Why was fighting so hard in the ypres sailent?
Rain and mud! After the initial bombardments by the batteries, the soldiers would pile out of their trenches into the rain and struggle through the mud towards each other. It was all hand to hand fighting and the holes made by the bombardment shells were turned into mud traps which rapidly filled with bodies from both sides. Most of the time, in their rush to get moving, the soldiers would have to tread on the bodies of dead and dying to get through the mud traps, and the bodies would be pushed deep into the mud. They’re still being found today when the fields are ‘turned over’ ready for planting. They also used mustard gas. My Grandad was gassed (mustard gas) and lost all his eyelashes and eyebrows as well as losing the use of one of his lungs. Mind you, it didn’t stop him smoking 40 ‘roll-ups’ a day until he died at the ripe old age of 86! He used to tell us kids (when we complained about the smoke) that he’d earned the right to smoke. I’d hear him screaming in the night. It was a te
