The Western Front Flashcards
(14 cards)
What were the features of the trenches?
The Frontline Trench – The furthest point forward and closest to the enemy. This was
where attacks would be made from
The Support Trench – This was around 80m behind the frontline trench and this is where
soldiers on the frontline would retreat to if they came under strong attack.
The Reserve Trench – This was 100m behind the support trench. This is where ‘reserve’
troops were kept if the soldiers in the front line needed further help.
The Communication Trench – This ran between the different lines of trenches as a way
for soldiers to move between them.
Artillery Emplacements – The bigger guns known as artillery were located at the rear as
they could fire longer distances.
Who set up a plastic surgery unit for the British during the war?
Harold Gillies - He was wanted to restore his patient features. Ge developed the use of pedicle tubes and kept detailed record of his achievements.
The First Battle of Ypres
Took place in 1914
12 October-11 November the Germans launched an attack on British positions.
The British lost 50,000 troops but held onto
Ypres.
The BEF were based at Ypres to stop the
Germans reaching the sea.
The Second Battle of Ypres
Happened in 1915.
A series of battles from 22nd April -25th May.
Hill 60 was a man-made hill near Ypres which the Germans had
captured and built up in Dec 1914. It gave high advantage to fire down on the British. This also meant that the Germans had better drainage and better communication and transport.
The British were based on the ground with heavy soil so they were often waterlogged
British lost 59,000 men.
When did the Germans introduce chlorine gas into war?
The Second Battle of Ypres ( 1915) - Gas attacks were greatly feared but weren’t a major cause of death .Only around 6000 men died from gas attacks. Gas masks were provided from 1915.
The British also used chlorine
gas at the Battle of Loos in
1915, but the wind changed
direction and the gas blew back
onto the British Lines.
The Battle of The Somme
First battle happened on 1st July 1916.
On the first day the 57,000 casualties and 20,000 men died.
First use of tanks in warfare- Tanks were not successful at first.
By the time the Battle of the Somme ended in November 1916, the British had suffered 400,000 casualties.
The Battle of Arras
In April 1917, 24,000 men hiding in Arras tunnels attacked.
They gained 8 miles in
the first few days.
They didn’t gain much more, and
when it ended in May 1917, there
were 160,000 British and Canadian casualties.
Arras tunnels , caves and quarries.
The area around Arras was very chalky so good to tunnel.
In 11916 the British decided to link tunnels to create an under ground network.
They dug more than 2.5 miles, and could
hold more than 25,000 men.
It also had a fully functioning hospital.
Arras underground hospital
It had 700 beds and an operating theatre. It sheltered from attack, had electric lights and running water.
The Third Battle of Ypres
Happened in 1917. The British advanced two miles by the first day.
The conditions were terrible- It rained a lot which mad the ground waterlogged. Men fell in the mud and drowned.
245,000 British casualties.
What were the Illnesses on the Western Front?
Trench fever- flu like symptoms : high temperature, head aches and aching muscles. Caused by lice. Roughly 500,000 men were affected. Lice checking stations were set up after this.
Trench foot- painful swelling of feet after standing in wet conditions for too long. Sometimes gangrene would set in which is the rotting of tissue due to loss of blood supply
Injuries on the Western Front
Shell shock- was not well understood. Loss of speaking, mental breakdowns, tiredness and headaches. Possibly 8000 troops experienced shell shock. Many people were called cowards and sometimes even shot.
Artillery shells and Shrapnel- out of 200 000 men 58% of them had wounds caused by shrapnel and artillery shells. Shrapnel was the case of a shell fractured into lots of pieces. Most of these injuries would be to the arms or the legs.
New methods of treating infection and broken bones.
The Thomas Splint- was created before the war. It was a stronger splint that kept the leg rigid and stopped further blood loss.
X-rays- Used to find bullets and shrapnel in the body. They weren’t able to show all parts of shrapnel though or other materials. They easily overheated and could only be used for about and hour.
The Carrel -Dakin Method- Carbolic acid did not treat gas gangrene. In 1917 an new treatment was made that used a salt solution which washed the wound as surgery took place.
Amputation- If the other method didn’t work the only way to stop the spread of infection was to cut off the infected limb. By 1918 240,000 men had lost limbs.
Chain of Evacuation
The stretcher bearers would take the body to the Regimental Aid Post ( RAP) -200 m of the front line. The Regimental aid officer would try to get men back fighting on front line if wounds were more serious they move to the next station.
Dressing Stations- 400 m from RAP. 10 medical officers, field ambulance ( RAMC) and from 1915 there were also some nurses. Tended wounded men for up to a week to be sent to the next station if serious or back on the front line.
Casualty Clearing Centre- Away from front line but close enough to ambulance wagons. Doctors , Nurses and surgeons cleaned and treated infected wounds to avoid gangrene.
Base hospitals - Near the French/ Belgian coast. Doctors, surgeons and Nurses worked there. They were used to continue treatment for people from CCS before the patients were sent back home or back to the front line.
