What illness did the soldiers suffer from?
Epidemics of typhus, malaria, typhoid (the infamous enteric fever), diarrhoea, yellow-fever, pneumonia and influenza, generously amplified by innumerable cases of venereal disease, scabies and the like, routinely wreaked vastly more casualties on these armies than those wrought by the engines of war; be it the bow and …
What problems did soldiers face on the Western Front?
On the Western Front, the war was fought by soldiers in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived. They were very muddy, uncomfortable and the toilets overflowed. These conditions caused some soldiers to develop medical problems such as trench foot.
What disease did many soldiers get from the constant moisture in the trenches?
Many soldiers fell victim to conditions particular to their environment. ‘Trench foot’ was caused by permanently damp feet, and ‘trench fever’ had symptoms similar to ‘flu. On other fronts, men fought diseases such as malaria and sand fly fever.
What were the worst conditions soldiers in World War I went through?
Disease and ‘shell shock’ were rampant in the trenches. With soldiers fighting in close proximity in the trenches, usually in unsanitary conditions, infectious diseases such as dysentery, cholera and typhoid fever were common and spread rapidly.
What did they drink in the trenches?
The beverages provided from the army command were beer, rum, gin and whisky. Especially the ‘barbed wire whiskies’ were rolled out by the barrel. Whiskies like Old Orkney and 9th Hole and later Johnnie Walker were popular among the troops.
What was the most important disease on the Western Front?
The Western Front proved to be no different. However, there were three diseases – the so-called ‘Trench’ diseases – that became of particular importance on the Western Front during the four years that the war lasted and which gained the permanent prefix ‘Trench’.
What was the disease in the trenches in WW1?
However, despite the prevalence of the body louse in the trenches of the Western Front there was no significant outbreak of epidemic typhus; although there was a serious epidemic in Serbian and Austrian troops on the Eastern Front in 1915. However, the body louse did cause another disease that became to be known as ‘Trench Fever’.
What was the most common disease in World War 1?
As previously stated the disease epidemic typhus (causative organism Rickettsia prowazekii) has always been the bane of armies both in the field and in barracks. The human louse – Pediculus humanus (sub-spp. corporis, the body louse and capitis, the head-louse) – is the vector of the disease.
How did lice affect soldiers on the Western Front?
Lice spread rapidly through the force when trench life began. Although lice did not contribute specifically to serious illness or disease, there was an annoyance factor which sent soldiers crazy. “When you get to the Western Front, they used chemicals to kill the lice and fleas,” Dr Crawley says.
What kind of diseases did soldiers get in the trenches?
Trench Fever. Caused by the lice outbreaks, soldiers also suffered from Trench Fever. Severe pains and high fevers came along with this sickness. Symptoms were very wide-ranged, some resembling typhoid and influenza. Although this fever was not particularly serious, it could take anywhere form five days to twelve weeks to recover.
What was the most common disease during the Great War?
Among the various infectious diseases that were spread during the Great War, there were many lice transmitted disease, as in the case of trench fever. This was a very popular disease during the war that affected all armies and medical personnel. Besides being highly contagious, its recovery time was lengthy.
What was life like for soldiers on the Western Front?
The deadlocked network of trenches on the Western Front posed particular challenges. Large numbers of men rotated through these claustrophobic spaces, living in very close proximity to each other and at the mercy of the weather. Illnesses were rife. Many soldiers fell victim to conditions particular to their environment.
Lice spread rapidly through the force when trench life began. Although lice did not contribute specifically to serious illness or disease, there was an annoyance factor which sent soldiers crazy. “When you get to the Western Front, they used chemicals to kill the lice and fleas,” Dr Crawley says.