because they were surrounded by enemy territory. The trenches would also get flooded with muddy, cold water when it rained. Diseases and mental disorders such as trench foot, trench mouth, and shell-shock were also very common amongst the soldiers living in trenches during World War I.
Many of the soldiers even went insane because of the fear and nearness of death, either during the war or later in life. Ellis’s book gives readers an accurate picture of how terrifying the trenches were, without leaving anything out. Worst of all, the book also seems to imply that the war dragged on longer than expected, which apparently made life in the trenches even more miserable for the soldiers. Life in the trenches was literally hell on earth for the soldiers and this clearly becomes apparent from the book’s title.
The Thesis of the Book
John Ellis’s main reason and thesis for writing his book was to show that: 1). Trench warfare had not been expected and was not a part of the main battle plans that led to the World War I., and 2). Trench warfare had resulted from a war culture that existed before the World War. In his book, John Ellis sheds light on the events because of which resulted in trench warfare. He also explores the culture and mindset that prevalently existed at that time because of which military commanders and soldiers similarly adapted to the conditions of World War I that were radically evolving.
It seems that Ellis’s has not written this book to try to analyze the causes of the First World War, or the tactics or the strategy of how it was fought. Instead, Ellis focuses on what the troops actually experienced while living in the front line trenches. Ellis comprehensively explains how trenches were built, along with the equipment that the soldiers had to carry, the everyday round of a unit in the line and the danger that had to be withstood by the men.
Through his book, Ellis seems to be conveying the message that the enemy was not the only issue for the soldiers. They had to contend with far more prosaic issues that were equally demoralizing, such as flies, lack of privacy, lice, mud, privation, and rats. Ellis even covers the subject that is not mentioned often but is still important. Even in these conditions, life had to go on, and through his book, Ellis gives a splendid account of how it did.
In Eye-Deep in Hell, John Ellis also covers the dangers of the weapons of World War I, along with the demeanor of the soldiers towards authority, such as desertion and mutiny, and the enemy. The description of the horrible conditions that soldiers have to endure is quite graphical. Although Eye-Deep in Hell cannot be considered an “enjoyable” book, but no doubt an important peak in human achievement’s history has been recorded by Ellis. Overall, the book presents a lot of fascinating information that paints a clear picture of living conditions in the trenches on the Western Front.
Setting
Europe was centre of trench warfare during World War I, especially near areas where the French and German borders meet. In his book, Ellis also elaborately describes how the trenches were constructed to allow his readers to become familiar with the setting. He writes that trench warfare actually started in September 1914 when the advance of the British I Corps was blocked the German VII Reserve Corps after they turned around on the Chemin des Dames Ridge. Within a couple of weeks, the stalemate had propagated down the entire battle-line, spreading to the Swiss Frontier from the North Sea, 475 miles in all. There was considerable variation in the terrain, and as a result of this, the type of fortifications and terrains that were built were ultimately affected (Ellis, 1989:10).
The decision to be in a defensive position was first made by the Germans as a result of which the best spots were chosen by them, for instance, areas that were elevated, etc. Due to this, the British were forced to use their firepower to dig for temporary shelter, and had no choice but to live in filthy, vile conditions. They invariably ended up finding water about 2 to 3 feet below as soon as they had started digging down (Ellis, 1989:10). Eventually, the picture was complete because soldiers from both the British and German sides were forced to tunnel and stay there until conditions were appropriate for an attack.
The Trenches
Mud and stench were two of the most prominent omnipresent features of the World War I trenches. The time in which World War I was fought were some of the area’s wettest years on record, as a result of which the soldiers were left standing in water as they waited order to engage in combat on the battlefield. Many corpses that had been merely left in bomb craters or buried hastily were also unearthed by the rain and dragged into the mud.
There were a myriad of right angle turns that had been constructed in all the trenches to prevent the enemy from shooting their way along the line, in case the line was overrun. The area between the trenches, known as no man’s land, was covered with barbed wire from both sides to prevent the enemy from doing the same. In the main line, listening posts were dug where the soldiers would sit and listen to pick up any signs that the enemy was considering attacking. In the stillness of late night, every sound would cause the soldiers at the listening posts to jump.
Review
The causes of World War I or the movements of the troops during battle have not really been explained in detail in the book. Instead, Ellis concentrates on how the soldiers survived on a daily basis, in those times in those harsh, oppressive conditions. A vivid picture of the sheer despair of trench warfare, lives stuck in rampant disease, hunger, inclement weather, misery, and violent death quickly emerges in Ellis’s book. This adds further mystery to the question of how men actually survived the war with their sanity intact.
Ellis has divided his book into four sections in order to cover all the conceivable aspects of everyday life and routine in the trenches. The trenches that were constructed along the Western Front have been described in the first part of the book. The soldiers in the first trench line would retaliate against the enemy in response to any offensive move. When necessary, soldiers would retreat to reserve lines shorter trenches that were connected to the first trench line. When the soldiers have to monitor the enemy lines they would go out into no man’s land through little trenches known as “saps” that were attached to the front line trenches.
The officers resided in deep bunkers or dug outs that were also built into the trenches. The soldiers slept either in small dugouts or by propping themselves against the trench wall. In any case, the soldiers rarely got to sleep. When the soldiers were not monitoring, they are digging trenches, setting up barbed wire, or doing something or the other. Every activity that the soldiers had to carry out, they had to do it while standing in the mud, water, and on heaps of corpses of their fallen comrades that had not been properly buried.
As if it was not already awful to deal with these conditions, the danger of violent death was constantly looming over their heads. While living in trenches during World War I, soldiers died from chlorine, mustard gas shells thrown in the trenches, from shell fragments and stray bullets, when shot by snipers, and from cave-ins. Ellis shows the readers that when it came to life in the trenches, there were innumerable ways in which the soldiers could die, and there were barely any ways when it came to survival.
In the second section of the book, Ellis writes about the combat conditions. Usually, offenses from the enemy had a prolonged buildup rather than being endless non-stop operations. Soldiers were well-aware that once the shelling began in earnest it meant trouble. The continual shelling was an endeavor to send the soldiers across no man’s land by softening up the trenches. The shelling was described by the soldiers mostly in unpleasant ways. In the environment, several soldiers said that the intensity of the shelling took on a physical presence that could almost be touched.
The assault followed the shelling, and for the soldiers involved, it was a frightening experience. Most of the soldiers knew they would not make it out alive, but most of did not want to expose themselves as a coward to their fellow soldiers and embarrass themselves. Thus, what drove the soldiers out of their trenches and into the onslaught of fire was fear. The pressures on the psychological level that Ellis’s has highlighted in his book seem unbelievable, but the truth is that it led to “shell shock,” leaving the soldiers insane and unable to recover from the war.
Ellis shifts to lighter topics in the third section of his book. In this section, Ellis discusses a great deal about food supplies. As can be expected, the condition of the food was as poor as the living conditions. Soldiers were handed out fatty stews, rock solid biscuits, and stale bread. Alcoholic beverages were provided to the soldiers, the troops from France and Germany, in particular, usually carried wine. The soldiers were often given a shot of gin when they were going to fight in the battlefield. During rest, soldiers had access to entertainment and food supplies but only behind the front line.
Ellis writes about the demeanor of the troops in the final section of his book. It is in this segment that the mentality of high-ranking military officials regarding the war is examined by Ellis. Unbelievably, most field marshals and generals believed that morale was more meaningful during the war. The soldiers who were there in the battlefield viewed combat in a rather different way. They detested the elite commanders because they made decisions because of which millions of soldiers lost their lives but rarely visited the battlefields. However, the soldiers respected line officers since just like common soldiers; these officers usually shared similar miserable conditions. Also, the soldiers would not hesitate following the orders of good line officers.
In Eye-Deep in Hell, there are a lot of diagrams and photographs. Although some of the photographs are quite repulsive but are necessary for conveying the utter terror of trench warfare. After every two-page spread, there is at least one graphic photograph. Readers will be drawn into that time period by the first person accounts and illustrations chosen by John Ellis. However, sometimes, the reader is left wishing for more military detail because Ellis has tried to show the life of the average soldiers on both sides of the war. Ellis has not revealed what guns were carried by the soldiers as they stepped out into the battlefield.
Conclusion
Almost all of the angles that one could think about the First World War have been covered by Ellis in his book. Unfortunately, Ellis’s book does not contain any information regarding Turkey and Russia’s involvement in the war because only the Western Front has been covered. The editing job in the book seems to be a bit shabby because misspelled and missing words appear in the book. Regardless of these problems, for those who have an interest in World War I, Ellis’s book is a great place to start. Providing the background or the political reasons of the First World War was not the intent of Ellis’s book. Ellis’s delivers precisely what the title of his book implies. Reading Ellis’s book gives readers a firsthand experience of what it was like being foot soldiers, specifically during World War I. To the point, it becomes obvious why out of all the wars in the past two hundred years, World War I is known as the “Great War”.
References
Ellis, J. (1989). Eye-deep in hell: Trench warfare in world war i. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
