Trench warfare terms

dugouts

rooms dug out of the back walls of trenches

fire step

a raised platform on which soldiers stood to look and fire over the tops of trenches

duckboards

wooden boards placed on the ground of trenches to stop people from sinking in the mud

shells

large bullets that are fired over long distances

machine gun

german automatic heavy gun that fired 500 rounds a minute, making it one of the deadliest weapons on the western front

trench foot

foot condition caused by soldiers standing in mud/waterlogged trenches

shell shock

a condition with psychological symptoms results from exposure to trench warfare (now knows as ptsd)

no man’s land

ground between the front lines of two opposing armies

‘over the top’

soldiers climbing out of their trench to attack the enemy

western front

475 mile long line of trenches stretching primarily through france and belgium, which saw most of the fighting in europe

1st july 1916

first day of the battle of the somme, known as the bloodiest day in military history, with 57,000 casualties

field marshall sir douglas haig

commander in chief of the british expeditionary force on the western front during WWI, from 1915 until the end of the war

pals’ battalions

volunteer battalions consisting of men who enlisted together as groups of local friends for the british army

conscription

compulsory military service for all adult men aged 18-41, introduces in 1916

armistice

agreement signed on 11th november 1918 that ended the fighting on the western front