The conditions of the trenches during the War were

terrible. Life in the trenches was boring and

unpredictable, and full of fear and danger. Soldiers
were always miserable, with the temperature, little
food, and misery of the War. There was the constant
worry of: Being killed or being shot, lice, rats and
disgusting bugs swimming in the trenches. There
.was a horrible stench from the trenches

Soldiers had to cope with different, painful weather. At times

-:throughout the year there would be

Winter - Heavy rain - Which could leave the trenches knee deep -
with freezing water with bugs and bacteria swimming around.
The trenches would flood and more diseases
.were likely to spread

Summer - Scorching hot heat would bake the -

soldiers in the blistering heat, making their
backs raw and extremely sore which would
attract lice and fleas which made things
.worse for them

When no progress was made or there was a dead end at all it is

called 'Stalemate' or 'deadlock'. When soldiers died there
bodies were packed and horse drawn (pulled by a horse) and
.sent back home

Soldiers would experience many dangers and sometimes near

death and long periods of boredom and quietness.
There was comradeship between the soldiers; they were
chummy to each other. When the soldiers got bored
they would entertain themselves by: Smoking, Playing
cards, cooking, cleaning their equipment e.g. Rifles, did
routines e.g. cleaning out the latrines, writing a diary or
Rats and Lice
letter to the family. This is what the soldiers did to survive the
.miserable
Rats were caused by the cold mud of the trenches. conditions
Rats could grow to the size of
:cat and they would

Feed on the corpses (dead bodies) of the soldiers. -

- Crawl on soldiers while asleep.
.- Contaminate their water supply

Rats carried lots of different diseases like Typhus. Lice were also a terrible nuisance in
the trenches. Despite them being removed occasionally, their eggs often stayed in
uniforms and hatched and multiplied. The lice resulted in infections that were
mostly found around the: neck, wrists and ankles of the soldiers. Soldiers were
unable to sleep at night because the lice made them itch constantly leaving their
.body raw and sore. Soldiers could get pyrexia, which is also like trench fever
 Quiz Time

Trenches – Conditions Wordsearh

Quiz Questions S B X A L D S N H W C
.They lived in the trenches and fought .1 T C Q I F L O O D O S
A terrible smell from the trenches .2
A P P X L Y U H M G O
Soldiers are chummy and friendly .3
.towards each other L I C E H S T R H L L
A situation which no progress can be .4 E E G R F A A H K Z D
.made – a dead end
M N L Y H D H G A H I
.Dead bodies .5

Creatures that lay eggs all the time .6

A K P P E C O R P S E
.and are a terrible nuisance
T C D S D I D A Y J R
Wild animals that gnaw and contain .7
.diseases E B H A R O D E N T E
Pulled by a horse - Dead bodies were .8 O I J H C N E T S H R
packed in here during the War and were
.sent back home P H O R S E D R A W N
This was caused by heavy rain and .9 Trenches – Medical Crossword
.could be waist height
 Crossword Clues

Across

Chemical used to get rid of lice during the War. (1

3)Injury of the skin, blood vessels, and nerves of the feet due to prolonged
exposure to cold and wet, common among soldiers serving in trenches.
5) During a gas attack the soldiers would
protect themselves from the gas by dunking their heads inside something
7) which was full of urine and faeces.
There were different types of these and some could grow to the size of the
cat and they fed on soldiers corpses and were terrifying.
9) A dagger like steel weapon that is attached to
or at the muzzle of a gun and used for stabbing or slashing in hand-to-
11) A bug hand combat.
that causes trench fever.
13) A disorder of the digestive system that results in severe diarrhea
.containing mucus or blood in the feces, if it is left untreated it can be fatal

Down

Poison used by the Germans to kill the British soldiers. (2

4) Men had to shave their heads to avoid another
prevalent threat from the trenches. 6) A condition of disability
resulting from the loss of one or more limbs.
8) Caused by excretions from lice in the trenches. The disease was
transmitted from bites from body lice.
10) Soldiers develop this after being exposed
12) Soldiers do this to to shell-fire at the front.
14) themselves. It’s the initials of the full word.
Transmitted by fleas, lice, or mites, and are generally caused by severe
headache, high fever, depression, delirium, and the eruption of red rashes
.on the skin

Answers - Answers – Wordsearch

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