Derbyshire Lads: The Sherwood Foresters: Manual: Trenches

Officer's Training Manual

Trenches & their Distribution as required by the War Office to date.

Col. Hawkins R.E.

Trenches constructed at the beginning of the war for the defence of London consisted of a series of strong points sited round the top of a hill with intervals of from 1,000 yds to a mile.

Later a continuous line of trench was required. The position of the line depending upon the nature of the country.

Concealment

A long field of fire without concealment is of no advantage owing to the accuracy of artillery. Concealment is of first importance provided there is a certain field of fire 30-40 yds being sufficient but 200 yds is better. If the field of fire is short, strong obstacles are required.
Trenches can be concealed in woods and behind woods and hedges.
Concealment from aircraft is achieved by the construction of the trench and its siting. In making overhead cover to a trench always use the top soil as the earth lower down might be of quite a different colour and so be most conspicuous.

Siting of Trenches

Early trenches used to be sited as at A on the summit of a hill, but owing to the increase in range and accuracy of artillery they were found to afford too good a target, therefore during the Boer War they were sited at or near the base of the hill as at B. They were still found to be very open to artillery fire so present day trenches are placed on the backwards slope of a hill (C) so that although they have a sufficient field of fire they are invisible to enemy artillery and are therefore much harder to hit.
In certain parts of the London Defence Line near Epping, trenches have been dug and approved on the forward slope of hills. They are however concealed by hedges etc.

Entanglements

Entanglements should not be nearer than 40-50 yds from the fire trenches so as to be out of range of bomb throwers. Entanglements should not be continuous.

Cover trenches 40-50 yds in rear of the fire trench need not be continuous. They are practically of the same section as the fire trench but contain larger and more shelters.

Communicating Trenches running from the fire trench to the cover trenches are straight, run at an angle and are 50 yds apart. The angle at which they run depends upon the slope of the ground so as to allow for drainage.

A traverse is placed at the cover trench end of the communicating trench with a loop hole through for a machine gun to keep out the enemy should the fire trench be taken.

The communication trench is 5' 6" at top and 2' at the bottom and has a bank of earth 1' 6" high on each side and is traversed by overhead cover, each traverse having 4' of earth on it and being 10' apart.

Communication Trench with Traverse

A Traverse with loophole commanding diagonal communication trench
B Traverse with loophole for straight communication trench
C Island traverse

Communication trenches from the cover trenches to the rear are zig-zag and are made 200 yds apart. 200 yds in rear of the cover trenches and 500 yds apart are constructed a line of supporting points consisting of small forts holding from 50-60 men. They should be so constructed that they can support each other with their fire.

Dressing Stations are constructed on existing buildings, made use of for that purpose in rear near a road if possible.

Advance trenches in front of fire trench.

Dummy trenches to conceal position of fire trench, made shallow so as not to provide cover for the enemy.

Machine Gun Pits to give enfilade fire.

Snipers Pit with loopholes and overhead cover.

Sentry Posts provided with loopholes and head cover.

Shelters are made in rear of front line for first aid.

2nd line trenches are made from 1 to 5 miles in rear of first line.

Laying out a Trench

Width of trench 4' 3" to allow for revetting. Width of traverse 6'. Depth of traverse 5' 6".
AB = 9' 9" (5'6" + 4'3")
cd-cd = 2' overlap between rear of trench and rear of traverse.
Fire bay = 15'.

Distribution of Trenches

AA Fire trench
BBB Communicating trench
CCC Cover trench
DD Zig-zag communicating trench
YY Wire entanglements

Return to Manual

© A.D. Hesketh. Copyright notes. The original notebook has been donated to the museum of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, The Castle, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 2AY. Before this was done the notebook was loaned to me, and I am grateful to Catherine Crossley, a relative of 2nd Lt. Roberts for permission to copy it.. Consequently the material and images in this section should not be reproduced without the written consent of myself or the RWF museum.


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Officer's Training Manual Trenches & their Distribution as required by the War Office to date. Col. Hawkins R.E. Trenches constructed at the beginning of the war for the defence of London consisted of a series of strong points sited round the top of a hill with intervals of from 1,000 yds to a mile. Later a continuous line of trench was required. The position of the line depending upon the nature of the country. Concealment A long field of fire without concealment is of no advantage owing to the accuracy of artillery. Concealment is of first importance provided there is a certain field of fire 30-40 yds being sufficient but 200 yds is better. If the field of fire is short, strong obstacles are required. Trenches can be concealed in woods and behind woods and hedges. Concealment from aircraft is achieved by the construction of the trench and its siting. In making overhead cover to a trench always use the top soil as the earth lower down might be of quite a different colour and so be most conspicuous. Siting of Trenches Early trenches used to be sited as at A on the summit of a hill, but owing to the increase in range and accuracy of artillery they were found to afford too good a target, therefore during the Boer War they were sited at or near the base of the hill as at B. They were still found to be very open to artillery fire so present day trenches are placed on the backwards slope of a hill (C) so that although they have a sufficient field of fire they are invisible to enemy artillery and are therefore much harder to hit. In certain parts of the London Defence Line near Epping, trenches have been dug and approved on the forward slope of hills. They are however concealed by hedges etc. Entanglements Entanglements should not be nearer than 40-50 yds from the fire trenches so as to be out of range of bomb throwers. Entanglements should not be continuous. Cover trenches 40-50 yds in rear of the fire trench need not be continuous. They are practically of the same section as the fire trench but contain larger and more shelters. Communicating Trenches running from the fire trench to the cover trenches are straight, run at an angle and are 50 yds apart. The angle at which they run depends upon the slope of the ground so as to allow for drainage. A traverse is placed at the cover trench end of the communicating trench with a loop hole through for a machine gun to keep out the enemy should the fire trench be taken. The communication trench is 5' 6" at top and 2' at the bottom and has a bank of earth 1' 6" high on each side and is traversed by overhead cover, each traverse having 4' of earth on it and being 10' apart. Communication Trench with Traverse A Traverse with loophole commanding diagonal communication trench B Traverse with loophole for straight communication trench C Island traverse Communication trenches from the cover trenches to the rear are zig-zag and are made 200 yds apart. 200 yds in rear of the cover trenches and 500 yds apart are constructed a line of supporting points consisting of small forts holding from 50-60 men. They should be so constructed that they can support each other with their fire. Dressing Stations are constructed on existing buildings, made use of for that purpose in rear near a road if possible. Advance trenches in front of fire trench. Dummy trenches to conceal position of fire trench, made shallow so as not to provide cover for the enemy. Machine Gun Pits to give enfilade fire. Snipers Pit with loopholes and overhead cover. Sentry Posts provided with loopholes and head cover. Shelters are made in rear of front line for first aid. 2nd line trenches are made from 1 to 5 miles in rear of first line. Laying out a Trench Width of trench 4' 3" to allow for revetting. Width of traverse 6'. Depth of traverse 5' 6". AB = 9' 9" (5'6" + 4'3") cd-cd = 2' overlap between rear of trench and rear of traverse. Fire bay = 15'. Distribution of Trenches AA Fire trench BBB Communicating trench CCC Cover trench DD Zig-zag communicating trench YY Wire entanglements Return to Manual © A.D. Hesketh. Copyright notes. The original notebook has been donated to the museum of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, The Castle, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 2AY. Before this was done the notebook was loaned to me, and I am grateful to Catherine Crossley, a relative of 2nd Lt. Roberts for permission to copy it.. Consequently the material and images in this section should not be reproduced without the written consent of myself or the RWF museum.