Trench warfare

Trench warfare is a form of war in which both opposing armies have static lines of fortifications dug into the ground, facing each other. Trench warfare arose when there was a revolution in firepower without similar advances in mobility and communications. Periods of trench warfare occurred during the American Civil War (1860s) and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, and reached peak brutality and bloodshed on the Western Front in the First World War.

Life in the trenches

An individual soldier's time in the front line trench was usually brief; from as little as one day to as much as two weeks at a time before being relieved. The Australian 31st Battalion once spent 53 days in the line at Villers Bretonneux but such a duration was a rare exception. A typical British soldier's year could be divided as follows:

Related Topics:
Australia - Villers Bretonneux

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• 15% front line
• 10% support line
• 30% reserve line
• 20% rest
• 25% other (hospital, travelling, leave, training courses, etc.)

Even when in the front line, the typical soldier would only be called upon to engage in fighting a handful of times a year — making an attack, defending against an attack or participating in a raid. The frequency of combat would increase for the men of the "elite" fighting divisions — on the Allied side; the British regular divisions, the Canadian Corps, the French XX Corps and the Anzacs.

Related Topics:
Canadian Corps - French XX Corps - Anzac

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Some sectors of the front saw little activity throughout the war, making life in the trenches comparatively easy. When the I Anzac Corps first arrived in France in April 1916, after the evacuation of Gallipoli, they were sent to a relatively peaceful sector south of Armentières to "acclimatise". Other sectors were in a perpetual state of violent activity. On the Western Front, Ypres was invariably hellish, especially for the British in the exposed, overlooked salient. However, quiet sectors still amassed daily casualties through sniper fire, artillery and gas. In the first six months of 1916, before the launch of the Somme Offensive, the British did not engage in any significant battles on their sector of the Western Front and yet suffered 107,776 casualties.

Related Topics:
I Anzac Corps - Armentières - Ypres

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A sector of the front would be allocated to an army corps, usually containing three divisions. Of these two would occupy adjacent sections of the front and the third would be in rest to the rear. This break down of duty would continue down through the army structure so that within each front line division, typically containing three infantry brigades, two brigades would occupy the front and the third would be in reserve. Within each front line brigade, typically containing four battalions (regiments for the Germans), two battalions would occupy the front with two in reserve. And so on for companies and platoons. The lower down the structure this division of duty proceeded, the more frequently the units would rotate from front line duty to support or reserve.

Related Topics:
Corps - Division - Infantry - Brigade - Battalion

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During the day, snipers and artillery observers in balloons made movement perilous so the trenches were mostly quiet. Consequently, the trenches were busiest at night when cover of darkness allowed the movement of troops and supplies, the maintenance and expansion of the barbed wire and trench system, and reconnaissance of the enemy's defences. Sentries in listening posts out in no man's land would try to detect enemy patrols and working parties or indications that an attack was being prepared.

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Raids were carried out in order to capture prisoners and "booty" — letters and other documents that provide intelligence about the unit occupying the opposing trenches. As the war progressed, raiding became part of the general British policy, the intention being to maintain the fighting spirit of the troops and to deny no man's land from the Germans. Such dominance was achieved at a high cost and a post-war British analysis concluded that the benefits were probably not worth the price.

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Early in the war, surprise raids would be mounted, particularly by the Canadians, but increased vigilance made achieving surprise difficult as the war progressed. By 1916, raids were carefully planned exercises in combined arms and involved close cooperation of infantry and artillery. A raid would begin with an intense artillery bombardment designed to drive off or kill the front trench garrison and cut the barbed wire. Then the bombardment would shift to form a "box", or cordon, around a section of the front line to prevent a counter-attack intercepting the raid.

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