大象传媒

Duration: 01:51
Students from Fitzalan High School in Cardiff get a unique insight into what it was like to fight in the trenches during WW1 when the history department built their own permanent, life-sized trench in the school grounds, complete with artefacts.

trenches became a potent symbol of the savagery of war where countless soldiers lived, fought and died during WW1. In 1914 soldiers quickly realised, with horror that technology had turned battle fields into killing fields. Desperate to seek shelter, they clawed into the very earth beneath their feet. The result - trenches - refuges hacked out by soldiers.Heavy clay soil, cut down to a depth of about 6ft through the roots of trees.. As the war developed, these turned into an elaborate sub-terranean system. Deep trenches linking bunkers, concrete strong points and tunnells. It was highly unusual to see a human being above the ground during the day.

Contrary to popular myth, men didn't live in the trenches 365 days of the year. The British Army quickly realised that too long in the front line would destory a units health, moral and integrity. Consequently units were rotated regularly. Conditions could be brutal; the men lived with the threat of enemy artilary or sniper fire, waterlogged ground, poor food and hastilly buried corpses of previous occupants were often half exposed.

Northern France and Belgium can be as wet as Britian. When it rained the trenches became drainage ditches, particularly in low lyng Flanders where the water table was high and the peacetime drainage system had been destroyed by shelling. If your feet are soaked for a long time in unsanitary conditions they will get devoured by fungus. If left untreated it can lead to gangrene which requires amputation. It became an offence not to take necessary precautions to protect your feet - so prior to entering the trenches, men had to massage their feet with thick whale oil.

Location: Fitzalan High School, Lawrenny Ave, Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF11 8XB
Image: Fitzalan pupil and history teacher, Adrian Smith
Contributors: Pupils and staff, Fitzalan High School
Presenter: Carwyn Jones, 大象传媒 Wales

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