The trench system

• Trench system


  • Dug quickly in 1914 to protect positions and routes to the sea
  • Developed into a more advanced system that lasted throughout the war
  • Stretched from the French and Belgian coasts of the English channel, down through those countries and all the way towards Switzerland
  • Dug in a zigzag pattern as a defensive strategy to prevent enemy soldiers from being able to see, or fire, directly along a trench
  • Narrow and often got blocked, leading to problems moving and treating the wounded during battles
• Types of trenches


  • Front line trench
  • Communication trench
  • Support trench
  • Reserve trench
• Front line trench


  Closest to the enemy, where soldiers would fire across No Man's Land
• Communication trench


  Connected the other lines of trenches, used by soldiers to move between the other trenches
• Support trench


  Dug behind the front line trenches, where soldiers would retreat to during an attack
• Reserve trench


  Dug behind the support trenches, where soldiers would use to prepare for a counter-attack
• No Man's Land


  The stretch of land between the Allied and German trenches
• Dugout


  Dug into the sides of trenches, used by men for protection and rest