Life in the Trenches: Worksheet for the game based at www.activehistory.co.

uk

Task:
As you go through the game, try to get answers to the following questions.
Your teacher may have allocated certain questions to certain people – in which case
just focus on the questions you have been given.

1. Joining Up
Give three reasons why so many men chose to join the army in 1914.
Patriotism, scared to be given a white feather and they could travel as a Pals Battalion with
their friends.

2. Training
How did trench warfare come about?
Weaponry became so powerful that they needed to protect themselves ny digging
a hole in the ground.

3. Up the Line
Why do the trenches smell so much?
They had to deal with lice, poison gas, rats, there was orange slime in the trenches and it was
filled with the mess of the latrines and dead bodies.

4. Dugouts
Why are German dugouts better than French and English ones?
The Germans have more land so they can build more trenches.

5. Stand-To (Dawn)
What is ‘Stand-To’?
A stand-to is to be prepared for something.

6. Morning Duties
What sorts of duties were men given to fill time during the day?
They had to clean, fetch rations and supplies, refill sandbags, repair duckboards, clean the
latrines and drain the trench of mud water and dead bodies.

7. Snipers
How did snipers do their job?
They wear camouflaged clothing and using the cover of a fake tree they wait for soldiers to
stick their heads above the parapet then they shoot.

8. Writing Home
What law allowed officers to censor letters written by soldiers?
Under The Defence of the Realm Act

Why were letters censored?

So that they do not give away army secrets and damaging civil morale with the complaints of
trench life.
9. Wipers Times
What was the “Wipers Times”?
It was a funny newspaper produced by the soldiers.

10. Sentry Duty

What happened to men who fell asleep on sentry duty?
They have to face the court martial and will face death from the firing squad.

Why was the penalty so harsh?

To make sure that soldiers do not fall asleep on their jobs.

11. Summer: Rats

Why were rats such a problem in the summer?
Summer is their breeding season so there are more of them.

12. Autumn: Lice

Why were lice such a problem for the soldiers in the trenches?
They carried trench fever.

13. Winter: Trenchfoot

What were the symptoms of trenchfoot?
Your feet are itchy.

How could you try to avoid getting it?

Changing your socks every day and rubbing your feet with whale oil.

14. The Battle of the Somme

Why were the ‘Tommies’ ordered to walk across no-man’s land at a walking pace?

15. Results of the Battle of the Somme

How many people were (a) Injured and (b) Killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme?

How much longer did the battle go on?

Why did the battle finish?

16. Field Punishment Number 1
What was ‘Field Punishment Number 1’?

What sorts of people were given this punishment?

17. Gas Attack

What happened to soldiers who breathed in gas?

18. The End of the War

When did the War end?

Why did Germany surrender?

19. Conclusion
What long term effects did the war have on soldiers who survived?