Unlike previous wars, fighting on the Western Front was characterised by 'trench warfare'. Each side had developed an elaborate system of reserve and support trenches with the opposing front lines separated by an area called 'no-man’s land'.

From the beginning both sides hoped for a decisive battle that would end the stalemate and win the War. It was thought that the only way to achieve this was to kill enough enemy soldiers to force the other side to surrender.

An offensive would start with a huge onslaught of artillery fire on the enemy line. This was designed to break down barbed wire defences, blow gaps in the opposing trenches and kill enemy soldiers. On the commanding officer's whistle soldiers in the front line climbed 'over-the-top' and with bayonets at the ready they advanced into no-man's land, facing a heavy barrage of shells and machine gun fire as they went.

'...the Order comes down, 'Cigarettes Out and no noise' and then you know you have not many minutes to go before the terrible clang starts to assist you in that terrible task you have before you and behold it is hard! Every man for himself, and not one must shirk his duty, but no never a man thinks of doing such a thing as that. He knows what he has to do and leave it to him, he will do it with all his heart. And would you think for one minute that there is a smile on his face? "Yes, there is," and the words come from his mouth, "Best of luck to you old mate, let's hope you will make a good job of it."'

Over the next four years hope turned to despair as offensive after offensive failed to break the stalemate and the futility of war became all too apparent.

'One sees things from a different standpoint out here, the seeming uselessness of it, day after day in the trenches with great exposure, and very little really happening. Of course occasional bombardments and it is wonderful what men can put up with.'

In spite of the hardship a spirit of comradeship and high morale did exist in the trenches. As this letter from Dr. Noel Chavasse, June 6th 1915 shows:

'Last night I had a bad but necessary job. I had to crawl out behind part of the trench and bury three poor Englishmen. … This is the seamy side of war, but all is repaired in the feeling of comradeship and friendship made out here. It is a fine life and a man’s job.'

When fear and trauma got the better of some men their behaviour was seen as cowardice or weakness. Men were court-martialled and, in some cases, shot. This harsh attitude and military discipline no doubt had an effect on why men continued to fight – they had no other choice. As this extract from Captain T.H. Westmacott 14th April 1916 shows:

'The man had deserted when his battalion was in the trenches and had been caught in Paris... The condemned man spent the night in a house about half a mile away. He walked from there blindfolded with the doctor, the parson and the escort. He walked quite steadily on to parade, sat down in the chair, and told them not to tie him too tight... On the word "Fire!" the man’s head fell back, and the firing party about turned at once.'

It was not until later that this 'cowardice' or 'desertion' came to be recognised as a medical condition called shell-shock.

'One look-out fellow suddenly went chumpy and dashed away. I chased after him into a dugout where I found him trembling from head to foot. All he could say was "I can’t stand it." Poor devil. He had shell-shock some time ago.'