Trench Warfare
By: Joshua Barnes
Trenches
In trench warfare, opposing armies conduct battle, at relatively close range, from a series of ditches dug into the ground.
Trench warfare becomes necessary when two armies are facing in a stalemate. When neither side is able to advance and overtake the other. Trench walls collapsed, rifles jammed and soldiers fell victim to the much dreaded disease trench foot. A condition that is similar to frostbite. Trench foot develops when you stand in water for several hours/or even days. Without a chance to remove wet boots/socks the toes/feet of our fellow soldiers will Have to be amputated. Unfortunately, heavy rains were not sufficient to wash away the filth and foul odor of human waste and decaying corpses. Not only did these unsanitary conditions contribute to the spread of disease, they also attracted an enemy despised by both sides -- the lowly rat. Multitudes of rats shared the trenches with soldiers and, even more horrifying, they fed upon the remains of the dead. Soldiers shoot them out in disgust and frustration, but the rats continued to multiply and thrived for the duration of the war. Other vermin that are plaguing the troops include head and body lice, mites and scabies, and massive swarms of flies.