Most of the soldier’s life was spent ‘at the
rear’. The usual routine was for each unit to spend
four days in the front line trenches, four days in reserve
a short way back from the front line, and four days at rest
further back from the line.
The period in the trenches entailed hard physical work
and almost constant danger. Work to keep the line in good
order was never-ending, and rest and meals were taken
in the trench itself or in dug-outs along the line. It
was intensely uncomfortable, dangerous and dirty, frequently
wet, with danger the only interruption in periods of tedious
and strenuous maintenance, observation or sniper duties.
Keeping rifles clean and equipment in good order was
almost impossible, particularly during periods of heavy
rain – the Somme mud is notoriously heavy and clinging,
although in hot weather the ground dries to a rock-hard
consistency. Troops in battle order carried heavy packs,
weighing some 30 kg or more; each man’s basic military
equipment included items such as digging tools, extra
water and food when launching an offensive, spare clothing,
medical dressings, emergency rations.
Weather conditions could be extreme: the early weeks
of 1917 brought intense cold, with men freezing to death
on sentry duty, while the Battle of the Somme in 1916
was marked by great heat which added to the suffering
of the wounded men waiting to be brought back from No
Man’s Land.
Darkness was the only practical time for any activity
outside the trench itself, in the front line area; this
was when barbed wire defences were strengthened, raiding
parties ventured out to enemy lines for prisoners or information.
Freshly prepared meals were brought up from the rear,
but there were often delays; and in the maze of trenches,
messengers and meals could easily be lost, or food spilled
in the chaotic and cramped conditions.
Life at the rear was less dangerous, but not particularly
restful; there was always equipment and clothing to repair,
supplies to be brought up, training exercises to be undertaken,
roads to mend…
Troops might be billeted in tented encampments or in
farm buildings. The relationship between the British Army
and French civilians was not always comfortable; in areas
close to the actual fighting, the civilians were evacuated
– and the actual battlefield area was of course
entirely under the Allied military control. The presence
of troops fighting to liberate northern France was accepted
more or less easily, depending on local conditions, the
needs of the troops and the ways in which contacts were
handled. The use of a village or farm well might cause
intense difficulty and strife between soldier and inhabitant
– both of them needing large quantities of water,
for local residents and livestock or for soldiers and
the large number of horses used to move gunnery and equipment
as well as cavalry mounts. Damage claims might cause long-term
disputes and distrust.
Sources of local food and drink were very popular in
the soldiers’ rest periods – small bars and
cafés did good trade, even without much understanding
of each other’s language. In the first summer of
the war, troops helped farms to bring in the harvest where
the absence of the local French men – by now mobilised
with their own army units – made it impossible for
the remaining older men the women and the children of
the farms to manage.
Although the landscape has been restored to agricultural
activity, with many farms and villages completely rebuilt
in the post-war reconstruction period, it is still possible
to imagine how the great ranges of farm buildings must
been used to shelter men and horses.
Experience the moving 