The Great War: Unwounded Soldiers During World War I

Death and disease were omnipresent in the trenches. The health and the living conditions in the trenches were one of the biggest issues faced in World War one. Diseases in the trenches killed more soldiers than bombardment or bullets. Scraps of discarded food, empty tins and other waste, the nearby presence of the latrine, the general dirt of living half underground and being not able to wash or change for a considerable length of time or weeks on end created conditions of severe health risk (1914-1918.net, 2014). The unsanitary living conditions not only caused several health problems but this caused vermin and parasites to be very commonly present in the trenches. The rats were known to grow ‘as big as domestic cats’ according to soldiers fighting in the

Trenches varied from eight to six feet in height. In these waterlogged trenches, there was a need for extra support wood boards were placed on the side and on the floor for a safe area for walking. The Soldiers stood no chance against the diseases. Body lice were among one of the diseases that traveled among the trenches the most. Body lice caused scratching and led to trench fever. Fifteen percent of sickness was from body lice (Simkin).Trench foot was another disease found in the trenches. After hours of standing in waterlogged trenches, the feet would begin to numb, change color, and swell, and this would soon result in amputation.

The diseases that most affected the soldiers,while they were fighting for a cause in the trenches were,Trench Foot,The Trench Influenza and Shell Shock.

In trench warfare, the two sides fighting each other dig trenches in a battlefield to stop the enemy from advancing. According to Document 4, one difficulty faced by soldiers serving in the trenches during World War I was that the soldiers would get trench foot. The illustration on Document 4 shows a couple of soldiers being inspected for any signs of Trench Foot. Trench foot is a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary, and cold conditions. The soldiers got this condition because the men had stood for hours on end in waterlogged trenches without being able to remove their wet socks and shoes/boots. During the first World War this was the most common to happen to the

The soldiers undertook many different diseases and sicknesses, mentally and physically. The faced outbreaks of measles, small pox, malaria, pneumonia, or camp itch. Soldiers would get malaria when camping in damp areas surrounded by mosquitos, while camp

With many soldiers dying from disease on the battlefield, the help of medical advances decreased the mortality rate of all soldiers on both sides. Before the medical advances of the Civil War, many soldiers died from wounds and diseases on the battlefield. In fact, for every soldier that died on the battlefield, two soldiers would die of disease. These diseases included some that appeared on the Oregon Trail and the expansion out West, such as dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid, and the dreaded malaria.

Disease, including smallpox, cholera, and venereal diseases, remained one of largest reasons for sickness and death among soldiers and other patients. For soldiers, diseases killed more numbers than wounds received in combat. Such aliments happened due to infected or improperly treated wounds, poor bathing facilities, prostitutes, air borne sicknesses, and several others.

World War I had affected the health of many soldiers coming back from the war. To begin with many soldiers came home with tuberculosis. The disease spread rapidly in 1920 due to the unsanitary, urbanized conditions of the cities which was similar to that of the trenches. “The close proximity of people in wartime conditions meant diseases such as tuberculosis could easily spread” (Science Museum). In addition, many soldiers that returned home had lost limbs in the war due to trench foot. “Some conditions such as trench foot, an infection of the feet caused by cold, wet, and unsanitary conditions” (Science Museum). Trench foot affected soldiers who wished to go back to work, because most jobs wouldn’t allow handicapped workers to work; however,

The living conditions in the trenches where never sufficient enough for living in, especially when the soldiers had to stay in them for a few years. The trenches where just ditches in the ground with no sleeping arrangements. Many of the soldiers would go days without sleep. The rations of food that the soldiers received were often boring and sometimes inedible because they were rarely given fresh food. This would limit a soldier’s stamina in battle and make it more likely for that soldier to get killed. The

War traumas date back to the Civil War. During the Russo- Japanese War (1904-1905) a Russian psychiatrist compared traumatized train crash survivors and returning war veterans. The train crash survivors were said to have “railway spine”, the doctors believed their anxiety was caused by the compression of the backbone (Frey n.pag). World War I (1914-1918) was the first war that used bombs, fighter airplanes, and chemical warfare. In 1917, Robert Gaupp explained that “the main causes are the fright and anxiety brought about by the explosion of enemy shells and mines” (Scott 550). During World War I the technically term was not PTSD at the time they called it “Shell Shock”. The symptoms of Shell Shock were the inability to hear, talk, stand and walk. In addition the soldier experience “thousand-yard stare” a blank and unfocused expression (Frey n.pag). Conditions like these were called “combat fatigue” or “traumatic war neurosis” during World War II (1939-1945). PTSD affect a lot of the soldiers in the Vietnam War (1954-1975). After the Vietnam War, the term Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was coined, connecting the terms shell shock, combat fatigue, and traumatic war neurosis.

There are lots of disasters that come along with being a part of trench warfare, but the worst is the psychological issue. There were lots of disastrous facts about trench warefare, but this one stands out because it has to do with pretty much all of them. The men go into the war looking for adventure and the go in thinking that it would be great fun, but it is not an adventure, or fun. In one website I looked at it talked about how the soldiers expected lush battlefields and valient fighting, but instead of that they got dirty, unhygienic, and the ongoing effects were a result.[ "Ongoing Effects of Trench Warfare." Trench Warfare. Accessed December 3, 2015. http://trenchwarfareworldwar1.weebly.com/ongoing-effects-of-trench-warfare.html.] The

The weather was different to what the soldiers were used to back under the hot Australian sun. Half way through the year the weather became hot. Plagues and diseases carried by fleas and flies, were spread around. Soldiers/Troops that arrived in perfect health conditions, were very soon seen developing and suffering from from health problems; dysentery, diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and infestations of lice. Water was supplied from Egypt, but it was never enough, therefore it was near impossible to keep clean, and stay hygienic. Germs, plagues and diseases were spread due to the lack of cleanliness. Toilets were large, deep holes in the ground. By October, troops experienced the harsh,bitter winter cold. This poor lack of hygiene, led to around 20% of the men sick from diseases. During the war the ANZACs had to face terrible conditions, from the constant noise of machine guns, bullets, cramped and dirty places, hunger, thirst, tiredness, deaths of soldiers, diseases, smell, unsanitary food.

In World War One diseases were one of the biggest problem for the solders due to lack of hygiene, medical assistance and little medicine. The most common diseases that the soldiers faced in the war were influenza, typhoid, trench foot, trench fever, malaria, dysentery and diabetes. These disease were caused by soldiers being exposed to cold, wet, windy and damp conditions.

Sadly, many soldiers became ill because of the conditions of the trenches. The trenches had rats, and were filthy. Chemical weapons such as flame throwers, and poisonous gas-filled artillery shells also increased the horrors of war. Some of these weapons caused the soldiers to temporarily lose their eyesight. However, gas masks, and gas-detection devices were developed to protect against the poisonous attacks.

Sergeant A. Vine, in a diary entry in August 1915, said “The trench is full of other occupants, things with lots of legs, also swarms of rats.” Things like trench lice were common, because the soldiers were unable to maintain proper hygiene, and discomfort had to be put up with. In his poem ‘S. I. W.’, Wilfred Owen speaks of a soldier first joining the effort in the trenches, and his experiences. In the first part of the poem, trench foot and fever are mentioned, in a line that says “But never leave, wound, fever, trench-foot, shock”. Both of these pieces of evidence are primary, showing