Trench Warfare

Cloze Passage Fill in the blanks using words from the word bank
provided.


The _______________ of trench warfare took
military strategists by surprise 1914. Many
had believed the war would be over by
______________. The development of the
trenches was mostly a result of using
modern ____________. The style of warfare
that developed was a shock to the world
as the conditions were horrendous.

Even when the front ____________ at the end
of 1914 and into 1915, trenches were still
seen as a temporary fixture. However, they
became a ____________ feature in the war.
German trenches eventually used concrete
and were built to a depth of up to 12 metres. The British never built their trenches as well as
the Germans as they held on to the possibility of a final offensive. Trenches became incredibly
____________ as the war continued. Compartments were created for supplies of ammunition and
sleep dugouts were created. German trenches often had rooms going off the main trench.
Some German trenches ever had electricity and ____________. The trench conditions for Officers
was always better than that provided for a soldier.

Trench networks also became increasingly complex as the war dragged on, with reserve
trenches, communication trenches and supporting observation posts and machine gun nests.
The ____________ trenches did not stretch across the country in a neat ____________ line, they
often ____________ which added stability and made possible a double line of fire if an enemy
attacked. Opposing trenches did not remain the same distance apart all along the front. In
some places no-mans land could be 8-10km wide, in others, it could be as narrow as 50m.
Usually they were around 30m, as this was the furthest distance that most men could throw a
____________.
Going over the top into no-mans land was a ____________ experience. You were an easy target
for machine guns, the land was littered with bodies, wire and deep artillery craters, often filled
with mud. No-mans land was often mined, which meant one wrong step and you would blow
up! At night small groups of soldiers were sometimes sent out to ____________ opposing
trenches. This placed men at risk of ___________ fire and attacks from enemy troops undergoing
the same task. At night fire shells would be sent up into the air to light up no-mans land and
target anyone out there. One of the greatest fears for ordinary soldiers was to be stranded in
no-mans land either wounded or stuck on the ____________ wire and left to die.

permanent terrifying zigzagged stabilised front-line
Christmas complex emergence barbed raid
grenade machinery sniper straight wallpaper