What were some of the advantagaes/disadvantages of living in trenches (ww1)?
Building them at night had the obvious reason of being less visible to the enemy and therefore having a better chance of surviving. Living in the trenches was no picnic but it provided a better protection from the rifles and machine guns, and they even offered a small protection from artillery and shrapnel. However, they were damp, forced the men into very tight quarters which meant that any disease even just a cold would be momentarily spread to others. My great grandfather used to speak of trench fever and how it devastated a unit in a matter of a day or less. The obvious disadvantage of living in trenches is the choice of weapons used during WWI. Mustard gas and other poisonous gases used for the fighting spread low to the ground, and it filled the trenches quickly, no escape.
