Insanitary conditions and illness
Omnipresent rats became a daily feature of trench-life. They infiltrated the soldier’s haversacks and fed on their provisions, as well as more disturbingly, the bodies of unburied soldiers. The insanitary conditions also facilitated the spread of lice from soldier to soldier. The blood-sucking louse lived in the seams of the soldier’s clothing and was known to cause typhus, an infectious feverish disease. By 1918 it was established that the louse was also responsible for the spread of trench fever, one of a host of new conditions brought about by the trench warfare of the Western Front.
Soldiers also suffered trench foot and frostbite as a result of standing in the cold wet mud of the trenches. However, soldiers undergoing treatment did benefit from a greater understanding of bacteriology and the use of antiseptics. The armies fighting in the First World War also benefited from preventative measures such as mass inoculation programmes. To help prevent the spread of dysentery, soldiers drank ‘Javel water’, which was water purified chemically by a solution of hypochlorite and sodium chlorate.
All soldiers received a leaflet advising them of measures they could adopt to prevent illness. Supplies of poison traps and insect repellents were issued but these only had limited success. Some military cemeteries were created during the war, the graves being dug by older reservists, but many men lay unburied for long periods and conditions remained appalling for the soldiers at the front.