Artifact 6 Darkness of Trench Warfare Continued

The darkness of trench warfare does not begin and end with humans fighting in trenches. It actually extends beyond this as soldiers would often have to navigate rodents such as rats living in their trenches. With rotting dead bodies, poor hygiene, and open food rat populations exploded in trenches. Soldiers described the rats to be as big as rabbits and just as friendly, meanwhile they would be crawling all over you during your sleep and even nibbling on you.Canadian officers began to notice this rising issue and ordered their soldiers to exterminate the issue. Officers would even hold contests for soldiers  on who could kill the most rats in a selected time frame and then offer rewards to those that killed the most. Soldiers' most  common way to kill rats was to practise their bayonet thrust on them. This kind of behavior shows what kind of darkness lay in warfare despite being well intended to prevent disease.

Doerper, Cain. "The Rats in the Walls: The Role of Rodents on the Western Front." Canadian Centre for the Great War, February 2, 2021. https://greatwarcentre.com/2021/02/02/the-rats-in-the-walls-the-role-of-rodents-on-the-western-front/