Modelling World War 1 Trench Warfare E-Book

Andy Belsey

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 228

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Aimed at both the beginner and more experienced modeller, this is a guide to the design, planning and creation of realistic models in 1:285 and 1:32 scales. Covering British, French and German trenches of the Western Front, this book includes the different construction, materials and repair methods used during the conflict. Each chapter includes the historical background, together with step-by-step instructions. With over 300 photographs, this book includes: why trenches were a necessity to save lives and how they adapted through the war; how to build models of British 'ideal' and typical trenches, a wet soil trench, improved shell hole, front line dugout, tunnels and mines, and a hospital tent. Construction advice is given for typical French and German trenches, together with a reversed German trench (modelled under British control) and a German concrete bunker. The creation of artillery models, realistic groundwork and plants is covered along with perfecting fine details such as tools, clothes, mess tins, shaving equipment, cigarette packets and letters from home. Finally, there is a guide to visiting the trenches today, a trench glossary and useful measurements at 1:32 scale.

Leseprobe

MODELLING

World War ITrench Warfare

MODELLING

World War ITrench Warfare

Andy Belsey

First published in 2021 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2021

© Andy Belsey 2021

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 859 7

Cover design by Blue Sunflower Creative

Contents

Acknowledgements and Dedication

Introduction

1British Front Line Trenches of the Somme, 1916: a 1:285 Scale Model

2Creating Groundwork on Section Models

3‘Ideal’ British Trench

4Typical British Trench

5British Wet Soil Trench

6Improved Shell Hole

7British Front Line Dugout

8British Tunnel and Mine

9Typical French Trench

10Reversed German Trench (now British)

11Typical German Trench

12German Concrete Bunker

13British Hospital Tent

14Great War Artillery

15Visiting Trenches Today

16Finding Inspiration and Encouragement

Appendix I: Trench Glossary

Appendix II: Useful Measurements at 1:32 Scale

Index

Acknowledgements and Dedication

The author wishes to thank the following for their help:

Adrian Bay, Pete and Tansy Belsey, Sue Belsey, Sam and Mel Belsey, John Bones, Mike Butler, Toby and Richard Dingle, Craig Hedgecock, Paul Marshall, Simon Parfitt, Darren Parker-Mead, Bryan Parry, Andy Robertshaw, Oliver and Sarah Taylor, William Wood, 10th Essex Living History Group, Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, Lee Atkins and Kevin Mullane of 3DD Models.

This book is dedicated to my grandfathers, Gunner Ernest Belsey and Corporal Herbert Sanders, who survived the Great War.

Gunner Ernest Belsey, RGA.

Corporal Herbert Sanders, Essex Yeomanry.

Introduction

I did not originally intend to make a series of section models, but one model led to another as I thought of a sphere of trench warfare that I had not tackled before. My models are visual explanations of World War I trenches and I have considered carefully what to include within parameters that were set when building my first section model. These educational models can show visually what would take many words to explain. The miniature world has a fascination for many of us and modelmaking is a craft that gives great pleasure to lots of people. I am a modelmaker who enjoys history. I have gathered information about trench warfare from many sources, processing the most important details, and can now consolidate most of that in this one book. I am a perfectionist when it comes to representing details correctly, which means that I try to refine and improve my work wherever possible. Any mistakes in my models bother me terribly, but perfectionism is a blessing and a curse.

The author with his ten trench sections.

I have learnt much from other modelmakers, but I have tried to find easy techniques of my own that should be straightforward to copy. I used to blog about the construction of my models on the Military Modelling Forum until it ceased operations in early 2018. The worldwide attention that my models gained inspired my own website (https://andybelseymodels.wixsite.com), and I continue to blog about their construction on the Scale Models Forum and planetFigure. The beauty of the internet is that it connects those with similar passions and I have recently teamed up with Mike (the Kiwi) Butler in New Zealand. I can create intricate detail and sculpt, but Mike has an extraordinary ability with paint and you will find that he has painted and enhanced several figures in this book. Our skill sets combine to the best advantage, and we have fun together while we do it.

Mike Butler’s amazing painting of my converted Tommy’s War figure. A 54mm figure with hairy arms and veins on his hands!

My own interest in the Great War started with how it affected my grandparents and their siblings. I inherited a large collection of family memorabilia (mainly paperwork) from World War I and have spent years researching how my family were involved. They were mainly farm workers and some were Methodists who didn’t want to kill but were prepared to help with medical tasks. One was gassed and another shot in the leg while recovering the wounded, so it was not a safe job. Two great uncles and a cousin were killed by the conflict. My paternal grandfather, Ernest Belsey, had emigrated to Canada in 1905 and had Canadian citizenship by the time war started. The plan was for his younger brother Bert to join him but, as the war progressed, they realized that it was only a matter of time before Bert would be conscripted. Ernest returned to Kent in 1916 and they volunteered, enlisting with the Royal Garrison Artillery in the hope that they could stay together. Because of the devastation on small communities caused by the Somme battles of 1916, the brothers were not allowed to be in the same gun team, but were both able to join the 108th Heavy Battery in Belgium. Just before Ernest went to war, he met my grandmother, Alice Bones, in England. They only met because of the Great War, so my existence is a consequence of the war.

Part of my family’s memorabilia. Under the photos are papers explaining my grandfather's war service and documents such as his Discharge Papers. I have ten history trays like this.

I started modelling Great War trenches in 2006 by helping my friend Chris Yelf with a model for Newhaven Fort in Sussex, which commemorated the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. It was difficult then to find basic information with dimensions. After completing that model I resolved to make a more detailed trench model of my own, without the constraints of commercial modelmaking. The result was my 1:285 scale diorama of Somme front line trenches, which features in the next chapter.

THE GREAT WAR (A FUTILE WAR?)

My models concentrate on the Western Front, the main theatre where World War I would be lost or won. As nobody knew that another world war might follow, this first global conflict was referred to as the ‘Great War’. In recent years we have been fed a story of it being a wasteful, futile war that went nowhere and achieved nothing. Brave soldiers were vainly sent to their deaths in thousands by daft old generals who stayed miles behind the front, away from danger and out of touch. This very simplistic view, however, was not held by most of those who fought in it. The Allied high command were slower to adapt and guilty of stubbornly pursuing impossible targets, whereas the Germans encouraged reports from those on the actual battlefield and their evolving response enabled them to continually baffle Allied attacks.

Tactics were adapted and lessons were learnt by both sides. As the war went on, although the band of defence grew to miles rather than yards, it came to depend more upon strong points, built around machine gun positions, which supported each other. Continuous trench lines were much easier to target, so the manned positions were disguised as much as possible, with many of the troops emerging from underground shelters only when defence was necessary.

Although the battles were fought over a narrow swathe of France and Belgium for just over four years, there were great advances in technology during and as a result of the war. One of the greatest of these was the tank, which could ride over barbed wire and trenches, but development was needed to bring them to their full potential. There were also huge developments in aeroplanes: the frail machines of 1914 bore little resemblance to the robust aeroplanes of 1918. Other significant wartime developments were portable machine guns, trench mortars, radio, gas, attack submarines, aircraft carriers and plastic surgery.

The battles of 1918 were fought with close cooperation between the services. Rather than days of bombardment before an assault, which warned the defender exactly where an attack was coming, the barrage would be short but heavy, to keep the defence in their shelters. Creeping barrages were developed where the artillery would gradually move the area of bombardment forward, with troops following behind as closely as possible to overwhelm the defence before it had time to recover from the shelling and emerge from the shelters they had been forced into. Aeroplanes would fly overhead, feeding back to their commanders as much information as they could about progress so that plans could be adapted.

The British involvement and casualties of the war cannot be looked at in isolation. The Somme battles were necessary to draw German attention away from Verdun, where the French were struggling. The slaughter of so many British and Commonwealth soldiers in a tiny area around Ypres happened because it was of huge political and strategic value, being the last corner of unoccupied Belgium, for whom Britain had entered the war. The area also sheltered the route to the Channel ports, through which most supplies came.

British propaganda constantly tried to portray the Germans as barbaric monsters and yet the Christmas truces showed the common soldier that there was little difference between the ordinary people of the opposing nations apart from their conflicting ambitions. The Allied Victory Medals label the war as ‘The Great War for Civilisation’ and the term ‘Hun’ was used to link the Germans to one of the barbarian tribes who destroyed Roman civilization. Today the British are still quick to point out that the Germans started the war by invading tiny Belgium and were first to use terrible weapons like gas, flamethrowers, mines and submarines. They attempted to keep the moral high ground by claiming the British just retaliated, but they widely used and refined the use of all these tools. Little is spoken about how the German population was starved by the naval blockade. History is always written by the victor, who selects which story is told and what is overlooked. War is cruel and my wish is to educate rather than promote war. History repeats itself because people do not listen or learn from it.

MUDDY TRENCHES

Our typical image of the Great War is of water-logged, muddy trenches, which dominated the battlefields. Trenches had been used for centuries but never on the scale that soon developed in 1914. As the war progressed, the bands of defence stretched back several miles behind the actual ‘front line’. The industrialization of Europe had brought a new generation of more powerful and accurate weapons and the military commanders were not prepared for the type of siege warfare that soon developed in the trenches. The main reason for digging trenches was for shelter against high explosive shells, fired by quick-firing artillery. Troops caught in the open were extremely vulnerable and needed to find shelter as soon as possible. The vast majority of casualties in the war (about 60 per cent) were caused by shelling, not machine guns. Once an area was entrenched and defended with barbed wire, machine guns and field artillery, it was very difficult to dislodge the defender and any attempt would cause many casualties among the attacking force. Four and a quarter years were spent trying new techniques and weaponry to get through the enemy lines and break the deadlock of trench warfare. Trenches were actually a place of relative safety, rather than the hellholes we imagine.

The 1:285 scale diorama in black and white. Most modern images of trenches show a mass of brown mud.

The same image in colour, showing how the battlefield was much more colourful than we imagine.

Most of the coloured images of the trenches show a brown mass of muddy ground, with water-filled shell holes. This was not the usual battlefield for most of the war; if you study the black and white photographs more carefully, you will notice plenty of grass and vegetation, and anyone who has tended a garden will know how quickly weeds return. Therefore even when the ground was excavated, gassed or bombarded, it would soon have traces of green and colour from weeds.

THE BASICS OF CONSTRUCTING TRENCHES

The type of soil and its position, the weather, the amount of shelling on an area and what building materials were available would all affect the way that a trench was constructed. Any excavation would need supporting with revetment, to stop the walls from caving in due to gravity or weather taking its toll. Many materials could be used to do this and each country had its own preferences. I have attempted to show as diverse revetment as possible on my models to indicate how trenches could differ in appearance. Areas within the same trench line could vary as they were damaged through bombardment or repaired from the effects of age and weather. No two trenches would look exactly the same. Trenches would also change occupants, if they were captured, or when allies transferred parts of the line in redeployment. Therefore you could find British troops occupying a captured German-style trench with woven branches or Germans occupying a trench with ‘A’ frames and corrugated iron, which were typically British. Revetment was done with what was available, repaired with what could be found, and the results were usually far from ideal. Whatever the textbook said, on the battlefield, often under horrible conditions, men were usually just trying to survive and longing to be in the reserve lines as soon as possible. Soldiers worked half-heartedly to get the job done quickly in the hope of getting a little rest – after all, it might soon be destroyed.

Postcard showing preserved trenches at Dixmude, Belgium. The revetment incorporates sandbags, hurdles and timber. BRYAN PARRY

Plan showing how the topography of the land would affect the trench layout, from the Manual of Fieldworks (All Arms), 1921.

The construction of the revetment could vary depending on what was available (Tommy’s War bases adapted by the author). Sandbags and timber revetment.

Wicker hurdle revetment.

Chicken wire on a wooden frame.

Sandbags and corrugated iron revetment.

Plan showing dimensions of a basic firebay.

Engineer’s drawings of how a trench should be constructed, from the War Office’s Manual of Fieldworks (All Arms), 1921.

Although there were instructions on how trenches should be constructed, building under battlefield conditions in the cold and dark, with the threat of shells or bullets, made construction very difficult in practice. Work and repairs to trenches was often done at night to avoid being shelled by the enemy, who would hamper any defence being made stronger. Chalk soil (typically found near the River Somme) is tougher to dig, but will drain rainwater well and is less likely to collapse. Clay soil is much more problematic because it needs much more support and collects rainwater, which cannot drain away. In some clay soil areas (especially in Flanders, Belgium) it was impossible to dig, as any excavation would immediately fill with water, so walls of soil were built up above ground level.

It was calculated that it would take about 40in (101cm) of normal soil to stop a bullet, whereas it could be stopped in chalk in 15in (38cm). Parapets in clay soil were ideally deeper, as it could take 80in (202cm) of clay to stop bullets.

Trenches were dug with traverse corners to give regular shelter from enfilade (gunfire from the side). A shell burst could be mostly contained within one of these short lengths called firebays, which would be between 18ft and 30ft (5.5–9.7m) in length. At each end it would turn back about 6–9ft (1.8–2.7m), and then run parallel for about 9ft (2.7m) before turning forward into the next firebay.

Ideally trenches were dug to a depth of at least 5ft (1.5m) below ground to be deep enough to shelter a standing man’s head. They were about 6ft 6in (2m) wide at ground level, narrowing to about 2ft (0.6m) at their base. Revetment was done as soon as possible to prevent the sides from collapsing and ideally the revetment would be further supported by tethered spikes, attached to the tops of the supporting posts, which would be buried under the soil heaps. Soil dug from the trench was piled in front and behind to increase their height up to about 9ft (2.7m).

About 2–3ft (0.6–0.9m) above the trench floor, facing the enemy, it would widen to form the ‘firestep’. Standing on this higher shelf would allow the defender a view over the parapet from which he could fire his weapon to defend the position. Only during battle or at night would a soldier expose his head above the parapet or front soil pile, as snipers would watch for unsuspecting soldiers.

The floor of the trench was ideally lined with wooden duckboards and even raised off the floor to give a ‘sump’ space underneath, into which rainwater could drain to keep the soldiers’ feet dry.

THE MODELS

The small-scale diorama led on to creating ten section models, which describe differing aspects of Great War trenches from a mainly British perspective. Although they look similar at first glance, I have tried to include varying details in each to show national preferences and different types of revetment, as well as extra features about life in the trenches. Each section is labelled to point to the main aspects. I chose 1:32 scale so that I could use the figures by Tommy’s War, which I considered the best on the market. I then met the company’s owner, Darren Parker-Mead, and now find myself making bases for him using the knowledge gained creating my own models.

British trench raiders in a German trench: Tommy’s War diorama painted by Ernesto Reyes, using figures by Nino Pizzichemi on a base by the author. DARREN PARKER-MEAD

The author with his models at the ‘Remembering 1916’ exhibition, Whitgift School, 2016–17.

One of the dioramas at the ‘Remembering 1916’ exhibition.

The models were popular exhibits at the ‘Remembering 1916’ exhibition held at Whitgift School in South London during 2016–17. I am proud to have been part of a much acclaimed exhibition that attracted more than 35,000 visitors. I am often told that my models should be in a museum, but for now they educate viewers online worldwide and this book gives me the opportunity to further explain their content and context. Each model tells a different story.

Chapter One

British Front Line Trenches of the Somme, 1916: a 1:285 Scale Model

This model shows a small area of British front line trenches as they appeared on the battlefields of the Somme in 1916. You will immediately notice that the battlefield is still green and has remains of its previous life as farmland. Small roads run through it and the remnants of a farm may be seen among the shell-shattered trees. The Somme area was full of vegetation while the battle went on and the soldiers crossed no man’s land covered by tall grass. An attempt has been made to include as much as possible from a typical area of the front in a zone of about 140 yards or 130m square, although it does not represent a specific part of the British lines.

Plan view of the model. Trenches can be confusing.

Labelled plan explaining the model’s features.

TRENCH TYPES AND FEATURES

Trench Lines

The rows of trenches are purposely made a little confusing, and not completely parallel, because the actual trenches were often dug in apparently random ways, depending on the terrain or circumstances. Textbook trench diagrams usually show parallel rows of neat trenches, but this rarely happened on the battlefield. This model shows two lines of traversed trenches, but the front line has an extra spur running out closer towards the enemy lines. If it was felt that part of no man’s land was too wide, then a spur would be dug closer to the enemy before he dominated that space. There is also an untraversed trench, called a ‘supervision trench’, running parallel, but just behind, part of the front line. This type of trench was used as a passageway to pass through quickly because it had no corners to negotiate. The secondary support line behind has been staggered either side of a communication trench.

Somme Chalk

The model shows chalky soil piles that make the trenches obvious. This was unavoidable as the Somme chalk was just under the surface and could not be hidden. The shadows of trench excavations were highlighted by the brightness of piled chalk, making aerial photography to mark trench positions very easy. Because we are used to seeing black and white images, the white of the chalk is only noticeable if it is pointed out.

Front line showing a Lewis gun team in the foreground. Chalk in the soil piles make the trenches very obvious.

No Man’s Land

The area between the opposing forces, called ‘no man’s land’, was usually several hundred yards wide but could be as narrow as 10 yards. Each side would place rows of barbed wire a few yards in front of their trench to stop the enemy getting too close, but some of it would be laid less densely to lure an attacker into areas covered by machine guns.

Support and Reserve Lines

About 70 to 200 yards (64m–183m) behind the front line there would be more traversed trenches. There could be as many as six lines of roughly parallel trenches called ‘support’ or ‘reserve lines’, dug up to 4 miles behind to give extra security. If trenches were captured then there would be a secondary line of defence to fall back to and from which a counter-attack could be launched as soon as possible, before the enemy had time to establish himself.

Communication Trenches

The traversed trenches, called ‘lines’, were connected by ‘communication trenches’, which meandered or zigzagged between the lines, giving a safe passage from one line to another. Again the corners were designed to hide a view along these trenches and to give some shelter to the troops using them. From the sides of communication trenches other passageways led to latrines, mortar pits, observation posts or short trenches from which to mount a defence. Some communication trenches were designated alternately ‘up’ or ‘down’ for one-way passage. If they were used as a two-way passage, then sporadic, wider passing places would be dug into the walls to enable those travelling in the opposite direction to pass. Sharp corners were always avoided to enable a stretcher to be carried along them.

Navigation

Trench lines and communication trenches were usually named and signposted to help troops navigate the maze of confusing passageways. They were often named by their original occupants, choosing names from their homelands, and you may notice one of these trenches is called ‘Epsom Downs’, which is near where I live. Communication trenches were often called ‘avenues’ with neighbouring ones named in alphabetical order to further aid navigation.

Saps

From the front line, out into no man’s land and closer to the enemy, shallow trenches called ‘saps’ were dug, as a place for a light machine gun position or as a ‘listening post’ where soldiers would try to gain information about the enemy’s movements. ‘Russian saps’ were dug as tunnels, so that troops could get much closer to the enemy without being seen. On the model is a short sap equipped with a Lewis gun coming from the spur and a longer Russian sap connecting shell holes, which eventually leads to a listening post where soldiers are on duty.

Vickers machine gun position with a knife rest obstacle nearby.

Machine Guns

You will notice machine gun emplacements, mortar pits and observation posts among the trenches. They are purposely not camouflaged on the model, but if they were as obvious as this in reality they would soon become targets to be shelled by the enemy. The optimum sighting of machine guns would have them firing obliquely across no man’s land, so that the attacker would have to cross the paths of at least two guns, and areas of barbed wire would be laid less densely, to lure an attacker into killing zones where guns were sighted.

Dugouts

There are several dugouts on the model; some are on the sides of the model, enabling you to see into them. Small shelters were made for officers or as medical centres to treat light wounds. A small dugout, where a couple of officers could shelter, is exposed at the edge of the front line, and a larger Company HQ is on the edge of the reserve line. The ordinary ranks had to make do with less elaborate scrapes into trench walls called ‘funk holes’, or under sheets of curved corrugated iron called ‘elephant iron’. The model has funk holes dug in the walls of the support line. Dugouts and shelters were best placed in the front wall of a trench, as it was less likely that a shell would land in its entrance, as well as being hidden from enemy view.

One of the dugouts revealed on the side of the model.

Field Aid Post

On the edge of the supervision trench is a small shelter called a Field Aid Post (FAP), where a medical officer would be based. His job was to maintain the health of the men immediately around him. Light wounds could be treated by this officer, so that troops were back on duty as soon as possible. More serious wounds could be given basic care, to stabilize their condition, until they were given more extensive treatment further back, away from the front line. The model shows a soldier wounded from recent shelling being carried into the FAP on a stretcher for immediate treatment. A second pair of stretcher-bearers is further back down the communication trench, returning with an empty stretcher from an Advanced Dressing Station in the reserve lines. Each unit had non-combatants, assigned as stretcher-bearers, who would support their medical officer in the care of the fighting troops. On quiet days the officer would inspect the men’s feet for signs of trench foot, caused by having wet feet for a prolonged period. It is a serious condition that can lead to gangrene and to the amputation of the foot.

Casualty being carried into the Field Aid Post.

Hygiene

There are two latrines on the model, dug from the sides of communication trenches. These were toilets with containers to urinate into or basic seats above soil pits for excrement. When these were full the area would be buried again and another dug nearby. They were unsafe, smelly places where the troops were unlikely to linger for too long. It was important to set places for sanitation to prevent disease or infection of wounds. The first hastily dug trenches of 1914 had no sanitation, so troops would squat over a spade and catapult their excrement into no man’s land, but if shellfire landed on it, it could be thrown everywhere, potentially infecting wounds caused by the same explosion.

Latrine with ration carriers passing by through a communication trench.

Air War