What were trenches like at night?
Nighttime in the trenches was both the busiest and the most dangerous. Under cover of darkness, soldiers often climbed out of their trenches and moved into No Man’s Land, the blasted landscape separating the two armies. Here, work parties repaired barbed wire or dug new trenches.
How did soldiers deal with rats in ww1?
Cats and terriers were kept by soldiers in the frontline trenches to help free them of disease-carrying rats. The terriers were actually very effective in killing rats. They don’t play with their prey like cats do. They kill immediately.
What were rats like in the trenches?
The outstanding feature of the trenches was the extraordinary number of rats. The area was infested with them. It was impossible to keep them out of the dugouts. They grew fat on the food that they pilfered from us, and anything they could pick up in or around the trenches; they were bloated and loathsome to look at.
What was sleeping like in the trenches ww1?
6. Getting to sleep. When able to rest, soldiers in front line trenches would try and shelter from the elements in dugouts. These varied from deep underground shelters to small hollows in the side of trenches – as shown here.
Which statement best describes how this soldier felt about the trench rats?
Background information: This is a journal entry from a soldier fighting on the western front. Which statement best describes how this soldier felt about the trench rats? He was disgusted by them. He thought they were helpful.
Did ww1 soldiers eat rats?
With no proper disposal system the rats would feast off food scraps. The rats grew bigger and bolder and would even steal food from a soldier’s hand. But for some soldiers the rats became their friends. They captured them and kept them as pets, bringing a brief reprisal from the horror which lay all around.
What did trench rats eat?
Robert Graves remarked in his book “Goodbye to All That“: “Rats came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful corpses, and multiplied exceedingly.
Why was there so many rats in the trenches in WW1?
The trench soldier of World War I had to cope with millions of rats. The omnipresent rats were attracted by the human waste of war – not simply sewage waste but also the bodies of men long forgotten who had been buried in the trenches and often reappeared after heavy rain or shelling.
Are there rats as big as cats in the trenches?
Harry Patch claimed that “there were rats as big as cats”. Another soldier wrote: “The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a wounded man if he couldn’t defend himself.” These rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from the pockets of sleeping men.
What did trench soldiers do in World War 1?
The trench soldier of World War I had to cope with millions of rats. The omnipresent rats were attracted by the human waste of war – not simply sewage waste but also the bodies of men long forgotten who had been buried in the trenches and often reappeared after heavy rain or shelling. Two or three rats would always be found on a dead body.
What was the rats problem in World War 2?
#1 Rats on German trenches. The rat problem remained for the duration of the war (although many veteran soldiers swore that rats sensed impending heavy enemy shellfire and consequently disappeared from view). #2 Two German soldiers posing with rats caught in their trench.
