WESTERN FRONT

• The Battle of the Somme was fought between July-November 1916
• Trench warfare


  The type of warfare that occurred on the Western Front between 1914-1918, where the Allies (including Britain, France and Belgium) fought the German Imperial Army in Belgium and France
• Between 1914 and 1918, the Allies (including Britain, France and Belgium) fought the German Imperial Army in Belgium and France-the area where the fighting happened was called the Western Front
• The War on the Western Front was mostly Fought in Trenches
• In the autumn of 1914, the Germans and the Allies realised that they couldn't beat each other outright


  Instead of treating they built a line of trenches that stretched through northern France to the coast
• These trench lines were developed throughout the war, but their position mostly stayed the same
• Battle of the Somme in July 1916


  1. British tried to break through the German line

  2. Lots of lives were lost during this offensive
• On the first day of the Battle of the Somme there were almost 60,000 British casualties, 20,000 of these were killed
• There were only 114 Medical Officers treating tens of thousands of serious casualties in the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme
• Battle of Arras and Ypres in 1917


  1. Mines were used to break through the enemy battle line

  2. Aim was to avoid losses like those at the Somme by making it easier for the infantry to attack the enemy trenches
• Improvements to medical care after the Somme

  1. More medical posts were set up to prepare for casualties before a big offensive on the Ypres Salient

  2. During the Third Battle of Ypres, there were over 200,000 casualties but 379 Medical Officers so many men were treated earlier than at the Somme
• By April 1917, the Germans had retreated to the Hindenburg line
• Battle of Cambrai in November 1917

  1. The Allies broke the Hindenburg line's defences with tanks, but they lost this ground again later

  2. There were about 45,000 British casualties, fewer than at the Somme but still a high number
• Before the Battle of Cambrai, a blood bank was set up by Captain Robertson, who realised that it would be easier to save lives during the battle if they had a ready supply of blood
• Trenches


  • Mounds of earth were built from the side of the trench to split it into sections (called traverses)
  • Floors of trenches in wet areas were often lined using wooden boards called 'duckboards'
  • The parados was a mound of earth or sandbags that raised the height of the back of the trench to protect soldiers from shell explosions behind
  • The parapet was built up in a similar way to the parados on the front side of the trench, meant to be bulletproof and lined with wooden planks, netting or sandbags
  • Barbed wire was set in front of the trench to make it harder for enemy infantry to attack head on
• No man's land


  The ground between the front line trenches of each side
• Fire trenches


  • Trenches closest to the enemy had a firing step held back by wooden planks - men could stand on here behind the bulletproof parapet and fire their rifles into no man's land
• Trench systems were expanded during the war, which had a big impact on the terrain of the Western Front
• Ideal trench system


  • Front line trench, support trench about 60-120 metres behind, and reserve trench about 350-550 metres behind the front line
  • Saps were small trenches that pushed out into no man's land
  • Communication trenches connected the trench lines to each other and to local roads and army depots behind the lines
• In reality, building such organised trenches was hard - they might be built quickly as troops advanced and terrain had to be considered
• Underground warfare


  1. Both sides tunnelled under no man's land to reach enemy trenches

  2. Tunnels were dug up to the German line so men could reach the enemy trenches in safety, the entrances were blown open with mines at the start of battles
• At the Battle of Messines on the Ypres Salient in June 1917, 19 mines were blown up under the German line, around 10,000 German soldiers died instantly
• Trench maps are a good source for studying the layout of trenches and their defences, they were drawn up using photos taken from the air and information collected on the ground
• Shelling and entrenchment damaged roads and terrain on the Western Front, making it hard for the British army to move supplies and evacuate wounded men
• Building a light railway network behind the lines by 1917


  Made it easier to move supplies, ammunition and men through muddy and damaged terrain, and to evacuate wounded men from the Front
• The fighting on the Western Front disrupted local transport networks
• The British Army were supported by various medical units who treated wounded men and evacuated them from the front line
• Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC)

  Ran Field Ambulances
• Moving casualties away from the Front to be treated

  1. Terrain had become very muddy

  2. RAMC Field Ambulances set up mobile medical stations

  3. Stretcher bearers carried casualties through a series of relay posts until they reached a medical post or somewhere they could be moved by road, rail or river
• Field Ambulance transport


  • Teams of stretcher bearers
  • Horses, wagons and carts
  • Motor ambulances (the RAMC started using these in 1915)
• Chain of Evacuation


  System developed by the RAMC to move wounded men who had a chance of surviving to medical areas
• Chain of Evacuation


  1. Regimental Aid Post (RAP) set up near front line

  2. Injured men given first aid and sent to Advanced Dressing Station

  3. Seriously injured men collected from Main Dressing Stations by motor ambulance and taken to Casualty Clearing Stations

  4. Treated at Casualty Clearing Stations for up to 4 weeks before being moved to Base Hospital or sent back to Front
• The army prepared for the Battle of Arras in 1917 by setting up a hospital with room to treat 700 men in the Arras tunnels
• It had an operating theatre, waiting rooms for the wounded, and rest areas for stretcher bearers
• FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Corps)


  • Trained in first aid, veterinary skills, signalling and driving
  • Mainly worked as a field ambulance, moving wounded men between base hospitals, medical posts, trains, barges and hospital ships
• FANY Convoys


  • Calais Convoy
  • St. Omer Convoy
• FANY driver Beryl Hutchissan described picking up wounded men from trains and driving them to base hospital or to boats that would take them back to Britain
• The driving skills of the FANY were very useful to the army, as they needed to move wounded men and rations between stations and the front
• Other roles of the FANY

  • Ran a mobile soup kitchen
  • Ran a mobile bathing vehicle
  • Staffed hospitals and convalescent homes
  • Ran a hospital canteen
  • Organised concerts for the troops
• Soldiers were exposed to the weather in the trenches. Many suffered from exposure to the cold and wetness, especially in the cold winter of 1916-17