The AIF
The AIF stands for Australian Imperial force. The AIF started in 1914 but the first lot of soldiers did not arrive until 1915 on the 25 April along with New Zealand, Britain, and France soldiers. (Memorial,
Australian War Memorial,n.d.). The Australian Imperial Force was very involved on the western front. They didn't just help the troops at Gallipoli because in 1916 the troops began the move to France, by April the 1st and 2nd divisions were in the trenches near Armentieres and by June the 4th and 5th divisions had joined them but the third division was being formed in England.(Government,23/04/2009).The AIF fought the first major battle on the Western Front.
The Western Front
The western front is where most the fighting took place. The western front in the eyes of both France and Britain was the most important line and was the place they thought would hold the outcome of war and be the place where this outcome of war would be decided(Willmott, 2007) . The Western front was named Germans gave because of a series of trenches that ran 700 kilometres from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. The Western front was made famous because of trench warfare(Anderson, 2006). The western Front was located alone the borders between France, Belgium,Germany and a little on the borders of Switzerland.
As you can see this is the western front and
these are the incredible trenches that made
the Western Front legendary.
these are the incredible trenches that made
the Western Front legendary.
What Is Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare is a type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other. Trench warfare wasn't new, because they had been used in the American Civil War but it was the length and longevity of the trench system that made World War 1 so unusual. These trenches stretched from 600km to 700km and was all in a connected system(Ray, 2001). When both sides realised that they weren't winning they set about constructing more elaborate systems, between about 100 and 400 yds( 90 and 360m) apart(Willmott, 2007). For getting messages across to another trench they used dogs to deliver the message and taking wire for communication between trenches, there were also cats and mascots(Ray, 2001).
What Were Their Experiences On The Western Front
The soldiers that fought in World War 1 had many different experiences. The soldiers had some good and some not so good experiences, these experiences effected them physical and mentally. The soldiers were pushed to their limits, some of the men experienced pain like they had never known, some had to battle a physical sickness. Others were challenged mentally, like home sick or depression, some sicknesses that they experiences was Trench Foot a from of gangrene and Trench Fever an illness akin to flu or typhoid . The soldiers would get quite sick because of the conditions that they were living in. For example the soldiers had to deal with rats and the disease that they carried, the men in the forward trenches were vulnerable to hand grenades. Another is a type of wound called 'Blighty', the troops that obtained this wound were sent to Britain. There were even rules that had to be followed and if you didn't follow these rules then it could have lead to court martial, like if you feel asleep on-duty.