Front Line: Life in the Trenches of WWI

Welcome

If you were a soldier fighting in the First World War, what would you see? What would you hear? With only 20 WWI veterans left in the world, fewer and fewer people are able to answer these questions with certainty. For everyone else, there's Front Line. Front Line is a website devoted to the trench experience of the First World War. We detail the sights one would see, and the experiences that one might undergo. Please use the links above to navigate. If you need help browsing, here's some information about each section to get you started:

Trenches: In this page, you'll find information on the construction of trenches, their layout, the hygiene (or lack thereof) of trenches, the cold, and how burials were handled in trench warfare.

Routine: On here, you'll find information on the day-to-day life of the soldiers in the trenches: for example, the food they ate, their various duties, and the ways they attempted to cope.

Warfare: This page details the "warfare" part of "trench warfare." The page includes information on weaponry, gas attacks, and important battles of the Great War.

Traumas: Trench Warfare was a horrific experience for most of the soldiers. This category details many of the horrible experiences our soldiers had to experience in the First World War.

Game: This is a choose-your-own-adventure style game that attempts to recreate the experience of trench warfare.

About Front Line

2008 marks the 90th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. Many people today are unable to tell you when exactly the Armistice was signed, and it is growing increasingly unlikely that one would ever hear a first-hand account of WWI experiences. For most of my peers, history class and dry textbooks are their sole point of contact with the Great War.

Front Line is an attempt to rectify this state of affairs. With colourful visuals and comprehensive information, Front Line hopes to spark people's interests in WWI trench warfare. There's even a game to immerse you in the experience. George Santayana is often quoted with his aphorism, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." By learning about it with Front Line, fewer people might be condemned to repeat the horrible experiences of trench warfare.

Front Line was created with Microsoft Notepad, Adobe Photoshop, and caffeine. It is built on PHP and uses the sIFR flash typography technique. Front Line uses valid XHTML and valid CSS.

Contact Me

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Front Line, please contact me at rita @ ritacheng.com. Thank you!