[Gutenberg 53126] • Specimens of British Trench Orders

Discover the procedures and details that were established for British and Canadian Army troops fighting on the front lines in the First World War. These trench orders document the duties, standing orders and regulations for every aspect of living and fighting in a trench. A fascinating read for any military history buff, student or author wishing to re-create the hour by hour duties of the soldier fighting in the great war.

The horror of modern warfare in the Great War that started in 1914 and ended in 1918 led to new and detailed rules and regulations for maintaining discipline and standards in the trenches. This book was first published in 1917, the year the USA entered the Great War. It was created so that the American Army could learn and adapt from the experiences of the British and Canadian forces.

It almost reads as a diary of how the soldiers would have reacted to attack and how they would have prepared from dawn till dusk and through the night.

From when to Stand To, how to react to Gas Attacks, the Fixing of Bayonets, Snipers and much more.

"Every officer, and every noncommissioned officer in command of any body of troops, is to be in possession of this book and to be thoroughly conversant with its contents."

This historic document describes:

Duties, Sentries, Rifles (equipment, and ammunition), "Stand to", Bombs and grenades (care of), Machine guns, Firing at aeroplanes, Trench sides (undercutting of), Sanitation, Time-tables and organization of work, Log books and trench store books, Communications, Alertness, Rum, Arrangements in case of attacks, Working parties on front trench, Working parties outside the front trench, Precaution when our mines are exploded, Ration parties when found from front trenches, Rations and cooking, Vermorel sprayers

Reliefs:

General

Points to be noted by company commanders

Guides

Smoking and talking

Rate of march to trenches

Procedure on arrival in trenches

Engineers

Chilled feet and frostbite, prevention of

Battalion Trench Standing Orders

Brigade Standing Orders for Trenches

Division Trench Orders

along with the command and dialogue that would be expected from officers and men.