According to Ellis' "Eye-Deep in Hell: Trench Warfare in World War I" there were something like millions of men that were living in the trenches throughout the time of World War I. It was a very dangerous spot and considered to be an area where a lot of the action went down that had nothing to do with the enemy but survival. It was apparent that beyond six million soldiers lost their lives in those trenches. In the book Eye-Deep in Hell, the author does a good job with exploring this distinctive and frightening world—the ceremonies of battle, the customs of day-to-day life, and the continuous fight of men to discover meaning amongst agonizing dullness and the threat of impending death(Lewis). The book made the point that these trenches proved to be a place of horror and a pure open grave yard for many of the soldiers. With that said, this paper will discuss similar aspects of a conflict that was called the Great War.
The trenches became a living hell especially for those that were on the Western front. Here, British and French troops together with thousands of soldiers from New Zealand, Canada, and, and South Africa were able to occupy a system of deep trenches derived from September 1914(Ghani). Confronting them, through a few hundred yards of ground recognized as "No Man's Land", were trenches filled by the Germans (Evers). Millions of men had lost their lives on the Western front in small little skirmishes knows as the h Somme, Ypres, and Verdun, and on other routine patrols. Fighting in the ditches was merely projected to go on just until the spring however, things had changed drastically. By 1917, the war started to reached a stalemate for the reason that the uselessness of this form of warfare(Evers). The knowledge of excavating the trenches was to stop the Germans from being able to get to Paris and no one really believed that the battle would have progressed for as long as it did.
Research shows that these trenches were around 2310cm at the top and 200cm at the bottom, which could be awkwardly thin (Lewis). It was not much for a soldier to move around in. The troops were then able to fire over the stockade from fire steps which were something around-130cm dug into the wall of the trench and all at once permitting groups to walk erect during the course of trenches deprived of having to fear having their heads getting blown off by the approaching enemy.
Life in the trenches was not considered the best by far. It was no way for any soldier to live because the conditions were horrible. Soldiers were always scared there was no way to move around in the restricted space and the tension was always high. Soldiers never knew what day would be their last. Throughout their tour of duty there, many of them lived in great uneasiness and an unbelievable quantity of tension. They had to bear such things as louse and rat infestations not to mention not having enough water and other supplies necessary for them survive. The trenches were absolutely infested with lots and lots of rats. There were many times the soldiers would have to push themselves through the water-filled trenches, which were active with a crowd of swimming frogs. On the sides of the trenches, a soldier was able to see most of it being covered with red slugs and beetles that were horned. If some of the worse horrors could be named, it would have to be the hordes of rats that ran the place more that the soldiers did. These rats were so bad that they fed on dead bodies and got as big as cats. A lot of the soldiers became more horrified by these creatures than they were of the enemy that lurked only yards away. On the Western front, on the Western front, there were two types of rats that and they were the black rat and the brown rat (Lewis). The previous was a whole lot bigger and a lot more hateful; their beloved food was that of the human flesh mainly the liver and the eyes. At times, they vanished and the veterans recognized that the rats had the ability to sense shell-fire an entire half hour before it would even start.
For the front line soldiers, life in the trenches was awful. It was no walk in the park for any of the soldiers. Throughout their tour of duty there, many of them lived in great uneasiness and an unbelievable quantity of tautness. This soldier had no choice but to go through such things as louse and rat plagues not to reference absence of water and other necessary supplies.
Lice also became a huge issue for the soldiers. Lice by many of them were considered to be the great plague of the trenches and the continuous and unavoidable acquaintance of almost every soldier. These lice would have their eggs layer in the layers of clothing that was dirty and would hatch because of the body heat which was produced by the soldier (Ghani). Combatants did whatever they could to make sure that they were free of the vile creatures but habitually a fair amount of eggs would still stay in the clothing. Lice always found some way to convey a communicable disease recognized as Trench fever(Lewis). Trench fever was something that caused a shocking pain and then after the pain a very high fever would soon come. Nits would then deposit themselves in the men's hair and every corporation had a stylist that would cut all of their hair off down to the scalp(Evers).
In the trenches, they were not given the liberty to have good smells. Everything was toxic and horrible. The smell of decaying flesh and dead bodies was everywhere. There was just no place of escape. The worst element of the unbelievable stench of the Trenches was the dreadful scent of decay. The latrines gave off a terrible odor even in the trenches that were considered well-organized (Evers). For a lot of the soldiers the leading smell, after putrefaction, was sweat which was caused by the adrenaline because of the continuous state of fear the bulk of soldiers were in and lack of hygiene. Practically every action triggered the men to go into this sweat stage and until they got back to the backup area they had no way to shower carefully. The worse of the smell came from the feet of the soldiers (Ghani). It was awful because they had no means of washing them. There would several months that would go by before they even received water.
The worst component of the inconceivable unpleasant smell of the Trenches was the dreadful odor of degeneration. The latrines would put out this terrible smell even in the most of well-ordered ditches. For a lot of the soldiers the leading smell, after putrefaction, was the adrenaline would cause more sweat to pour off their bodies because of the continuous state of fear the bulk of soldiers were in and lack of hygiene. Almost every action produced the men to sweat and until they got back to the standby area they had no way to wash themselves thoroughly. It was clearly unbearable for most of them to even last as long as they did because the stench was clearly were nauseating.
In conclusion, it was very clear that the trenches were a part of history that was horrible for the soldiers. The rats, lice and the horrible smells were a battle within itself. It is obvious that they were fighting a war against the enemy and also the battle with creatures and ailments from the human body right there in the trenches.
Works Cited
Evers, Kai. "Fantasies, Echoes, and Whispers: The Experience of World War I in Peter Weiss's Abschied Von Den Eltern and Die Ästhetik Des Widerstands." The Germanic Review 83.3 (2008): 217,240,288.
Ghani, Hana Khalief. "'I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier' the Impact of War in Eugene O'Neill's the Sniper." English Language and Literature Studies 2.2 (2012): 46-55.
Lewis, W. D. "The Dream of Civilized Warfare: World War I Flying Aces and the American Imagination." The Journal of American History 93.3 (2006): 910-1.
