World War I western front

[Kuciwalker]

I've always pictured the World War I western front as being a giant, continuous trench (or rather a bunch of parallel trenches) running across half of France, with both armies just spread out in a big line. How far is this from the truth?

[DAVOUT]

This is what I understood from the account written by my great-father for his years from 1914 to 1917 on the battlefield (he was then wounded during the dramatic offensive of 1917 and made prisonner). Both opponents were continuously testing the line to make sure that there was no hole; and all those units were closely connected from the sea to the Swiss border. And they stand on the line, without moving, several days without any protection against machine-guns, snippers and artillery, but the trench.

[DAVOUT]

After a few days on the front line (ordinarily three days when under fire), in the trench, the relieving troops arrived and the unit could leave the trench and rest, washed and reorganize some kilometers behind.

[germanos]

Re: World War I western front

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I've always pictured the World War I western front as being a giant, continuous trench (or rather a bunch of parallel trenches) running across half of France, with both armies just spread out in a big line. How far is this from the truth?

You left out half of Belgium.
Other then that, I have the same impression.

[Kuciwalker]

Re: Re: World War I western front

Originally posted by germanos
You left out half of Belgium.
Other then that, I have the same impression.

Belgium doesn't exist, silly.

Also, didn't the Germans make it through Belgium fairly quickly?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by DAVOUT
Both opponents were continuously testing the line to make sure that there was no hole; and all those units were closely connected from the sea to the Swiss border.

You've got to wonder what the end of the line at the border looked like...

[germanos]

Re: Re: Re: World War I western front

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Belgium doesn't exist, silly.

Also, didn't the Germans make it through Belgium fairly quickly?

almost, it seems:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Ypres

[Dis]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


You've got to wonder what the end of the line at the border looked like...

yeah, seems like they could just go around . Anything had to be better than trying to get through those inpenetrable lines. I imagine the lines started getting thinner when they got up in the hills.

[Kropotkin]

Originally posted by Dis
Anything had to be better than trying to get through those inpenetrable lines.

What!?! And miss all the glory of a bayonet charge!?!

[Dr Strangelove]

IIRC the allies saved only a small corner of Belgium from German occupation.

The trenches evolved into complex structures. There were eventually 2 or 3 main lines of trenches interlinked via communication ditches. The main trenches were usually deep enough that one could walk down the line with little fear of being hit by bullets. There were exceptions though. In the Flanders region in some area the soil was so marshy that deep trenches couldn't be dug. On the side of the trench facing the enemy there was a step high enough to allow the soldier to lean over and fire his rifle over the top of the parapet. Main trenches also often had buried bunkers in which the soldiers could rest and sleep. In addition to the main trenches there were often forward posts dug hundreds of yards in front of the main trench line and connected to the main trench by communicating trenches. The communicating trenches also connected to the rear supply and artillery areas.

[lord of the mark]

when theyd launch an offensive successful enough to grab part of the other sides trench line, theyd incorporate that, and the other side would dig around. As a result the trench systems became very complex mazes, not one single trench.

OTOH the notion of a narrow band of the armies, with normal life very close by (at least on the French side) seems to be correct.

All of the above is per Keegan, The First World War, which I heartily recommend.

[Arrian]

Keegan

-Arrian

[Lorizael]

How did the trenches first come about? That is, what was the other side doing while one side was building trenches?

[CerberusIV]

Originally posted by Lorizael
How did the trenches first come about? That is, what was the other side doing while one side was building trenches?

Building trenches of course!

It seems that the Germans started digging in once their offensive ran out of steam and the Allied armies found they needed trenches for protection too. Generally the German trench systems were better engineered than those of the Allies with more deep bunkers, particularly once they withdrew to the Hindenburg line.

[Kropotkin]

Yeah, after the miracle at Marne, where the german offensive was stopped, they drew back and set up defensive posititions. The french then tried to attack in turn but where obviously stopped by well defended german positions. When the french and british troops couldn't take on the Germans head on, both sides stared a series of attempt at out flanking each other. At the end their attempts moved their flanking units all the way to the north sea. Two opposing system of trenches from the north sea all the way to Switzerland was now a fact.

Even if generals in the great war often where stuck in their thinking, they wheren't as ignorant or stubborn as Hitler, and germans could actually give up a couple of yards to set up their trenches and bunkers on higher grounds and the best positions in general while their enemies had to dwell in the lowland.