Imagine, it’s the winter of 1916. War has been raging in Europe for over two years with no end in sight. The line along the Western Front had barely altered despite the best efforts of the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army to break through the resolute German positions. Numerous offensives, millions of artillery shells and bullets, hundreds of thousands of men dead and to no avail.

But this was a war in which weapons technology and strategy were rapidly evolving, and at any point a breakthrough seemed possible. Reconnaissance and fighter planes were heard in the skies above, artillery now accurately bolstered infantry advances, and for us, the British, tanks were being introduced to the battlefield.

Only time would tell if 1916 would be the turning point British high command hoped for. In this episode, Luke Tomes was heading out of the dugout and right into the heart of the action. Stationed at the front line in Belgium, he’ll find out what life was like for the average British Tommy in the trenches, how they prepared for battle and how they dealt with the consequences of it…

The question is, could you survive the trenches as a British infantry soldier on the Western Front?

Filmed at: La Main De Massiges, Hooge Crater Museum
Archive Images: Rob Schäfer @GerMilHistory

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00:00 Introduction
02:20 1914 - 1916
05:09 Recruitment and Basic Training
08:07 Pals Battalions
09:00 Military Equipment
12:35 Lee Enfield Bolt-Action Rifle
15:19 Vickers Machine Gun
20:09 British Soldiers Rations
23:23 "Big Push" Summer Offensive 1916
25:17 Fixing Bayonets
28:00 Battle of the Somme
30:58 Casualties, Medicine and Treatment
40:59 Facial Plastic Surgery
42:32 British vs German Trenches
43:29 Trench Diseases
45:51 Tanks
50:00 Next Episode...

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