Trench Conditions

• Trenches had Duck Boards on the bottom to stop men's boots getting covered in mud and water
• Trenches had Dug outs which were like little rooms built into the walls of the trenches
• An infestation of rats in the trenches causes lice and trench fever. Scottish soldiers were badly affected by lice because they would lay eggs in the seams of their kilts
• Long stretches with very little to do caused lots of men to suffer with extreme boredom
• The noised of being bombarded with shells, a lack of sleep and trauma caused many men to develop shell shock
• Very wet, muddy conditions and poor quality boots caused many men to develop trench foot
• Not being able to brush your teeth caused many men to develop trench mouth
• Andrew Gilmour, 4th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, wrote that 300 men had trench foot or pleurisy as a result of damp conditions and were in hospital
• Machine Guns were a constant threat in the trenches. Soldiers had to keep low and try hard not to get shot
• Soldiers would be expected to go over the top a lot. There would be many deaths and No Man's Land would be full of corpses and it would create and awful smell