Even for the British, at their closest, the front was only 70 miles from England. They could read newspapers from London one day later than Londoners could. While going over the top – Stan, no puns in this episode! Right, while going over the top of the trench to cross no man's land and attack the enemy trench is what lights our romantic imagination, most soldiers' lives were dominated by the fear of shelling. According to a journal published by French soldiers, there's nothing more horrible in war than being shelled. It's a form of torture that the soldier can't see the end of. Suddenly, he's afraid of being buried alive.