Of all the jobs in the infantry, “the runner’s job was the hardest and most dangerous,” World War I veteran Lt. Allan L. Dexter observed in a 1931 newspaper article. “With a runner, it was merely a question of how long he would last before being wounded or killed.”
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Who did the worst in ww1?
Western Front
| Country | Battle, siege, or offensive | Total killed during WWI |
|---|---|---|
| France | Battle of the Frontiers | 1,357,000 |
| United Kingdom | Battle of the Somme | 744,000 |
| German Empire | Kaiserschlacht | 2,037,000 |
| Canada | Battle of Vimy Ridge | 56,639 |
What was the worst part about ww1?
The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of World War I, and among the bloodiest in all of human history. A combination of a compact battlefield, destructive modern weaponry and several failures by British military leaders led to the unprecedented slaughter of wave after wave of young men.
What was the worst part of trench life?
The unsanitary conditions of trench life, especially the cold, persistent dampness, resulted in trench foot, a frost-bite-like infection that in extreme cases, led to gangrene and amputation.
What was the scariest job in ww2?
Ball turret gunners flying over enemy targets had one of the war’s most dangerous jobs. In addition to the standard fears of being shot down, these gunners had to deal with the fact that they were dangling beneath the aircraft without any armor and were a favored target of enemy fighters.
What was the deadliest day in ww1?
The first day of the Battle of the Somme, in northern France, was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army and one of the most infamous days of World War One. On 1 July 1916, the British forces suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 fatalities. They gained just three square miles of territory.
Why was ww1 so brutal?
The loss of life was greater than in any previous war in history, in part because militaries were using new technologies, including tanks, airplanes, submarines, machine guns, modern artillery, flamethrowers, and poison gas.
Did rats eat soldiers ww1?
More horrifically the rodents were sometimes referred to as corpse rats. They bred rapidly in their millions and swarmed through No-Mans Land gnawing the corpses of fallen soldiers. The rats would taut sleeping soldiers, creeping over them at night. There were long bouts of boredom and rat hunting became a sport.
Which war was the worst?
Wars and armed conflicts
| Event | Lowest estimate | Location |
|---|---|---|
| World War II | 70,000,000 | Worldwide |
| Mongol conquests | 30,000,000 | Eurasia |
| Taiping Rebellion | 20,000,000 | China |
| European colonization of the Americas | 8,400,000 | Americas |
What was the worst front in ww1?
Launched in response to the Spring Offensive the Hundred Days would be one of the worst periods of fighting on the western front. 785,733 Germans were injured or killed and a further 386,342 taken prisoner. A total of 1,070,000 British, French and Americans were either captured, killed or wounded.
What did the trenches smell like?
The stink of war
Then there was the smell. Stinking mud mingled with rotting corpses, lingering gas, open latrines, wet clothes and unwashed bodies to produce an overpowering stench. The main latrines were located behind the lines, but front-line soldiers had to dig small waste pits in their own trenches.
What did soldiers in ww1 eat?
By the First World War (1914-18), Army food was basic, but filling. Each soldier could expect around 4,000 calories a day, with tinned rations and hard biscuits staples once again. But their diet also included vegetables, bread and jam, and boiled plum puddings. This was all washed down by copious amounts of tea.
How did soldiers sleep in ww1?
Getting to sleep
When able to rest, soldiers in front line trenches would try and shelter from the elements in dugouts. These varied from deep underground shelters to small hollows in the side of trenches – as shown here.
Why was WWII so brutal?
It began when Nazi Germany unleashed ferocious attacks across Europe – but it spread to the Soviet Union, China, Japan and the United States. Cities were destroyed by air raids, the atom bomb was dropped on Japan and six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Over 50 million soldiers and civilians died.
Who was the most brutal army in ww2?
Nazi German Army
After the prolonged stalemates of World War I, Nazi Germany’s Army—the Wehrmacht— shocked Europe and the world by overrunning most of Central and Western Europe in a matter of months.
What was the deadliest thing in ww2?
The Battle of Stalingrad caused about two million casualties from Soviet and Axis forces and stands as one of the century’s worst military disaster. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history and is considered as one of the major battles in the World War II.
Has Britain lost a war?
Battle of the Somme, 1916
They were so confident that they told their troops to simply walk across no man’s land instead of dashing from cover to cover. The British lost around 20,000 soldiers on the first day of the battle. Over the next three months, both the Brits and the Germans lost around half a million men each.
Is ww1 the worst war?
Also called The Great War, World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and set the stage for another world war just 20 years later. It was known as “The Great War”—a land, air and sea conflict so terrible, it left over 8 million military personnel and 6.6 million civilians dead.
Who were the most feared soldiers in ww1?
German Stormtroopers
The German ‘Sturmbattalions’ were famous for their aggressive fighting style and decentralized command. These units made it easier for the German Army to break through enemy defenses and reap their souls since most forces weren’t prepared for an all-out assault when it hit them.
Was ww1 or ww2 deadlier?
World War II was the most destructive war in history. Estimates of those killed vary from 35 million to 60 million. The total for Europe alone was 15 million to 20 million—more than twice as many as in World War I.
Are trenches still used in war?
Tanks and aircraft largely negated the defensive advantages offered by trenches, but, when those technologies are absent from a battlefield, trench warfare tends to reappear. In the 21st century trench warfare was utilized in both the Syrian Civil War and the Russian-backed conflict in eastern Ukraine.