WW1 soldiers went through a lot of obstacles in the trenches.
1) lice: Lice caused Trench Fever, a painful disease that began, out of no where, with severe pain followed by high fever. Trench fever wasn't life threatening. Although it didn't kill the soldiers, it required two-three months of recovery. The lice would suck the blood out of these soldiers and cause sickness.
2) Trench Mouth: Trench mouth could have been caused because of poor dental hygiene that these soldiers didn't have in the trenches, reduced nutrition, stress, a weak immune system, or an infection in the mouth, teeth, or throat. Any of these reasons could have been the start of trench mouth. The soldiers didn't really have anything to protect them from these infections, so it was common.
3) Rats: There were lots of food "trash" in the trenches and at night rats came out to eat little crumbs or lick the bottom of cans. Rodents were sometimes referred as "corpse rats" , because some rats would eat the bodies of dead soldiers on No Mans Land. And that's how they became incredibly big in size. Rat hunting eventually became a sport in the trenches.
4) Trench Foot: Trenches during World War 1 were very muddy, and the cause of that was because of rain. You couldn't avoid the mud in the trenches, and you couldn't just avoid standing on the mud. The soldiers had to step in the trenches. Wet or dry. They had no choice. The boots during that time weren't protective at all. It was a simple boot. Imagine standing in a bath full of water for a very long period of time, not just 30 minutes. Your foot will eventually become numb, and it will change color. It will begin to swell and smell because of the damaged skin, blood vessels, and nerves on the feet.
1) lice: Lice caused Trench Fever, a painful disease that began, out of no where, with severe pain followed by high fever. Trench fever wasn't life threatening. Although it didn't kill the soldiers, it required two-three months of recovery. The lice would suck the blood out of these soldiers and cause sickness.
2) Trench Mouth: Trench mouth could have been caused because of poor dental hygiene that these soldiers didn't have in the trenches, reduced nutrition, stress, a weak immune system, or an infection in the mouth, teeth, or throat. Any of these reasons could have been the start of trench mouth. The soldiers didn't really have anything to protect them from these infections, so it was common.
3) Rats: There were lots of food "trash" in the trenches and at night rats came out to eat little crumbs or lick the bottom of cans. Rodents were sometimes referred as "corpse rats" , because some rats would eat the bodies of dead soldiers on No Mans Land. And that's how they became incredibly big in size. Rat hunting eventually became a sport in the trenches.
4) Trench Foot: Trenches during World War 1 were very muddy, and the cause of that was because of rain. You couldn't avoid the mud in the trenches, and you couldn't just avoid standing on the mud. The soldiers had to step in the trenches. Wet or dry. They had no choice. The boots during that time weren't protective at all. It was a simple boot. Imagine standing in a bath full of water for a very long period of time, not just 30 minutes. Your foot will eventually become numb, and it will change color. It will begin to swell and smell because of the damaged skin, blood vessels, and nerves on the feet.