Australian soldiers of the 2nd Division in the trenches at Bois Grenier in France in June 1916. It is likely that some are Gallipoli veterans while others are fresh volunteers from Australia. They have recently arrived on the Western Front.
Assault ladder: Timber ladder used to climb over the parapet during a night patrol or trench raid.
A-Frame: Timber frames, in the shape of an upside down 'A' helped prevent the trench from caving in, especially in wet weather. Iron star pickets, 'chicken wire' and corrugated iron sheets also supported British trench walls.
Parapet: According to British Army regulations, trenches needed to be six feet deep with a parapet of soil filled sandbags facing the enemy. In a well maintained trench such as this one, the parapet was high enough for a man to walk along the trench without exposing himself. The parapet needed to be half a meter thick to stop a bullet.
Fire Step: Along the parapet ran a timber board about 60cm from the trench floor. It allowed a soldier to stand up and rest his elbows on the top of the parapet to aim his rifle. It also typically doubled as an improvised seat, bed, shelf and card table.
Puttees: Soldiers wore fabric wraps called puttees from their ankles to their knees. They were difficult to put on and uncomfortable. Troops sometimes used them as improvised bandages or slings.
Gas respirator: Both sides began using poisonous gas in 1915. Soldiers carried a respirator in a canvas haversack at all times in the trenches. It protected their eyes and airways but was difficult to breathe, work, sleep or fight in.
Helmet: The British Army went to war in August 1914 wearing cloth caps. To help reduce the number of head wounds, it issued helmets to all soldiers in September 1915. Made of hardened manganese steel, they could stop a shrapnel ball travelling at 230 meters per second. Steel helmets, or 'tin lids' as Australian soldiers called them, reduced head wounds by 25 per cent. British factories produced 7.25 million of them during the war. The sniper and spotter wear a sandbag stretched across their helmet to prevent light reflecting off it and revealing their position to the enemy.
Sniper: After artillery, snipers presented the next biggest danger for men in the trenches. During quiet periods of 'routine' trench warfare, both sides sniped at each other relentlessly. Snipers typically worked with spotters who kept look out for careless enemy troops who exposed themselves above their parapet.
Periscope: The British Army introduced periscopes to reduce the high number of head wounds suffered by soldiers in the war's early months. Infantrymen used them to safely observe the enemy's lines from behind their parapet. Periscopes were obvious targets for German snipers. An empty sandbag provides makeshift camouflage for this one.
Lee Enfield .303 rifle: This rifle was the British Army's main infantry weapon during the first half of the Twentieth Century. A veteran soldier could fire 15 aimed rounds in a minute to an effective range of 1.2 kilometres. For hand to hand fighting, a 43 centimetre bayonet could be fitted, although it made aiming difficult and was unwieldy in the narrow confines of a trench. Lee Enfield rifles could be modified to fire grenades from a cupola on the muzzle. These 'rifle grenades' had a range of 115 meters, providing the individual infantrymen with a form of highly mobile artillery.
Duckboards: Timber tracks laid over a drainage sump helped keep soldiers feet dry. In bad weather trenches still tended to flood, meaning soldiers sometimes spent days at a time with wet feet.
Webbing: The webbing consisted of a 9cm wide waist belt and a pair of 6cm wide straps, which crossed over on the back and held an ammunition pouch on either side of the soldier's chest. The belt held a bayonet sheath, a water canteen and a pouch (visible on the soldier looking through the periscope's lower back) to hold a small entrenching shovel.
Lewis .303 light machine gun: In mid-1915, the British Army introduced the Lewis gun to provide soldiers with a lighter alternative to the standard Vickers machine gun. Weighing nearly 40 kg with its water cooler and tripod, the Vickers was impractical for men to take into battle and use on the run. The Lewis, on the other hand, was comparatively light (11.9 kg) and fully automatic, meaning that the 47 rounds in its drum magazine (on top of the weapon) could be fired off in five seconds. Lewis gun teams consisted of a firer and three ammunition carriers.
