western front was the front line trench in ww1.
western front was the front line trench in ww1.
what was the front line trench in ww1?
western front
the 11th, 12th and 13th (southdowns) battalions were all raised in late 1914 as part of the 116th brigade of the 39th division. all three battalions landed at le havre, france in march 1916 for service on the western front. all three battalions took part in the battle of the boar's head in june 1916. after a bombardment of the german trenches the 12th and 13th battalions went over the top (most for the first time) and, under heavy fire, attacked the enemy trenches, bombing and bayoneting their way in. the 11th battalion supplied carrying parties. they succeeded in taking the german front line trench, holding it for some four hours, and even briefly took the second line trench for about half an hour, beating off repeated counterattacks, and only withdrew from the shortage of ammunition and mounting casualties. in regimental history this is known as the day sussex died. edmund blunden, a second lieutenant in the 11th battalion, wrote an excellent account of his experiences in his memoirs, "undertones of war" (1928).
royal sussex regiment
the leading battalions of the two attacking brigades succeeded in the first phase of the assault, crossing no man's land behind the smokescreen and seizing the german front line trench comparatively easily. no 1 section of 2/2nd field co accompanied the london scottish in 168th bde's attack on the right. their task was to build trench blocks to the flank and in the communication trenches in front, to hinder german counter-attacks. the first job was to block the front line trench, named 'fair trench', while a london scottish bombing party worked its way along the trench ahead of the sappers. the party blew in four traverses and erected two wire barricades. other sappers followed the leading london scottish waves and blocked the second line trench, 'fancy trench'.
tower hamlets engineers