Soldiers in World War I trenches faced extremely difficult conditions such as shell shock, dysentery, and body lice. Shell shock (now known as combat fatigue) affected over 80,000 men and they were often classified as malingerers. Dysentery caused stomach pains, diarrhea, and vomiting and was contracted from contaminated water. Body lice spread disease and caused itching. Trench warfare exposed soldiers to additional hazards such as chlorine and mustard gas attacks, as well as the constant threat of enemy shelling from frontline trenches that soldiers occupied for 8-day stretches.

1. Trench Life of
World War I
By: Sylvia and Karolina

2. Hardships…

3. Shell Shock
 Also known as
combat fatigue
 80,000 men suffered
 Soldiers were
classified as
“malingeres”
 Committed suicide

4. Dysentery
 Inflammation of large
intestines
 Stomach pains &
diarrhea
 Vomiting and high
fever
 Soldiers could die
 Caused by
contaminated water

5. Body Lice
 Left blotchy red marks
 Created sour and
stale smell
 Caused scratching
 Carried disease
 Disease didn’t kill

6. Trench Rats
 Ate dead bodies
 Stole food
 Were later found
inside humans

7. The Trench
System…

8. Frontline trenches
 Timetable
 8 days in a trench
 Enemy shells

9. Barbed Wire No man’s land
 Protected by barbed
wire
 No enemy could get
in
 Bangalore torpedo
 Dead bodies
 Abandoned artillery

10. Listening Posts / Machine Gun
Posts
 No “Surprise Attacks”
 Information on enemy
 Pill boxes

11. Trench Warfare /
Gas…

12. Chlorine Gas
 Ypres, Germany
 Big, yellow, green
cloud of smoke and
pineapple / pepper
smell
 Killed victims within
48 hours

13. Mustard Gas
 Most lethal
 Odorless
 Took 12 hours to take
affect
 Stripped off mucus
membrane
 4-5 weeks to die

14. QUESTIONS……

15. Bibliography
 John Simkin. “Trench Warfare”
3 May 2006. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrench.htm
 Realities of War: The Trenches, Weapons, and Death. |Online video clip|
html. http://www.unitedstreaming.com/index.cfm
 Shell Shock during World war One [online image]
8 May 2006
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/images/ss_effectsof_shellshock.
jpg
 Shell Shock Patient [online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.wfa-usa.org/new/jpg/sshock5.jpg
 Body Lice Body Louse [online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.micropest.com/photos/body-lice-louse.jpg
 British casualties of a chlorine gas…[online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/canvas/tre/images/cwc1046.jpg.

16. Bibliography Part # 2
 Mustard Gas is treated during WWI [online image]
8 May 2006
http://knowmore.org/images/thumb/9/92/180px-Mustard_gas.jpg
 Mustard gas molecule.gif [online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.impgames.com/images/Mustard%20gas%20molecule.gif
 Water Points [online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdystentry.htm
 Dead Germans in Trenches [online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWfrontline.htm
 Paths of Glory [online image]
8 May 2006 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWnoman.htm
 Capture of a British Block house
8 May 2006 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWposts.htm