The Trenches

In World War One, machine guns and mass artillery drove both sides to develop extensive below-ground fortifications known as trenches. These systems ranged from concrete structures to simple ditches and allowed secure movement of troops and supplies while also providing facilities for defense and attack. Soldiers often spent long days and nights in the trenches, enduring enemy fire, poison gas attacks, and the elements. One trench system had been stable since 1915, with both sides deeply dug in and supported by extensive communication trenches, second-line trenches, belts of barbed-wire entanglements, dugouts, and protected gun emplacements. Many trees had been broken by shell bursts, and the land was scarred with shell holes, partly eroded, and overgrown with weeds.

Pennsylvania · United States