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What were trenches?

Animated soldiers in a WW1 trench

On the Western Front, soldiers on both sides lived in trenches.

  • Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground.

  • They were very muddy.

  • Some soldiers developed a problem called trench foot.

  • In the middle was no man's land. Soldiers crossed this to attack the other side.

Animated soldiers in a WW1 trench
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What were the trenches like?

Watch our video to learn more about life in the trenches.

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What happened in an average day?

TimeActivity
5am'Stand-to' (short for 'Stand-to-Arms', meaning to be prepared for enemy attack) half an hour before daylight
5.30amRum ration
6amStand-down half an hour after daylight
7amBreakfast (usually bacon and tea)
8am onwardsClean selves and weapons, tidy trench
NoonDinner
After dinnerSleep and downtime
5pmTea
6pmStand-to half an hour before dusk
6.30pmStand-down half an hour after dusk
6.30pm onwardsWork all night with some time for rest (patrols, digging trenches, putting up barbed wire, getting stores)
Canadian soldiers sleeping and writing letters in a World War One trench.
Image caption,
Soldiers sleeping and writing letters.

Soldiers only got to sleep in the afternoon during daylight and at night for an hour at a time. During rest time they wrote letters and played card games.

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What did the soldiers have with them?

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 4, A World War One poster advertising British military uniform, Soldiers carried lots of equipment This included a gas mask; weapons and ammunition; protective clothes like boots and a helmet; 鈥榳ebbing equipment鈥 which contained personal items like shaving kits and water bottles; and a shovel.
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Christmas presents and a football match

A colour postcard possibly produced to send Christmas greetings from the front line during World War One
Image caption,
A colour postcard possibly produced to send Christmas greetings from the front line.

During the first Christmas of the war, soldiers from both sides stopped fighting and met in no man's land. They sang carols together and gave each other food as presents.

On Christmas Day, a British soldier kicked a football out of his trench and the Germans joined in. It was said that Germany won the match 3-2.

Colour illustration of a British army officer scoring a goal against a German officer, circa 1914
Image caption,
Illustration of a British army officer scoring a goal against a German officer, circa 1914.
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Activities

Activity 1: What things were in a trench?

Explore our interactive trench scene and click on different objects to find out more about them.

There are ten different objects to find. You can use the question mark button to highlight them all.

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Activity 2: Quiz 鈥 Life in a trench

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Activity 3: History Explorer game

Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about World War One.

History Explorer: Secrets through time

History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History

History Explorer: Secrets through time
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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More on World War One

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