TOPI C 5: Trench Warfare

BACKG ROUND INFORM ATION

One image above all dominates the memory of the war on the Western Front — that of the trenches . For most of the wa r, after the initial mo re fluid battles of late 1914 and be fore the mo re open warfa re that began in Ma rch 1918 , the Allies and the Germans engaged in a long period of static wa r. From the No rth Sea off Belgium to the Swiss bo rde r, the re st retched th rough Belgium and France major lines of de fence which, at periodic inte rvals, each side would t ry to b reak th rough in the sea rch for a decisi ve victo ry. In some a reas of mountain and dense forest the lines were light ly held, but in others elaborate de fences were constructed. In the a rea of no rthern France held large ly by British Empi re forces, the t rench system usual ly consisted of th ree parallel lines — f ront, suppo rt and rese rve — Out b eyond connected by com munications t renches .The line itself was n ev er straight, but zigzagged to p rev ent a long st retch of t rench being exposed to ene my fi re the t ren che s, if attac ked and temporarily c aptu red. Out b ey ond the t renches, thousands of kilomet res of barbed wi re were laid to sl ow ene my assaults. Behind thousands of the lines, thousands of a rtille ry pieces were assembled on both sides to pound enemy positions and provide support in any major attacks . kilomet res of Until 1918, neither side was able to bring back to the battlefield the barbed wi re we re mobility that c aval ry had p rovided in earlier centuries, and both sides fought cost ly actions as th ey tried to b reak th rough these st rong laid to sl ow de fensi ve lines .These were the g reat attrition battles of the wa r, whose names were remembe red with ho rror by those who fought in them or ene my assault s. who had lost relati ves in them — the Somm e,Verdun and Passchendael e. On the first d ay of the Somme battle alon e, 1 July 1916, the British Ar my sustained 60, 000 casualties, one-thi rd of whom were killed. Li fe in the t renches was general ly miserabl e. Not on ly was the re constant danger f rom ene my shell and sniper fi re, but the re was little p rotection f rom the elements .The winter of 1916–1917 on the Somme was a pa rticular ly s ev ere one for the Australians, as described by historian Bill Gammage: Boiling tea f roze within twenty pace s, hands exposed we re numbed after five second s, bread could not be cut with a kni fe, and water had to be chopped with an a xe and car ried in blo cks to the lin e.

1 AIMS

Students at • Kn ow the main featu res/characteristics of t rench warfa re Level 1/2/3: • Identify the main weapons used • Identify dif ferences bet ween the theo ry and the reality of t rench warfa re • Empathise with the experiences of soldiers in combat Students at • Critical ly ana lyse a range of rep resentations of war Level 2/3:

CLASS ROOM STR ATEGIES

Level 1/2/3 A key concept in this topic is for students to t ry to empathise with soldiers facing dange r. A useful sta rting e xercise might be to ask students to imagine that the re is a fire in their hom e.The re a re fami ly and friends tr apped. How might th ey react? Would th ey run , st ay and t ry to hel p, go and get hel p, le ave it to others , or something else? While an a rtificial w ay of t rying to explo re the concept, it will help students to sta rt to think about dif ferent possible reactions such as were experienced by soldiers in the trenches. Level 2/3 A key element he re is for students to understand that the re a re dif ferent w ays of rep resenting the soldiers’ experienc e. Some emphasise the br avery, the courage and mateshi p. Others emphasise the hor ror and brutality of wa r. Both a re rep resented in this topic and can be discussed by students. WM E01220 A Australian artillerymen passing along a duckboard track in Chateau Wood , a portion of one of the battlegrounds in theYpres area, 29 October 1917 .

2 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.1: TRENCH WAR FARE

Soldiers on the Western F ront regular ly fought against the ene my. This was called ‘t rench warfa re’, because when th ey were p reparing to attack, the soldiers li ved in trenches dug into the g round. When it was time to attack th ey would come out of their t renches and m ove t owa rds the ene my t renches. After the attack th ey might be m oved to the rear to rest and rec over for a period of tim e.

Illustration by D avid Simkin , Contempo rary Accounts of the Fi rst World War by John Simkin ,Tressell Publications , 1981 and in John Laffin , Western Front 1916-1917 ,The P rice of Honour ,Time-Li fe Australia and John Ferguson , Sydn ey, 1987 , page 18.

❘◗ Think about what a battle might h ave been li ke. What sounds would the re b e, what smells , what would the soldiers see? Write d own some words that describe what you imagine a battle might be li ke.

3 WORKSHEET 5.1 continued

Look at the s ketch of a t rench, and the photogr aphs of soldiers in t renches .Then an swer the questions that foll ow. WM EZ0009 A WM E00739 WM E00825 A A

❘◗ What is the main purpose of a t rench? ❘◗ Do you think the re would be p roblems with: • cooking • water • washing • sleeping • keeping warm • keeping cool • flies • bo redom ❘◗ The photographs show different types of trenches and conditions . Why do you think these dif ferences existed? ❘◗ List the words that best describe life in the t renches to you.

4 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.2: TRENCH WAR FARE

Look at the s ketch of soldiers in the t renches bel ow. It sh ows the soldiers on the left (Allied soldiers) attacking the soldiers on the right (German soldiers).

He re a re s ev en descriptions of what the Allied soldiers a re doing .Th ey a re not in the co rrect o rde r. ❘◗ Number them in the correct order from 1-7 that tells the story of what is happening . ❘◗ Then write the number in the box where that action is happening . One example has been done for you. 1 Allied soldiers a re advancing. The Allied soldiers dest roy the German guns. The Allied soldiers h ave an ae roplane ab ove the a rea that tells them what is h appening. The Germans run away. The Allied soldiers cut the ene my barbed wi re. The Allied soldiers dest roy the ene my t renches and c aptu re the Germans. The Allied soldiers dest roy the ene my villag e.

5 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.3: TRENCH WAR FARE

Now look at the same scen e, as it probab ly happene d.The Allied so ldiers have not done wh at th ey wanted to do .

❘◗ Why did their atta ck fail? Look at numbers 1-6 , and write in what the sketch sh ows happening . For exa mpl e, you might write — ‘Some Allied soldiers are shot be fore th ey can get to the ene my.’ 1 2 3 4 5 6

6 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.4: TRENCH WAR FARE

What was battle li ke for the soldiers? ❘◗ Look at these photographs and list your impressions and reactions to them about what war was like . WM E00807 WM E03149 A A WM E00777 A WM E01056 A

7 WORKSHEET 5.4: continued

THE LANDS CAPE

This type of warfa re also had an ef fect on the p hysical e nvi ronment of the a rea. ❘◗ Look at the illustrations bel ow and ma ke a list of words that describe the effect of the war on the landsc ape.

Aerial vi ew of the t own of Zonnebe ke, 7 June 1917, be fore a Aerial vi ew of the town of Zonnebe ke, 14 September 1917, after major action. AWM J00188 a major action. AWM J00189

Mule team bogged in thigh deep mud near Potijze Farm in the Scene on the Menin road beyondYpres, 14 September 1917 . Yp res Secto r, 19 October 1917 . AWM E00962A AWM E00700A

Poziè res , Franc e, be fore the wa r. AWM G01534i Poziè res , Franc e, dest roy ed during a battle in 1916 . AWM A05776

❘◗ List a number of words that describe the e nvi ronment during wa r. ❘◗ How do you think soldiers might h ave felt during t rench warfa re? ❘◗ How do you think th ey reacted to battle conditions?

8 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.5: TRENCH WAR FARE

Some soldiers left reco rds of how th ey felt about and reacted to t rench warfa re. ❘◗ Look at the s even descriptions of aspects of battle f rom Australian soldiers who experienced it. In a grou p, have each member read one or mo re of the extracts .That person has to repo rt to all other members on the extract/s th ey h ave read .Th ey must explain what the document is telling us about the natu re of battl e, what personal qualities the writer sh ows, and what the reader ’s reaction is to that extract — for example you might be p roud of the br avery of the person, or shoc ked at the pain that is described, or ashamed of the brutality that might be sh own. After all members h ave repo rted on their documents , complete this sentence : ‘These extracts tell me that .. .’

SOURCE A I can ’t sleep now because – Six shells a re bursting a round he re ev ery mi nute Guns a re belching out shells, with a thunde rous sound each time The g round is shaking with each explosion I am wet and the g round on which I rest is wet My feet a re cold, in fact I’m all cold with my t wo skim py blan kets I am c overed with di rt I am hung ry I see no chance for a better tomo rrow.

SOURCE B One of our officers got shell shock under all the shelling and he cried li ke a child. Some were calling out for their mothe r.

SOURCE C The mud was so bad that last time we were he re one of our officers rode into a shell hole and he dis appea red. He had to be pulled out by ropes.

SOURCE D I am on my w ay to hospital suf fering t rench feet due to being up to my knees in water for 72 hours.

SOURCE E The count ry a round he re is very much knoc ked about by Artille ry and shell holes a re the worry of our li ves – one cannot walk 10 met res in the dark without tumbling into on e. Barbed wi re entanglements a re scatte red about , and at night we h ave to keep our ey es open , otherwise we get caught in it .. . Gr ave ya rds a re ev erywhe re and no matter whe re one looks he sees little white c rosses.

SOURCE F Private William Ha rold Aundrick , Private Arthur Corbett , Private Hube rt Allen Nason , all 25th Battalion , 11 N ovember 1916. During attack on German position No rth of FLERS during 5th and 6th No vembe r, 1916 these men upon orders gi ven, wor ked conti nuous ly for 30 hours ca rrying in wounded f rom NO MAN’S LAND despite he avy machine gun, shell and snipers’ fi re.Th ey sh owed g reat determination under most t rying ci rcumstances working most ly in d aylight .Th ey a re suffering still f rom their e xertions. Milita ry Medal each.

9 WORKSHEET 5.5 continued

SOURCE G 24/8/16 Dearest Beat and Bill , Just a line … you must be p repa red for the worst to h appen a ny d ay. It is no use t rying to hide things. I am in te rrible a gony … Tomo rrow I shall kn ow the worst as the d ressing [on his wounded leg] was to be left for 3 d ays and tomo rrow is the thi rd d ay it smells rotten. I was hit running out to see the other officer who was with me but bad ly wounded … I got t wo machine gun bullets in the thigh … The St retcher Bea rers could not get the wounded out a ny w ay other than over the top and ac ross the open .Th ey had to ca rry me four miles with a man w aving a red c ross flag in f ront and the Germans did not open fi re on us. Well dea rest I h ave had a rest, the pain is getting worse and worse … So cheer up dear I could write on a lot but I am near ly unconscious. Gi ve my l ove to Dear Bill and yourself, do ta ke ca re of yourself and him. Your l oving husband Be rt Lieutenant HW C rowle died a f ew hours after writing this lette r.

(Sou rce A, extract f rom the letters of John A R aws ,AWM 2DRL/0481 ; Sou rces B-D and G , adapted f rom Bill Gammag e, The B roken Yea rs, Penguin , Melbourn e, 1990 , chapter 6 ; Sou rce E adapted f rom KM Lyall , Lette rs Fr om an Anzac Gunne r, KM Lyall , 1990 , page 72 ; Sou rce F, Commonwealth of Aust ralia Ga zette , 11 October 1917)

10 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.6: TRENCH WAR FARE

He re a re mo re descriptions of t rench warfa re f rom Australian soldiers. ❘◗ Look at the descriptions of aspects of battle from Australian soldiers who experienced it. For each , complete the sentence ‘These extracts help me understand that…’

SOURCE A I shall n ev er forget the mad int oxication one seems to be in [during battle] ... you see absolute ly no danger & will do almost a nything, for the roar of the guns a re ringing in your ears, & you can smell the salty fumes f rom the p owder stinging your nostrils , & .. . the shouts of the b oys & the .. . ghost ly lights of the ma ny colou red fla res ... these a re moments when I rec kon a man li ves 10 mi nutes of this seems to be at the time worth a year of ordinary life, but the reaction sets in afterwards & nearly all men feel a faintness come over them .. . but this don ’t last long either & you a re soon itching for another smack at the rotten Hun.

SOURCE B Falling ev erywhe re & the b oys struggling th rough the mud bogged near ly to the knees ... [In the German wi re, I] got bad ly cut all over & ended up by getting hung up in the staff for all the world li ke a sack of wool chuc ked onto a he ap of barb wi re, but I felt nothing at the time for my blood was running hot & we on ly thought of getting in their t rench , the fighting by this time was very fie rce, shells , mo rtars , & worse than all liquid fi re bombs were falling among us li ke hail ... I had one of the most thrilling mi nutes of my li fe for I was rushing .. . down a shall ow t rench .. . When .. . a Hun rushed out at me & made a desperate lunge at my bod y. ... his b ayonet slid d own my rifle & stuck in the fles hy pa rt of my leg ... a sharp stinging pain went th rough my body ... but I kept my block & be fore he could dr aw his rifle back for another attempt I shot him dead.

SOURCE C All d ay long the g round roc ked & sw ayed backwa rds and forwa rds f rom the concussion ... men were dri ven stark staring mad & mo re than one of them rushed out of the t rench o ver t owa rds the Germans … Any amount of them could be seen c rying and sobbing li ke child ren their ne rves complete ly gone … We were near ly all in a state of silliness & half dazed but still the Australians refused to gi ve g round … Men were buried by the dozen, but were frantically dug out again some dead and some alive .

SOURCE D The re were dead and wounded ev erywhe re ... I had to sit on top of a dead man as the re was no picking and choosing ... I s aw a shell lob about t wel ve ya rds away and it ... lifted [t wo men] clean up in the air for about 6 feet and th ey simp ly d ropped back dead ... one or t wo of the ch aps got shell shock and others got real ly frightened it was piteous to see them ... One g reat big ch ap got away as soon as he reached the firing line and could not be found ... I saw him in the morning in a dug out and he was white with fear and shaking like a leaf . (All sou rces quoted in Bill Gammag e, The B roken Yea rs, Penguin , Melbourn e, 1990 , pages 171-2 , 180 , 191-2 , 283)

11 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.7: TRENCH WAR FARE

One soldie r, Lieutenant John R aws , was a journalist be fore the wa r. He w rote s ev eral rev ealing letters to fami ly members be fore he was killed in 1916. He re a re some extracts f rom those letters. • “ You h ave no idea of the hell and ho rror of a g reat advanc e, old fell ow, and I hope you n ev er will h ave. We fought and li ved as we stood, day and night, without ev en o vercoats to put on at night & with very little food .The place was not litte red but c overed with dead & as we were under conti nuous fi re & were m oving about a lot, and when still were in very na rrow, shall ow t renches, we could do no bu rying .The last meal I had was one I shook f rom a dead German .” • “One feels on a battlefield such as this one can never survive , or that if the body li ves the brain must go forev er. For the ho rrors one sees and the n ever-ending shock of the shells is mo re than can be born e. Hell must be a home to it .” • “The Australian casualties h ave been very he avy – ful ly 50 per cent in our brigad e, for the ten or el ev en d ays . I lost , in th ree days, my b rother and t wo best friends, and in all six out of sev en of all my officer friends (perh aps a sco re in number) who went into the scrap – all killed. Not one was buried , WM E00572 and some died in g reat a gony. It was impossible to help the A wounded at all in some sectors. We could fetch them in, but Captain C E W Bean, Official War Cor respondent, in Gi rd t rench, near could not get them away. And often we had to put them out Gueudecou rt in Franc e, during the on the par apet to permit m ovement in the shall ow, na rrow, winter of 1916-1917. croo ked t renches .The dead were ev erywhe re.The re had been no bu rying in the sector I was in for a week be fore we went the re.” • “One or two of my friends stood splendidly, like granite rocks round which the seas stormed in vain. They were all junior officers. But many other fine men broke to pieces. Everyone called it shell shock. But shell shock is very rare. What 90 per cent get is justi fiable funk, due to the collapse of the helm – self-control .” • “My battalion has been at it for eight d ays and one-thi rd of it is left – all shatte red at that. And th ey’re sticking it still , incomparable he roes all . We a re lous y, stinking , ragged , unsh aven , sleepless . Even when we’re back a bit we can ’t sleep for our own guns . I h ave one putte e, a dead man ’s helmet , another dead man ’s gas p rotecto r, a dead man ’s b ayonet . My tunic is rotten with other men ’s blood and pa rtly splatte red with a comrade ’s brains. It is ho rrible but w hy should you people at home not kno w.” • “ We got away as best we could. I was again in the rear going back and again we were cut off and lost. I was buried twic e, and th rown d own s ev eral times – buried with dead and dying .The g round was c overed with bodies in all stages of dec ay and mutilation , and I would , after struggling f ree f rom the ea rth , pick up a body by me to t ry to lift him out with m e, and find him a dec ayed corps e. I pulled a head off – was covered with blood .The ho rror was indescribabl e.” • “Shr apnel , min ew er fers , whizz-bangs , bombs , lach rymose shells , gas shells , - and thousands of g aping dead . The stench , and the ho rridness of it can but be mentioned . I h ave sat on corpses , wal ked on corpses and pillaged corpses. I got ma ny inte resting German sou venirs and could h ave secu red ca rtloads f rom their trenches , but I lost most that I took , and usual ly was too busy to pick up a nything . I lost near ly all my equipment and clothes and with them my curiosities but I b rought back one bonzer sou venir that I did not expect to bring back – myself. ” (Letters of Lieutenant John A R aws ,AWM 2DRL/0481)

❘◗ Are the re a ny aspects of Lieutenant R aws’ experiences and reactions that surprise you? ❘◗ Were all soldiers br ave? Did all sh ow courage? Discuss your ideas. ❘◗ For soldiers who su rvi ved the wa r, what p roblems can you anticipate th ey might face after the war?

12 K3 1 2 3 WORKSHEET 5.8: TRENCH WAR FARE

We rely on images for in formation about what war was li ke. Images a re rep resentations — meaning that th ey are somebody ’s version of what it was li ke. Rep resentations rely on selecting some key elements to p resent to the vi ew er, and often a re c reated to pass on a messag e. ❘◗ Look at the foll owing rep resentations of war on the Western F ront as experienced by Australians and an swer these questions on each one: • What does the image sh ow? • Who is in it? • What a re th ey doing? • What a re your reactions to it? • What message do you think the images gi ve to the vi ew er?

PH OTOGRAPHS

The top image is not a single photogr aph, but a composite of several .The photogr aphe r, Frank Hurl ey, explained w hy he c reated such photogr aphs: To in clude the event on a single negativ e, I have t ried and t ried, but the results a re hopeles s. Eve rything is on su ch a vast scal e. Figu res a re scatte red .The atmosphe re is dense with ha ze and smo ke. Shells will not bu rst where requi red. It might as well be a rehea rsal in a paddo ck. It is

impossible to secu re full ef fects WM E05988A of this bloody war without A composite pictu res. It ’s un fair to our soldie rs. (War photographer Frank Hurley , quoted in Lenna rd Bic kel, In Sear ch of Frank Hurle y, Macmillan, 1980 , page 61.) WM E05429 A

13 WORKSHEET 5.8 continued

RECONST RUCTIONS

Pa rt of a diorama on ‘Yp res, 1917’ in the Australian War Memorial, Canbe rra.

Diorama of soldier in mud in the Australian War Memorial, Canbe rra.

14 WORKSHEET 5.8 continued

ART T02927 R A WM A Aust ralian in fant ry atta ck in Polygon Wood, Fred Leist, 1919 WM H00563 A The Battle of Polygon Wood, A Pears e, c 1920

❘◗ Why do you think rep resentations of the same subject can be so dif ferent? Explain your vi ews.

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