What was life in the trenches like?
Life in the trenches was very, very, very bad. Details varied somewhat depending upon your Nationality. Germans invested more detail in deep bomb shelters that were somewhat more waterproof and livable. Most trenches had ramparts (to stand up on to shoot). You kept your head down because most sides had snipers (a way to get out of combat was to hold your hand up above the parapet in hopes a sniper would see it and shoot–you’d lose a hand but get out of combat). Trenches were muddy. You’d add duck boards to walk on but that didn’t help and some would get up to a foot of water that you’d have to stand in. Trench foot (caused by having cold, wet feet for weeks on end) were a problem. Everyone had bugs and fleas and lice–soldiers would have contests picking off lice to see who had the most. Trenches weren’t just lines of dugouts. There would be a second or third line. The trenches would zig-zag (so a raiding party couldn’t shoot down the length of the trench) with communication trenches
