World War 1 Grabenkrieg In Europa !!exclusive!! Page

– often zig-zagged to limit blast and shrapnel effects. Duckboards, firing steps, and grenade sumps were standard.

Artillery preparation warned defenders; barbed wire remained uncut; infantry advanced too slowly; reserves couldn't exploit breakthroughs. World War 1 Grabenkrieg In Europa

Dawn was the most dangerous time. Soldiers would "stand to" at their posts, rifles loaded, peering over the parapet into the mist of No Man's Land. This was the time when attacks were most likely to begin. The "Morning Hate" referred to the daily ritual of artillery shelling designed to destroy morale and wire defenses before an infantry assault. – often zig-zagged to limit blast and shrapnel effects

The was a breeding ground for new, terrifying methods of killing. The static nature of the front allowed for the deployment of weapons specifically designed to flush men out of the earth. Dawn was the most dangerous time

A shallow, zig-zag ditch about 2 meters deep. The zig-zag pattern was designed to shrapnel and enfilading fire; if a shell landed in one section, the blast would not travel far around the corner. Sandbags, revetted with wood or corrugated iron, held the walls. Between the opposing front lines lay Niemandsland (No Man’s Land), a churned moonscape of mud, rotting corpses, and rusty wire, ranging from 50 to 500 meters wide.

New technology, particularly machine guns and rapid-fire artillery, made traditional infantry charges suicidal. 2. Anatomy of a Trench System