The document discusses life in the trenches during World War 1. Soldiers lived in muddy, cramped trenches infested with lice and the constant stench of death. Disease spread easily between the men due to unsanitary conditions. Some soldiers resorted to self-inflicted wounds like shooting themselves in the foot to escape the horrors of trench warfare. The soldier writing home expresses his desire to end his suffering and return home to his loved ones.

1. Name: Caden Hayes
World War One Web Quest
Go to the following website:
http://www5.mgsd.k12.nc.us/staffsites/worldwarone/Welcome.html
Click on Important Events. Wait for the Video to load and click play. Answer the
following questions as you listen to the podcast. Be sure to use complete
sentences. Listen to the podcast a few times to get all the information.
1. Why did World War I begin?
- There was an assassination on Archduke Ferdinand
2. List some of the technology that was used in the war.
- Biplanes
- Submarines
- Mustard Gas
3. When did the United States enter the war and why?
- Germany sunk a US ship, the Lusitiania
- Also Germany bribed Mexico to attack the US
- US joined in 1916
4. What ended the war?
- The Treaty of Versailles in 1919
Next, Click on Trench warfare. Wait for the top video to load and click play.
Answer the following questions as you listen to the podcast. You may need to
listen to the podcast more than once to get all of the information.
1. What was Trench warfare?
- Fighting between the trenches
2. Who built the trenches?
- The soldiers

2. Name: Caden Hayes
4. What is No Man’s Land?
- The land between the trenches
When you finish answering those questions go to the following website:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtrench.htm
Select three topics from Life in the Trenches to look into further. Read the information
on the topics and while you read take notes below on any interesting information.
Topic One: Lice
- Lice was on the rampage in the muddy trenches
- The only way they were able to deal with it was to burn it with a candle, unfortunately
you must be experienced to burn off the lice without burning the clothes.
- Also lice started spreading disease between the soldiers
Topic Two: Self Inflicted Wounds
- People were so afraid of death or permanently paralyzed that they would shoot
themselves, most commonly in the foot.
- The British government found out about the extreme amounts of men shooting
themselves they made it a capital offense to shoot yourself, aka If you shoot yourself
you face a firing squad
- Ironically 3,894 people were convicted of SIW, but none faced the firing squad, they
just had jail time.
Topic Three: Alcohol in the Trenches
- For every 20,000 men (A battalion) they were given approximately 300 gallons of rum.
The Germans were nicer, they gave the soldiers daily rations of wine and brandy.

3. Name: Caden Hayes
3. Imagine you are an artist during World War One and you hope to capture what the
soldiers really felt and experienced while being in the trenches. Draw a picture, you
may use any medium you wish, that represents what the soldiers’ lives were like in
the trenches.
4. If you had a strong reaction to reading this information, you may also write a poem
that expresses your feelings and describes trench life.

4. Name: Caden Hayes
Dear loved ones,
Wow, I just arrived in Paris according to the soldiers we recently made yet
another advance, one step closer to Berlin. Our exact location is around PARIS Arriving
at the new trench I smelt the same old stench of death and the remnants of mustard
gas. In fact I still have my gas mask on. Tomorrow we are supposed to be heading to
STUPID.These trenches always seem to be the same whether they are made by
Germany or Britain. Everywhere you look there is death and destruction. The dead
bodies are piling up, the stench here is horrible. Along with the dead bodies, lice has
been spreading to almost everyone in the camp. I’m the only one I know of that hasn’t
been affected by lice. The lice seems to be spreading the deadly dysentery. The line to
nurses look like it could go on forever. This is probably because the only way to remove
lice is to have it burned off, which only the nurses can do. My friend Billy recently gave
up and just shot himself in the foot, now he sits in a nice hospital bed receiving edible
and nutritious food. As you probably know, SIW is a capital offense so an investigation
is following him. Maybe he will get off lucky and not face the firing squad. Well I am so
tired of this muddy hole I live in. I am ready to just shoot myself and finally go home to
see you. But hey, jjjjjjjj life’s jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj good! Hopefully, someday soon, I can finally go
home. Well I have to go, you know war and all. I can’t wait to see your faces again.